Consumer Behavior - Amazon Fire Phone

Last year Amazon debuted its Amazon Fire phone, a smartphone to compete with the likes of the iPhone and Samsung devices, two of the biggest names in the cell phone game. The phone offers consumers a 13 MP camera, 4.7" display, 2.2 GHz processor and a long battery life. Those that purchased the phone were also given one free year of Amazon Prime with their purchase.

The advertising for the phone were commercials that showed two children that came across as little hipster people. They were well ahead of the game in comparison to the bystanders they encountered in each commercial. Amazon was trying too hard to look like the cool kid in town and they definitely failed because these kids came off a little douchey. Apple and Samsung were able to maintain the "cool" factor while still being personable and likable.

According to alternet.org, the Fire phone was one of the biggest flops of 2014. There really wasn't any demand for another smartphone, let alone an Amazon smartphone. Apple and Samsung had already set the bar and have been fulfilling consumer's needs. If Amazon really wanted to have a chance at successfully selling their phones, they should have released them years ago. The features and apps on the phone were also very limiting and one of the many turn offs for consumers.

Peta Campaign

Our mission: People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than 3 million members and supporters. PETA focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: on factory farms, in the clothing trade, in laboratories, and in the entertainment industry. We also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds, and other “pests” as well as cruelty to domesticated animals. PETA works through public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, legislation, special events, celebrity involvement, and protest campaigns.

Four time Grammy Award winning artist, Sam Smith, is taking the world by storm with his soulful voice, passion and hit songs. We believe that bringing that soul and that passion to our fight for animal rights will help us bring more awareness so we aren't "the only ones" in this fight.

Environmental Campaigns

World Wildlife Fund works globally to "conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of the life on Earth." They strive to restore species that are currently at risk for extinction as well as working towards building up and maintaining their habitats.

WWF has a very active presence on social media with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Google+ accounts with over 2.5 million followers across their social media. Their videos on YouTube are not only well put together and informative but they showcase the beautiful animals and environments the group is fighting to protect.

WWF is utilizing digital media to further their message and successfully connect with the world.

Gender Stereotyping: Rose Petal Cottage Commercial

The commercial for Hasbro's Rose Petal Cottage shows us:

• girls are homemakers and mothers
• that taking care of a home "is a dream, dream dream!"
• the cottage is nothing but pink, yellow and other girly/pastel colors
• girls are to cook, clean, host guests and take care of children

Ways to revamp the commercial:

• bring in boys
• show the girl coming home from work and the boy taking care of the home
• show the girl and boy doing house work TOGETHER
• bring the girl outside of the house: working in the yard, in the garage or on the car (tasks usually left for the man of the house)
• change the colors of the house to a more gender neutral colors or paint it to look like an actual house

Gender Stereotyping

Women have been portrayed as housewives and sex objects since the early days of advertising. It wasn't until recently that companies have been taking a stand against this and have been depicting women how we really are: strong and independent individuals. 

One of my favorite commercials is the original Goldie Blox commercial (with their take on the Beastie Boys' song "Girls"):

We need more advertising that encourages girls to think outside of the box and be more than pink little princesses.  We can use less advertising like this:

These two advertisements from two major brands show men with women on display as sexual objects. The guy in the BMW ad couldn't care less that he's in bed with a woman! He's more focused on the car which actually hints at a male stereotype. The number of ads similar to these two is endless (Carl's Jr. keeps coming to mind) and they outnumber the ads that actually encourage women and young girls to be their own person.

The Big Bang Theory: Racial Diversity

1. Of The Big Bang Theroy's main characters Koothrappali and his family are the only characters that I would consider racially diverse. Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Penny are all Caucasian characters that don't offer up much other than Sheldon's mother is your stereotypical southern mother and Howard's mother is your stereotypical Jewish mother but again, don't offer viewers anything racially diverse.

I think with this show in particular, having more leads like Koothrappali is important. Having other leads from different racial backgrounds would show younger viewers that anyone can be a successful scientist, professor or doctor. It doesn't matter whether you are Asian, Hispanic, Black, White. Hopefully seeing that kind of diversity would inspire kids to further their education.

