Kevin Teta

COM 343-01

May 20, 2013

Critical Analysis of a Print Ad

Over the past few decades, Cigarette advertising has decreased drastically because of the many health risks and affects they have been found to have on people. The print ad that I found for this assignment was from Rolling Stone Magazine advertising Natural American Spirit Cigarettes.  Recently, I have noticed that cigarette advertising has returned  sparingly in this magazine and there is has been even more advertising leaning towards the use of electronic cigarettes. This ad features a large green background with a water faucet pouring out a tobacco plant. Underneath the faucet, it states: “Tobacco & Water. 100% Additive FREE Natural Tobacco”. The main ideology I feel that is represented in the ad is that Natural American Spirit Cigarettes are an organic product that offers an alternative, natural choice to major tobacco companies. This cigarette is shown to be for smokers that actively chose out brands that are responsible for their manufacturing and also care about the environment. The name “Natural American Spirit”  and the packaging shown evokes an idea that these cigarettes are made in the same fashion that has been done for centuries by Native Americans  and before major tobacco companies started adding things to their cigarettes. These “additives”  in other cigarettes are usually associated with the addictive properties  of smoking and  the harmful nature of cigarettes.  On this advertisement there is also the usual Surgeon General’s Warning stating that “Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health” but also adds another warning saying:  “ No additives in our tobacco does NOT mean a safer cigarette”.  The main sign I believe this print ad represents is that Natural American Spirit Cigarettes are organically made. This cigarette is also showing a sign of being different from other cigarettes and cigarettes are shown in a positive way. The final sign I will look at with this print ad is that Natural American Spirits are a part of today’s modern culture of “going green” and  that  it is growing increasingly popular to consume products that are pure, natural, organic, and outside dominant tobacco and manufacturing conglomerations. 

The main sign of the print ad of Natural American Cigarettes being organically made has the signifier, the image of the water faucet attached to the tobacco plant with printed words of “Tobacco & Water 100% Additive FREE Natural Tobacco and the signified being that “additive FREE” and having only two ingredients. This represents this product as not adding anything to their product like other organic foods. This sign makes it seem they are trying to prove they are better than other cigarette companies by not adding anything else to their product, but that is somewhat lost when they are forced to put disclaimers on their advertising that show that did NOT make it healthier and that NOT using this product will be better to your health.  This relates to other signs of that this advertising images and words make the cigarettes better than other cigarettes by not adding the other chemicals found in most other cigarettes.  Anti-cigarette campaigns always focus on the added chemicals in cigarettes that can be found in disgusting things like cat urine or dog feces and to advertise something as “additive FREE”  makes the cigarette automatically stand out as saying that their cigarettes do not apply to these anti-smoking claims.  Finally, showing they are outside major tobacco conglomerations with this advertising tries to show this company as more trustworthy and going away from past big tobacco practices of trying to get more people to start smoking.  My roommate who works for Terracycle, a recycling organization that recycles different types of post consumer waste, works with Natural American Spirits on a campaign to help recycle their cigarette butts, packaging and ashes and helps make their company more sustainable. Knowing this and seeing this ad, this company seems to continually push their green initiatives and set apart their company as more environmentally conscious and socially aware than any other tobacco company out there. 

Looking at the different signs that this print ad tries to portray,  Natural American Spirits can present an overall image of being part of an era of becoming radical and getting to the root nature of the products that consumers use.  With people becoming more conscious of all the additives and additional chemicals added to their food,  beauty products, and everyday personal products, Natural American Spirits have made it simple for consumers to know exactly what they are buying and what goes into making their product. 

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Kevin Teta

COM 343-01

May 23, 2013

Critical Analysis of a Commercial: Dish Network and the Hopper

People generally believe that when watching television, commercials are  something that are looked at passively and that you can skip through with the technology of DVR’s.  It can also be looked at as a time when you can pay attention to something else while you wait for the television program to come back on. The particular commercial  I look at for this Critical Analysis is for Dish Network that advertises a DVR known as “The Hopper”.   The Hopper has the capability to record up to six shows simultaneously, watch the recorded shows in up to four rooms and even skip commercials all together.  Aside from the irony seen from this commercial advertising a machine that has the potential to skip their own commercial and preferred use of advertising, the audience is introduced to the company’s use of language and other verbal and non-verbal codes to understand what they are being sold. Through this analysis I will look at the commercial shot by shot and decode the encoded messages and signs built into the advertisement. I will also look at the commercial as a whole and interpret the overall message of the commercial and the overarching ideologies of the advertisement series.

