Aaron post 1

The first image is a Miller Lite ad with a attractive woman in a bikini. This image represents the myth that drinking this specific brand of beer will make women adore you. The old cliché “sex sells” is being used to full effect here. This is an alarmingly popular advertising technique.

The second image is from Miller Lite’s “man law” campaign. This image plays off of the representation of men as meatheads who drink beer, think about sex, and watch football. The commercials have a group of “manly men” sitting around a table and coming up with laws that all men should follow regarding mostly beer and women. The idea is that people will want to be more manly and buy the beer.

The third image is the famous picture from Iwo Jima during WWII entitled “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima”. This picture represents the strength and unity of America during WWII. This photo is arguably the most famous photo from the war and it was circulated around the country so quickly that it won the Pulitzer Prize in the same year it was published. Pictures like this are important because the can unify a country that is being torn about by war.

The fourth image is a Coca-Cola ad featuring Santa Claus. Santa Claus is known as a jolly, happy man who spreads Christmas cheer and gives everyone presents. This advertisement is trying to make you associate the same connotations you would associate with Santa Claus with their product. It is all about the feeling you get when you see the ad. Santa makes you feel happy, and since he is drinking a Coke, you subconsciously associate Coke with happiness.

The final image is NBC’s TV show Scrubs. Last year Scrubs aired an episode in which the characters on the show argued about their positions on the Iraq War. The characters took opposing sides of the debate and one character was made fun of for not knowing much about the issue. I thought it was interesting to see that on a comedy TV show the writers were using the show to debate political ideas. The overall message as to which side of the issue was being promoted was somewhat unclear, but I’m sure the show helped promote political awareness in general.

In the Miller Lite ad with the bikini-clad woman, the signifier is an attractive woman with a sign behind her that says Miller Lite. The signified meaning is that attractive women like men who drink Miller Lite. The ideology that is being promoted is that all guys care about is sex and that they will do anything to get it.

In “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima”, the signifier is a group of soldiers raising an American Flag in battle. The signified meaning is that America is a powerful nation that works together and is proud of their identity. The ideology that is being promoted is Patriotism. This picture shows a group of people who love their country more than anyone or anything else.

An example of high art is the tall black metal sculpture on campus. Though I do not particularly care for this piece of art it would be considered high art because it has been assigned value and is set on campus because of its “beauty” and so that people can admire and appreciate it as they walk around Rollins.

An example of low art is the Rollins College Country Club T-shirt I bought the other day. It pokes fun at the idea of Rollins being similar to a country club by imitating the Polo Brand emblem, a brand regularly associated with “preppy” kids who might attend country clubs. I love the shirt and I think it’s hilarious, but it doesn’t really have any value as art.

Part 2

I am not completely opposed to mass media but I think it has an overall negative effect on society. Two examples of this negative effect are in commercial ads and political campaigning. TV ads will bend the truth as far as they can without getting in trouble to make you want their product. Many of the things we see in advertisements are deceptive yet people take them for truth without really thinking about it. Political campaigns often produce TV commercials to help them win votes. This is not necessarily bad except that they always end up tearing down their opponent and when the commercial is over you don’t know anymore information than you did before it started. If they made commercials that explained their views on important issues, I would see these ads as a positive, but digging up dirt on your opponent and avoiding the issues is not a positive.