"Narco-Trafficking"

Recently, I learned about narco-trafficking in Mexico from Political Science class. Extensive research has been conducted exploring the relationship between narco-trafficking organizations and political institutions. Many researchers focus on Mexican drug cartels, which have become increasingly influential in the past thirty years. This paper unpacks and synthesizes research from eight peer-reviewed articles. It identifies and analyzes the methods used by these cartels to influence institutions in Mexico and the United States. Three main types of influence are discussed, including violence, bribes and family connections. First, a correlation between increased violence and augmented cartel power was established. This showed that violence is being used to influence a variety of institutions including politicians, the police force and the government as a whole. Then, the use of bribes and family connections was analyzed. Cartels use these technique to curry favor with the aforementioned institutions. Overall, the researches show that political changes in Mexico have led to an increased reliance on violence by Cartels, and a decreased importance of traditional patronage systems. Even though, U.S.A government and Mexico government kept saying they will determine these problems, it won’t be that easy. In the past ten years, violence in Mexico has risen exponentially. Both quantitative and qualitative research points to the growing prominence of Mexican narco-trafficking organization as the source of this increase. The purpose of this violence is influence. Narco-trafficker’s actions compel political institutions to decrease anti-drug aggression.  A political institution is a structure that performs a function of the political system.  Politicians, political parities, the military, and the police are all political institutions that are typically targeted by DTOs. The violence used against these institutions can be classified into two types: retaliation and coercion. Overall, cartels use a combination of these two forms of violence to influence political institutions at an increasing rate.

“If only women spent less time cooking"

Nestlé‘s soup brand, Maggi, was promoted by McCann Erickson, Romania with an advertising campaign, “If Only Women Spent Less Time Cooking”. These print advertisements suggest what might have happened if people were able to make use of ready-made soups: four USA presidents on Mt Rushmore and The Godmother.

Can we assume that these women have become what they are because the men in their lives got stuck in and shared their load in the kitchen? According to this ad, maybe. Of course it is an exaggeration, giving it a laughable aspect for the people who see this to enjoy.

Basically, the ad is selling its product. How? By implying the idea that you do not have to take up a lot of time is preparing for soup, for this product is all prepared. Therefore, all the mothers who are stressed about working and taking care of household chores, this product will reduce your worries so you can do much bigger work that will fulfill your ambitions.

The deep idea is this: "Women have been suppressed by so many house chores, and that is why men, not the women, have dominated many things in the world. If men and women had the equal chance, it would have been a women's world." This can be a very touchy concept, with some saying that this is feminist, and the debate over this ads can go awry(Well, if you are an anti-feminist). However, by giving it an exaggerated twist to the idea and putting them on the poster of "Godfather" and the president's faces on Mt Rushmore, the seriousness of the whole message is downsized.

I say they did a pretty good job in making this ad fun and effective.

RCL #12

"Thing Called Love... Really?"

Samsung commercial usually makes fun of Apple and their fan boys which happened since their release of the new Smartphone series of Galaxy S. This 90-second ad that aired during the Super Bowl game last February is about Samsung’s new Galaxy Note, mocking, yet again, the iPhone.

The basic point is similar from its past commercials. We are better. The phrase they use in this commercial directly addressed their point at the end: “No more waiting, The next big thing is already here.”

The commercial starts with people all over the states, waiting for a new Apple product to be released. They should be excited about a new product, but if you see their attitude and faced, it is easily noticeable that they are not. They are bored for waiting so long.

That is when the "hero" comes along to save the day. A guy in line sees someone with a new electric device and gets interested, noticing its cool functions. Now, the camera takes close ups of the gadget with the man doing his thing.

“Wait it has a pen? This is awesome,” says one of the characters as he starts drawing on the Galaxy Note. With the man talking about the pen, one can see this in one of the aspects that Samsung wishes to show the audience. A young woman next to him in line looks on impressed mumbling, “I don’t know what I believe in anymore” because, it's implied, she feels betrayed by Apple.

And suddenly,

“Freedom!” one shouts after he joins others fleeing a long line of bored hipsters tired of waiting in line. Busted out with song and dance and this is followed by a marching band, a hot girl singing “I want to kiss you every minute, every hour, every day,” Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, appears out of thin air to sing the 2003 hit song “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” Random celebrities, like Victoria’s Secret model Miranda Kerr, Chicago Bears defensive player Brian Urlacher and professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez (P-Rod), appear briefly and out of place throughout the clip and lastly a guy shot of a canon to convey excitement for Samsung’s new device.

That is probably what the ad is trying to send to the audience: that this device will free you from the boredom of waiting and actually give you more.

My reaction after I saw this commercial was “What just happened…?” It was really entertaining but I don’t think Samsung did good job bringing the subject looked more interesting and make people want to buy it. It was just bunch of thing going on at the same time and didn’t really talk about the product that much. Everything was just, well, everywhere. Only thing they talked about in commercial is the new galaxy note has a pen.

A Car with Swag

Cars, cars, cars.....

When you think of a car commercial, what do you think of? Heavy, serious, sleek, smooth, like a cool white collar businessman.... pretty much these stuff. Or, on the other hand, it might be more family centered, about safety and comfort. However, this commercial, on about Kia's new SOUL car,  takes an interesting take on the image of cars. Hip hop dancing Hamsters.

