20 February 2008: State Farm Insurance

State Farm sponsored tonight's ABC.com showing of Lost. As only one 30 second ad slot exists prior to the ability to watch the show, I watched the full State Farm Ad. The ad starts with an image of a 4 lane highway. People are driving very quickly. Driving in America indicates freedom. I remember my first driving experience. My mom got in the car and asked if I knew how to start and how to stop. I confirmed that I did. To which, my mother responded, then let's go. I was so afraid. The day I received my drivers' license, the first place to which I went was an orchestra rehearsal. Again, I was so afraid of driving. As I grew more comfortable, the car changed into an escape. I spent a lot of time commuting for an internship and as I grew professionally, the car representing my increase in confidence. It also increased my road rage. That was why the next portion of the ad appealed to greatly. It was not that there were only fast moving cars but also that the picture was disjointed with images of people eating dinner, neighbors speaking over a fence, two people speaking over a fence (indicating that they are neighbors). The cars moved swiftly and safely past these people. This oncoming traffic appealed to that sense of fear I exhibited as an early driver. I would not wish to hit these people. The people are shown in friendly situations. Speaking to neighbors or having a family dinner or planning in a playground are manners by which we express ourselves and embrace each other's happiness. We, as Americans, share in our joys, wanting to ambitiously succeed. America is a front porch country. That is where most of life is traditionally lived. In the home or in the front yard. As I watched the ad, the spokesperson said "remember that the people on the road are your neighbors and friends. They are not just in your way." It humanized the driving condition. We like to think that we are completely free on the road and that slower drivers are inhibiting our freedom. However, we do not view the same code with other people. Whether it be love, friendship, family, the outdoors. We treat these situations differently than we treat those on the road. This ad called our attention to our other codes. It definitely spoke to mine. The Farm connotes my rural upbringing, where it is one-on-one service. While I do not drive, I respect State Farm's ability to bring me 'home.' Home represents safety. If I remember those who are at home, I will want to keep them safe and they would wish the same for me. The marketing implications are huge but this is 'off-code.' It may take another follow up ad for people to feel comfortable with this dynamically continuous change in behavior.

5 Insightful Marketing Websites

http://www.trendhunter.com
http://advertisingetc.blogspot.com/
http://brandstrategy.wordpress.com/
http://adweek.blogs.com/
http://brandnoise.typepad.com/

19 February 2008: American Apparel

Facebook is currently trying to monetize their peer to peer networks. Today, I noticed the American Apparel banner ad on the right hand side. In bold, it says "Day to Night." It shows 9 girls, 3 across and 3 down, in different phases of dress. Day to Night makes one initially think of work to bed. However, the way that the girl is phased makes the user feel like they are witnessing a story. When stories are told, Americans view them as a linear, left to right process. The past is on the left, the future is on the right. The girl is wearing a blue sweater. Blue represents knowledge and intellect. Furthermore, the sweater connotes conservative. The grey skirt indicates being dull. The top left person is not necessarily who we want to perceive ourselves as as Americans. We view ourselves as exciting. However, the rest of the ad was lost on me. Instead of one story, moving from the top left to the bottom right (black on white. Black indicates night. White indicates being fresh. The two together indicate a fun party), it was 3 different stories. Why only three stories? Finally, it said "Take your daytime look into night ->" The arrow indicates direction, so I looked, and there, was American Apparel. I have never been an American Apparel buyer, so perhaps that is why the meaning was lost. What I deem as American Apparel is different from what the brand manager and buyers deem as American Apparel. However, for a younger demographic, who is not yet working, but always multitasking, it appeals. The three stories, the multiple clothes. People want multi-functionality in their lives. They want to be both professional and fun. Society often limits their ability to be both at once. However, American Apparel liberates people and enables them to simultaneously be both. American Apparel can take advantage of this positioning to appeal to Millennial sentiments and increase business.

18 February 2008: How Many Bites in a Twix?

Today, while working on a group project, my classmate Trevor suddenly pointed at my classmate Anca and exclaimed, "why are you eating your Twix bar like that?" I looked over and saw Anca had both of the Twix bars pushed up, even bite marks on both. One of the best Twix selling points is that it has two bars. It also has a caramel crunch. The caramel reminds me of the fall. Crisp leaves all around. The rich smokey smells of burning leaves. Twix is a very 'fall' bar for me. However, when I eat it, I eat one bar and then the other. I want to maximize the time it takes for me to eat the bars. For the purpose of this class, I asked Anca why she consumed her Twix bar in this manner. She immediately replied, when you take out the Twix bar from the wrapper, it takes time to eat it. During that time, it melts in your hand. This way, I don't have to get my hands dirty. Anca is from Romania. Romania was under Soviet control until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Under Soviet Control, the rich had much and the poor had little. I guess that Anca came from the former rather than the latter. At its base level, to have own's hands dirty indicates that somebody has to work for a living. Often times, the rich do not want to associate themselves with dirty handiwork. This is the root reason that I imagine Anca does not want to get her hands dirty. In Romania, Twix may try to overcome this cultural prism, and create one full bar, instead of two, that can be pushed out of the package. Or the marketer can experiment with advertising people eating the Twix bar in this manner to imply a desired socio-economic status symbol.

