Shia LaBeouf uses a HP, drives a Chevrolet and chills in Burger King

Honestly speaking, I don't think that product placement in movies/ tv shows is a bad thing! I believe its just a way of making people aware of a product and its existence! There has to be some way in which consumers need to be told about the products in the market.
I don't see why there is a problem in companies, instead of making a boring billboard ad of their product, they just put it in a movie or show - which consumers are probably more likely to watch!
However, I do have some problem with some series or movies that oh so blatantly put the products out there - I mean what do they think? we are stupid? Not to understand that the whole scene where they are speaking about the product is staged. One example of this is of the TV Show Sex & the City - just watch this clip where Sarah Jessica Parker is talking about Amazon.com - It sounds like a COMMERCIAL!

 When I researched more on this topic - the movie Transformers was known to have the worst product placement!!!!
let me name the brands placed in the movie - HP, CISCO, EBAY, APPLE, PANASONIC, BURGER KING, CHEVROLET, CADILLAC, HUMMER and I don't know how many more!!!

And its not like Transformers is a random movie - There are people who wait for it like crazy!

Photographs that are still remembered

So the theme for this week was pictures. While thinking about what to write for this blog post I first searched for the most important pictures in history. There were 2 pictures out of the 13 I saw that caught my attention.


The first picture, I was drawn towards, was because it was of the 'Father' of my nation, India. This picture of Mahatama Gandhi has been taken by Margaret Bourke-White and is titled "Gandhi at his Spinning Wheel".

I believe this picture truly shows the simplicity of Mahatama Gandhi. He was a man with great ideals. He practiced what he preached. By the way, to allow Margaret to take this picture of Gandhi ji with the spinning wheel, which is a very important symbol in India, she first had to learn to use one herself. It is called the 'Charkha' in hindi. 
To take this picture, according to what I read, Margaret had to face a lot of hurdles. While the shoot was on, several things did not work in her favor. However, she managed to get this image of him in the end. This image has become Gandhi’s most enduring representation. It was also among the last portraits of his life; he was assassinated less than two years later.


The second picture that I found very interesting was taken at the Times Square in New York.

According to what I read, this picture was taken in August 1945, when the news of Japan’s surrender was announced in the United States, signaling the end of World War II. There were crazy celebrations on the streets, and specially for those individuals in the uniforms, who had to no longer put their life at risk. 

This picture was taken by a German immigrant named Alfred Eisenstaedt. While snapping pictures of the celebration, he spotted a sailor "running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight." He later explained that, "whether she was a grandmother, stout, thin, old, didn’t make any difference."
I think its a little funny how this sailor was so happy that he went around kissing all the girls he saw not he street. This image looked very appealing to me is because of the true sense that has been caught on camera. I know its not like its true love of 2 long lost lovers - but for some reason I feel the joy in the picture.  In any case, the image remains an enduring symbol of America’s exuberance at the end of a long struggle.


And I did not put any videos.. since its about photographs right ;)

Homework #3

So while looking up some videos for this homework I was completely SHOCKED!
I can't believe videos like these (selling alcohol and cigarettes) were not only made, but even broadcasted! I am so glad that it has all stopped now!

This first ad I would like to share with you all is a Cigarette Ad for the brand Camel.. This ad uses the elements of Scientific evidence and testimonials

What you saw in the video is that, the ad is promoted Camel cigarettes by showing that DOCTORS smoke this brand all the time. And since they are doctors they are obviously careful about the brand they smoke - how ironical right? Doctors and Smoking
Moreover, the ad also states that there was a national survey conducted which shows that Camel is the most popular brand - so they are trying to back this up by evidence too....

Next was the alcohol ad. So the ad I found was for beer and what it said was that If you have this bud dry beer.. its going to make you the man and you will have no confusion... The element used here is Beautiful People...also it shows that if you have this beer... all your confusions go away and you make the right choices... Yea right! like beer can do that!!

Finally, the fast food ad that I found, was trying to give a 'Simple Solution' for a huge problem - racism... What this ad shows is that, there is a White guy amidst a crowd of Black people who are having fun and enjoying themselves at a sports match or something...the white guy is confused how to make break the ice and kill the awkward moment.... and to do this - what he does is pull out a KFC Chicken bucket!

Another ad that I would like to share is this alcohol ad which i thought was absolutely bizarre! How can someone think of making this?

