Funny Let It Go parody "It Is Cold" from Disney's Frozen - Hilarious Pol...

Funny Let It Go parody "It Is Cold" from Disney's Frozen - Hilarious Pol...

A Sensory Overload

After taking a seat and reflecting on just how far marketing has reached in manipulation, the realization I came to was simply disturbing. Now, everyone is used to being bombarded by visual stimulus in advertising all the time so much that visual advertising has become ineffective; “Studies have shown that the more stimulated we are, the harder it [simply is] to catch our attention” (Lindstrom 142). Because we are so visually over-stimulated, our awareness and defenses against visual marketing are at an all time high. So, why would I be so disturbed on the topic of advertising? It’s because I’m disturbed by the advertisement that we are being bombarded by on the subliminal level. The idea of “Sensory Branding” which involves not just presenting a visual advertisement, but coupling that with the “pumping of fragrances into our nostrils and music into our ears as well” (Lindstrom 143).

The notion that Sensory Branding is at work seems unfamiliar at the offset, but it at the most basic levels it’s easy to find anywhere when you look for it Now, cutting aside more obvious examples, I would like to point out one place where Sensory Branding reigns supreme. That place is Barnes & Nobles. As a student I like to study there. Now why am I more likely to study there than I am at the school or public library? I mean, logically speaking everything at Barnes & Nobles costs money and libraries are bound to be equipped better with books that might help in my studies. So, It makes no sense …until you think of the atmosphere. At any library it’s generally quiet with a dreary setting. At Barnes & Nobles it is completely the opposite. The setting is a bookstore with a Starbucks Café to sit in. What this consists of is an experienced jam packed full of visually enticing Baked goods, the aromas of various coffees and baked goods spread around all coupled with a great mix of calming music to you feel at home. Some obvious advertising cues might be the smell of coffee or the sight of the café as “Of all our senses, smell is the most primal, the most deeply rooted. When we smell something, the odor receptors in our nose make an unimpeded beeline to our limbic system, which controls our emotions, memories, and sense of well being. As a result our gut response is instantaneous”(Lindstrom 147). We have no control over our sense of smell, and sometimes it can and will dictate what we buy, in this case it might be that triple chocolate cookie with a coffee; a cookie that you probably had no intention of initially buying. It is obvious that smell sells, and we are generally unable to control this as smell is most primal of senses, but I wouldn’t deem it the only thing to watch out for. Another form of sensory branding that seems dangerous is sound branding in the music which creates an ambiance of a café in the store. “Sound s trigger strong associations and emotions and can exert a powerful influence on our behavior” (Lindstrom 159). It may seem preposterous, but they infiltrate every level of our subconscious, evoking strong associations with the café setting at B&N. Whether it is a smell which might affect our appetite or music which makes an illusion of a café, the simple fact of the matter is that we are being assailed on every front by Sensory Branding. What Barnes and Nobles has created is not just a book store or a café to sell products, but they have created a unique setting full of Sensory Branding designed to keep a customer there for as long as possible, which will consequently boost sales. In conclusion, I want to say in an age where books are becoming extinct in place of E-Books and where even their competitor Borders has bankrupted, how does Barnes & Nobles stand strong? It obviously isn’t just the sales of books that keep this giant bookstore chain open.

Free Blog

Just read this and it is completely ridiculous.