17 February 2008: Tarzan The Musical

I remember my first musical. It was a commercial: "Ah, Ah Kansas." I would run around on my little 2 year old legs and sing the jingle. This jingle was a manner of my happily expressing myself to the world. The jingle starts on the tonic, then moves upward to the minor seventh, and then resolves. Musicology suggests that this motif makes the user feel uplifted, then unresolved (the minor seventh causes this), and then resolved again. It is the key to substance. As I grew, musicals have this form. Mary Poppins uplifts, creates discomfort, and then resolves. The music reflects this. I started having season tickets to theatre at the age of 15. Theatre created a sense of escape that the Millennial generation often seeks. Its lyrics and stories are classic. The themes are often generationless. I ultimately want to promulgate the arts to the disenfranchised for many of these reasons. Today, I was listening to accubroadway and a song came on. It was a song that I knew I had to purchase. It was the song "Two Worlds," from Disney's Tarzan the Musical by Phil Collins. Tarzan is a paradescence of both freedom and struggle. Tarzan does not fit in either world. However, he is seemingly free. The song title reflects this irony. The cover of the song is green, representing lush and natural. The logo is a papyrus font which reminds me of wood and the jungle. Beyond the cover, I started listening to the music.

The music starts with an open drone, much like bagpipe, with solo male tenor. The tenor is always the hero. A bagpipe is almost always played outside. The drone reminds one of the constancy of life. A bird caws, reminding the listener that they are in the jungle. Finally, a tribal drum beat starts. Two solid chords with the guitar. Suddenly, the listener is no longer alone. He is unified with the world. The entrance of the piano represents European cultural influences. The world is no longer wild, but structured. However, the tribal drum beat still continues. I am attracted to this drum beat. As I continue to seek acceptance (as many Millennials do) and try to fit in, there is a part of me that wants to be different. To be me. Without cultural influences and resistance. That is why I am drawn to this drum beat and this song in a way that I have not been to other songs. The lyrics to this chorus sing as follows:

Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lifes we see

Put your faith in what you most believe in
Two worlds, one family
Trust your heart
Let fate decide
To guide these lifes we see

I am at a crossroads. Maybe I don't have to pick. Maybe there is a new path for me that I seek. As a marketer for Tarzan The Musical, I should use this message to target young teenagers and their parents. Teens face this crossroad of conformity. They also will relate to the Tarzan and Disney message in a positive way. They do not have to pick. It is not either/or but rather and/but.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3KA8KiNTNg

16 February 2008: The Bar

The average grocery decision is made in 3 seconds. That holds true for me in every category except beer, wine, and candy. Tonight, I had to make a decision between beers. Why does it take me 5 minutes to decide between Killians and Harp? First, it must be said that I am on a very tight budget in preparation for a trip to Prague. Second, I normally do not care for domestic beers. My first memory of domestic beers is of my mom drinking a cold Bud Light after a hot summer day of weeding. She looked at me and said, sometimes there is nothing better than a cold beer on a hot day. American beer is typically very light. It resembles water and people often drink it as if it was. I did not really drink that much in college, but my freshman roommates did. What type of beer did they drink? They drank American beer. In bulkloads. They would wake me up in the middle of the night, drunk. American beer resulted in bad behavior and exhaustion. However, when I moved to Dublin, my perception of beer changed. No longer was it Rapaille's gun. Instead, beer was something to be consumed as an accessory while speaking with a person. The beer was darker and heavier. The dark color connoted richness. Its thick texture made one feel as if one was eating a meal. It was not meant to be consumed quickly. Rather, European beer was like having a dinner party. It was meant to be enjoyed with others. Killians is a domestic beer. However, I did not realize this until this past year when Monday's is $2.00 domestic night at Legends. Its dark color and Irish name, combined with the horse on the label, implied that it was Irish. Ireland's cultural metaphor is conversation. However, Harp is a lager. Light beers contain for me that slight feeling of apprehension. However, Harp is also an Irish beer. I value its Irishness over its light color. I did not drink it as much in Ireland however. I only started drinking it in the U.S. As I compared prices, I ultimately selected Killians because I sought the dark richness of a meal that Harp could not provide me. It was fitting for a Saturday night. Marketers could easily take this sense of "Irishness" and apply it to multiple beers. While the Irish have fun, an Irish beer is a conversational one. It is meant to be enjoyed and should be positioned as such. Harp would be interpreted as more of a blonde beer: full of ambition without the contemplation. Harp is the fun beer of Ireland. Killians inserts the meaning of Irish conversation to create its own brand meaning.

15 February 2008: Contemplations of a Lemon Bar

Today I went to lunch with an old professor of mine. She took me to this Victorian coffee shop in Mishawaka. As you enter the shop, the shop has the feel of an old general store. The general store connotes homemade and fresh. This general store did not just connote homemade. It actually was. As I sat at the table with my professor, discussing this course, I used my own cranberry tart as an example. My professor then looked at her lemon bar, thought contemplatively for a minute, and then said, I bought this lemon bar because I love the color yellow. I just didn't realize it until now. The walls of my house are painted various shades of yellow. Yellow is my favorite color. I love bananas. I just love yellow things. When I probed her as to why, she promptly said "in a town like South Bend, it is nice to have something that is so light." She was referring to the overwhelming portion of the South Bend year when it is gray. Yellow things served as her own sun. The sun traditionally symbolizes both light, life, and heat. These elements also bring happiness. In the subculture of South Bend, the sun is a rare commodity. It is to be treasured. One stops what they are doing to bask in the happiness that the sun brings. For my music professor, eating something yellow, was like eating happiness. Consumed, it could only warm the spirit. For a marketer, my music professor reflects the American perpetuity of optimism. A creator of lemon bars would do well to launch during the late winter months, when people seek light in the midst of a longer winter and look forward to the happiness of spring.

