Ridiculous Advertising #1

I enjoy commercials. Sure, they're rather annoying if you're watching some sort of epic movie on TV with commercial breaks every 5 minutes or when you're watching a reality show and the host is like "And the winner is... going to be revealed after this commercial. HA! Gotcha! *cut to commercial break.*" But even when it's not the Superbowl, many of them have some entertainment value, whether it's because they're genuinely funny or they're awful in a Rebecca Black "Friday" sort of way.

I also sometimes enjoy looking at the ads in magazines more than reading the articles. I think it's interesting to see what strategies companies are taking to try to persuade me to buy their product or use their service.

Some of the strategies are ridiculous, though. Either illogical or incredibly ironic. I'm numbering this post because although I've only come up with three for this post, I'm sure I'll find more over time. So here we go.


1) "Love Your/My Body" by Victoria's Secret

Out of respect for any males who might read my blog, I'm cropping this image, but you can view the whole thing here. Even if you don't view the link, I'm sure you can make a pretty educated guess at what the rest of this image looks like.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but advertising is supposed to try to sell a product, right? Victoria's Secret has never done a very good job of convincing me. See, I like men, a lot, so the female sex appeal thing just doesn't work on me. It just doesn't. And just look at the women in that picture. They look so distressed... maybe a little constipated. That's supposed to entice me to buy a product? It's pretty impressive that Victoria's Secret sells any underwear at all to women... the target audience for their advertising seems to be teenage boys!

I first saw the "Love Your/My Body" (I've seen "your" and "my" used, depending on the context) campaign while I was in San Francisco. My first reaction was "Hmm... I love her body... but mine doesn't look like any of those models. I guess this product is not for me and the only bodies worth loving are the ones that look like that? Wow, Victoria's Secret, thanks for the uplifting message... :("

Among the many roles in advertising, you have Art and Copy. Art creates a visual to a line given by Copy, Copy writes to a visual created by Art, and back and forth until something awesome, legal and client-approved is born. "Love Your/My Body" is ridiculous because of the disconnect between the line "Love Your/My Body" and the visual. Few woman would get the warm fuzzies for their own body after viewing images like that. They can see why the model might love her body, but what does that have to do with them? The line "A Body for Every Body" also appears frequently, next to the images of several women with very similar bodies. Also a disconnect—they say they have a Body bra for every body... but they don't prove it; instead they just show several women with similar bodies. Weird. The disconnect comes from the fact that a line like "Love Your Body" just isn't on-strategy for Victoria's Secret. Victoria's Secret doesn't want women to love their bodies. They want to sell sex, but since prostitution is illegal in most states, they just sell bras and panties instead.

2) Nutella

If you watch TV, you've probably seen this commercial:

I find it pretty funny in this time of talk about the "obesity epidemic," one brand would deviate from the trend of promoting healthy eating and instead spread the message that most people have known for years: When you cover it with sugar, food just tastes better. Especially to children.

Yes, Nutella is a hazelnut spread, but doesn't have a lot of nutritional value. The protein content is pretty pathetic and the primary ingredient is sugar. That's why it's delicious.

So when I watch this commercial, what I see is a mother saying, "I can't stand up to my kids and get them to eat healthy... so I've just going to cover everything in sugar instead!" Yeah... I don't think that's a good idea/way to instill good eating habits in children...

I love Nutella... and Nutella on toast is probably still better than a lot of sugary options... but the message of "the only way to get my kids to eat toast is to cover it in sugar" puts this ad on the list of ridiculous advertising.

3) Above the Influence - "Tree Service"

(Video is no longer online, unfortunately)



WOOHOO! I guess they have finally gotten all the kids out there to stop doing drugs, so they're using their remaining funding to tackle the wasted squirrels epidemic.

If you've ever seen Over The Hedge, you know that the last thing your neighborhood wants/needs is a high squirrel. Squirrels are crazy enough as it is... the last thing we need is them using drugs. So I think Above the Influence has a good mission here... they're just forgetting one key thing:

Squirrels don't watch TV!

I also didn't know squirrels got high, but if it's on TV, it must be true... right?

"Awww... that's fun": My least favorite responses to what I do

I remember the first time I was asked "What do you do?" It was at the first Wednesday swing dance I attended in Dayton, Ohio... July 2008. I was twenty years old, had just finished my second year of college, and thought to myself, "Oh wow... I'm old enough to DO something!" Over the years, the answer has varied... being as vague as "student" to as specific as "I'm a graphic design intern at an environmental signage and wayfinding design firm" (no one has ANY idea was that is). This past winter I even stopped saying student and just called myself a "graphic designer." However, aside from my general dislike of small talk, I sometimes dread the question, "What do you do?" Why? Frankly, I've gotten tired of many of the typical responses to "I'm a graphic designer." or "I work at a [insert brief description here]." Most likely, I just need to work on a better answer to that question myself, but here's a list, in no particular order, of the responses that sometimes bug me, and why:

1) "What's that?"
This is typically a response to one of my more descriptive responses... which apparently aren't descriptive enough. I think this will actually stop being annoying, now that I have pretty straight-forward job description... "I'm a junior art director at a pharmaceutical ad agency." Yep, that's right—I push drugs. But explaining why on earth a sign would need someone to design it? That got boring after awhile. Explaining it was fine the first few times, but after awhile, I started wishing for a much more straight-forward job description—"I cook fries at McDonald's." or "I teach fifth graders Spanish." Or maybe it was that, sometimes, as an intern, my job description sometimes wasn't very exciting—"Basically, I do what the other employees don't really want to do themselves" (Okay, so maybe that wasn't really the case at most of my internships) or "Well, I sift through the topless ladies on Getty Images and find suitable images for my supervisor's presentation" (Oh, I guess that is kinda interesting). But the point is, I suppose any question, in any context, that requires an answer longer than about three words, gets old after you've answered it five times already in one week.