The commercial opens with three men sitting in a living room watching television. The set of the living room looks modest where the furniture looks modern and comfortable with some wear. It looks more like a family room setting where people can relax and not worry about making a mess. The shot zooms in slightly when the three gentleman start talking. The first man is thinner than the other two,  with jeans and a sweatshirt on and he is slouching in a brown leather chair, very relaxed. The two men on the couch next to him are more heavy-set and you can see the roundness of their bellies as they loaf on the couch. The man in the middle is in possession of the remote and is understood to be the owner of the house after he is asked by the thin man: “Hey Tom, Where is Barbara and the Kids?”.  Immediately after the first line is spoken you notice a thick accent that is generally associated with people from Boston because how he pronounced the word “Barbara” with the high emphasis on the vowel sounds.  The use of the Boston accent is used for a comedic effect and is one that is highly imitated in popular culture. As soon as “Tom” introduces the Hopper, the camera transitions to the new shot of the them watching a big screen television  that is playing a basketball game.  The room from this angle  is shot behind them and showing their heads and them sitting on the couch. This again shows a modest home that has a lived-in feel with books and movies on the shelf and also trophies and family pictures on the tables and entertainment center.  The next shot  goes back to Tom in a medium shot as he continues to look toward the direction of the television that was established in the previous shot and finishes explaining The Hopper and how it works to his friends.  After he finishes talking about the Hopper, his thinner friend questions the name of the DVR: saying “The Hopper” which leads to a close up shot of his other friend’s face also exclaiming the name: “The Hopper!”. They all display the same regional dialect of Boston and “The Hopper” is more pronounced: “Tha  HAR-Pah”.   This turns back then to a long shot similar to the beginning of the scene with them all saying “The Hopper” in the accent again.  It turns right to a shot of the a woman presumed to be Barbara in a medium shot also saying “The Hopper” in a thick Boston accent while she is in the kitchen cleaning dishes and also watching a television program.  Again, the kitchen looks fairly plain where she is hand washing the dishes even though there is a dishwasher. Her short,  red hair is pulled back and out of her face and she is wearing jeans and a sweat shirt as well. The next shot is within a second where they go back to the men looking toward the camera as if that was the direction of the kitchen. Then it quickly goes to a shot of a young, red haired girl lounging on her bed watching television where she also yells to the door entrance: “The Hopper!”.  The next sequence of shots happen fairly quickly with them having shots representing the characters and them each saying “The Hopper” one more time, until there comes to a shot of a older man in a basement watching television who yells: “Shut Up!”.  The basement looks fairly plain with  a storage shelf and older furniture and older television that looks like it would be a standard style basement recreation room.  The next shot goes back upstairs where the thinner man looks at the other two men on the couch and says “Hopper”  as an act of defiance. The heavy-set friend sitting next to Tom has the last shot where he nods his head in approval. The  commercial is then taken to the graphic of a Kangaroo, the DIsh Network’s Hopper and a voice over explaining the Hopper again briefly.  There is also information regarding how you contact the Dish Network in red writing.  The overall time of the commercial is thirty seconds and moves fairly quickly throughout each shot. 

The  commercial relies heavily on cultural and racial codes where they play off of the regional dialect and accent of people from Boston.  The media, films and television generally show people from Boston with this thick accent and many Americans can  understand and recognize this regional accent use and where these people are portrayed to live. Also they are shown all racially white in plain clothing and the lighting used makes the clothes on the men and the wife look faded and older.  The wife and daughter also have red hair to show they are related and possibly have an Irish descent that is typical of Bostonians.  The house and furnishings  look like the family would be part of the working middle class along with their clothing where it looks well maintained, but not ornate or luxurious. There is representations of the Kangaroo throughout the commercial where the opening scene there is a mug with the kangaroo, there is a wall hanging in the kitchen of  one, and also a kangaroo lamp in the girls room.  They shoot four separate rooms to show that you can have the DVR set up in 4 different rooms.   The encoding of these images shows a family setting where the husband is on the couch relaxing, watching  sports on television with his friends while the wife is cleaning in the kitchen, the child is in their room entertaining herself, and the grandfather or the older parent is downstairs , cranky, and keeping to himself.  The decoding of this message is that this is to represent the typical American, working, middle-class family and their normal communication and interactions of the day.  This commercial relies heavily on the audio and the Boston accent where it would not be able  to be comprehended until the final shot displaying the company name if you were unable to hear them talk about the DVR.  By making the word “Hopper” pronounced in the Boston accent, it makes the name of the device more memorable and the comedic aspects of the commercial make it a conversation piece where people can talk about it to others. 

The prominent ideology that is represented in this commercial is the overall dominant nature that television viewing and consumption has on the American Family. There is so much content and programs available on television that many people feel the need to have to record and catch up on television to stay in touch with popular culture.  Also, with televisions being such a dominant form of media, many American families have multiple television sets in their home. Family members are not forced to watch the same television program together and can go off separately and not spend that time together.  This relates back to the commercial where each family member is in a separate room, yelling back and forth to each other and not having to communicate face to face.  Many of the other commercials that were released by the Dish Network subsequent to this one advertising The Hopper share the similar story line and the emphasis on being able to watch more and more content that has become available on television. 

Overall, television is the main universal source where Americans get their entertainment, news and information from and the most readily available to people.  People are demanding the ability to view television content easily and rapidly where ever they are and have the ability to view it on multiple platforms like on the internet, on their tablets, and even on their phones.  With the overwhelming demand of  television content accessibility, more and more technology will become available  like The Hopper and Television will continue to adapt to fit the needs of society and their desire to communicate through this medium. 

Link to the Commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq_hOx8E2uo