14 February 2008: Sweet Hearts

Today is Valentine's Day. Every website I view has a temporary pink logo in honor of the day. Pink is the universal color of love. It also stimulates relaxation and acceptance. In class today, we discussed the American culture's perspective on Valentine's Day. Men feel it connotes an emotion of guilty. Women feel it connotes an emotion of romanticism. The two combine to create a more materialistic Valentine's Day. As one who has never had many Valentines, I do not glean that meaning from the day. I wore red to represent my recognition of love of all people in my life. I wished everybody a Happy Valentine's Day without sending a single card. The day almost went by without my noticing any commercialization. Until I went to work. As I passed the candy dish, there, in the midst of candy, were Necco Candy Hearts. My first memory of candy hearts is of my mother purchasing a multitude of candy heart bags starting in the beginning of February. It wasn't uncommon for at least one bag to disappear before arriving home. Candy hearts connote a special occasion for indulgence. The multitude of colors stimulate my attraction to it. I almost always eat the candy hearts by color, least preferred to most preferred. My preference has changed, but my least preferred has always been yellow. Yellow does imply happiness, but it also implies a taste of banana or lemon. The two do not usually go well with sweet things, unlike the purple and the green, which have more of a milkshake taste to them. Finally, we approach the white and then the red. The red is more of a candy taste. This order system is similar to how I eat and prefer vegetables to candy. Healthy items rank lower on the "candy" scale than do "sweets." The limited edition of these hearts makes me excited. It is specifically associated with Valentine's Day and the receipt of Valentine's from friends and family. Eating candy hearts reminds me of their expression of love towards me and my love towards them. It also is one of the few products of which I cannot limit my consumption. I over indulge in 'love,' in a way that often gives me a 'high.' On Valentine's Day, who does not want to 'get high on love?'

13 February 2008: Are You Going to Eat That?

I went to LaFortune this morning only to encounter a good friend of mine from Argentina eating breakfast. I know I have already written about my own breakfast habits, which is why I found my attraction to her breakfast so interesting. She had V8 Fruit Splash, a yoghurt parfait from LaFortune, and a bagel with raspberry jelly. I greeted her and commented on her breakfast. It looked so delicious and healthy.

My first memory of yoghurt parfait stems from a visit to family in Germany. They lived near Munchen. I remember waking up to the smell of a hot cup of coffee and that sense of healthy familial warmth that that envelopes me with. I went out to the breakfast table to see a table filled with toast, meat, cheese, cereal, and yoghurt. Confused, I sat down and began to watch the family eat in order to understand how I was to digest this food. The family made open face meat sandwiches on fresh bread from the bakers and used the yoghurt to softer the cereal. This concept was exceptionally foreign to me. A fan of behaving like a Roman, I scooped yoghurt on to my bowl of cereal and proceeded to digest it. The yoghurt left the cereal crunchy and uncomfortable in my mouth. I felt like I had more food in every bite that I consumed and that I had to work harder to consume it. The taste sensation also greatly differed. Yoghurt cereal was much sweeter than cereal with milk. My sweet tooth liked it. So did my tummy. I did gain 10 pounds over the course of that trip. My next memory of yoghurt parfait was in New Zealand. However, my most recent memory of yoghurt parfait was at the airport in Chicago. I had some time in the terminal and wanted to eat something healthy while I waited. The yoghurt parfait at McDonalds had a low price point and reminded me of the sweet unfamiliar, uncomfortable, but filling breakfast I had had in my travels. While traveling, it seemed appropriate. My friend's yoghurt parfait reminded me of travel, and as I approach my own trip to Berlin, it appealed to me.

She also was eating a bagel. I had eaten bagels throughout high school with butter. The warmth of the butter made the bagel taste sweet and hearty. One could easily eat more than one bagel and often I did. As I entered college, my best friend lived in a Jewish community and introduced me to a fresh variety of bagels. Bagels were my special treat. It reminds me of my best friend, of the amazing times I had in college, of other cultures, and of a treat.

Finally, V8 fruit splash. The orange of the bottle connotes summer and the sweet taste of an orange. The color is also attractive and invigorating. V8 means vegetables. As a child, my mother always would not let me leave the table unless I ate my vegetables. In fact, she would calculate the number of bites left on my plate. Vegetables are an obligation. However, fruit, is a privilege. Oranges were always a sweet healthy snack that I could have during the summer, when I came in from playing. Granted, I do not like peeling them. My hands always smell like oranges. The 'splash' part reminds me of playing in the swimming pool with my dad. We would always play games and act like kids. V8 fruit splash evokes all of these memories to create a playful healthy treat, rather than an obligation.

I wanted the combination of these items on my friend's table because they presented a sweet unfamiliar treat.

However, when I asked my friend why she selected these items, she said it was because they were all of her favorite things. She tried eating cereal with milk only to feel like she was gaining weight. Unlike how I felt in Germany, in Argentina, I image they are more likely to eat yoghurt as part of the breakfast process. As a result, instead of being unfamiliar, yoghurt is more associated with youth and relaxation, as my cereal and milk is to me. The V8 splash connoted more of the summer and her feelings of desire to return to Argentina to see her family again. However, I am unsure about the bagel. However, for her, this breakfast is normal. It is familiar and warm. It is my cornflakes, banana, and coffee. Even though we both like that breakfast, we select it for completely different purposes.

