SWA #6 - Intro & Thesis - 01/31/12

As one flips through any kind of publication, he/she is sure to come across several advertisements in which he/she is being encouraged to invest in a product or service. Taking a closer look at these ads, assumptions advertisers make about the consumers looking at their ad become obvious. These circumstances hold true in two different Geico Insurance advertisements found in Sports Illustrated and Newsweek magazines. A large image of a basketball and a message on time management with relation to a college basketball game indicates that Geico assumes Sports Illustrated’s readers’ attentions can be grabbed when a sport image is present, and they value their time. In addition, Geico assumes Newsweek’s readers can relate to high academic learning and need to know a lot about a product or service before investing, all indicated by the presence of a large textbook in the ad and an explanation of the company’s history and values on the reverse side. These assumptions are only a few of the many things one can look into when analyzing these Geico advertisements.

SWA #5 - 01/31/12

Ad #1:

            This Geico advertisement is from Sports Illustrated. Topics primarily covered in this publication include both professional and collegiate sports. The demographics of its prospective audience are typically men ranging in age from late teens to 50s or 60s. It really appeals to anyone with a serious interest in sports. Products and services typically advertised in Sports Illustrated range from cars and sporting equipment, to insurances, tax programs, and technology. Based on these facts, it is obvious the publisher assumes the people reading through the publication are primarily men who are interested in sports and staying up to date. Furthermore, due to the fact that they’re invested in sports, they typically have an alpha male attitude and handle their family’s taxes and insurance business.

Ad #2:

            This other Geico advertisement is from Newsweek. The magazine focuses on news coverage at both the global and national level. Their demographics include business minded people with investment in the news and arguably those with a high level of education. The magazine is full of ads promoting different college universities, health products, and even retirement homes. This indicates that the publisher assumes the readers of Newsweek are intelligent and educated, concerned with their wellbeing, and older than typical magazine consumers. All of this likely means they have traditional values and beliefs.

SWA #4 - Ads - 01/29/12

 Front of Geico Ad from Newsweek

 Back of Geico Ad from Newsweek

Geico Ad from Sports Illustrated

1.     The types of ads I am analyzing are Geico Insurance advertisements. One of them is from Newsweek and the other from Sports Illustrated.

2.     The audiences for these magazines are obviously different. Newsweek’s audience primarily consists of business people, and it is mostly men. Furthermore, those who read this publication are likely to be sophisticated and intelligent. Sports Illustrated’s audience is also for most part entirely men. However, their readers' interests are focused more on sports and are likely more laid back while flipping through the publication's pages.

3.     Newsweek Ad

·      Wood background

·      Entirely red and black

·      Textbook looking book entitled “Geckonomics 301”

·      Gecko not present

·      Simple front

·      Back page goes into great detail on company itself

·      Geico and the company’s signature slogan on bottom in simple black font

Sports Illustrated Ad

·      Plain white background

·      Big, bright basketball is prominent thing on page

·      Reads “college games take 40 minutes. Fortunately it only takes 15 minutes to see how much you could save with Geico”

·      First part of text is in green and the Geico part fads into blue with further explanation and more in depth of an analogy

·      Font is larger where it says “get a free quote”

·      Famous Geico sits looking on in the bottom right

·      List of all the different things the company insures on the bottom

4.     I chose these two ads because Geico and their commercials and messages are something almost everyone is familiar with. Also, it is very clear that these two ads are directed towards very different demographics. One is focused on simplicity and sports while another relates to sophistication and the need to know a lot about something before one invests. These details allude to the values that Geico assumes the readers of each publication hold. For example, men interested in sports need simplicity and relation to sports to hold their attention when looking at an ad. Those interested in reading through news magazines are sophisticated, intelligent, and need to know about a company before working with it.

SWA #3

In “What Will Future Generations Condemn Us For?” Kwame Anthony Appiah ponders what policies and standards future Americans will condemn current generations for. He points out that history proves that we tend to look back and wonder how it was possible that things such as slavery, the hanging of homosexuals, and other various acts were considered normal and morally okay. Appiah predicted several practices that could be looked back upon with regret. One that stood out to me and that I too believe will be condemned in the future was his explanation of the malpractices in industrial meat production. Appiah describes the horrors of this industry when saying cattle are “surrounded by piles of their own feces, their nostrils filled with the smell of their own urine” (25). Most people with a trace of humanity in them would cringe at the mental image of this going on. Several groups and organizations push to stop this kind of activity from happening. Furthermore, they encourage vegetarianism amongst those they interact with. The reason this is such an important issue is because America is full of meat eaters, and this is the reality of this industry that many feel everyone should be aware of. However, most people chose to just not think about what animals have to go trough before they end up on his/her plate. I can definitely relate to this type of thinking. I love chicken and would struggle without it, but I hate thinking about what some have to go through before they’re slaughtered. From the industry’s standpoint, it is cheaper to do production they way they’re doing it, and it keeps meat prices from going out of reach. Overall I think it still comes down to a matter of ethics and will eventually be changed. In a few years, we probably will indeed be looking back on this matter shaking our heads.

