Annie, are you okay?

Now, now, don’t laugh. I’m serious about this one. We spent much of last week discussing the intricacies of communication. We developed an extensive list of "texts" to hopefully make you realize that all human behavior – perceived by at least one viewer, reader, or listener – constitutes a form of communication. If all communication intends to persuade, in some form, then ultimately we reach one of the basic tenets of the course. We conclude that “everything is an argument.”

Before Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, or even Madonna, there was Michael Jackson.  In the 1980s, Michael Jackson might have been the most well recognized person in the world.  He was definitely the world's most popular entertainer.  He was talented and mysterious, and had an intuitive penchant for entertaining rarely possessed by performers in subsequent pop culture generations.  Unlike his predecessors, Michael Jackson conquered the kingdom of popular music without relying on marketing gimmicks, staged controversy, or provocative stunts.  The controversy that found him later in his career – however odd it may have been – never resembled the shameless desire for publicity evidenced by many of today’s most popular entertainers.

Throughout his career, Michael Jackson maintained a well-developed social consciousness, and often his desire to address global injustices like poverty and racial tension influenced the songs he wrote and the videos that accompanied them.  However, the video he produced for his 1988 hit single “Smooth Criminal” appears to have no greater purpose than simply to entertain.  He uses the ever-popular slick gangster, whose crimes seem somehow forgivable in a morally corrupt world, as his primary image. 

Jackson’s video features himself as the title character, the smooth criminal.  After entering the apparently secret lair of iniquity, he captures the attention of his criminal audience instantly, as he confidently flips his coin across the room, into the juke box.  The message is clear.  This criminal has the power to accomplish the impossible, which after the music begins, includes gravity-defying dance moves, James Bond-like escapes from men who want to kill him, and the superhuman strength to crush a pool ball with his bare hands.   Jackson engages numerous – apparently less-than-smooth – criminals that enjoy a variety of illicit activities one might see in a 1930s gangster film.  Paradoxically, however, clad in all white, he appears somehow above the prostitution, gambling, and boot-legging hidden by the brick walls.  Even as he murders, with a tommy gun, the mobsters that surround the lair at the end of the video’s primary action, Jackson maintains a heroic air about him. 

The kids who spy Jackson from the street confirm his intent and the fact that he accomplishes it.  Unlike other Jackson videos that have a more social message, this video is meant to entertain.  When they see Jackson dance through the door window, the kids, apparently unaware of the criminal nature of their hero, can only proclaim, “that’s cool, huh?” and then try to emulate his moves. 

This week, I would like you to practice writing rhetorical analysis, once again using music videos.  This time, however, I would like you to find a music video first released before you were born.  Once you find a video, conduct an analysis of this video.  Determine an intent – which might be solely to entertain – and then write about how the artist accomplishes, or fails to accomplish, this intent.  The purpose of this assignment is to practice writing objective and valid analysis.  The way you write it will be more important to me than the actual analysis itself.  Please review the mistakes you and your peers made in your previous posts.  Your analysis should be roughly 350-450 words, and you should embed the video with your response.

   My Sunday night routine consists of me sitting cross-legged on my living room floor with an algebra textbook in my lap, a pencil in my right hand and the TV remote in my left. It’s become a ritual to solve my math problems during the commercial breaks of the TV show, “Revenge.” Most nights, these 3-5 minute intermissions are plenty of time to finish my homework.

   Distractions such as my math work worry marketing executives who are trying to brand their product in these brief 30-second intervals. Simple advertisements do not yield as much value as they use to because of the ubiquitous amount found on TV today. According to the Huffington post we are exposed to 250-3000 advertisements daily. In this competitive advertising environment, Target has thought up of new innovative way in which viewers will not tune out their ads. In 2012, they bought the full 10 minutes of advertisement content for one episode and joined with revenge writers to integrate the ads within the story line. Target chief marketer Jeff Jones called it a  "moment in marketing history that people remember”.

   Revenge labeled this sponsorship as “the gift of revenge”, claiming the episode would consist of zero commercials only short videos which gave clues to the mid-season cliffhanger.  The actors and actresses were required to trend this hash tag on twitter promoting the episode weeks before it aired. Target’s exclusive partnership gave the show a boost of revenue securing their airtime and encouraging their renewal for a third season.