Managers should take notice of the reason behind specific breakfasts. Very few managers show a full balanced breakfast anymore due to obesity issues. However, I rarely see marketing for traditional breakfasts that does not include morning and a family. Family is not the only people with whom you eat breakfast. As a market of a yoghurt parfait in the U.S., I would try to emphasize the international flavor, travel, and the warm sun of an Argentinian brunch. Emphasize a different breakfast situation to first appeal to international subcultures within the U.S. and then to the substance desires of American nationals who may gravitate towards the exotic.

12 February 2008: Mint 3 Musketeers

This ad begins with a forward camera shot of a fairy tale book. My first memory of this tactic is in Sleeping Beauty. I always watched fairy tales with my parents or they read them to me. I remember the sound of their voices, the inflections, and feeling so incredibly safe while I was being transported to a different world. The use of 'magic' semiotics is a brilliant technique. The scene them opens with a world in green. Not only does this connote a feeling a mint, but it reminds me of ivy, growth, the environment, peace, intellect, and mist. A woman dressed in a flowy white gown with flashing lights resembles Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. Tinker Bell saves Peter Pan's life, although she is a bit of a jealous fairy. What could this jealous fairy be seeking in the forest? Bright lights connote the Star of Bethlehem. This woman must be seeking something of great value and it is lighting her way through the darkness. She finally finds what she has been seeking and it is a 3 Musketeer Mint bar that blooms from a flower. This makes me feel that this is fresh. That ad then shows the savory marshmellowy white goodness of the middle and arrests my taste memory by showing the dark still gooey chocolate center. The prose of this ad always resembles the fairy tale and it ends with a moral of the story. The overall ad then tells me that the 3 Musketeers bar may be difficult to find, but not only is it safe and delicious, but it will be unlike any other taste sensation I have yet had. I am intrigued and interested and now I want to try it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUstnXO5Gpk

11 February 2008: "How are You?"

A brief update on a previous post. Vanilla caramel tea is not really that good. I have been mislead by my desire for sweets! Back to the traditional English breakfast tea for me! Today I prepared for the midterm in this class. Even though I already commented about another television ad for Vodafone, I literally listened to the song from the 2001 "How are You?" ad for 30 minutes yesterday. This ad starts with a woman in black screaming while running towards something outside to a pop-like guitar riff. It cues to a woman walking in red with a wallet chain who answers her phone, smiling and saying "how are you?" Music has always indicated something. The major key in which this song is playing connotes a feeling of happiness. The constant eighth note tempo conveys excitement. While I never attended a rock concert outside, this ad reminds me of the first time I started thinking about rock concerts, as my friends went to go and see the "Spice Girls." The Spice Girls are English as is the girl in the first scene. Immediately, I am taken back to the excitement and happiness of being an energetic 13 year old, admiring this older woman, and wanting to be like her. The ad then moves quickly through the streets of China with a Chinese dragon. "We're Off." It appeals to my love of travel and the exotic. A group of girls giggling in a limo reminds me of prom films I watched as a teenager, again creating that cognitive objectivity. I want to be like these girls. "We're gorgeous." I remember being stuck in traffic more than once and wishing that I could leave it again. Few things are better than once that traffic actually clears. "We're stuck." The ad uses young people jumping off of cliffs or in a helicopter or at a football match to appeal to my sense of international excitement. The scene at the ballet arrests my art loving self only to be slightly irritated when the man's cell phone goes off. I would not want to be there either.

However, it is really Dandy Warhol's lyrics of the song "Bohemian Like You" paired with these slice of life images that captivates me.

Youve got a great car,
Yeah, whats wrong with it today?
I used to have one too,
Maybe youll come and have a look.
I really love your hairdo,yeah,
Im glad you like my do,
See were looking pretty cool, getcha.

Cause I like you,
Yeah, I like you,
And Im feelin so bohemian like you,
Yeah, I like you,
Yeah, I like you,
And I feel wahoo, wooo

This song is about self expression. Bohemians love art for arts sake. They do not want to impress anybody. They are cool by being themselves. I have always marched the beat of my own drum. I do not want to feel like I need to impress somebody. I want people to like me for me. The song lyrics makes me feel that Vodafone likes me for me. Who doesn't want a relationship with a company like that? Especially if it makes me feel excited, like it understands my situation, and makes me regress back to a very exciting and careful time in my life. That is a fun relationship to have and that is why I really love this ad.

