Maile Danilchik
9/27/17
IB Language and Literature
Blog Post #1 - Advertising, Happiness, and The End of the World
"Dove Evolution." Youtube, uploaded by Zephoria, Oct. 2005, www.youtube.com/
watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.
"Dove Onslaught." Youtube, uploaded by Tim Piper, 2 Oct. 2007, www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.
"Dove Onslaught(er)." Youtube, uploaded by GreenpeaceVideo, 21 Apr. 2008,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=odI7pQFyjso. Accessed 27 Sept. 2017.
Part I:
I am Maile and I currently attend West Sound Academy. I am a junior this year meaning that this is my first year of the International Baccalaureate Program. For IB Language and Literature I am studying journalism, advertising, and the role of media literacy in today’s society. My personal experiences with media are not expansive since I do not have many social media accounts but I encounter online news and other offline forms of media such as televised or printed forms. In fact, I believe I come in contact with everyday media more than I recognize because of its abundance within our modern day society. Whether it is on television, or on billboards on the streets, media is all around us and we are constantly being barraged by its subliminal messages even though we may not consciously acknowledge its presence. Media in my life plays different roles, the most pertinent being online, since the internet is the most abundant source. I try my best to not spend more time than necessary on the internet but nonetheless I still encounter advertisements, news, and more. The media I see or hear has more of an effect on what I may purchase but not my view points or other aspects of my life. I think our environment has a huge role in how our ideas are shaped and with media being part of our modern environment it is near impossible not to be affected by it. I use technology such as my computer or phone everyday but mostly for homework or communication. I appreciate spending time outside of the screen and enjoying the outside world.
Part II:
The four big ideas in media regard the message or the meaning the different forms of media are trying to convey to their audience. The first theme in media is how messages are constructed. This includes the way a newspaper front cover is laid out, the soundtrack in a commercial, or the colors used in advertising. All forms of media are created to best and most effectively convey their message to the viewer. Within the context of the Dove commercials I think the use of time-lapse or fast moving frames and the increasingly intense music creates a sense of chaos that could be applied to urgency felt by Dove to spread their message of self-acceptance amidst the negativity or unobtainable beauty standards within the industry that are projected onto our society.
The second main idea in media literacy is that media significance is the representation of the world. I think this speaks true to the Dove commercials because of how they highlight the existing beauty industry and how the messages about beauty standards are conveyed in our present day society. I think the first and second commercial, “Evolution” and “Onslaught” speak to this idea more than the third because it portrays the experiences witnessed by everyday people and demonstrate how we as passerby are more deeply impacted than we realize. The second video, “Onslaught” depicts a young girl, a sort of “every girl” representation to universalize the negative effects of the beauty industry on people and consequently, society.
The third theme of media is that messages have economic and political purposes and contexts. This rings true for all of the commercials, the first two being political about the message of self acceptance and economic about promoting the Dove brand (which in doing so advertises their products with the Dove name). These first two films could be seen politically through connecting their message with a common theme in feminist movements and other groups promoting positive self-image. The third commercial, “Onslaught(er)” is less economically driven but more politically charged. Greenpeace, an environment destruction prevention group, used an identical template as Dove did in its films but with a twist against Dove. Instead it is about how palm oil in skincare products, specifically Dove’s, is decimating forests in Indonesia and killing the animals and other members of the ecosystem in which the trees are a keystone element. This was extremely political, not only talking about international environmental issues but also mocking Dove’s advertisement and consequently the message of feminism employed by the Dove foundation even if they were not directly targeting Dove’s statement.
The fourth and final message in media is that individuals create meaning in media messages through interpretation. This is a universal statement that is applicable to every form of media. Within context to Dove, people can either be supportive or in disagreement with the message in the film. This can also be said for the Greenpeace video except there is also an element of how people may interpret the way the organization mimicked Dove’s commercial layout and mocked the Dove name and message. Similarly, people can decipher the meaning of one commercial as more pertinent or important than one depending on whether the viewer places more gravity on the mental health of our younger generations or on the fragile environmental statues of our planet and how our industries affect it.