http://gma.yahoo.com/atm-surcharges-could-waived-commercials-225905805.html

We The People

As you read about the way that our minds work and how we are drawn to certain iteams through subconscious thoughts, you will start to realize that you're a victim to it as well. We have all purchased something some time or another where it seemed like a great idea to buy it at the time but once you come back to reality you realize that you dont have a need for it or the purchase was based on what you felt at the moment of buying it. The way that we work with buying certain products or from certain companies ultimately is left up to our inner thoughts that works subconsciously. Its a scary thought but it is true. Often, we buy goods that have always been around or make us feel comfortable. Everyone has those certain company brands in their family that have been around forever and choosing some other competive brand seems as if you are not loyal to what you grew up with and what you think is the best. Thats how it is in my family. I am not saying that we are in love with certain companies or brands but its common to be called out if you don't get the right type of cold cut meat or wrong type of soap to clean the dishes.
One thing that I never understood was the consistant use of tobacco and cigarette use after millions of studies have come out about how bad they are for you and the damages that they leave you with. I think its safe to say that in the past we all have seen ads for cigarettes in magazines or in store fronts where they show pictures that have nothing to do with smoking. It could be a couple laughing at a picnic and be an ad for Morlboro. The health risks are prevalant and the way they trigger the brain to want to have one is shown in the reading in buy-ology. It was discussed in the reading that the health labels that millions of dollars were spent on trying to warn people who use, and send a signal about what can actually happen to you if you keep smoking. Through the study that was presented, the label only wanted people to smoke more when they saw it subconsciously. The warning set off a buzzard in their heads. Dr. Calvert stated that "cigarette warnings - whether they informed smokers they were at risk of contracting emphysema, heart disease, or a host of other chronic conditions- had in fact stimulated an area of the smokers brain called the nucleus accubens aka the craving spot"( Lindstrom). This quote shows how the labels do not have an affect on the smokers brain in any good way. This leads me to say that this is just not happening in smoking prevention. We are controlled by companies through ways that we do not even understand as consumers. It is as technical as bringing in a 4 million dollar machiene to analize brain activity which was discussed in the reading. Every little part of selling you something or triggering a thought in your brain is thought out before by companies in order to have you buy their product. In my option, this will not change until more people are aware of how much a grip consumer america actually has on us.

Kirill Kushensky's Blog: Buying to Waste

We are a nation of consumption. Every Modern American is so used to the notion of buying something, its engraved in our minds, and becomes an unhealthy ritual. Like Taylor and Tilford state in "Why Consumption Matters" 2000, we have been used to the Post WW2 notion of cheap conspicuous "consuming" for the benefit of oneself, the consumer, and our economy. But as they also state, that notion is worn out and the harm of this mindset is undeniable. Taylor and Tilford say "Soaring consumption of goods and services has been accompanied largely through increased resource extraction and waste production" (p.464), which impacts the environment to the point of regional ecologic disasters. We are making our planet more and more uninhabitable every day as we recklessly literally "consume" whatever the current worldwide producers throw at us, whether it be cigarettes or bottled water. Martin Lindstrom talks about this in detail in Chapters 4-7 of "Buyology". It was interesting how he stated all the causes, and reasons of our ever growing consumption. The supply is always growing because of the demand, and the product marketers always try new ways to promote ever growing goods. These goods all came from the Ground, the earth, in some way and will return to the earth eventually, but we are steadily running out of resources to create all these new goods. We are living, and have been living an unsustainable lifestyle, which eventually destroys our habitable environment and leaves a dull future scenario. In the "Story of Stuff(2010)" video, it explains where things come from and where they end up, and the waste generated is always larger and more negatively impactful. We have been living on a post WW2 method that simply cant work anymore. If society does not change for a better, less wasteful lifestyle, we are all in grave danger, and the bad part is, nothing is changing and markets, and corporations continue to want us to live this destructive lifestyle, because they're pockets get increasingly fatter, as seen in "The Story of Stuff".The general public is treated like guniea pigs, because as Lindstrom states, the marketers try everything from subliminal marketing and messaging, to product ritual and superstition, to sensory and faith and religious marketing, even crossing all racial boundaries and promoting stereotypes. As long as corporations are happy with thier ever increasing profits, we will continue to head on a destructive path as a global society, because U.S.A is the global role model, and everyone wants to be like us, in a lot of ways, and we continue to live an outdated lifestyle, which does not even make us happy or satisfied anymore, as we buy more goods, the more miserable and yet more dependant we become, and that creates global consequences that are catastrophic to our environment. The waste building up in the world is unimaginable, and resources are depleting at a maximum as a result of massive conspicuous consumption, it seems the only thing that can save us is a new mindset on life, and a new national policy, and "reformed" society. It seems we all need an intervention from the current lifestyle of materialistic values and norms.It is a miracle that the Occupy Movement is rising and becoming more of a global force. To see something started in New York, and capture all the cities attention of America, and eventually the world. Our society's young and educated are trying to reform our current greedy corporatism ways, where we continue to feed corporations and companies their wealth, while they destroy everything U.S.A stands for. Its impressive to see the global response to OWS, which started in US and is now everywhere globally. We need a new global reformation, and it may take a long time, but the first step is to continue to shed light on this topic. Is all the waste really worth the waste of our planet as a hospitable environment, which should be viewed as a miracle in itself, and we need to start understanding it more and living sustainable, happy lifestyles. Maybe OWS is the first step to try to take on this vastly important job of reconfiguring a whole nations, and globe's mindset toward a pleasant future.

