Blackout in a Can

I have already blogged about alcoholic drinks as a medium but I now want to focus specifically on Four Lokos.  This “blackout in a can” packs a powerful punch that usually marks the beginning of a rough night for many college students.  Many states are now taking action to ban this drink, deeming it extremely unhealthy.  The cans themselves are very colorful and come in an extra large size which made them enticing before they became popular.  Upon further investigation on the cans, one can see that they contain 12% alcohol and come at a relatively cheap price.  Now that they are becoming regulated, it only furthers the interest people have in these drinks.  Similarly to our discussions of when radio became regulated, the masses are beginning to increase their demand for the product to go against these rules.  A person sees the popularity and has these strong feelings to join in and try the drink.  When you see someone drinking a Four Loko, you know they fall into one of two groups.  The first category is people that want to try it out and see what all of the craze is about.  The second group consists of those that have had it before and want to get drunk as fast as possible and party hard.  The creators of this alcoholic energy drink wanted to spread the message of a party in a can to college students, however they did not expect such a backlash from the media and older generations.

See it my way

Glasses and contacts are media that not only allow people to view messages but also act as a way to show off a message.  When your vision goes, you are limited in decoding messages.  For instance, watching television may be blurry causing the medium to become cool rather than hot.  Furthermore, you may wear a stylish pair of glasses if you have the money and care about how you look.  If you are retired and don’t go out very often, you may wear that favorite pair that you have.  If it breaks, the person may even tape it up to show that they don’t really care how it looks as long as they can see.  Some people do not enjoy wearing glasses either because they are less comfortable or they fear they will be seen as a nerd.  These people resort to wearing contact lenses in order to hide the fact that they need vision correction.  Some even use contact lenses to change their appearance.  Now that there are contact lenses that change your eye color or give you cat eyes, people that may not even need contacts will wear them to give off a certain message.  Someone that always wanted blue eyes can now give an artificial message about themselves that show this to others.  Lastly, there are new contacts that are supposed to aid you in sports, specific ones that help athletes play sports such as baseball and golf.  Nike has come out with these contact lenses to help see the ball better, possibly giving players a new advantage.

Message in a Bottle

Whether it’s a hot or cold drink, the drink that you bring to class is a type of hot media that represents you.  One can usually learn a little bit about a person by looking at their drink.  A coffee drinker usually needs their coffee in order to function early in the morning.  You can see they woke up a little earlier to

start their day off the right way.  Some people don’t need this extra boost of energy so they just have water.  At the same time there isn’t a message they are trying to get across except that they want to hydrate.  A portion of these people don’t care about being eco-friendly and just bring their plastic bottle however, just by the type of water they bought you can see if they were able to find a sale at the store and elected to buy a cheaper store brand.  Some people choose to use nalgene bottles and represent a “go green” path.  The type of bottle has a certain message that you want to give off.  If you’re using a nalgene it may have a literal message saying how you obtained it.  An example of this would be from a 5k race or maybe a free give away advertising another product.  If you aren’t happy with the bottle you have, you can even use stickers to customize and personalize the bottle even more.  There are even designer thermals that allow you to show off some style.   

A Proactiv Solution for You

       You just hit puberty and your face turns into a land mine field.  Pimples cover your face and you scramble to look for solutions.  As you sit down to watch your favorite television show, a commercial comes on with Jessica Simpson advertising Proactiv Solution for your face.  I must admit that seeing a celebrity promote a product intrigued me enough to try the product.  As time has gone on, Proactiv has found a number of celebrities to endorse their product.  You see this in magazines, television, and even hear it on the radio.  Serena Williams, Alyssa Milano, and Jennifer Love Hewitt have all backed the facial cream, showing that the company is trying to find a celebrity that would appeal to you.  Even the popular Justin Bieber tries to appeal to the younger generation.  As a middle class male, I must admit that my mindset was that if it works for celebrity females, it will definitely work for me.  I feel as though social class has less effect on your decoding process compared to gender and culture.  Depending on how you view celebrities, the advertisements will be less powerful on you or you may even believe that the celebrity is simply promoting something they do not believe in.    At the same time, many people become so desperate to find a solution that they will find any excuse to try a product.  Their desperation may cloud their decoding process and alter many of their views.

Hair-do you do?

