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Showing posts from April, 2019

$169,000,000 and It's Only Getting Higher

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Dating all the way back to 2015, Marvel had confirmed the title of Avengers: Endgame, and now it is time for that movie to finally come out.  https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a25437248/avengers-endgame-title-age-of-ultron/ Marvel had given itself a four year window for advertisement and possible plot giveaways in the trailers. People have overanalyzed every possible meaning and message in those trailers in an attempt to predict what will happen. Fans from the very beginning with Marvel's The Avengers  in 2012 are in disbelief that it was all coming to an end. The truth has finally come out, so the question of "How does it all end?" will be answered. All the excitement over one 3 hour and 1 minute movie is the reason for why this single movie has made been ranked 1st in Fandango's biggest pre-sale films ( https://bgr.com/2019/04/25/avengers-endgame-presale-numbers-fandango-showtimes/ ), why the movie has made $165,000,000 in profits as of April 25, 2019 ( https:

Bigger=Better

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When standing in the center of New York Time Square, there is a rush of advertisements plastered across the city. So many cross the screens, but what makes that one commercial, that one ad stand out? It's the predicament that all advertisements try to figure out. They try to enter the minds of the consumer and see what will stick long enough to spark the audience's curiosity. One of the greatest illusion that ads present us is the fulfillment of something. It doesn't necessarily matter what that something is as long as it is something that we are the consumers feel we can't have unless we have this specific product. Whatever the ad is for, the goal is to lure us into a sense of dependency. Researchers Discover That When You're Depressed, Stuffing Yourself ...https://www.forbes.com/.../researchers-discover-that-when-youre-depressed-stuffing-y... The Loneliness Loop: Why Feeling Sad Makes Us Shop and ...https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/the...fe

(subject) + (verb) + 11 pm = breaking news

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This simple formula for making news story titles has been the weakness of channel surfers since the beginning of time. A single sentence that is enough for people to keep jumping back to one channel to see what it's all about. But in actuality, it's the overexcited cover up for a mediocre story that doesn't actually air till 11:27pm. Even if it was said to be "NEWS at 11pm," these thrilling stories are delayed to keep the audience coming back. If they are already hooked, why not take advantage of them seeing the other stories on that channel? That's the thought process of most news channels today. Stories like Glow in the Dark Cats  and Squirrels Going Nuts continue flood the media and even fuel the mass stereotype that what the people want to see are funny animal videos.  https://www.kcra.com/article/watch-these-squirrels-go-nuts/25801921 Is it okay that every story follows this same routine? Give the audience animal stories for views. Use pop cultur

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

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What is the longest word you can think of? And if you are like most people, the 1964 Mary Poppin's film would have come to mind. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, "the biggest word you've ever heard."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pu1adxqUAg Such a word would probably even make George Orwell's head spin. The use of big words whose meaning is relatively simple. His argument would be, Why use such a complex word when the definition is just as good? The definition is straight to the point and simple. "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious...the sounds of it is something quite atrocious," but all it means it extraordinarily good and wonderful. In his essay "Politics and the English Language," Orwell writes of how the original use of language is diminishing as people are manipulating their word choice to present an intended impression on the audience. https://faculty.washington.edu/rsoder/EDLPS579/HonorsOrwellPoliticsEnglishLanguage.pdf

Water vs Water

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Something that surprised me not that long ago was the effect of images when reading. For example, people have utilized different colors to help with reading comprehension. An except from an online copy of  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone that uses this color spectrum technique. But at the same time, advertisement companies have used similar techniques to manipulate the brain for consumption purposes. This is what discussed in the PBS Frontline episode The Persuaders.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ep4yegfk_A&t=6098s The use of different colors to invoke certain emotions and feelings, the use of fonts for "serious" or "relaxed" purposes, and the specific background image are all factors considered when putting ads and commercials into the world. There is a reason for why fast food places incorporate red as their main color. Red is color that induces the feeling of hunger. It is intended for people to see these fast food places, see the red

How We Broke Up...

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Going from physical to virtual to then back to physical, it puts into perspective how much media can easily control a person's life. It becomes this greater routine where it seems normal and unquestioned to have certain behaviors. When asking people today 'What is the first thing that you do when you wake up?' most will respond that they check their phones. When asking people today, 'What is the last thing you do before going to bed?' most will respond with checking their phones. It is the first and last things we do in our everyday lives. Not even counting the numerous times when people go on their phones to avoid in-person interactions, our phones have become more than just a device. They are the electrical embodiment of a lifeline ( https://www.textrequest.com/blog/how-much-time-people-spend-mobile-phones-2017/ ). It's crazy to see how in my lifetime alone, the role of phones has increased so dramatically. What once used to be the milestone of getting a