"Hello. How are you? We’re Off. We’re gorgeous. We’re stuck. We’re free. I’m in a meeting. We’re in love. We’re groovy. (Mobile ring). I’m not here. We’re safe. We’re winning. I’m on my way.” Vodafone. The people you need are only a touch away. How are you?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnZD2A47LbE

10 February 2008: T-Mobile & Blackberry

As I sat at my friend's house on Sunday watching a rare episode of television, an add for the Blackberry Pearl and T-Mobile attracted my attention. This ad begins with a man sitting on 'the chair' with a woman carrying a red garment on this left. The ad uses a popular culture theme of 'the chair.' My first memory of the chair is as a child, sitting on it, while waiting for my mother to emerge out of the dressing room. I was so bored but I knew I could not go anywhere or face my mother's wrath. As I see the man on 'the chair,' it signifies his boredom. The woman on the left hand side carries a 'red' dress. Red suggests passion and seduction. My eyes are immediately drawn to her as she asks for the man's opinion. He gives it and she selects the opposite. My first memory of that behavior is of my grandmother trying on clothing. Grandy is very particular and when she asks, she rarely wants your opinion. I love my grandmother, but I can no longer shop with her. My memory of this type of interaction draws me further into the ad. As the shopping experience continues with the same interaction, the man's nonverbal cues indicate that he is frustrated by the shopping experience and just wants it to be over. It took me years of waiting to actually enjoy shopping. You can then see that the man wants a specific phone when in the T-Mobile store. The T-Mobile store is not a female environment, as were the other scenes. It has changed the feel of the advertisement, to make the viewer question its motives. The man ultimately get wants he want. The voiceover comes on: "Now there is a color for everyone. The Blackberry Pearl collection. T-Mobile. Stick together." Blackberry reminds me of fruits I use to pick as a child and the freedom that this ad does not connote. Pearl is something expensive and rare, that my mother always wears. I remember its warm touch on my 3 year old hands. My mom expressed gentle protectiveness over her pearls. I could touch it, but I had to be careful with it. The Blackberry Pearl gives a gentle, but precious freedom to its users. The color enables that user to express its creativity, instead of just having 'blue.' This ad frees the user from the shopping scene and perhaps the Blackberry Pearl would have freed me from my childhood experiences as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2jje8MS0Nw

9 February 2008: I Love Dale Jr

I love the Midwest. On a recent drive to a friend's engagement party, I was at a gas station, waiting for a friend to use the restroom. I was distracted by products on a lower shelf by the attendant. Half price Christmas candy. Gas stations always increase the price, so I was engaged, to try to capture the price. Suddenly, my eyes caught something red. Right now, it is almost Valentine's Day. Red not only captured my attention by used my cultural association to indicate it was a Valentine's product. Next, I saw a square box with a bit of a raised edge of cardboard, as it it was meant to be hung at Walmart. This looked like a box that candy is in. However, what caught my eye next was not usually on a box of chocolates. It looked like a picture. I picked up the box because I didn't recognize it. There, in curly 8 year old cursive font read "I (insert picture of heart) Dale Jr." It was for Nascar! My earliest memory of Nascar is of changing the channel. The people in my hometown who followed Nascar were those with thick MO accents, people in lower socio-economic circles, and who drank a lot of beer. I did not associate them with the heart and love feelings of Valentine's Day. That is what made me so intrigued by this box. I was surprised. The code did not match for me! And here I was in a Midwestern gas station in Michigan with a Dale Jr. box of chocolates. The code matched Michigan, but not I!

8 February 2008: St. Ives

In the girl's bathroom is a container of St. Ives Lotion. I reached for it for its functional purposes, but this substance triggered a memory of my ex. My first memory of this smell stems from my ex, but I had forgotten that it was St. Ives Lotion. We met my second day of Freshman year, but I do not remember recognizing the scent until our junior year. I had gone abroad, things happened, we actually became a couple instead of just friends. My ex was my first love. We moved abroad together. The root memory is that of love, connection, and relationship. As I am at Notre Dame, I find myself continually returning to that bathroom to use this lotion. Its blue on white packaging symbolizes calm and purity. The Ivy font reminds me of Victorian times. This is a small decadent item with a time honored tradition. However, for me, this scent envelopes me in memories of love, connection, and relationships and instantly calms me. Scent is a funny memory and I found it amusing that I immediately recognized the scent without recognizing the product.

7 February 2008: Breakfast of Champions

This morning, I poured my corn flakes (see previous entry) and got my cup of coffee and my banana and sat down to watch television and enjoy breakfast. As I sat there, consuming my breakfast, I felt so incredibly delighted. I realized that every morning, I love breakfast. My earliest memory of breakfast stems back to my early childhood. Clearly I would have eaten baby food as a child, but my earliest memory of eating breakfast is of eating Lucky Charms in my family home in Iowa. Lucky Charms were amazing, even though I usually picked out the marshmellows and the left the crunchy stuff. My mom would pour me my cereal and the milk and leave it out on the table. I would then turn on the television to PBS and watch Seasame Street or Reading rainbow before school. Cereal makes me feel loved and excited for the day to come.

I started drinking coffee my sophomore year in college after suffering from a cold. I had tried it unsuccessfully before, but my Mom has been drinking 2 cups of coffee every day for the past 30 years. My home always smelled of coffee in the morning. It has paradesense. It both relaxes me and makes me think of home while invigorating me. I do not have an earliest memory of experiencing the sensual memory of coffee because it is omnipotent. Coffee also equals love for me. But as a sophomore, I had a terrible cold and Mom recommended that I get something hot to soothe it. The only thing in Grab N' Go was coffee and it felt so good on my throat. It was a soothing cure.

Breakfast for me makes me feel like a loved child. The world has yet to make me stressed. For that 15 minutes, I am loved.

6 February 2008: Herbal Essence, an Orgasmic Experience?

As I was showing today, I realized that I was unhappy with the Suave conditioner I was using. I recalled that I had Herbal Esssence in my cabinet. I stopped my shower and pulled out Herbal Essene body envy volumizing conditioner.

