media messages

“There's a war going on for your mind. Media mavens mount surgical strikes from trapper keeper collages and online magazine racks.” (Flobots) In our daily lives the media shove messages in our faces about how to be happy. They show pictures of models and tell you that you too can have flatter abs. There is no tolerance for being different. There is known “you could try this product, but you’re still beautiful with out it”. Usually the messages are clear, but sometimes you have to analyze.
Many remember the ads on the subway for Trimspa. Until her passing the star of the ads was Anna Nicole Smith. One advertisement Shows Smith, coming out of the water in a wet suit and holding a surf board. This is suppouse to be an image of the good life. The advertisement almost seems to say that you can have this life too. Along the side of the picture there are smaller pictures of other people who have lost weight. In the after picture all of them are standing on a beach. The only way you would know this ad is trying to sell a pill is by the small bottle in the corner. Next to the bottle it says “are you ready”. This gives the idea that you can look good and be on a beach when ever you decided to start taking the drug. This ad says that the meaning of life is to be able to look good on some beach.
VH1 has a show called I Love Money. It is a battle between 15 contestants. The one who lasts the longest gets $250,000. They stick the 15 people in one house and turn on the cameras. The show comes out to be a bunch of people who will do anything for money; in most cases it involves a small loss of dignity. This is a common theme in pop culture. Do what ever you have to do to get money. Or as Curtis Jackson puts it “Get rich, or die trying”. This message means that life is only good when you have a lot of money. You may be happy now, but you’ll be even better with more money. It also portrays the message of the ends justify the means. You can do anything from dance drunk on a table to spit on some one, as long as it gets you money its ok. In one they go around asking people to do stupid things for money. One example is for $100 a guy got a tattoo, but he didn’t know what tattoo he was getting. It ended up being an embarrassing tattoo that questioned his sexuality. Unfortunately tattoo removal surgeries cost more then $100. VH1 gives the message that the solution to all problems is to get a lot of money.