Reflection Time

The huge amounts of media that we consume each day definitely affect all of our lives and there is no way of denying that unless you live under a rock. See I just displayed it right there. There was a Geico commercial a couple years ago about a guy living under a rock. I remembered what the commercial was about and what company put it out, and it has been years since I have seen that commercial. Somehow that commercial stayed with me in the back of my mind for a very long time now. I wasn't even the target audience because I didn't need car insurance when I was twelve, but it stayed with me somehow. We consume massive amounts of media each day and it affects our lives majorly. If it is walking into a store at the mall subconsciously because you saw an ad he day before, or thinking that Domino's has the best pizza and purchasing from their because their ad said so. We always try to block out these messages by not paying attention to them or questioning them but they still find a way to creep into our heads and stay there forever. And the thing is that there is literally no way to stop it. You will always read a billboard when at a stoplight, or see a tweet telling you how great a product is, or seeing commercials on tv. I mean a ton of people watch the Super Bowl just to see the commercials and how funny they are. Even us as critical thinkers, who know and understand what is going on do these things. I constantly get pulled into ads before a youtube video and watch it because it looks interesting, or laugh at a Doritos commercial and have that find its way into my mind. Media is 100% a part of everyone's lives and it impacts all of ours in a big way.

I consider myself more media literature after doing this blog, but don't know if I will use my newly learned skills that often. Every time I see an ad I see what they are trying to do and use critical thinker skills such as metacognition or skepticism to take a step back and look at the ad more closely. I do this all the time and think, "oh they are trying to draw me in by saying everyone uses it so you should too." Much like I try to find the hero's journey of every movie I watch, I do this subconsciously with the ads, but in no way am I saying that my media habits have changed or will. The amount of time I spend on Twitter each day has not changed this semester, and I don't see it in the future. I know that I consume these messages everyday, but have not changed anything about it. I still occasionally watch youtube ads, and I still read almost every billboard that I pass on the road. I think that I have been doing these things for so long that it will be next to impossible for me to break these habits that I do.

Anthony's Pizza and Pasta

This is a billboard for Anthony's pizza, and their pizza has never sucked. They are a company with about a dozen restaurants nation wide, most in Colorado. They claim to be the only chain in Colorado that serve good New York style pizza. They pride themselves on having the same good family friendly environment since 1984. The billboard is very simple and is basically just writing with a logo right next to it. It is telling you that their pizza is good, and always has been. But in a sassy way. 

The billboard is so different and there are basically non other like it out there, so when I first read the words it made me laugh a little. It wasn't because it surprised me because it's nothing bad it is just so different from everything else. They don't really have a target audience here. Just people who can read and like pizza. They also claim to be have real New York style people, which is probably a little scarce in Denver, so I imagine that is one of their big selling points. 

One of the common advertising techniques used here is association. They try to associate themselves with real New York style pizza in order to sell their product. They want to be connected to that because the stereotype of New York style pizza is that it is good. They also use magic ingredients in this billboard. Most companies say that they have a groundbreaking new thing that is awesome, but Anthony's claims to have always had that awesome thing and have never changed it. They cater to our physiological needs to make us want to buy their pizza. And, finally they use some weasel words in this billboard. The word real is one because is there really something else than real NY style pizza? I might be wrong here by saying this, but I don't think that is really a thing. 

Anyways here is a mesmerizing gif of pizza. Have fun. 

PASTA… from pizza hut

This Pizza Hut ad was put out a while ago by them advertising their pasta. I didn't even know that Pizza Hut had pasta, so I guess that they aren't doing a very good job getting their product out there. Anyway, I think this ad is really cool and creative. The cord to the phone is a piece of pasta and there is some steam coming off of it. "Pasta. Now Delivered." Is right next to the steaming cord in some super fancy font.

I think that the target audience for this ad is pretty narrow. Pizza Hut is aiming for people who buy their pasta, and that's basically it. The word 'now' insinuates that pasta being delivered in new, and so this means this ad was a reveal for their new ways. By now delivering pasta they are making it even easier for the consumers that purchase their pasta.