At the store, I had several options when making my purchase. However, I knew I wanted to purchase Herbal Essence. My first memory of Herbal Essence is the Herbal Essence ad I saw as a late teenager of the woman in the shower having an 'orgasmic' experience. Granted, the actual orgasm aspect didn't arrest my senses. However, the concept that this was a shampoo that was going to make you shout out and make showers more fun did. The flowers in the commercial indicated a flower bouquet. As somebody with a very sensual memory, shampoo smells remind me of very specific periods of time in my life or very specific people. I also pick shampoo primarily due to the smell. I first used Herbal Essence in college and I remember feeling very 'upscale' using Herbal Essence instead of Suave. That I was moving up in the world because I could afford Herbal Essence. It also had functional benefits and did make my hair smell and look better. As I purchase shampoo while under budget constraints, Herbal Essence is a way that I can feel that I have splurged and that I am still moving upward, like I felt in college.

The color of the bottle is an orange with a spring green cap and an emerald circle at the top. Orange indicates energy and morning to me. It also indicates a feeling of heat and the summer. As the weather continues to get more cold, a little heat might be very nice. Then, the emerald circle reminds me of jewelry and flowers. This bottle could make something bloom that would be a very special treat. Then, the captions, body envy. I am always concerned about my perceptions in the world. What do people think of me. I have very long blonde hair and it has always identified me. People have also always admired it. I want people to envy the way I look and I never am able to get that. Next, the shape of the bottle is wavy, like wind through summer flowers. It is creative and expressive, just as I like to portray myself.

On the back it says "do you want to feel uplifted? Love you body with my light, lush formula fused with white nectarine & pink coral flower. I leave a life in all the right places and rinse clean to leave you with volume that minds and lots of balance for the ounce." The product has come to life, just like a flower. I can leave my life in all of the right places. The smell of nectarine reminds me of summers home from college. The refreshing yet invigorating feel of a cool shower washing away the work of the day and leaving you ready to go.

5 February 2008: Cartwheel with Vodafone

As I assemble my portfolio on Vodafone, I found myself returning back to its mobile internet ad entitled 'Cartwheel.' Every time that I watch this ad, I find myself captivated, intrigued, and happy. My first memory of Vodafone was when I participated in the Notre Dame Dublin program in the spring of 2003. It was the first week in Dublin and I required a mobile phone. I missed home and felt exceptionally disoriented, but purchased this 'new' mobile carrier because it had the best text rate between carriers. It's red logo arrests attention and the encircled apostrophe represented a conversation within a circle - a circle of friends. At that time, that is what I needed. When I view this Vodafone ad though, it arrests my other lense - that of an art film lover.

The ad starts with a woman in red tights laying on a couch. She draws my attention, reminding me much of a mime that one might see in Paris. Mimes are associated with entertainment and silence. As the lilting piano music plays, it reminds me of the adagio movement of a piano sonata. The piano plays on my musician heart, making me immediately feel both relaxed and engaged. This feeling is further supported by the fact that I use to swim every morning and the lifeguard would turn the radio to a classical station that always played piano music during that time. As the ad continued, the woman continues to go to a variety of places, the store, the bus stop, the ATM, the bus, and the coffee shop. She looks very lonely and quiet. I feel her loneliness and sympathize with her waiting. When living in Ireland, you wait for everything. This ad reminds me of that time in Ireland (which I have addressed before), so now I have attached my love of music and my happiness of Ireland, despite its faults, to this ad. The woman continues to travel throughout the city, on the bus, swinging around a street pole (reminding me of Gene Kelly in singing in the rain, which is the climax of that film and one of the happiest moments, and seemingly a turning point in this ad), and waiting on the upper story of a building at sunset (I love sunset and have always seen this as a fantastic way to spend an evening, especially when you evoke my happiness of international to the ad). I feel that she is getting happier. Dame Judy Dench's voice over during this moment reads like poetry.

"Its the rest of the time. The hours spent not really doing anything. The hanging around time. The A to B time. The bits of time that sit between the more interested bits of time."

As an art lover, my intellectual sentiments are intrigued. The mime, the exoticism, the cinematography. This ad plays like an art film, which I started attending also when I lived in Dublin. Art films make me feel engaged and I always leave them feeling more educated and that I am a better person in the world because of them.

Suddenly, the ad stops with a low piano chord and makes the 'rewind' noise from a VHS tape. You see everything reverse. The piano music then speeds up and the orchestra is added with sixteenth notes and a chance in key from minor to major, which indicates motion and happiness. The clips of the woman doing all of these things are truncated and spliced together such that as the music speeds up, so to does the fast forward of these spliced moments. It looks like the woman is doing a cartwheel. Never having been able to do a cartwheel myself, I have always wanted to do one. However, it indicates the joy of childhood. A time when time doesn't matter.

"What if you could take all of these moments, all this ordinary time, and turn it in to something extraordinary? The internet is now truly mobile so that you can use it whenever you want. Vodafone. Make the most of now."