   Target also made out on the deal. Revenge was the perfect platform to launch Target’s collection of clothes and home décor. Viewers are compelled to the lavish Hampton lifestyle of these characters. If billionaires such as main character, Emily Throne can wear a Target dress while sitting on a yacht in the Hamptons then the average person should too. Their clothes may not have compelled me to drive to the store that night to buy their products, but the residual effects of the ads are still in my mind over a year later.

   The key to Target’s advertisements were that they contained necessary information about the plot and were written using the same style as the show. At times, I grew frustrated watching the episode because the commercials were indistinguishable from the story. Target took away the entertainment of viewers by dragging out context clues, in order to gain more attention and screen time for their products. As more TV shows are catching on to this technique, will this become the next revolution to entertainment? I hope not, otherwise I won’t have any time to finish my math homework.

                Ripping stitches, cutting frantically, executing fabric masterpieces—these are the images you should see when your casual channel surfing brings you to Lifetime on Thursdays at 9 pm. Lately, however, Project Runway has failed in showcasing high-fashion looks. Instead, they have been showcasing something entirely different—the products of their sponsors.

                The Emmy-winning television show squeezes in as much advertisement as they possibly can in their allotted hour and a half of airtime. Each show has eight commercial breaks, each about three minutes long. Twenty four minutes of a 90-minute show means 27 percent of the show is filled with blaring jingles trying to convince viewers that buying this product will make them a series of adjectives with positive connotations.

                This number is fairly average as far as commercial time to television show ratios go. What sets Project Runway apart from other television shows (unfortunately) are their sneakier methods of showing off whatever their sponsors are selling. Each season Project Runway requires sponsors to supply them with makeup, accessories, sewing machines and a fashion spread in a magazine. Hearing about these products a dozen times an episode is annoying, yes, but it at least makes sense. A show about fashion, advertising brands pertaining to fashion is reasonable.  The show commits a serious faux-pas, however, with their other sponsors: hotels, restaurants, electronic companies, car companies, and even refrigerator companies. It would be one thing if these advertisers stayed where they belong—the 24 minutes dedicated solely to them—but their products bleed into the actual content of the show, compromising the quality of entertainment.

                During earlier seasons of Project Runway, each week’s challenge was innovative and interesting; whether the designers were creating a look out of the pajamas they were wearing or making an evening gown based off of a high school student’s art project. But as the show gained more and more attention from advertisers—the show’s real money-maker—sponsored products became the sun around which that week’s challenge revolved. Most of these challenges are a stretch, I roll my eyes when designers create looks inspired by a car or a type of soup. Throughout the show, there are unnecessary and painfully unnatural-seeming shots of the designers praising the product of the week. Then, when the judges critique the designers’ looks, there is even more advertising: a guest judge who often has nothing to do with the fashion industry whose job is to casually mention whatever product their company is advertising. The show clearly sacrifices quality content for profit, proving where their priorities truly lie.

                These sacrifices are not lost on viewers. The show lost nearly a third of their viewers from the tenth to eleventh season, and a quarter of those viewers from the eleventh to twelfth season, according to TV Line.  Countless viewers have complained of the show being a “sell-out” or, as one anonymous commenter said, “one big giant commercial” on online forums.

                As someone who watches Project Runway religiously—the way some people watch So You Think You Can Dance—I agree with the views of these fans and I am extremely disappointed in the direction taken by such a promising show. Project Runway clearly weighed the importance of money and sponsors against the importance of fans of the show and chose the former, making it obvious that the show caters their content towards potential sponsors and not viewers.

          This idea is absolutely ridiculous. No advertiser would want to promote themselves on something that's unpopular, and in order to make something popular, it has to be tailored to the desires of the consumer. I understand that the world we live in today is filled with ads, but so what? If one person sees five hundred advertisements per day, how many of them do they remember? Three? Six? It probably isn't many. Commercials, billboards and those little banners on websites are all completely disregarded as nothing but background noise. Because they are everywhere, nobody pays them any attention. That is why YouTube has the "Skip Ad" button on their videos. Nobody wants to watch a thirty second ad before a twenty second video. Advertisements are used simply as a way for the media to make money in order to support themselves.