2. There are definitely racial stereotypes in this show. Koothrappali's character deals with a number of them on the show with his dealings with family. One of them that comes to mind is Sheldon's mother being the common stereotype of an American Caucasian, someone from that south that is devoted to God and their beliefs.

Racial Stereotyping in Advertising

As a society we've worked hard to break away from our past of racism by being opening, understanding and realizing we are all the same.

However, racial stereotyping is something that still lives on in today's advertising. It seems like advertisers use racial stereotyping as a tactic to get a rise out of their audience. It sparks a conversation and gets people talking about their ad, their product and their company. A risky move that could potentially backfire but I can definitely see a company sneaking this into their advertising for this reason.

The Gap window display: their new 1965 black denim jeans hanged from a noose. Poorly thought out or purposely done to get people talking about their company?

TV and web commercials reach such a large and diverse audience that advertisers must have some sort of ethical responsibility. Children in particular are so easily influenced by what they see on TV and on YouTube. Advertisers need to keep this in mind when they are trying to make a "statement" or are twisting things in a humorous way. Kids won't understand and will only see their message as the truth.

Semiotics

Denotation:

• Emma Stone
• Portrait
• Black and white photo
• Retro styling (hair and makeup)
• Long flared eye lashes
• Large Revlon logo at the right on the ad
• Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Mascara displayed at the bottom right corner
• The mascara is the only thing in color
• Copy at the bottom of the ad that explains the properties of the mascara

Connotation:

• Wearing this mascara will give you long luscious lashes
• Wearing this mascara will give you beautiful eyes
• This mascara will give you longer and stronger lashes

Myth:

Wearing this mascara will transform your eyes by giving you full lashes and doe-like eyes.

Denotation:

• Kraft macaroni ad
• Classic Kraft blue colored background
• Orange "smiling" macaroni noddle
• "You know you love it."
• "Outgrow outgrowing it."

Connotation:

• Kraft is recognizing that their macaroni is a childhood favorite but at the same time they are marketing to adults by telling them to that it isn't just a food for children
• Kraft macaroni is a suitable meal for children and adults

Myth:

Kraft macaroni is just for children.

Denotation:

• A couple, both actors: Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard
• Using their Samsung tablet 
• Woman getting ready and singing along with music coming from her tablet
• Man eating lunch, watching motocross videos
• Video chatting
• Man using the tablet to record his audition tape
• Tablet being used for gaming
• Tablet being used for more video viewing: animal and exercise videos
• Couple gets distracted watching The Princess Bride on their tablet that they miss their event
• Product shot
• "The Samsung Galaxy S is the world's most entertaining device."

Connotation:

• Both men and women will enjoy this product
• It is useful for staying in touch with your significant other, even if they are only across the hall
• The tablet is perfect for video, movies and gaming
• The tablet has a great speaker for playing music
• The tablet will bring a couple together and keep them entertained

My Favorite Super Bowl Ad

This year's Super Bowl commercials were far from the sexy and silly ones of Super Bowl's past. Most of the commercials were more on the heartfelt end of things (Hello, Budweiser puppy and the Toyota one with the dad and his daughters) or dealt with some very serious subject matter. The Nationwide commercial with the young boy telling audiences about all the things he'll never do because he died was very...shocking. It took me for surprise and the ad seems to have caused quite a stir with others.

The commercial about domestic violence was also a bit startling. Hearing the real 911 call was chilling but I have to say that I really appreciated the they this put out, especially during the Super Bowl. With the NFL's dealings with, or lack thereof, with a few domestic violence scandals that came about near the end of last year, this was the perfect platform to make a statement and spread awareness for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Favorite Ad Agency

As a regular consumer of beauty products I always have my eye out for the latest and greatest product. As it is for many others, often times it's the ad campaigns that sells me on the product even before I've had a chance to see it in person.

One company that has always done a exceptional job with their campaigns is MAC Cosmetics. I've always been drawn to their visuals whenever a new collection is launched. The agency behind some of MAC's most popular campaigns is Plus, a New York based boutique ad agency.

Plus has helped produce some of MAC's most stunning campaigns to date! Each ad is beautifully put together to tell the story of that month's collection.

Plus also does work for AMC, Nike, Starbucks, Sephora, Volvo and many others. They keep things fresh, current and modern all while staying true to each company's story.