The setting of this ad is really cool and it's very visually appealing to look at. The white and yellowish on red contrast with the telephone really pops out at you and is nice to look at. They also darken the screen around the edges so that the telephone is the center of attention and everything else is secondary. Looking at the pasta cord and steam makes me want some pasta because it looks very deliciously tasty. You only notice the Pizza Hut logo after everything else and it is very minimal, probably to not take away from everything else.

This ad tries to satisfy people's need for aesthetic sensations and our physiological needs. The aesthetic sensations is pretty straight forward, they just made the picture look really good. They did a great job at this and it definitely makes me crave some pasta. They try to satisfy our physiological needs so we will see this and go, "give me that food and let me devour it." They do a good job of this here by making the pasta strand such a big part of the ad and making it look so good.

They do a lot of things in this ad to make us want to purchase their pasta and pizza. They use wit appeal to entertain their consumers and distract them from the quality of their pasta, which I imagine is pretty bad. They are also using snob appeal by making the lettering super fancy and Italian looking, when in reality you are buying Pizza Hut pasta and not caviar. Finally they use diversion by making it look good to distract people from quality. They also use the stereotype of Italian pizza and pasta ALWAYS being good, and try to sell their product by connecting themselves with that with the fancy font.

OFF THE GRID

This is a pretty new Little Caesars pizza commercial. Its super hilarious and I laugh every time I see it. The commercial is so random, I mean its just a family that go off the grid because of pizza, and then back onto the grid thanks to Little Caesars. The idea of the commercial is so ridiculous and funny that it makes it entertaining to watch. 

I think that the target audience for this commercial is families. They use a very stereotypical family, and you can see in the background,  how living room is very average and normal. They have the teenage girl that is obsessed with her phone, the mom who is embroidering something, the somewhat crazy dad, and finally the little boy on his Nintendo Ds. If their target audience was twenty one year old single guys, then the commercial would be completely different. It would be a twenty year old guy and not a family, his whole house would be different, and he maybe wouldn't go off the grid. The point is that the audience they target changes the whole commercial and is very important.

Some of the techniques that Little Caesars is using in this commercial are facts and figures, repetition, humor appeal, and plain folks. In this commercial they tie facts and figures to repetition, and use repetition to constantly repeat their facts and figures. After the family declares to go back on the grid they have a little catchy song that talks about their pizza, and in the song they have $5 four different times in like ten-seconds. They are trying to implant the idea that a pizza at Little Caesars is only $5, and they do this in almost every ad they have. I have to admit, they have done a pretty good job at that, because I personally know that and would guess that a lot of other people also know that. Little Caesars also uses humor appeal in this ad. This one pretty much explains itself, I mean I laugh so hard every single time I see this ad. Going off the grid in the first place is such a funny concept, so when they go off because a pizza place made things to complicated. I don't know this commercial is just ridiculous and random. Finally, the commercial is using plain folks to draw you in. Like I talked about earlier it uses a very stereotypically average family to make people identify their family with that one. Their family is most likely not like the one in the commercial, because not your every day family will go off the grid at the snap of a finger.

Anyway, this commercial is hilarious and I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did. 

piping hot pizza

This was a Domino's Pizza print ad that was released all the way back in 2001. It is showing how their delivery is super fast, and will deliver a piping hot pizza to your door every time. The ides is that when you put down the pizza it is so hot that it will burn stuff! You might say, "That's insane and dangerous" but calm down it's only an ad. 

I like this ad a lot, it's clever and really simple. There is nothing crazy going on and there's no crazy message that you have to decipher from it. There are really simple colors in the picture and these colors make a big contrast. This contrast makes it pop out and draws your attention to the ad quickly. When you first see the ad you see the big black burn, and then the tiny writing that clarifies the whole ad. Then you look at their colorful logo because it pops out when among the other colors in the ad. The ad is very simple and straightforward, and I like it.

Like many other pizza ads this one uses wit appeal. You have to do a little bit of thinking to understand what Domino's is trying to say, and it is a little bit witty. They also use the simple solutions advertising technique. They are saying that if you order delivery from Domino's then you will get really really hot pizza delivered to your door, without you lifting a finger. The need to dominate is also very prominent in this ad. People want a company that destroys their competition, and this ad shows you many reasons on why Domino's is the company that trounces everyone else.