           I watch BBC's Doctor Who every Saturday night, and out of the 60 minutes that the show is playing, 15 minutes are commercials. Seventy-two hours later, I remember hardly any of them. One for AT&T, another for some different BBC TV show, and I think there was a car commercial too. So, as an avid spectator, I have very little recollection of the ads that were showed to me during that hour. BBC makes Doctor Who so that the consumers love it. The show has been around for over fifty years, so clearly they know what the viewers want, and the station can provide it. Now when advertisers want to spread the word about their own product, they look for popular medias with slightly similar ideas. Advertisers want to appeal to the consumer, as does the media, so the advertiser will promote things that relate to the media. For example, Doctor Who is a family TV show about an alien who travels around space and time, so AT&T will want to promote their international family plan. Or Toyota will promote their all-terrain minivan. They try to promote things that may interest the viewers so that their product can actually benefit from the ads, but in most cases, it fails. Look at me, for example. As a 16 year old boy, do I have any need for a minivan? Or international roaming on my cellphone for my family of five? The answer is no. The advertiser failed in selling me their product, even though I love Doctor Who.


            Nobody likes ads. Consumers don't want them. Would anyone really prefer to watch Progressive and Comcast commercials for an hour, rather than going on an adventure in a blue telephone box through time and space with the Doctor? Sources of media need to have consumers before they have advertisers. That isn't to say they don't need advertisers at all because these sources of media still need the funding from the ads, but more importantly, the media needs to be desirable to potential advertisers. In order to do that, it has to be popular with the consumers. If the media is unable to juggle the two, then it will collapse and both advertiser and consumer will move on to a new source of entertainment.

            Dictionary.com presents definitions like a TV network shows reruns. The definitions and the TV shows were probably produced for the sake of entertainment or information alone. But it’s also likely that TBS no longer schedules old episodes of “Seinfeld” to air at seven just because the timing will allow the most people to be entertained. I suspect that TBS organizes its reruns based on the likelihood of targeted demographics watching, so that it can air its advertisements with more people focused on the channel. The presentation of reruns would then support the advertising.

Dictionary.com takes the reruns of the online reference source—grammar rules, synonyms, and definitions—and presents them more attractively than they appear in a printed dictionary. The website offers several features intended to interest web surfers, including its “Word of the Day” and quotes using any word that is defined. It’s possible that dictionary.com means to use these features to keep more people on the site and help build their vocabularies, however, these different features deliver information that is more trivial than it is geared towards enriching someone’s understanding of English vocabulary. The quotes that are presented mostly use the defined word without emphasis on its meaning, and suggest that they are not meant to be well understood or used to interpret the meaning of the word. Dictionary.com even gives the potential scores for Scrabble and Words with Friends, games that do not prize a word’s meaning. The links to presentations on unique words similarly avoid word meanings. For example, dictionary.com has a slideshow about the only word to contain the letters x, y, and z, and it engages viewers like a Scrabble dictionary: with a focus on the triviality of the spelling.

These slideshows also allow dictionary.com to send web surfers through several links, showing them multiple advertisements. The website displays between 1 and 5 different ads simultaneously, but these advertisements accompany the definitions of words differently than they do to the content of other websites; the search bar of dictionary.com acts like a search engine. The word that is defined is used as a keyword to feed the searcher one or more advertisements based off of it. Looking up the word “education” presents an ad for ITT Tech, whereas “brain” advertises lumosity.com. Adword by Google is used to show the site’s visitors such specific advertisements. Employing this third party to help dictionary.com with advertisements, and the links of its slideshows, suggest that the site’s commitment, rather than to information, is to profit off of its popularity. By capturing word searchers’ attentions with its presentation, dictionary.com may not have given them a greater understanding of its content, but it has given Google a primetime for advertisements.

            In 2005, two computer-science nerds created Reddit, the self-proclaimed “Front Page of the Internet”. Today, their puny side project receives over 15 million unique page views every month, and its users pack the site with news, discussion, personal anecdotes, and cheap laughs. The site is infamous for infecting its readers, like a virus that requires hours of mindless scrolling a day, and Reddit’s rapid growth since its creation proves that it is both contagious and infectious.

            A growth like Reddit’s is impossible when a website cannot support its own traffic, which one needs money to do.  At this stage of development, most websites choose to shower their readers with obnoxious ads to maximize their profit. In contrast, Reddit chose to place ads sparingly to maintain its infectivity. And the site tries to make its few ads “funny, cool, or interesting, and always relevant to your interests.” They even encourage their readers to report ads for not meeting these standards.

            Reddit’s advertisements are tucked away in the sidebar, and they often advertise other parts of the website, creating endless portals to entrance its victims. Logging on now, there is a picture of an ancient computer, leading to the charming ‘subreddit’, /r/retrobattlestations. The ads with products behind them are treated like any other post on reddit: They are at they mercy of reddit’s users. Advertisements are upvoted, downvoted, and even commented on. In the comments of an ad for a fantasy football app, one user, /u/inkei18, is “not very impressed”. Any of the app’s potential customers can view this statement.