Media Bias

Media bias i think is very common today. Its like "New media, Old bias". What I mean to say is that, although there are newer forms of media that have come up - such as social media, youtube, facbook, BBM, etc - biases still do exist.
I think almost all news wires have some kind of bias today - and this I do not think is right on the part of a writer. I mean, if a writer wants to share his opinion - then there are specific types of articles (Opinion pieces) where he or she could do so. When a reader is reading an opinion piece, they know that the opinion shared is subjective. However, while reporting news about events or issues around the globe - a reporter should have an objective style of writing. Let the reader draw his/her own opinion after reading. But this does not happen very often.
Nowadays, its not just one or two writers in the publication who may be subjective writers, but sometimes the entire media agency has a biased style of disseminating information. The best example of this perhaps, is FOX NEWS!
I mean, it is so evident that all the content shared by Fox News is bought, and this only proves that money can buy media space. And if thats the case then it is really sad. No wonder, strong stereotypes exist - the best one is what we discussed in class last week that all blondes are stupid.
Let me give you an example of media bias from my country.
So I do not know how many of you this guy:

Well, he is Shah Rukh Khan, known as the 'King' of Bollywood. This is the poster of his latest movie named 'Ra.One' wherein he plays the role of a super hero. This movie released last week and is probably one of the worst movies ever of bollywood! Im Indian and i thoroughly enjoy b'wood movies and am a SRK fan too - but this movie was plain torture.

But GUESS WHAT? Apparently some of the TV reviewers do not think so. You know why? Cuz the 'KING' of b'wood has obviously bought some of these popular movie critics in India and ask them to say good things about his oh-so-awful movie so that innocent and naive and maybe even stupid people like myself go waste our time and money on such horrible movies!

Here is a link of one such movie reviewer talking about Ra.One 

I apologize that the video is in hindi and also without subtitles. But in a nutshell, what this reviewer says is that, this movie raises the bar of Indian Cinema to a whole new level, "you will feel like clapping throughout the movie it is so good", "the acting is so good" - basically he is bragging about the movie for no reason. I thought this was relevant to media bias and since I am very pissed that I went for this horrible movie instead of celebrating halloween, I thought I should at least warn people if they are going to see this bad movie!

Think before you Speak

So last entire week we watched the Tilman documentary and honestly, it was something really serious and an issu one can really think about...
I was honestly taken aback when the movie finally got over and I saw how the government was being so evasive about the whole issue... I mean...this maybe just one story that came out in the public...there probably are several others stories- truths of which are perfectly hidden by the government  under the light of honor and glory.
The government must feel obliged to these people who wish to voluntarily join the army. They should be a support for their families, rather than keep things hidden about their own children from them.
What they did with Tilmans family was atrocious! I mean - its their child!! They deserve to know the truth!
How selfish can the government be, that they actually 'USE' someones life to look better in front of the world...

And how stupid can the media be that they blindly broadcast anything and everything they receive! The power of media is great - we all know that. Most of us just believe what we see in news channels - we assume that what they say is probably true. What the media does not realize/ or does not want to realize is that with power comes responsibility! If they are the ones who have the power to broadcast information to the masses, they must make sure that they at least spread ACCURATE information. This reminds of me the example professor mentioned in class i think in Week 2 of the New York Times writer who was making up stories in his column! THIS IS WRONG! UNETHICAL! NOT FAIR!
Let me share one search bizzare story with you...

A story got published about a young boy in Texas who stole his father's credit card, along with his friends went on a crazy shopping spree of video games, electronic gadgets and also  two $1,000-an-hour hookers. And if this was not ridiculous enough - the twist to the story was that these boys did not higher those hookers for sexual reasons - but because they wanted a fourth player to play the games with!
The truth was an internet marketer and writer Lyndon Anticliff dreamed up the whole story as part of a ploy to get some quick hits to his site - and thanks to the careless media, he even managed to do so!

Here is a video of the story being aired on Fox News

Blue eyes + Big Boobs + Blonde Hair = DUMB!

So last class we were discussing about stereotypes! And the whole blonde discussion really got me thinking!

It is a little sad that just by someones hair color we make conclusions about how smart or dumb they are...I agree there maybe those typical girls who have blonde hair, blue eyes and big boobs! and as soon as a guy spots  those 3 features in a girl - Finitto - He probably thinks he would be nailing her soon...but that is not how one is supposed to think
I mean think of the example our professor gave us in class... I am sure she is the smartest blonde I know! That guy who she was telling us about has got to be shameless to just go and ask her - simply on the basis of how she looks

Another thing that I was thinking that time is, not all blonde girls are dumb and not all dumb girls are blonde... I know some really stupid brunettes too! :P

And some girls I have met, I feel they take advantage of this stereotype that is there on them - They intentionally act dumb in front of boys because they think that playing dumb will help guys think they are chiks who are easy to bag...

I mean, I partially blame such girls too, who let the world think that they can call them stupid based on their looks!
This video is one of my favorite blondie videos :P

And whenever I think of blonde girls, that character from Mean Girls comes in my head, Karen Smith (Amanda Seyfried). I do not know how many of you have seen the movie, but OMG is she dumb in that movie or what?
She does not know how to spell Orange!!
And guess what? She is obviously a blue eyed blondie with big boobs! American media itself is projecting stereotypes so strongly, so can you blame the world watching these movies when they believe it?
Here is a scene from that movie,

India Against Corruption Movement

Homework 3

Social media and new media platforms is probably the most popular way of spreading news in today’s time. With everyone having a smart phone with apps like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on it, spreading information is really not hard at all. In fact, this has become the new way of telling the world about news. I do not read the newspaper or see news on TV anymore; however, I still receive news or information about what’s going on around me. How? I follow news wires on twitter which regularly tweet headline news. Moreover, I am active on Blackberry Messenger which allows people to spread broadcast messages with the touch of button. And if that is not enough, status updates on Facebook and sharing popular video links on statuses has also become a usual thing.