Kirill Kushensky section 01

Be careful this year christmas shopping.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/police-woman-pepper-sprayed-wal-mart-customers-feared-life-article-1.984068?localLinksEnabled=false...
I thought this was an interesting read, people getting pepper sprayed over video games. Consumerism gone violent.

Sex and Beauty in Advertising

      In chapters 8-12 of Buy-ology, Martin Lindstrom discusses topics such as Sensory Branding, using neuromarketing to predict future sales, sex in advertising, and the future of consumerism.  As a female, I was really interested in the chapter about sex in advertising. We are lead to believe that sex sells, but Lindstrom argues against that idea. He discusses a study done by MediaAnalyzer Software & Research which found that, “…only 9.8 percent of the men who had viewed the ads with the sexual content were able to remember the correct brand or product in question…” (181). If this is true, then why is it that companies keep relying on sex to sell their products? Lindstrom writes, “…sex in advertising is everywhere—not just in TV commercials, magazines, retail spaces, and on the Internet, but on the side of the bus you take to work, in the aisles of your local deli, even in the airspace above your head” (180). We are bombarded with advertisements everyday and a lot of them are sexualized.  While reading Chapter 10 I recalled Burger King’s ad for “The Super Seven Incher."  Advertisers will use sex to attempt to sell anything, from vacuums to alcohol to food. Do you think the sexualized BK ad helped them sell more sandwiches? I doubt it.

            In Chapter 10 he also talks about the use of "real" people in advertising. He found that the use of “real” people in ads as more likely to sell a product than the use of a celebrity. He writes, “By sheer ordinariness, real people suggest an authentic back story” (189). He cites a study done by the University of Florida that shows, “women, in fact, are often turned off by extremely attractive models” (186).  This reminded me of two fairly recent campaigns, the Dove Real Women Campaign and the Fruit of the Loom ads which also feature real women. “Average-looking people seem more inviting, as though welcoming us to the brand” (188). If this is true, why don’t more companies use real people in their ad campaigns? I, along with millions of others, tuned in to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on November 29^th.  Over the course of the hour I checked my Facebook a few times. By the end of the show I found that the statuses "telling the models to eat" outnumbered the statuses contemplating anorexia.  After last year’s show, almost every girl I knew wanted to go anorexic and grow 6 inches. Do you think that the “real people” campaigns are having an effect on consumers? Are we ready to accept ourselves for who we are instead of striving for an impossible standard of beauty? 

Sarah DeMarco

Section 01

CA Blog: Scatch & Sniff

CA Blog: Scratch & Sniff

Pay close attention to your next visit at a hotel, or the next time you are shopping. You are surrounded with flashy advertisements and all different sounds. For just a second, close your eyes, put some cotton in your ears, and take a strong sniff of the air around you. Out of our five senses, the nose is the only one that is directly connected to reach our memory and grasp our emotions. “…Clearly, smell is very closely tied to how we experience brands or products” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.151). Ever grab the aroma that forces you in the door, or makes you crave something? Well, that is your right priform cortex and the amygdala (which in codes emotional relevance) trigging as well as activating your desire. This happens when we are exposed to combinations that seem to go together. On the occasion a pleasurable fragrance complements an equally alluring visual image, “…we not only perceive it as more pleasant, we’re also more likely to remember it, but if the two are incongruous, forget about it. Literally” (Lindstrom, 2008, 145). “…To fully engage us emotionally, companies are discovering, they’d be better off not just inundating us with logos, but pumping fragrances into our nostrils” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.143). The purpose behind sensory branding is to intensify a relationship with a company’s brand, or product. One method company’s are using is the placement of dry vapor sprays into ventilation units. The author of buy-ology, Martin Lindstrom, uses a great example of sensory branding. When at a fast food restaurant, you may have intentions of ordering a healthy salad, but your mind is changed when you smell “…the triple-bacon cheeseburger with a side of large fries” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.148). Do not be fooled by this scent, it is not actually the food you smell, instead the restaurant is pumping a spray into the vents, called “…RTX9338PJS-code name for the “just-cooked-bacon-cheeseburger-like-fragrance” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.148). A study conducted by Doctor Calvert, explained when smelling and seeing something we like simultaneously, “…various regions of our brains light up in concert” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.144). When we grasp the aroma of something, our odor receptors take a journey to our limbic system. Our limbic systems power our emotions, memories and a sense of well-being. Surprisingly this “aroma” has been around for a while, starting with real estate brokers trying to sell homes. Real estate brokers would bake cookies in the oven for open houses or viewings of the properties. This was used to give the sense of comfort and the coziness of being at home. Companies will continue to use sensory branding for their consumers to tie a particular scent with a product. Question is next time will you be so easily lured by scents of candles, jasmine in hotels, rosewood in new cars, or fresh baked goods? So, be aware as you are wandering around because it may not be the magazine advertisement that drives you to buy a product, but the scent under the tab of the fragrance.

