Swimming in Ads

In today’s society we are surrounded by advertisements.  They’re on television, in magazines, on billboards, and in video games.  I went on a twenty-four hour quest to see what ads I would be subjected to in that period of time. 

Usually within the first couple hours of my day, I avoid ads.  I don’t listen to the radio, watch any television, and when I’m driving in the morning, my focus is on the road due to the traffic.  Even when I went to class, I wasn’t subjected to any ads until I went to my Desktop Publishing class.  Every morning before the start of the class I log on to Facebook.  The moment I logged on I was faced a variety of ads (many advertising anime and video games).  It’s impressive to see the methods that advertisers taking to reach their target audience.  That’s definitely a plus side to the internet (even though it might not seem that way to most people).  After that class, I logged on to Walmart.com to order a new Nintendo 3DS.  There were ads from toys all the way to gardening equipment.  I quickly made my order, used my employee discount card, and logged off. 

Once both of my classes for the day ended, I got in the car and drove to Walmart.  I passed a sign on the side of the road advertising a junk removal service.  It was placed by an intersection so when the light turns red, people are more likely to see the ad.  I continued to drive down route 222 and passed a couple billboard ads.  One of them was advertising a health center that displayed a message with highlighted words that said “We Heal U.”

I finally arrived at Walmart to be greeted by monitors displaying ads for various in-store products.  Even though I’m currently taking care of a house alone, I probably wouldn’t buy any of the products they advertised.  Granted, those products aren’t being advertised to me, they’re most likely being advertised to women who are doing the family shopping. 

I ended my day by going on Xbox Live to view more ads on the dashboard advertising specials on games.  I also viewed many ads on Hulu Plus mainly for the X Factor and the new Fox series, Touch. 

It’s hard to avoid ads since we are around them all day.  I feel that it’s become so ingrained in our culture that some people don’t realize that they’re there.  At the end of the day, all we can do is learn to live with them because they aren’t going away.

PlayStation Vita: First Impression

I recently got my hands on Sony's latest portable entry, PlayStation Vita.  I've been curious about it since it was originally announced almost two years ago as the NGP.  It's an interesting concept: bring console gaming to handheld devices.

I walked into GameStop this past Tuesday planning to buy Tales of the Abyss for the Nintendo 3DS (they sadly didn't have the game in stock) when I noticed that they had the Vita setup.  I approached the system and picked it up.  To my surprise, it's very light; almost as light as the 3DS.  The system is made completely of plastic but it feels sturdy.  I still prefer the feel of the PSP, but this still works.  The system's screen is large and looks great.  On the contrary, the analog sticks, the D-pad, and face buttons are too small.  For someone with large hands, the system may be uncomfortable.  I feel that circle pads would have worked better for Vita, like what Sony did with the PSP, especially since it would fit in pockets a bit easier.

I toyed around with the system for a bit and tried the demo of Gravity Rush.  Sadly, I can't comment on the audio portion of the game because the Vita's sound was disabled, but the gameplay is fantastic.  The ability to control gravity at will is enjoyable and it's not a concept I've run in to before.  I wasn't sold on the touch screen controls mainly because it felt like it took away from the experience.  I'm into innovation but anytime I have to attack in a game, I feel that physical buttons work the best.  The graphics are nice but it doesn't seem like they're in HD.  They're definitely higher in resolution compared to 3DS games, but it's disappointing to not see PS3 quality visuals when Sony advertised them.

The system currently is selling at $249.99 plus $19..99 for a 4GB memory card and $29.99 to $39.99 for a game.  At those prices, I can't see much reason to justify a purchase right now.  The game library is also limited as we'll see more games come out later this year for Vita.  Also, the system is still new so there are bugs in the system that Sony will need time to work out.  Am I saying to not buy Vita? No, I think it's a great handheld but it needs more time out in the market to fix any bugs, or glitches, and it needs time to develop a larger library games.  My advice: wait to buy Vita.  It's great but at it's current price, there's not much content to justify the purchase.

Cosmopolitan: What's the Big Deal?

Cosmopolitan started back in 1886 but did not become a women's magazine until 1965.  Cosmo, for the most part, is appealing toward women.  The magazine has articles about improving one's sex life, upping one's style, and getting in shape.  But who is Cosmo's target audience and what is the demographic behind it?

Many of Cosmo's articles seem to deal with improving sex.  On the front cover of the March 2012 issue, they give a preview as to what readers should expect in the issue.  The two the pieces of text that stand out the most are "Your Orgasm Guaranteed: The New Trick Experts Swear By" and "50 Sex Tips," both are found on the front cover next to a very mature looking Selena Gomez wearing a slightly revealing dress (complete opposite to what she was wearing while she was involved with Disney).  The magazine is filled with advertisements from advertising perfume (there's a delightful sample inside the March issue) to advertising make-up.  Some of the articles are also trying to sell products.  For example, there's a section in the magazine that talks about taking care of one's skin.  It lists all sorts of products available for dry skin, normal skin, and acne (few of the items listed are below $30).  This is being used to sell beauty and make girls feel that they aren't beautiful without these products "fixing" them.

Further in the issue readers begin to find the more sexual content.  There's an article in it to teach girls how to walk in to a room and draw all the attention away from "those bitches."  Near the end are the sex tips which are rather shocking.  Even going onto the Cosmo website, they have a picture near the bottom representing the sex position of the day.

The majority of Cosmo's readers are female between the ages of 18 and 34; the majority is also single.  The magazine also appeals more to an audience that makes $30,000+ a year.  It's not exactly middle class and it makes sense, there aren't any upper class products advertised in the magazine so it's safe to say that the readers are living on a budget.  The total number of people that read Cosmo is about 18 million with 15 million being female.  Men are most likely reading this to figure out what women want.  It would also explain why some of the ads seem rather sexual and seem to be aimed at men even if the product is not meant for them.

Cosmo is a very interesting magazine and it is meant mainly for women.  For men looking to find out more about their female counterparts, it takes patience and courage to work through the magazine since many men may find the content to be shocking.  It's one thing to hear about it from someone but it's another to actually read it.