Media Blog Project 1

The advertisement that I have chosen to do my project on is the "What do you know about Meth" by Meth Project.

Describe:

• The ad I watched was about a young adult who was desperate to get his fix of Meth. The video starts out in slow motion with a close up of a young boys face with a little bit of a bright white light behind him. His face begins with a sad and worried look but as the slow motion continues on, his face changes into something more terrified as also it shows him falling into glass. Glass shards and books fall around and on this young boy. During of all this slow motion part of the video, there is a voice over speaking of a young man in a depressed and sad tone asking questions. The camera turns of the boy and onto a young man you figure out is his older brother. The older brother is tearing apart, ripping through, and knocking over everything in his younger brothers room. The voice over stops and you hear the older brothers voice yelling at his younger brother in a very threatening way. The younger brother has moved from the floor to his bed and they older brother is yelling at him and grabbing him by collar to give him all of the younger brother's money. The video ends with a text that says "What do you know about Meth?" and also "ASK: MethProject.org" that had the special effect that sounded like a lighter being flipped on.
• They are actors I have never seen before in other commercials, television shows, or movies. 
• I remember watching this ad when I was in High School on television during commercials breaks. I saw something on show I was watching that reminded me of it and just recently re-watched in on YouTube. The is ad is thirty seconds long and it was published on YouTube back in November of 2011. The video is just one of many other videos from Meth Project that talk about the harmful effects of meth. 

Analyze:

• The persuasive technique that I believe that is used in this ad is the hidden-fear technique. I say this because all of us have been told how dangerous and bad meth is. We are told a few things of what and how it damages us physically, emotionally, mentally, and even socially for example. This ad challenges us though on that knowledge we think we know about meth by  asking the question at the end of the video "What do you know about meth?" This could get people to second guess that knowledge that they have and go to the website to check out the information that Meth Project is sharing. 
• I would say this ad uses the association principle because the product they are advertising is their website which is demonstrating it is a positive thing to know more about something that is harmful and dangerous to that of which we already know or don't know. Even though what they are showing is negative and scary, it brings it back in the end to something more positive that we must learn more about meth to be more protected. An example I can think of in this video is when the younger brother is looking at his older brother tearing through his room and is worried, confused, and is terrified. I'm sure this younger brother is thinking about all the good and fun times he has had with his brother but is not understanding what is happening now.  Older brothers are usually supposed to help protect their younger siblings and that is not the case in this situation. The older brother is instead threatening his younger brother for something that he may not even have a lot of. 
• Yes this ad does effectively portray the message they are trying to make because even 7 years later, I can still remember this ad. This ad was something that was scary even for the audience to watch at some point because they don't want anyone they know and love to fall into this trap of meth. It hits the audience on a personal level and even am emotional level,

Interpret: 

• At the time I watched the ad back around 2011 and even today, the ad is still pretty different than other ads on television. That is because most other ads use a famous actor, catchy songs, unrealistic situations, or silly acting. This ad just used a scare tactic with no catchy songs and none of the other stuff mentioned to get a point across that meth is a danger and society needs to learn more about it to protect the ones they love. It used a real life situation of a regular bedroom, to which the child should feel safe in his own room, and a sibling is going crazy ripping it up.
• This ad appeals to more specifically to families and parents who have children. It doesn't single out any ethnicity, age, or those who make a certain income. I guess that the only people they single out are those who are not able to have access to internet. 
• It does not include any stereotypes that I can see and there was nothing offensive within in the video.

Evaluate:

• A strength of the ad was how personal it was. As I mentioned earlier no parent or child wants to see their son/daughter or brother/sister go through what the ad portrays. They want them to stay away from meth. The ad allows them to know what website to go to so they can learn more of what meth does and how to protect those they love. A weakness I see in the ad is 
• Like I mentioned, it is memorable because even 7 years later I can remember the ad. It is memorable to me just because it was different and also a bit freaky.
• I would say so it does connect with the target audience because as I have mentioned before, it connects with them on a personal, emotional, and mental way.

Engage:

• The meth project has also branched out to have states make their own meth projects. Montana Meth Project has been a big one that has come in on search results for "meth project." Meth Project has also taken to social media by mostly posting simple inspirational quotes. Approximately 61,000 people follow meth project on Facebook. I would say that has been mostly successful in helping people understand how they can avoid meth.
• I actually did check out the website and did a few of the activities that they have on the site. I thought it was interesting and it was very informative. 
• I would recommend it to others for them to be able to understand the dangers of meth and what it really does to the body and to others.

Conclusions: 

• I learned a little bit more of how ads don't have to have catchy songs or famous actors to grab ones attentions. Instead they can be a bit freaky and scary.
• I was surprised how many people follow the project on social media. It is not a huge amount of follows but it is more than I was expecting. I was expecting around 30 to 40 thousand people to follow and it was much higher.

YouTube Video: 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEIkTTLqMDQ&list=PL6EEE8723696678F4&index=4

Three Links:

• http://www.methproject.org/
• http://rhetoricofhealth.blogspot.com/2011/10/meth-project.html
• https://newwest.net/topic/article/meth_project_has_sparked_criticism_questions_for_years/C559/L559/