First of all, this commercial finds its perfect in that first, this commercial was shown during the MTV Video Music Awards, a perfect event that you can lure the young, music loving audience with hit music. Also, the commercial uses a trend setting music, LMFAO's "Party Rock." The kind of dance the hamsters do is called shuffle. To have this kind of music and this kind of dance, it is sure enough to attract the TV viewers.

The big question is, why hamsters? If you think of people dancing, it might have been dull, because we basically think of dance=people. However, animals don't dance. This fact makes the dancing hamsters funny and interesting. Thanks to this imaginative commercial, it is all the more fun and playful to watch.

The last thing that makes this ad the more effective is the fact that they made a contrast between the fighting deadly robots and the hip, cool dancing hamsters. This is an interesting thing because, eventually the ad is selling a machine, which is no different from a robot. Cold, no mercy... However, they are linking the car with warm-blooded animals. This indicated that the car is no ordinary car. It is no cold, heartless machine. It is actually a "soul"ful thing, full of fun and quite trendy.

By taking an approach as such to a car eventually resulted in a great acknowledgement from many all around the world.

Visual Brain Freeze

     This week has been quite warm, sometimes very hot that I was sweating a lot. Thanks to the warm weather, I was craving cold drinks that could quench my thirst under the sun. The one I craved the most: ice-cold slurshies.

     Speaking of slurshies, I have come across an interesting advertisement on this drink. Specifically about the Seven-Eleven Slurpees.

google.com

     Just by looking at her face you can see that she is certainly surprised by the drink that she is holding. Her eyes seem like they are going to pop out just by staring at her drink, her mouth does not seem like it will ever close, and her neck is so tense that you can almost feel the immense chill. Even the way her body is tilted shows that she was so surprised by the drink that she suddenly lost her balance. How surprised is the lady in the picture? Just look at her head. In all directions, there are icicles spreading out of where there are supposed to be hair. Assumingly, her hair has been frozen by the chilling taste of the slurpee. Summing things up, while her facial expressions initially shows her feelings, the numerous icicles enhance her expression with exaggeration.

    Color plays a big role, too. The overall color that is used in this ad is the color blue. The drink, the background, and even her face, they are all blue or blue-ish. We all know that blue represents cold temperature. In effect, all the blue that is used in this ad intensifies the chilling feeling that they are trying to demonstrate through this.

I say that this advertisement did its job by selling the coldness of the slurpee. In other words, the "visual brain freeze" has been sent successfully out to the audience.

"Dunking over the car"

    Blake Griffin dunked over a Kia Optima during last year’s NBA Dunk Contest. Ever since that, he became a spokesman for the KIA Optima commercial. This commercial which I posted is just one of his many Optima commercial series.

       Blake Griffin is a famous basketball star. He is a great example of ethos. Especially because of the fact that he dunked over a Kia Optima, it is easy for the audience, who will mostly be basketball fans, think of Blake Griffin when they see the Kia Optima. Also, at the end of the commercial, it says "Not your average spokesman.", meaning that because he is a star athlete, he has the credibility to be worth listening to. Also, right after that, the phrase "not your average midsize sedan." appears. By using a similar structured phrase it links Blake and the car, showing that these two have something in common; they are special.

        Also in this commercial, a man complains that he cannot fold the bed sheet right and Blake Griffin says, “You know what easily fold Phil? The side mirrors on 2011 KIA optima… with a push of button, it fold automatically.” He acts really seriously without a change in his facial expression. The only change in his face is at the end when he stares at the camera and raises one eyebrow, nice and slowly. Normally, being serious has to bring a sense of weight into the whole atmosphere. However, in this particular situation, the seriousness does the exact opposite; it makes the ad funny and light. This is because he is being serious for not much of a big reason. He did not really have to be serious in a situation where a man is struggling with folding laundry. That awkward situation made the ad not heavy but funny. This enlightenment of the ad makes it easier for the audience to remember the ad thanks to its sense of humor.

RCL Blogging #8

Soft Drinks in Action

When we think of soft drinks, there is a certain number of images that come in mind. Sweet, fresh, cool... Of course there are differences in the particular beverages that people prefer, but the overall image of these kind of drinks are limited.

This can also be seen in soft drink advertisements. Despite the difference in the way they initially look, they all eventually are sending the same message through similar strategies. Let's look at the few ads below.

1. Cover up the ad with the main color of product

     Notice the four ads that I have put up. They are all different colors and structures. However, they are all demonstrating through one huge aspect: color. Each product line has their own distinctive color. Coca-cola is red, Sprite is light green, Pepsi to blue, and Mountain Dew to lime green. Even just by looking at these ads from afar, one can pretty much notice from the color what product it is. What is more interesting is that, except for Coca-cola, the products are bright, "refreshing" colors. The reason Coca-cola is not in the trend is probably because that color has become more of an identity, therefore it would be more effective to keep the color than changing it to a different refreshing color.

2. Use water

     All four have water. It is not just there, but it is the one thing that covers up or surrounds the product in the advertisement. This use of water around the bottle or the glass cup indicates the temperature of the product. It looks like the product just came out of a clod refrigerator, refreshing and cold, just how a soft drink should be like. This kind of effect will reach its peak during the summer, when it is extremely hot and sweaty. You can actually see this in other drink ads such as beer. However, don't forget that it is not still, motionless water; it is active, splashing water that does the trick.