            In our Writing Arguments textbook, there is an image of a baby with a bib on that reads “POISON.” The image is meant to protest against phthalates being used in the production of toys. The image makes a powerful statement, because it makes the onlooker make a direct connection to those who could be affected by the poisonous chemicals. No one wants to poison the cute little baby. Many argue that the risks of these phthalates have the potential to have devastating consequences. According to the text, studies on rats showed that these chemicals could affect hormone production and cause certain types of cancers. However, executives argue that it’s hard to determine if the effects on rats are the same as humans. Furthermore, there are only trace amounts of these chemicals in the toys, not enough to cause any of the damages those against them describe. Overall the image in the text says that by supporting phthalates usage in toy production, you are also supporting the poisoning of babies. This sort of message evokes guilt in the person looking at it leading their emotions tell them that it is immoral.

Response to Cascio's "Get Smarter" Article

As I read through Jamais Cascio’s “Get Smarter” article, I found myself intrigued by his argument that we should embrace technological advances because, as history proves, we learn to adapt to any consequences or challenges we face as a human race. The possibilities he discusses that the future could potentially behold for us were staggering to me. It is hard to imagine a world where it is commonplace to use drugs to push our brains past their normal capacity. Even more mind blowing is the idea that scientists will be able to develop artificial intelligence in my lifetime. I never thought about the possibility of something like that occurring while I am still alive, but when thinking about how much we have progressed just within the past few years with devices such as the iPhone, I don’t doubt it could happen. However, deciding if this is a good thing or a bad thing is a much more difficult process.

In a broad sense, I find myself agreeing for the most part with Cascio. I know on a personal level I always find it fascinating when new technology emerges and makes my life easier. Who wants to try to read a map when you can just type your destination in a GPS or even your cell phone? Who wants to look up a word in the dictionary when you can just guess how to spell it, type it into Google, and it figures it out for you? There have been countless instances just in the typing of this piece that my spelling errors have been auto-corrected without me giving them a second thought. This idea of technology adapting to us as it further develops is one of Cascio’s main points. He writes, “The trouble isn’t that we have too much information at our fingertips, but that our tools for managing it are still in their infancy” (180). Companies like Google and Microsoft are only helping us towards a better future. We have the technology, so I agree that it seems foolish to not utilize it to its full potential.

The more complicated part of these new technologies we are seeing developed everyday is when the use of them comes down to morals. When drugs are being developed to give people with access to them an edge in the classroom or workplace, it is easy to argue that this activity should be deemed morally wrong. On the surface, it is cheating. But at the same time, as long as the drugs that are being used are legal, why not applaud individuals for being resourceful enough to use them? I know plenty of people who resorted to taking ADD medication during exams to get an edge and help them focus. Even though I didn’t do this due to the fact that I found it immoral and unnecessary, it is still arguable that I let myself fall behind. The author states that “we may fear the idea of a population kept doped and placated, but we’re more likely to see a populace stuck in overdrive, searching out the last bits of competitive advantage, business insight, and radical innovation” (183). I envision this sort of debate to be a hot topic in the future, and just as Cascio does, I don’t necessarily view that as a bad thing.

Overall, Jamais Cascio’s article is an obvious opposite to Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in a variety of ways. Carr argues that new technology, specifically Google, changes the way our brains process information, leading to a lack of focus and deep concentration. This new way of thinking scares him and he fears what it may lead to. However, unlike Cascio, his argument fails to sway me toward his opinion with his use of examples that, in my opinion, lack a connection to his argument that a different brain is a bad one. I like the idea of us getting smarter and more resourceful with the aide of technology. Who knows what will happen when we reach our limit, if we ever do. However, as Cascio repeatedly points out, we as humans will learn to adapt and make the best of any situation thrown at us. I don’t see a Terminator movie situation in our future.