I leave feeling like I am a better person in this world because of this ad. That Vodafone can turn something that is exotic and silent into something that is moving, creative, active, and child-like. I think I shall go and watch the ad again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Vy-uXBE6M

4 February 2008: Chevron & the Environment

As I was on the elliptical this morning, a Chevron ad on CNN caught my eye. It caught my eye because it related to the physical world. The ad's music is that of a quiet forest as it pans through pictures of Sir Edmund Hillary, the man on the moon, fast motion lights of cars driving at night, students running through a playground, students learning science, then, scientists studying geothermal images on a computer and going outside, people boating and exploring by the water, a mother and child riding on a bike. Finally, the red and blue inverted triangles of the Chevron Logo, saying "human energy." I do not have a first memory of Chevron except that it was not a station my family typically went to. It was often too expensive. As a result, I still do not go. However, in the face of the oil crisis, what struck me about this ad was that uses the American code for car (freedom), but explores it using the physical world. Many of the images it shows uses utopian cartography to get the consumer to understand what they really want. The quiet images of Sir Edmund Hillary & the man on the moon play upon the American drive for idealism, that we as a nation assume that the nation should stand for something. These historical events mark that stand. Then, one sees the fast past movement of cars that draw us to modern time. Movement is healthy. Children learning bring us back to the simplicity of our childhood and then the ad takes us outside. Most people remember the outdoors as being a fun place where life was simple and peaceful. Mountains represent exploration. The water represents transquility. The ad takes us to all four corners of the United States and then shows us the image of a mother and child on a bike, with a look of peace. Overall, this ad appeals to the viewer because of our intert desire to create a peaceful environmental Utopia. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XlqPq2bvv0

3 February 2008: Super Bowl

Watching the Super Bowl with MBA and graduate students creates a different advertising viewing experience. My first memory of the Super Bowl is that of the commercials. The Super Bowl itself bored me; however, the commercials engaged me. At fewer times in the calendar year do brands play part in more secular of a ritual. The brands contribute to the Super Bowl experience. However, I have not felt that the Super Bowl ads are as playful or as effective as they were in years past. As I analyzed the ads, I realized that they were not effective on me. They often tap into a cultural biography and semiotic choreography that I did not have. Those ads that did impact me, despite my exclusion from their target market, were those that were on code.

Hyundai created a simple sleek commercial that emphasized the "it works" American code for quality and played upon our "movement" codes for healthy and "beauty" codes for man's salvation. It opens with modernistic piano music as a silver car rotates in a display room. The camera examines all angles and then the voiceover comes on as the car drives through a modern tunnel. "We're not sure what the USA Today will think about this on the AdMeter tomorrow, but we are fairly sure our competitors aren't going to like it. Introducing the 375 Horsepower Hyundai Genesis." The ad combines these codes with our mythological knowledge of Genesis. In the beginning. The simplicity. The beauty. All of these convey the simple revolutionary design of the Hyundai Genesis. The ad broke through the clutter due to its simplicity, but I am unsure as to its AdMeter effectiveness. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTg-C1yAzCc

Doritos made one of the best ads that played upon the cultural code of food equaling fuel and the American desire for equality, especially in regards to David Brooks' cosmic bimbo. The ad begins with music from Bizet's Carmen as a gentlemen in a black suit enters the room, carrying a paper bag. Out of it, he pulls a bag of Doritos. He slices a chip with a knife and places it on a mouse trap and sits on a chair, bag of Doritos in hand to watch this mouses' demise. As he sits, suddenly, out of the wall, a giant man dressed in a mouse costume bursts and knocks him over. The ad appeals to stereotypes of dislike of the upperclass that stems from our Puritan days. The humor is that the cosmic bimbo of success gets beat up by a mouse, illustrating that any of us can do that as well. Plus, in the end, the Doritos may be a motivation factor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE9QA3bICF0

Bud Light also related to philosophical concepts as it illustrated and then destroyed man's ultimate dreams. Man dreams of flying or of breathing fire. It is something that relates back to early childhood. However, beer is a memory of teenage or college years. The two humorously fuse together, as the man breathing fire destroys his date's house and the man flying flies into the jet engine or an airplane. It is brewed to give you everything you want in a beer, however, Bud Light no longer provides these things. However, it can still provide you with a good time. It plays upon American ego and desire for abundance and it is in that that is is most effective. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51V3h_LL3H4, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAl69Yfjzs

2 February 2008: The Comfort Zone

Lost Season 4 premiered on Thursday night and as I am busy on Thursdays, I must watch the show online. A show's engagement level indicates one's reaction to the ads that sponsor Lost. Lost reminds me of living in Ireland with my ex, merging American association and my love of the things I was missing in the U.S., with the foreign country in which I was living. It creates an exotic combination of familiar and unfamiliar. This curiosity to know both better and enjoy the show translates to these sponsored ads. The first I saw was that for "The Comfort Zone" for Comfort Inn. It plays on this concept of unfamiliar saying "get in your comfort zone." It uses yellow bright vivid colors to create a sense of surreal happiness. Its slice of life attitude examines the suburban core that Brooks mentioned in Paradise Drive. The scene is as follows: Two women stand on either side of a fence with flowers growing on to it. The woman on the right picks the flowers and stands admiring the flower, only to see that the other woman is staring at her, clearly the true owner of the plucked flower. The plucker then says "beautiful flowers." The concept of flowers indicates growth and one always says that you should expand (or grow) your comfort zone. Secondly, it plays off of the suburban influence of golf. That the golfer wants to defeats his normal competitor of 'anxiety.' The humor is that the suburban knight wants to achieve mastery over anxiety, tension, hurry, and disorder. This is why the tagline "get in your comfort zone" works so well. It also associates the difficult that the characters have on the island over mastering these same suburban concepts.

