Friday, March 10, 2017

Ad vs Journalism.

The first image I found was from an old Carls Jr. ad for a burger. It shows Paris Hilton in a racy bikini and has a sexual double entendre that says "She'll tell you size doesn't matter. She's lying." This is obviously a play on the size of a burger they're selling while also playing into the sexualized image of Paris with the other meaning behind size doesn't matter. It's target audience is clearly anyone attracted to a beautiful woman in a swimsuit (primarily men). However, this seems to be a male- idealized image of a woman as she is glammed-up with hair, makeup, and diamonds, looking extra sultry as she holds a cheeseburger (I can tell you for a fact I don't look like that when I dive into a burger). This image clearly provokes feelings like desire, sex, and envy (oh and hunger!).

















The next image is a journalistic photo from the recent International Women's Day march/rally. It was posted on the Huffington Post website. This image could not be further from the advertisement above. It shows a woman being arrested while protesting outsideTrump International Hotel, in New York. Here, in contrast to the advertisement above, the woman is modestly dressed and displays a stance of empowerment with her hand in the air as an officer arrests her. This image clearly evokes emotions like empowerment, and defiance.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/womens-march-organizers-arrested-during-a-day-without-a-woman-strike_us_58c05a70e4b054a0ea67587e





Sunday, March 5, 2017


Money Runs Everything.
This week we were assigned to research propositions or new legislation and trace the funding for them. I decided to look into the recently passed proposition 64 (legalizing marijuana in California). According to ballotpedia.org, Sean Parker, founder of Napster and former Facebook President, was a huge financial supporter of proposition 64. He donated 8.6 million to yes on 64 which ended up being almost 34% of the total contribution. The California Democratic Party, U.S Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jay-Z, and actress Shailene Woodley all supported Prop 64 as well (ballotpedia). Other major donators include George Soros, "The liberal billionaire investor is reportedly behind the non-profit group called the Fund for Policy Reform, which has contributed nearly $4 million in support of Prop 64. Soros is a board member at the Drug Policy Alliance, according to the group's website" (fortune.com).

https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_64,_Marijuana_Legalization_(2016)#Campaign_finance

http://fortune.com/2016/10/29/california-prop-64-marijuana-donors/