            Even the sparse and occasionally interesting ads on Reddit can be an eyesore to any reader, so Reddit employs a system of donations, called “Reddit Gold”, to decrease the amount of ads necessary to maintain the site’s traffic. Reddit Gold adds a few nifty features to your reddit experience, such as the ability to know when your username is mentioned in a comment. Users can buy themselves Gold, or they can give it to other redditors publicly, usually after a person makes a particularly funny comment. This system is designed to encourage donation while increasing the infectivity of the content on the site, with many people working harder to create content to earn themselves a donation.

            Reddit’s central desire is to create a growing mass of loyal readers. To the site, advertisements are a necessary evil that allows survival with the side effect of potentially turning readers away. Reddit’s strategy has so far infected millions, and millions more could potentially fall victim to the site as well in the near future. Reddit doesn’t want your money. Reddit wants to one day be the true “Front Page of the Internet”.

The digital era comes with a surplus of stimulation in the form of games, ‘social’ media and videos. Referring to the latter, I spent an embarrassing amount of my summer watching YouTube videos on meaningless jargon and other people’s opinions on matters that were of no concern to me. It was great empty fun, but for the advertising. Each video clicked came with a 30- to 60-second clip trying to sell me healthcare, online college degrees, and Dyson vacuum cleaners. Longer videos presented even larger amounts of tedious attempts to coerce me into buying their product, about three or four breaks during the entirety . Those who create videos and share them for free on the internet may feel the need for compensation, the only direct way of which is allowing companies to place pop-ups along the bottom of the screen, always ready to jump into the limelight when accidentally clicked. There is even the occasional YouTuber that plugs a product by offering a promotional discount through their video. Quite frankly, it's disheartening. We go on this website, this possibly educational and entertaining page, only to be barraged with seasonal Doritos flavors. 

This media, full of opinions and information, is carpeted by the driving force of corporations with money, and who are wanting more of it. Due to this influx of commercialism, it is reasonable to say that media outlets are fully supporting of advertising, even if it means to anger their users. Everywhere we go, we are attacked by the sight of an increasing number of billboards and posters promoting themselves, and they can be helpful, although the majority of the time they get passed without as much as a skimming glance. Unfortunately, if something is repeated or seen enough, these products will become familiar and seem safe, which is what most people will revert back to when they are faced with decisions, like choosing Cheerio's over the house brand. As a child, I listened to the radio every day on my way to soccer, and to this day can still recite the jingles for companies that I'm unsure of what they are even selling. This repetition and subconscious memory are what advertising companies hope for when their commercials play before you watch your daily dose of 'Best Vines Compilation' on Youtube.

There are dozens of Olympic sports.  Watching Sochi I could tell that each and every sport was unique, and had its own following of viewers. But out of all of these sports, curling was the one to watch.  Whenever the Olympics were mentioned between friends, or in class, curling was the always the sport mentioned. The impact of the “slide stones” on each other and the inevitable sweeping that occurs bring emotions of pure excitement.  But What?  Is some force overshadowing this wonderful game?  Every two years, (winter and summer) the Olympics take over the media.  Whether it’s on your TV, on your computer, or on your iPhone, news of this event is everywhere.  The early Olympics began as an event of competition and entertainment.  The original purpose of these games was to bring together the athletes of the world and have them compete.  That purpose has been skewed over recent years.  Making money has taken precedents.  From the years 2002-2014 the viewership of the Olympics has been in the billions.  Each singular Olympics brings 110 million and up of admirers. With this many people watching, Advertisement Companies have found the perfect hunting ground to spread their products.  

The main competition has always been between the athletes, but that seems to have changed. What has gotten in between these athletes and their events you may ask? Advertising.  Advertising is involved in literally every aspect of the Olympics.  Whether it is skin tight suits by Underarmour used in speed skating, or team sponsorships in figure skating by Visa, the goal is to get word of the product out to the audience.  Brands battle for our attention.    Our personal pleasure is ignored and told to burn in hell.  Our entertainment is told screw you and die in a hole.  The Olympics has given up on pleasing people.  Let’s face the truth.  This proud event needs to rely on advertising.  The world runs on money, there’s no changing that.  Advertising is a needed commodity in the world and there is no sugar-coating that.  As much as we may hate it, we have to love it.       