           A person’s hair acts as a medium in multiple ways in everyday society.  Whether it is the hair on your head, facial, or even another part of your body, people view hair as a message in which others decode in a variety of ways.  People most likely see another’s hair as a stereotype in which they stereotype a person into a specific class.  On a simple level, as we grow up, so do our hairstyles.  At younger ages boys spike their hair up in order to impress girls and look ‘stylish’, while girls are more accepted to have pigtails or other such hairstyles that are viewed as more ‘childish’.  As we grow older, we are expected as members of society to be more “landscaped”, having a more professional style.  Furthermore, a white male with a style such as corn rows may be viewed as someone trying to act more African American or even mocking them.  A female with shorter hair may be falsely stereotyped into being a lesbian even if she is not.  Since one’s hair is the first thing a person notices about someone, this is one of the first messages that is decoded. 

                Some people use these stereotypes to their advantage.  For example, someone into punk rock music may color their hair in order to express their interests.  While the style is purely up to the individual, there are many social standards that have been put in place for us to follow in order to be viewed as ‘normal’.  Men should be clean shaven for their jobs, or at least maintain a clean design, while women are expected to shave their legs and armpits.  People usually interpret these qualities as taking the time to look so called presentable to others, but who’s to say our comfort is not the most important aspect in our lives. 

                Hair is not as an important aspect in my life as it once was, I now wake up for class and make sure it doesn’t look like I just woke up, where I once thought it needed to be perfectly gelled for society.  As a person that has grown up in warmer climate and now lives in the northeast, I have found that is more acceptable to grow a beard and use the excuse of 'warmth' in order to have longer facial hair that may appear more unkempt, but has an actual purpose.  Our hair acts as an unspoken voice for ourselves in which we mold to fit our beliefs and interests. 

Silly Friendz

Did you ever want to be the coolest kid on your block?  Well Silly Bandz made it possible for you to achieve this status at the age of 6.  But who knew that the concept would go beyond the recommended 5+ age group and continue its way up to college students, and even adults.  Looking around the Babson campus you might be surprised to see students wearing these shaped rubber bands.  The intended use for these bands was originally to be a creative replacement for rubber bands or hair ties.  People interpreted the message differently and began wearing and trading them.  Chapter 8 of our Media Society book goes into detail about how there is a “preferred” message that the creator is trying to get across and an interpretation by people, that may or may not be the same as the preferred, which is exemplified through these Silly Bandz.

                Now there is a shape for everyone!  So you love wiener dogs, rock that wiener on your wrist and be proud.  Or maybe you always think about eating ice cream in class, slap that thing on your wrist for everyone to know.  What you wear helps to define who you are or at least how you would like to be perceived by others.  The bands send great messages to others on campus.  You could walk into a party and not know anyone, but if you spot someone wearing Silly Bandz, you have an immediate conversation with them.  The bands send a message to other people, “Hey, what shape do you think I am?  Come talk to this kid so you can trade and get me!”  Not only do the bands help our society mingle and meet new people, but the physical act of completing a successful trade may bring extreme happiness.  You may begin the day with a crown and giraffe and end up with 2 armfuls of awesomeness. 

Drink Up

            Beer acts as a medium in multiple ways in our lives.  First off, people use stereotypes when they see others drinking a certain type of beer.  Cheaper beers are associated with the lower class and college students, which are looked down upon in society.   The more expensive and “classy” the beer you are drinking, the better society views you.  For example, if you went to a bar and ordered a Natural Light Beer, people would think you lack money and sophistication as opposed to ordering a Stella Artois where you would be seen as having money.  Also there is the issue of taste, in which certain tastes trigger off memories of our past.  For instance, a certain beer such as Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat that tastes like blueberries, may remind you of spending time with your mother picking fruits.

            Certain beers such as Keystone Light send a humorous message to its consumers on its can such as, “Smooth: Your album is in the top 40 Smoother: For over a century” in order to build off the stereotype of college students being their target market.  Other beers that use the same marketing techniques to capture its consumers would include Magic Hat which has messages written on the inside of its tops.  These messages include, “Today’s forecast beer!”  These marketing ploys that capture its consumers act as stereotypical media.  Depending on which specific type of beer you drink, you are subject to others judging you and even criticizing your choice in beer, forcing you to alter your decisions in the future.