2) "Oh, that sounds fun..."
I think we should all try to find enjoyment in our professions. If you spend 40+ hours a week at work, hopefully you like it well enough most of the time, right? The reason this type of response makes my pet peeve list is the tone in which it's usually said—something about it suggests a lack of respect for my profession. It's as though the person is suggesting that some people actually work, and graphic designers are just paid to sit down with a box of crayons and color (and don't get me started on the people who flat out suggest that...). It's not that simple. We're problem solvers. There are challenges and pressures at work, just like anywhere. Sometimes it's awesome... and sometimes its tedious. It is fun, but it is work, and I had to go to college, work hard and get a degree to do it. Yes, I enjoy my job, but I hope you do too!

3) "Oh, I could never do that. I can't even draw a stick figure!"
Well first of all, I'm sure you can draw a perfectly lovely stick figure, and second, have you ever tried? While it's true that some people either are or aren't cut out for certain jobs, based on personality traits (I could never act; I'd feel embarrassed and I can't keep a straight face), a lot of others can be taught. My degree program doesn't require a student to draw anything in order to be admitted; as long as you fill out an application and have good grades and test scores, you have a chance of getting in. As I mentioned in "Lessons Learned During College," you're paying the school the big bucks to teach you something. Also, I once had someone imply that graphic design was a performing art—yeah, no, not really. We're usually not performing and graphic design degree ≠ fine arts degree. Not to say graphic design is not creative work, but my degree actually doesn't even have "art" in it (it's a Bachelor of Science degree). Perhaps "Oh, I could never do that. I hate computers and paper and pencils and colors and fonts and photos and words!" might be a more valid argument. I'm flattered that you think what I do is special and that I must have some natural talent to do it (maybe I do, maybe I don't)... but for whatever reason, I feel like I have to correct this misconception. I think it goes back to the "I had to go to college, work hard and get a degree to do it" thing.

4) "Oh, so you're like real good with the Photoshop and stuff..."
Yes. Yes I am. Give me $50 and I'll photoshop your roommate's face into Donald Trump's hairstyle. Okay, so this isn't necessarily annoying, but the lack of knowledge amuses me. Yes, I use photoshop, but I also use programs you've never even heard of even more often. But it's okay. I'm also ignorant of other people's professions. I think that wearing socks that come halfway up your calves with shorts comes with the job description of "IT guy" and that telemarketers have no souls. I also get really, really confused when I see a nun in "normal" clothing.

5) "Oh, my niece does that."
I don't know if attending a school with DAAP's reputation has made me unnecessarily cocky or if the copious amounts of questionable ads for graphic design school I've seen online have made me skeptical, but when you say that, I picture your niece sitting down to Microsoft Word and playing with WordArt. Maybe she did actually attend a decent school school and can easily distinguish Univers from Helvetica, or maybe she's 13 and downloaded a cracked version of Photoshop and made something really sparkly that looks like this:

Yeah, don't even get me started on the "I can use a computer, therefore I'm a graphic designer." Or even worse: "I have Photoshop, therefore I'm a graphic designer." Putting on a tutu doesn't make me a ballerina and owning a soccer ball doesn't make me a soccer player. Hey look, I bought a scalpel; I am now qualified to do brain surgery! No... just... no. It doesn't work that way, and I feel like the "Oh, my niece does that" conversation usually happens with adults who are older and think that anyone who can use Microsoft Office is a graphic designer. Then there's the awkward conversation where I prod further and find out the niece actually does something completely different ("No... actually graphic designers and Target employees don't do that same thing...")


So what are the correct responses? Well again, I think the asking more specific questions will be less annoying now, since I have a real, grown-up job with a more straight-forward description. So moving forward, you can disregard #1. Woohoo! For #2... just try to keep anything implying that you don't think graphic design is a "real job" to yourself. A simple "Oh, cool!" will suffice. #3 through #5 pretty much fall under the "don't pretend to know what you're talking about if you really don't; just smile and nod" category. A simple improvement on #5 is to be more specific—"Oh, my niece designs Coke cans!" or "My nephew's studying something like that at RISD!" And at least a straight-forward "My brother does that; he's an expert with Microsoft Word" leads to me to a very accurate conclusion :-)

Okay, fine, so maybe it's just that after at least an eight hour day of talking graphic design at work, I'm ready for a change of subject.

Yes, I'm a graphic designer. Yes, I can use Photoshop. And yes, I thought the logo redesign for Gap was HILARIOUS. Happy?

Why I look sixteen years old (and you probably do too) Part 2

This blog post was pretty popular and Pretty Little Liars is starting its 2nd season next week, so I thought I'd add on to it!

4. Pretty Little Liars

This series began last summer and as far as I can tell, the girls are supposed to be 16 years old. My guess is the high school guys are also also supposed to be 16, or maybe 17. For this post, I'm going to use their ages on the release date of the series—June 8, 2010.

From left to right:

Spencer Hastings (Troian Bellisario): 24
Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale): Almost 21
Emily Fields (Shay Mitchell): 23
Hannah Marin (Ashley Benson): 20











Oddly enough, Alison DiLaurentis, the dead one, is played by Sasha Pieterse, who was 14 at the time of the show's release.

Maya St. Germain, played by Bianca Lawson was 31 at the time of the show's release. Almost twice her character's age!













I was having a hard time finding a few of the boys' ages, but here's a couple:

Toby Cavanaugh (Keegan Allen): Almost 21

Caleb Rivers (Tyler Blackburn): His first appearance was in 2011 and he is 24.

Noel Kahn (Brant Daugherty): almost 25














So again, most of the high school students are played by actors around my age!