William Wallace - The Speaker
A short analysis of the speaker William Wallace
December 03, 2007
November 28, 2007
Coors Light
The purpose of the ad
is to sell Coors
light to various
groups of people. It
refers to political
groups, religious
groups, ethnic
groups, and American
ideals of democracy...
We think the ad
appeals to everyone
because the message
is that it doesn't
matter what
demographic you're
in, Coors Light is a
suitable beer for
everyone (over 21).
The ad tells customers
to forget about the
labels society wants to put on
them. The
advertisement also
mentions several
qualities that people
who would hold a
higher place in
society would have,
such as rich, tall,
smart, etc... but
they never mention
the negative
qualities that a
person could attain.
This shows that these
are the type of
people that the
company is trying to
appeal to.
November 14, 2007
Group LUMO
Our group name was LUMO.
We decided on this based on a suggestion from Theresa, and it is an acronym that stands for
L - iving
U - nder
M - ixed
O- rigins
It is pretty self-explanatory. We are all students who come from a variety of backgrounds, and we are all living together and have a responsibility to be come culturally aware of other's backgrounds.
Team Bad Weather
We had a chance to get to know each other and where we were all from. We shared aspects of our cultures such as our money and student identification cards. They inquired about stereotypical images portrayed in films about such cities as L.A. We asked about the aquisition of the english language and at what age it began. We learned that english is a prevelant language in Sweden that is learned by people at an early age. We came up with our name due to the fact that they had been having bad weather and we had as well. Overall it was an interesting experience getting to know p[eople from other cultures and being able to express our differences in ideas and views. The other group was welcoming and friendly. We liked the group that we were paired up with.
Facebook Friends Forever
We picked Facebook Friends Forever because as soon as we met the students at Orebro they asked us if we had facebook profiles. They friended us during class. We were surprised that facebook is so popular in Sweden and worldwide. This common interest established a cultural link between us and we realized how similar we are. We were comfortable talking with them and became fast friends.
Team Cultural Explorers
The past week we had video conferences with two students from Sweden. Ultimately we had a lot of similarities, but also profound differences. We decided our group name was going to be "The Cultural Explorers".
This name was representative of our group because we are exploring cultures! We discovered that Western expansion and advertising is seeping into Sweden. For example, American brands are frequently advertised on Swedish TV. It was also interesting to see multiple perspectives because one of the girls was from Lapland and was studying in Sweden temporarily. I also found it interesting that they watched several American television series and listened to American music as well. Our culture has travelled to their country and has become a major icon when they watch our lifestyles in the television shows they watch.
3G's: The Global Gum Group Conference
After coming to discuss various strains of gum in our respective homelands - the US, Japan, France, and Singapore - we concluded that an appropriate title for our group would be the 3G's: The Global Gum Group.
Aside from the allure of alliteration, we felt that the image of gum would exemplify both the differences and commonalities across our cultures. In Singapore, gum is strictly banned but still an object of desire; in France, Japan, Sweden, and the US, the common chewing material comes packaged differently, is sold differently, and brings along with every chew different cultural implications.
Additionally, 3G - the term for the latest generation of cell phone technology - reflects how our interaction is also at the vanguard of inter-cultural technology, evoking the promise of cross-cultural interconnectivity.
Sophie Theis joined this group after the conference.
October 31, 2007
Cross-Cultural Examination of Gender Roles in the Media
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
Images in the media provide a model of behavior and appearance for their intended and accidental audience. Working with Swedish Law Professor Catarina Bartholdson, we found that the common theme of our group focuses on the media's portrayal of and influence on gender roles in a number of different societies. Since advertising companies approach the topic of gender roles in different ways, our group represents a variety of perspectives reflecting these cultural differences. For example, Jeri's research centers on the "dominant man, submissive woman" stereotype perpetuated in print ads, such as those created by Dolce & Gabbana. Abiy's topic also emphasizes gender stereotypes of hypermasculinity portrayed in alcohol advertisements across the globe. Pedro has decided to focus on fragrance ads in the United States, and how they influence adolescent boys' and girls' attitudes toward sexuality in different ways. Katie analyzes the influence of Fulla, the Muslim Barbie, on young girls in Arab countries and how the doll promotes stereotypes of Islamic culture. Stephanie explores the ways in which South Korean media portrays adrogyny and gender role reversals, and what implications these portrayals have in Korean culture. The variety of cross-cultural advertisements studied by this group demonstrates the strong effects that advertisements have on gender boundaries.