The logo uses the 3 squiggly lines to create an image of waves. These waves can be mental waves, as in a dream, or those of ocean waves crashing upon the sand. Both are complete states of nature. The four descending colors of yellow, mustard, orange, and red, make people think of the setting sun. The blue background reminds people of the sky. The result creates great levels of comfort based upon personal experience.

1 February 2008: Vegetarian or Turkey Panera Sandwich

I debated over my Panera lunchbox choice for at least 5 minutes before selecting the Vegetarian sandwich. My first memory of Panera is of taking a break in college to go out for lunch with friends. The smell of fresh bread overwhelmed me as I surveyed the menu options. My friend ordered soup in a bread bowl and I followed en suite. Very few soup in a sour dough bread bowl compares to that of Panera. Eating soup reminds me of being a sick child in the wintertime. Soup is what mom made when I was not feeling well. Panera soup in a bread bowl combines my association of soup with care with enjoying the company of friends. However, since I have returned to school, Panera lunchboxes remind me of meetings, some boring, some interesting. My association of care and fun with Panera overrides the tedium of meeting tasks.

Turkey sandwiches are sandwiches of my teenage years. It made me feel more sophisticated than peanut butter and jelly. However, vegetarian sandwiches remind me of the past year of my life. I have been trying to lose weight and vegetables are very good for you. That memory reflects my mother's saying and constant pressure to 'eat my vegetables.' My ex was a vegetarian. San Francisco has many vegetarians in it. However, I love meat. I am from the Midwest where to own a cow means that you have community status. Turkey is the healthier alternative to beef. To eat turkey is to be a Midwesterner and to eat vegetarian is to be a West Coaster. My selection of a vegetarian sandwich marks my conversion from being a Midwestern teenager to a West Coast adult.

Panera should analyze which sandwiches are more popular where and analyze the cultural reasons for that popularity. If Panera understands that vegetarian sandwiches are exceptionally popular because of the health and adult life-style connotations, it can market to those consumers accordingly. If Panera understands that turkey sandwiches symbolize growth and a yearning to find one's place in the world (as one feels as a teen), it can market to those consumers accordingly.

31 January 2008: Burger King = Men

Today a group of my male friends and I discussing the BK King NFL ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=An7Uv2xa614. The men could not understand that I do not understand this ad. As a result, I decided to investigate it more fully. The ad flows as follows:

It is before the snap. The camera pans to a tied scoreboard. The quarterback takes the snap, draws back, releases, and then, suddenly, from out of nowhere comes an interception made by the BK King. He runs towards and dives into the end zone. As he celebrates, a voice over says: "The King is going all out. Laying it on the line with BK chicken fries. Score the new all white meat 12 piece today." End commercial with the BK king doing a celebratory strut.

First, my first memory of Burger King occurs as a child playing in the Burger King giant play hamburger. It was fun, but not as fun as the McDonalds playground. It also did not have as good of a happy meal toy. As a child, the happy meal toy and the playplace is critical to fast food success. As an adult, Burger King was where you went to have a slightly higher quality of food than you would find at McDonalds or if you had a taste for a Whopper instead of a Big Mac. However, my family primarily went to McDonalds, because my mother liked Big Mac more than Whopper. Furthermore, at that time, McDonalds had better fries than Burger King. As an adult, Burger King was the only fast foot option on my college campus. I distinctly remember living off of fries every Thursday. Burger King became my preferred fast food choice. It infused my joy of being busy with music rehearsals and college.

The Burger King logo uses a large rounded font with increased font size on the word King. Burger reminds me of being a child and eating outside during the summer. Fast food burgers remind me of a special treat. As a result, I am very attracted to the word 'burger.' However, the word 'King' can have multiple meanings. For me, traditionally, it takes a historical connotation as a 'ruler.' This is the ruler of burgers. To take that a step further, in mythological, king's were Gods on earth. This burger then is a god on earth. However, for many men, take that concept to refer to masculinity. This masculinity is further represented by the large words sandwiched between two round bun halves. The size of the logo represents the size of the meat. This is a real sandwich. Men might take this logo to mean that it is a man's sandwich. Finally, the blue arc that surrounds the sandwich on the right side serves both as a symbol of royalty (the royal blue), as an indication of speed, and finally, of a wrapper that holds the entire sandwich. This sandwich is one that you can hold in one hand. Men may feel that holding a sandwich in one hand is more masculine.

How does this relate to the ad? When I see the aforementioned ad, all I see is a 'stupid' guy dressed up as a king with a funny mask. The mask of the BK king reminds me of films I use to see as a child. The football game reminds me of changing the channels from football as a child. I just do not understand it. One of my guy friends told me that this is because I am not suppose to. He told me that this ad plays upon guys' memories of stupid things that they have done, especially when drinking. "Don't you remember that time when we were drunk and decided to shave our heads?" "Don't you remember the time when we put masks on our heads and decided to streak across campus." This ad plays upon the emotion of masculine initiation. As 'On Paradise Drive specifies, "90% of Americans have way too much self-esteem." We also live "in the world of self-reinforcing clique communities. . . . to "overrate thyself." That is why this ad is unique to American males. The rest of the world lacks the same initiation concept of America as American immigrants often had to 'initiate' themselves into American culture. The rest of this ad plays on the masculine initiation of 'laying it all out' all while selling a new product. Perhaps I do not understand this ad, but at least I have more insight into the persona of men.