The Olympics should be enjoyed for the athleticism and human feats they showcase, not for the advertising.  This ignoring of people’s God given right to be entertained can only last for so long.  Things will soon change.  The Olympics viewership will go down.  More and more people will just record the Olympics.  Watch the program at a later time fast forwarding through the commercials.  The constant annoyance of brand after brand will cease to exist.  Advertisements may be needed in this world, but people can’t be forced to deal with them.   

“Colgate Toothpaste or Toothbrush. Buy 1, Get—” to watch your high-priority Primark haul in peace. Call me radical, but I do not consider one optional pop-up ad so irksome as to spoil my YouTube video. I dismiss the ad automatically, without giving Price Chopper the privilege of my second thought, and proceed to indulge in Zoella’s weekly video upload.

That was today’s experience. Occasionally, a short commercial that can be dismissed just as easily replaces the pop-up advertisement. But in either situation, distraction via propaganda is substantially limited. Even if the sponsors meant to send a subliminal message to viewers by playing a certain scientifically proven, thought-altering jingle or image, their vision would fall short on YouTube. If viewers are like me, a devout YouTube watcher, they do not watch a long enough clip of the commercial to register it, nor do they grant ads so much as a second-long glance. Now, I am fully aware that all viewers are not like me. However, I am well acquainted with several people who exhibit similar reactions in the face of YouTube ads.

There is no doubt in my mind that attracting advertisers is a significant goal of television and radio producers. In fact, they are business-savvy to do so, given that advertisements provide a profitable source of income. Their commercials, whether visual or audible, consequently frequent the stream of entertainment and there is no way around them. Unlike such media, however, YouTube has a feature that allows viewers to dismiss commercials and pop-up advertisements. If a video includes a commercial it lasts only about 10 seconds—and even in such a situation, if one can opt out of seeing advertisements, then it must not be the website’s top priority to sustain them.

Notably the most obvious fuel for YouTube’s existence, the people themselves who upload the videos often have no input where advertisement is concerned. Their motive for posting tutorials and hauls and music is the subsequent satisfaction of helping people, gaining popularity, and making friends. YouTube is ultimately a community, which makes it possible for viewers to communicate with the ‘producers’ and ‘actors.’

Upload-ers may be grateful for advertisements because they maintain the website’s free access policy, but beyond that, they have legitimate things to say in their videos and do not create mindless balderdash just to attract sponsors. YouTube videos do not have the fortune of guaranteed viewers (as do, say, sports on television), so they must consist of intriguing content to attract viewers.

YouTube, the number one video-sharing site currently available to anyone with an Internet connection, is available in 61 languages and visited by over 1 billion unique users each month. The videos offered on the site range from parodies of music videos to clips from movies, from video game play-throughs to piano recitals. Anyone can watch and comment on the plethora of videos on the site, but they all must endure one thing, advertisements. These small informative clips are nuisances that are YouTube’s only source of revenue, albeit a source that provides around $3.6 billion a year.

Everyone who watches YouTube knows the advertisements put on their favorite videos or channels. They promote a wide variety of products from Gucci clothes to Old Spice deodorant.   They range from 15-second clips to videos varying in length of 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Although many ads offer a skip button after a reasonable amount of time has passed, many patrons of YouTube wonder why these advertisements persist.

YouTube’s main purpose is to entertain us, as much of its content is user-generated, created by those who simply wish to amuse viewers with cat videos or clips of people failing miserably at everyday tasks. However, YouTube must also make money in order to support these functions. Over a million advertisers use YouTube as a median to convey their products or services to the billions of viewers, which makes YouTube very profitable as it does not have to produce a physical product, only maintain employees to keep the website up. YouTube also lives up to its desire to entertain us by taking popular video makers or YouTubers and joining with them in a partnership. This partnership allows the creators to partake in a portion of the revenue made by advertisements on their videos. Some YouTubers make over $100,000 a year with this pursuit and so this is an incentive for them to continue producing quality content for an extended period of time. With more videos being posted, more people will watch the videos and unavoidably, watch the advertisement immediately before.

YouTube does not wish to drive away its support base with excessive advertising. It does not interrupt a video with an advertisement for paint at Home Depot or force viewers to suffer through political infomercials. Over 6 billion hours of videos are watched on the website each month, showing that despite these ads, YouTube manages to entertain a huge portion of the planet’s population by the way of video content. The service provided by YouTube is access to an almost unlimited quantity of videos for free with the presence of advertisements being the fulfillment of the saying, “No pain, no gain.”