-Donna Lee Fricano

Section 80

Racism in Society

Martin Lindstrom in Buyology first dives into the concept of subliminal messaging in Advertising. He brings up examples in all sorts of industries. The one that strikes me the most was in politics where deliberate racial messages are thrust upon us and it seems that very few even cared. Lindstrom writes “Corker and the Republican National Committee produced an ad in which every time the narrator talked about Ford, African tom-tom drums beat, just barely audible, in the background. The kicker lay in the final words: ‘Harold Ford: He’s Just Not Right.’ One could infer that what the Republican National Committee actually meant was ‘he’s just not white’“ (p. 75). We have given up on fighting for rights on advertising, but why? Why do we allow commercials be fundamentally racist and not think through the consequences on Society? For example, a company recently posted an ad on a billboard selling their vodka. The ad read, “Christmas quality, Hanukkah pricing. The billboard was quickly torn down because of its obvious inappropriateness.

This is what the normal should be. We should fight ads like these from even being considered. To do this, we need to enlighten our educational system. We have learned repeatedly, and I have even had to write multiple papers on the Holocaust and Anti-Semitism. I think it is safe to say that one would be able to understand when anything is Anti-Semitic. However, because of our inexplicable national avoidance to discussing slavery and the abuse of African Americans and Black Americans in our society during our schooling, we have not been as critical to racism as we are to the openly discussed Anti-Semitism in Germany.

It should be noted that, yes, there are attacks on sayings and mentions that are racist, but these attacks are on people that are blatantly racist such as Mel Gibson or Kramer from Seinfeld. However, what about the racism that is in our high school textbooks. The lack of a complete, analytical view of our founding fathers, and those that have followed their example. There are racial motives in every institution that we observe today including museums, schools, the DMV. Nevertheless, perhaps it is all just ritual.

We are for the most part, subliminally racist. The messages we send to our children and the future are clearly not thought out completely. Lindstrom writes, “In an increasingly standardized, sterilized, homogenous world… rituals help us differentiate one brand from another. And once we find a ritual or brand we like, isn’t there a lot of comfort in having a particular blend of coffee to brew every morning, a signature shampoo with a familiar smell, or a favorite make of running sneaker we buy year after year?” These things make us feel comfortable. It is comfortable for the majority of people to associate black clothing with “the bad guy” as Moore describes in an article in a book titled Beyond Heroes and Holidays. When the next time you are shopping, it is important to look through the ritual of the product, you are buying and instead evaluate the subliminal messages being processed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/nyregion/billboard-ad-for-wodka-vodka-called-anti-semitic-is-pulled.html

CA Blog: Somatic Markers

Within our everyday lives we experience the act of what is called somatic markers which are essentially unconscious associations within our brain that help us decide on what to buy. Within Buy-ology a great example is used by Martin Lindstrom, which speaks upon the matter of being in a grocery store deciding on which peanut-butter to buy..Skippy, peter pan etc. by instinct the consumer grabs the brand Jiffy peanut butter between all other brands on the shelf. Ever think of what makes us grab that one brand over the other? In my case, it had never dawned on me why I choose the numerous brands that I purchase. The realization is that we decide on choosing certain brands for numerous reasons whether we`re buying a car, food, or shopping forclothes somatic markers play a huge role within our decisions.

