EDEC 612 – Media LiteracyRobin Blackwell Lauren LopezRobyn Meyer Patrycja Magierowska

Class Activityo You must come up with an ad for the

corporation we have given you (commercial,

billboard, slogan, etc)

o Discuss who the target audience is for this

corporation’s advertising campaign

o What message is this corporation sending

out?

o Why are they sending this particular

message?

Wants vs Needs

Wants vs Needs

Wants vs Needs

Wants vs Needs

Things from our homes…

Individual Liberties

Individual Liberties

Individual Liberties

What brands do you choose?

Individual Liberties

Social Classes

“Another cluster of meanings centered on physical labour,

ruggedness, activity, physicality. These meanings

again, were attempts to deny class differences” (p. 3, Fiske)

Social Classes

Social Classes

Do you agree with Fiske about items or marketing campaigns

transcending social classes or do you think that targeting specific

social classes is inevitable?

Discussion

Social Classes

“If the worker and his boss enjoy the same television program and visit the same resort places […]if they all read

the same newspaper then this assimilation indicates not the

disappearance of classes but the extent to which the needs and satisfactions

that serve the preservation of the Establishment are shared by the

population” (p.8, Marcuse)

Everyone is FREE to want itBut not everyone can AFFORD to have

it

Social Progress

According to Marcuse, “progress…moves towards

specific ends, and these ends are defined by the

possibilities of ameliorating the human condition”. (p. 16)

Social Progress

“Containment of technical progress goes

hand in hand with its growth in the

established direction” (p. 17, Marcuse)

http://www.macworld.com/article/2049085/iphone-5s-gold-rush-begins-as-crowds-line-up-for-new-phone.html

IPhone 5 launch, September 20th, 2013 New York City.

Social Progress

• Nomothetic: Refers to processes of normalization. To promote, explicitly or implicitly, the

adoption of dominant social values.

Social Progress

A broadcast interview with a woman claiming to have had sex with Tiger Woods attracts 10 million viewersThe New York Post puts the Woods story on its front page for 20 consecutive days, breaking the record of 19 days held by 9/11.

Social ProgressA world where Tiger Wood’s infidelity is more important than the attack on September 11th

Espn.com

Pleads for public funding

Tabloid sales across North America surge 16% between 2013-2014 in monthly subscriptions alone

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/01/8538259/good-year-tabloid-magazines

Social Progress

Facilitated Discussion

Do you agree with Marcuse’s view of social progress?

How do you view these examples, or any other examples, of our social progress?