I'm not really sure how to end this blog… so here's a bunch of cheesy jokes about pizza. HAHAHAHAHAHSHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHHAAAHAHHHAHAHHAHHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH

What’s the difference between a Mel Gibson movie and a pizza? Pizzas are good.
What do you call a sleeping pizza? a piZZZZZZa. 
Why did the man go into the pizza business? He wanted to make some dough. 
"Waiter, will my pizza be long?" "No sir, it will be round!" 
What is a dog’s favorite pizza? PUParonni! 

leaning tower of pizza, aha I get it

This is a punny Pizza Hut ad that has some sweet word play in it. This ad is pretty cool and funny, I personally love puns and things generally like that, so this ad appealed to me. If you still don't get the concept, the pizza is like the leaning tower of Pisa, but its PIZZA and not PISA. Super crazy right? Anyways I like the ad because it's clever and shows that Pizza Hut has a sense of humor.

I think the biggest common advertising technique used here is wit appeal. I chuckled when I first saw this ad because it was pretty witty and humorous, and that's what they were going for with this ad. Pizza Hut also is trying to satisfy our need for aesthetic sensation. Although the pizza in the picture doesn't look good at all, the whole picture looks very good and is satisfying to look at. They are also trying to fill our physiological needs with the many juicy pizzas in the ad.

I think the main goal of this ad is to have people associate Pizza Hut with Italy, because the real leaning tower is in Italy. They want to do this because Italy has the stereotype that all pizza from there is really good. I am by no means saying that that statement isn't true, because I've never had bad pizza I think, nonetheless pizza that is from Italy. Anyways, Pizza Hut tries to connect themselves with Italy by featuring a well known Italian thing, the tower, in their ad. They also say, "visit the Italian places" in the bottom right of the ad. This is really vague and I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I think that they are saying that all Pizza Hut restaurants are "italain places" and visit there to get some real Italian pizza.


Here is a comic that includes a pun about pizza. I laughed way to hard at this…

the swat team supports Pizza Hut

Here are some ads from Pizza Hut that portray about how each order is urgent. The SWAT team and some emergency doctors are on the back of the pizza hut delivery bike, to show that they treat each order like it's an emergency and they need to get there fast. I like this ad and think that it is pretty clever. Lots of Pizza places straight up tell you that their delivery is fast, but not Pizza hut. They make this funny ad that makes you infer that their delivery is fast and urgent.

The target audience here is really anyone who eats pizza and gets it delivered. This ad is pointless for someone who hates pizza and has no impact on them. And for people who pick up their pizza it might have a slight effect on them, they might think that since Pizza Hut delivers faster their pizza will be better, but that probably isn't going to happen. Considering all of this we can see that their target audience is people who get pizza delivered. The explicit message this ad is making is that waiting for pizza to come sucks. The implicit is that if you order with Pizza Hut you don't have to wait because they treat each delivery like it is an emergency. 

I think that the pictures of the ad are very visually appealing and make us think that their delivery is very fast. First off the background is all blurry and you can't even see what it is, and the flag on the pizza holder is pushed back and waving in the wind. Both of these things make the viewer think that the motorbike is going extremely fast and racing all over town to deliver pizza. Second, in the bottom picture with the doctors we can see the both of the doctors look very determined, and in our mind we connect determined with Pizza Hut. We also do this with the SWAT ad too. We know that everyone on the SWAT team is very heroic and even patriotic, so we connect Pizza Hut with being heroic and patriotic. We think these things all because of the people Pizza Hut chose to put on the motorbike with the driver. 

This ad fills people's physiological needs by telling them that it will all be ok, and their pizza will get their on time and faster than any other place can offer. People care a lot about pizza, and Pizza Hut reassures people that if you order from them it'll all be good. They also use the magic ingredients technique, because this ad makes it seem like they figured out some amazing new thing on how to deliver faster and this outs them above al of their competition. They also use the patriotism technique, by using SWAT team members, and make themselves come off as patriotic. They use the simple solutions technique too, they attack the problem of slow delivery by saying, "We figured out delivery and treat each one like an emergency." All of these techniques make Pizza Hut look very good in the eyes of the consumer. 

Here is another great gif of pizza before you go.