To elaborate more, I am going to take a recent example which shows the role social media played in my country, India. This year in the month of April, a lot of chaos was going on in India. The entire buzz was created because of an Anti-Corruption movement going on in the country led by Anna Hazare.

According to the Times of India website, it was found that India ranks the highest amongst countries around the world in the amount of black money it has kept hidden in Swiss Banks (approximately $1500 Billion). The fact that India ranks highest in the amount of black money is an irony. India is a country with most of its people being below the poverty line and these ministers are more concerned about laundering money to fulfill their selfish motives rather than serving the Indian citizens who elected them. When the people of India learnt of the injustice being done to them from so many years, it made them very angry and Indians expressed this anger by starting the 'India Against Corruption' movement. The 'India Against Corruption' movement is the "collective anger" of people in India against corruption. The leader of this movement was Sri Anna Hazare, or as now he is called the ‘Modern Day Gandhi’; a 72 year old man who went on a hunger strike “unto death” to fight for the 'India Against Corruption' movement.

Even before Hazare declared his fast, this issue was getting coverage by various Indian news channels. However, not many people knew about it. But as news started spreading through social media, more and more people were informed about the protest. The news was all over Facebook, Twitter, BBM and other social websites. Hazare and his supporters also created various groups on social networking websites. For example, Hazare had over 3000 followers on twitter in a day after declaring his fast. Indians from all over the world flooded social networking websites to show their support towards the cause. A group named “Join Anna Hazare in fast unto death to demand anti-corruption law” had over 7500 members in only two days. Activity on social networking websites was crazy. This shows the immense support the cause had. There were around 50 updates per minute on these social networking websites. The words ‘Anna Hazare’ and ‘LokPal Bill’ were amongst the top ten searches that week on Google. There were several stories about people who left their jobs only to support the cause and be a part of the movement against corruption.

And guess what hapepend next? The government had to finally step down and accept the demands put forward by Anna Hazare and his supporters because they were a large number and kept increasing every day. The government could not risk upsetting almost their entire public. There were support groups, rallies, candlelight marches and people all over the country with sign boards and slogans showing their support towards this anti-corruption movement. On the first d of Anna Hazare's fast, 6000 residents from Mumbai also kept a one-day fast to fight against corruption.

I think this is one of the best examples to show what a major part these new media platforms are playing and influencing the politics of a country. During the protest days, thousands of people were on the roads, nobody went to work. How did so many people receive all this information? Through these new media channels that help dissemination of information in a faster and easier way.

Video that shows exactly the horrible state of corruption in India: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MgLYuU9AQg

What is the real truth?

My most favorite part of yesterdays discussion was definitely the part where we started talking about why do girls dress up? Why are they suppose to wear makeup? or dress girly? or why girls who are more 'tom boyish' are looked down upon? The obvious answer to this is the MEDIA!
Unfortunately, whatever we see in the media really affects us. All those perfume or fashion ads, with celebrities with the perfect skin tonnes, perfect features and everything PERFECT makes us think that a person like that actually exists. Reality Check: NOT REALLY!
The pictures that appear in the media are all Photoshop-ed! No girl has a pimple/ acne free skin, and perfect eyes, skin, lips and all that! Everyone has flaws and that is how humans are...but the media depicts an entirely different picture... watch this video and you will know the magic of Photoshop

Its a pity that media has the power to influence us so much! It influences our actions. And that is why we girls take so many efforts to look our best when we walk out of home. However, we fail to realize that these images are not entirely real. It is unfortunate that this stereotypical thinking exists and our actions are led by what we see in the media. Everyone has the right to live the way they want to.
Kim Kardashian is probably what most girls want to look like. I love her curves and her gorgeous face...but look... even she needs Photoshop!

My brother - The New WWE Super Star!

I remember in class when professor gave the example of how a couple broke up after being influenced by the Indian movie Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, immediately a similar example came in my head. it was of my younger brother. My younger brother used to watch wrestling shows on WWE all day when he was 10 years old. He was so into the whole thing that he started purchasing DVD's of the show so he could watch them over and over again. Not only that, he bought doll figures of almost all super stars there were available in the market. He used to play with them all day, make them fight and he almost thought they were real. But I guess that was not enough for him. After watching these shows, what he also started thinking is that he is the new Wrestling Star and his enemies are his sisters. He started trying the 'smacks' and 'moves' he saw on TV on us!!!!! It was crazy. Once my younger sister almost choked because of how he jumped on her and tried to do the 'John Cena' move on her.

This is just one of the examples that I am sharing with you all reading this about how content shared on media such as TV & movies can influence people, specially young children. The producers of such media should definitely be more careful about the access of such content by the different audiences.& that picture on the right is an example of what his collection is! He has over 55 dolls like those!


And that is  small video showing you how some of the 'moves' my brother likes to immitate...