So what really makes us choose one brand over the other? To be quite frank, there are various ways our brains relate when choosing from the numerous brands we see. Somatic markers could come from childhood memories good or bad. Let’s take for example as a child perhaps your parents used Folgers coffee when you were younger and in direct correlation as an adult you chose Folgers as your coffee to use. Not only do childhood memories play a role within the world of somatic markings but advertisers play a critical role within somatic markers also; let`s take the example of Folgers coffee again. Within the Folgers commercial they play a catchy slogan, “The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup” which could be replaying in your head over and over, catchy right? That playful tune that’s played on the commercial becomes stuck in our head, as we head down the aisle to pick some coffee up, that catchy slogan comes to the top of our heads once we see Folgers brand, thus helping the consumer choose that brand to purchase! The overall goal for advertisers is to have the consumer chose their brand over the hundreds of thousands of other brands out in the market, using somatic markers helps the consumer distinguish one brand from the other. Whether it is a memory we rely on, a funny commercial, a catchy slogan, or something that celebrities and our friends have, advertisement creates these markings that fuel consumers to buy their brands.

We normally do not think about what drives us to buy the specific brands that we purchase. My reasoning’s for buying the brands that I have is usually because I`ve seen commercials for it, my friends have it, or it is something new and I want to try it. So I ask you, could you think of reasons why you chose the brands that you buy?

Pavlov's Blog

Call me crazy, but the information in the first part of Martin Linstrom’s, Buy-ology seems a lot like the experiments that Ivan Pavlov did with dogs in the early 20^th century. Picture scientists with white coats standing around the research subject, but instead of ringing the bell, the doctors are turning on the T.V. And instead of having a tube surgically inserted into a dog’s mouth, there is a human being there, donning a black shower cap with dozens of wires coming off of it, connected to a computer. As the participants watch an endless stream of advertisements, each one infused with a particular conditioning nuance, the scientists make notes on their clip boards as the subject’s brain waves react like an epileptic snake on the computer monitor. 

Although Lindstrom pays lip service to the ethical concerns neuromarketing creates, this technology is wide open for abuse. Given the automated nature of brain activity and the sway our emotions have on decision making, it is no surprise that marketing companies, politicians, the U.S Pentagon and Hollywood (Lindstrom 31)are salivating like Pavlov’s dogs to use the data from brain imaging technology to anticipate the way  people will think and act under particular stimuli. Lindstrom writes, “I knew my study could not only transform the way companies designed, marketed and advertised their products-but also help each one of us understand what is really going on inside our brains when we make decisions about what to buy” (33). I am trying to keep an open mind, but it is far-fetched to expect the general public to understand the complexity of brain activity. You can rest uneasily though, both public and private industries alike are determined to “uncover what’s already in our heads” (Lindstrom 35) and produce and market a plethora of fodder that make us drool like dogs and think it’s the greatest thing ever.

Lindstrom details the information neuroimaging studies have revealed. When a product is “integrated fully into the narrative” (Lindstrom 49) of the program the viewer, is far more apt to remember the product being advertised. As I watched Top Chef: Texas the other night, sure enough, as the chefs left the house to go to the rodeo, one of the contestants’ voices narrated the scene, “When it was time to go we all piled into the Toyota Siennas and went to the Tejas Rodeo.” Meanwhile the screen flashes images back and forth between the contests getting into a small fleet of Siennas and an assortment of shots of the Toyota Sienna. This kind of integration is pernicious! T.V, magazines, billboards, soda machines and every plate-glass window from here to East Bumblef@$% are full of some media schilling something. All the while everyone looks so happy consuming everything from soup to nuts!

At 420 words I’ll wrap this up with a not so novel idea but hopeful nonetheless. Our cultural connection to stuff and emotional satisfaction is a marketing campaign designed at selling more stuff. The scientific data reports that increasing our personal well-being occurs when we participate in acts of compassion and not in the false narrative of consumption therapy. We have to start somewhere, so check this five minute link from Graham Hill about Editing. If you are feeling particularly adventurous watch Matthieu Ricard, the happiest man in the world, talk about Habits of Happiness. Real, lasting well-being is inside us not outside.