Shown here: Stephanie Parker, Pedro Gonzalez, Katie White, Jeri Canlas, Abiy Teshome, with visiting Swedish Law Professor Catarina Bartholdson
Corporation Group Summary
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
On October 29, 2007, six strangers convened to explore corporations and advertisements as part of the Cross-Cultural Rhetoric: Ads and Activism Around the Globe. The group consisted of five men and one woman: Carlos Arellano, Min Ming, Elliot Babchick, Andrew Chien, Katherine Heflin and one Swedish expert. Our visitor, hailing all the way from the foreign land of Sweden, was a male law professor and lawyer. He was extremely helpful and interesting. He discussed with us the relationship between corporations and advertisements. We then viewed a bunch of advertisements from different corporations and countries, and then compared and contrasted different facets of each. Elliot’s and Ming’s project topics led us to look at different advertisement videos for Xbox and Halo, including their official websites as well. For the sake of discussion, we then viewed the Carl’s Jr. video featuring Paris Hilton’s sex appeal; it gave us insight as to how corporations try to gain attention and use sex to sell non-sexual items. Carlos’ project on sports marketing led us to view a Nike commercial which used Michael Jordan’s super-star reputation to promote a new Jordan sneaker. Lastly, Katherine’s activism and advertisement in relation to Guantanamo led us to view an ominous Amnesty International video warning of the horrors of Guantanamo Bay; however, we noted that the video was not as effective as it could have been since some clarity and explanation was lacking. Andrew’s topic of video advertisements on the internet was shortly discussed, and we viewed a Honda video that was only shown on the internet. Although no clear conclusion was drawn, we gained valuable insight into cultural advertisement aims in relation to corporate goals.
Shown here: Min Ming, Katherine Heflin, Elliot Babchick, visiting Swedish Law Professor Anders, Andrew Chien, and Carlos Arellano
Collaborative Blogging: Ads and Cultural Changes
[This entry is part of a collaborative blogging exchange between students at National University of Singapore and Stanford University. The exchange is described in more detail here and here]
With our Swedish professor Mikael Schnürer, we discussed the origin of our sources, all connected in that they deal with the relationship between culture and advertising. For example, the shift in high fashion ads from sex appeal to historical/intellectual references, the glorification of violence in advertising for rap music, Chinese economic and cultural ties to the West, Korean cultural exports as tourist advertisements, and teen community service international tourism. Drawing on the research of sociologists such as John Urry (author of the pivotal work The Tourist Gaze), Tom Doctoroff (Chinese marketing researcher), Bakari Kitwana (prominent author on social justice), Keith Howard (scholar on Korean pop), and more, we talked about how advertising shapes culture by ostensibly reflecting the masses while actually articulating new demographics and self-perceptions. When prominent rap artists depict their lifestyles to glorify gun violence and misogyny, it influences the standard of acceptable behavior in some demographics. While Western branding is prevalent in China, the Chinese still retain their identity; for example, the KFC chains have incorporated Chinese menu options. Expensive teen travel programs craft new ideals for the modern youth by articulating a new paradigm for travel perceptions. High fashion marketing is beginning to break away from the stereotypical marketing tactics of sex appeal and body image and is beginning to use poignant cultural and historical instances to create new emotions in their consumers.
Shown here: Yu Xian Lim, Jannah Thomas, Sophie Theis, Ashley Chinn, Swedish Law Professor Mikael Schnürer, and Stephen Scheele
September 25, 2007
Looking at CCR through McD ads, rev
Cross-Cultural Rhetoric. Yesterday, at 9 am, was the first day of class. We looked at McDonald's Websites across the world. Students worked at the plasma screens in groups of 3 or 4. They chose to look at websites for Israel, the UK, France, Mexico, Spain, Japan, Singapore, and Jordan. We learned that marketing and advertising is all about the rhetorical relationship between writer, audience, and text -- it's the rhetorical situation in action. But we also came to realize how powerfully the visual and interactive material in these ads (these websites) both reflects and creates specific cultural values for each country.
One of the images on the new McDonald's site for Sweden is available through the website link at http://www.mcdonalds.se/
[I was just told that I have to take the image down because of copyright issues... yes, trying to be a responsible blogger!]
I would love to know how students in Orebro respond to this advertising. We will have to wait a few weeks!