Midterm - Research Paper

My research paper is basically going to be about the fact that advertising and main stream media runs this world. They control how people in today's world make their individual decisions. Advertisements tell people what kind of "new fads" are out, as well as all the new trends. They also tend to try and sell a new way of life.

People get sucked into advertisements because they make it seem like the advertisement is truly reaching out to each individual person and telling that person that in order to make their own life easier and better, they need to buy the product or service. Main stream media plays a big role in the advertising world because it can advance the advertisements through the media in itself. For example, the media can show the glamorous lifestyle of a celebrity and that they own certain shoes. The media would make it seem that in order to be like the celebrity and have a glamorous life, people would have to buy those shoes.

As sources, I would use different types of magazines, online articles, and psychological studies on peoples reaction to advertising. Most of my sources are easily found online, or a library. I will use examples of advertisements and the role that the media plays in it from the magazines, and the articles. I will use the data from the psychological studies to give better ideas of the information presented at hand.

On Photography by Sontag

On Photography by Susan Sontag could be read as an educational narrative on the evolution of photography. Throughout the article, she describes many different ways how photography can be used in many different aspects of life in the world today. Photographs can be used for educational purposes, evidential purposes, and also they can prove the discovery of something.

One way that photography can be very useful is in the detective world. Photographs can be used as evidence in many crime scenes. If there was any photographs that were taken during the time of the crime, then it could prove the guiltyness of the person that committed the crime. Photographs are taken after the crime was committed in order to have legitimate evidence of how the crime scene originally looked after the crime was committed. Detectives cannot rely on the trust of others to make sure that the crime scene isn't tampered with throughout a period of time. Susan states that "photographs furnish evidence. Something that we hear about, but doubt, seems proven when we are shown a photograph of it." And then she states that "a photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happend. The picture may distort, but there is always the presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what's in the picture."

For the educational purpose, photographs can instill the many lessons that can be learned from a single picture. A visual aide such as a still photograph can teach and explain so much more than a moving picture

The Corporation

The documentary, "The Corporation" was a great video that explained many different aspects of the business world that everyone sees, but not too many people know the full details behind each business and what their plan seems to be. This documentary shows the side of the business world that most people don't necessarily know. For starters, the film states that a corporation is considered to be a "legal person" that can buy and sell goods and services, and it can also be sued, and can sue others. This "legal person" can buy a property in another country, employ workers to make its products for a wage of two cents to ten cents an hour. Once the economy in that country is raised due to the pay of that particular corporation, the workers no longer are as desperate to work for such low wages. At this time, the corporation sells that property, and then moves on to the next third world country, and repeats the same process.

The film focuses strongly on the advertising portion of the business world. It explains how businesses these days don't use advertisements to promote a product or service for the good of mankind, but instead, they promote it in order to increase sales, and get a larger profit. 

One of the biggest aspects of advertisements is branding. Naomi Klein speaks in great detail about branding in her book "No Logo." Branding is basically the big name logo that is put on a product that supposedly give the consumer a way of life. Big name products help people identify with a company especially if they have seen many advertisements for that specific product, but it doesn't mean that the product in itself is necessarily the best product out there, instead it just gives people a sense of security. Many businesses use advertisements to promote a "way of life" rather than a particular product. This makes people think that if they buy that particular product, they will live a better and happier life. It's a great way to get more sales, but it's a also a great way to trick people. Basically, it's a very well thought out scam of making people believe that they are getting more than they really are.

No Logos vs. Ohman

Both Klein and Ohman talk about the dangers that our culture may face if the way our society looks at the "brand names" and advertisements as the only way to go. At the same time, they also have different topics within the general topic that the two authors focus on. Ohman really focuses on the advertisement issues, while Klein focuses on issues such as buying the Brand name products.
Klein's ideas propose a solution of instead of buying the brand name products that might have been made by children in a sweat shop in a foreign country, buying the private label that was more than likely made in the U.S. This will not only eliminate the stage that the society has put itself into of buying the most expensive just because it was greatly advertised, but also it will help save a lot of jobs in the U.S.
Ohman's topics of the problems with advertising are very similar to Klein's as well. The advertising is one of the main reasons why people buy the "brand name" products instead of the private label products. This doesn't necessarily do a lot of good for the culture in itself.

Ohman vs. Adorno/Horkheimer Response

Ohman's essay "Selling Culture" is very similar but also different at the same time as Adorno/Horkheimer's essay "The Culture Industry." Both essays talk about the same topics: American culture, advertising, and capitalism. On one side, Ohman is pretty accepting with the idea of capitalism and it's structure, and how it affects the culture. On the other hand, Adorno and Horkheimer completely object to the idea of capitalism as a whole.
Adorno and Horkheimer express their opinions very strongly about capitalism and how against it they really are. Throughout their essay they address many issues in today's society that is affected by the way our culture is shaped. They state how the mass culture is negatively affecting the culture and today's society. They warn us that if things keep going the way they are, that bad things are going to happen in the future. What they fail to mention is an alternative to the capitalism that exists today. In other words, they complain about the problems that are at hand, but they don't suggest a solution. I find that to be a little shady.
In Ohman's essay, "Selling Culture" he talks about the same things as Adorno and Horkheimer do in regards to some of the issues that capitalism is causing on today's culture, but he also states many things that our culture benefits from capitalism. All three authors believe that capitalism is a process that is interested in making money through advertisement, the main difference between the authors is that Ohman saw the advantages that were being created through capitalism. For example, even though advertising is just a major way of making profit, it also helps contribute to the cycle that allows our society to be "continuously moving." If people didn't buy things, then the economy would basically stand still. Advertising helps push people to buy things, and keep the market and economy moving. At the same time, advertising for smoking, for instance, is not necessarily beneficial to humans nor their health.

About Me

My name is Bogdan Rybak. I am a freshman at Wayne State. I am 19 years old, born in L'Viv, Ukraine.
I plan on majoring in something that is in the business department, but not sure yet of what exactly.
I love breakdancing, sports (soccer, basketball, football, spring board diving, etc), Dj-ing, and just hanging out with my friends. I am a part of a dance crew called Xiqution (pronounced like Exicution) and we have been doing a bunch of performances, competitions, and shows for the past couple of months that we have been together as a crew. We plan on going to America's Best Dance Crew for the next up-coming season, so keep an eye out for me and my crew. If you happen to see us, make sure you vote for us.