M.Ciccone Section 01

Free Blog!

Take this Shopping Addiction Quiz.... I wasn't beyond shocked with my results =)

http://www.addicted.com/addiction-resources/self-tests/shopping-addiction-quiz

CA; Mirror Neurons + Dopamine, The One Two Punch!

You walk in to your favorite clothing store with the intent to simply browse. As you enter the establishment, your senses are immediately infiltrated. The strong fragrance of the latest cologne creeps up your nose. The blaring hipster music puts you in a trance as your eyes peer over the good looking and trend setting workers that are scattered about the store. You begin to lose touch of reality as your adrenaline kicks in. You want to be just like the models plastered all over the walls and you can be! All you need to do is buy the clothes they have and you can become who you always wanted to be! As you justify your purchases and leave the store with a migraine, you being to scan your bag for the things you just carelessly purchased. How in the world am I going to pay for this? And what the hell am I doing with a sweater vest?...

That’s advertising at its finest, exposing the weak parts of your brain and capitalizing on it. As we learned in the book Buy-ology by Martin Lindstrom, the mirror neurons in our brain were set off by what we saw in the clothing store. “Everything we observe someone else doing, we do as well in our minds”(58). As the example above spotted the workers in the store and the pictures of models plastered all over the walls, he/she wanted to become that. The mirror neurons overrode their rational thinking and caused them to unconsciously imitate and purchase what was in front of them (60). Once the dopamine set in, the euphoric feeling caused a lapse in judgment and the example ended up making purchases they did not necessarily need nor want. They would eventually come to realize this when the high wore off and the feeling subsided.

So what can we do to block the one, two punch advertisers constantly throw at us? How can we gauge what we buy and stick to purchases that we truly want? Well for one, it is only going to get harder. The future of advertising will continue to capitalize on our mirror neurons in new and inventive ways; we won’t even have time to defend ourselves. Our best defense is knowing what to expect when we enter a store (marketing strategies, etc). It is also smart for us to shop with “clear minds” so that we are focused and determined on what we are seeking. This can avoid those purchases where you are “on the fence” about a particular item but end up buying it anyway because you believe in the future your mind will change. Knowing is half the battle and I believe if we educate ourselves properly we can ward off the corporations who will subconsciously try to control our minds and wallets.

Jason Maranzino - Section 80

"Buy-ology"

Buy ology begins by diving into the psychology that lurks behind our true motives as to why we purchase the products that we do, even if they are lethal to our own health. An interesting point taken note of is the fact that the warnings on cigarette packages actually don’t rest cravings but stimulate them instead resulting in more harm than good.  

One specific point made here is that we really don’t have the control that we think we do over what we are purchasing and that our brains are subliminally dictating what we purchase. I strongly disagree with his argument, although neuroimaging provides powerful support otherwise. Neuroimaging can pose many dangers and is not even completely understood quite yet, this link discusses some of the dangers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sak6i175akY. The idea that our brain is dictating so many of these choices totally goes against what humans possess as free will. This idea totally takes any accountability off the individual and babies people into thinking that it is not their fault. That is absolutely ridiculous to believe because each person has a free will and will power to change the fact that they smoke cigarettes or over eat. This kind of supporting evidence is exactly why the United States is single handedly the most obese nation. Our culture goes by the notion that it’s not your fault when in reality in many cases it is. We as Americans have chosen to lose grasp of the understanding of community, and we have chosen to get wrapped up in material goods because of the pulsation of advertisement and the media influence on our mass culture. We choose to drive places that are in walking distance and biking distance and this plays into why the obesity rate in this country is so high.

The text also provides the idea of product placement in movies and that through scanning presents evidence that only products that have a pivotal role in a movie are remembered and most others are thrown out.  This is a strong point to make considering that companies dump millions into getting their products shown in movies. This is making the assumption that most of these product advertisements that are in movies are pointless and a waste of money.  I find it hard to believe that the ads don’t mean anything with the amount of market research and money spent on these different ads. My question is does this research take into consideration that idea of repeated viewing or people who watch movies that appeal to them 3 or 4 times because they like them so much. I can’t imagine that the viewers that watch certain films multiple times don’t take note of a greater number of the advertisements.

Robert McLarney

Section 01