Made to Stick

Popcorn at the movies. Urban legends that are told and re-told...in multiple languages. Proverbs. 3D television. 3D movies. The ipad. The IPhone. What do all of these have in common? They stick, people remember them. They were ideas that broke the norm, upset regular patterns and caught people's attention.

I recently read a book titled Made to Stick whereby the authors Chip Heath and Dan Heath uncover the multiple facets of ideas that stick, why they were and still are sticky, and how to make an idea even more sticky. The authors boils down the principles of a sticky ideas to an acronym called SUCCESSs which they explain as: a Simple Unexpected Concrete Credentialed Emotional Story. In short, the book answers the questions many CEO's are dying to answer. How do I effectively communicate an idea? How do I capture people's attention...and hold it?

Particularly in my industry, it is important to stay ahead of the game when it comes to new ideas or products that stick. And when they do stick it is even more important to advertise them in ways that will spread their stickiness to those who would have otherwise discarded the product. And when you discover the qualities that stick you can help identify those products that may stick...and then target those companies that continually produce products that stick...

Power of Advertising: Individual or Corporation?

As a new member venturing into the blogosphere, I was taken back by the amount of blogs specifically dedicated to analyzing all angles of the advertising world. In my previous posts, I have discussed both the advertising measures taken by companies, in particular Abercrombie and Fitch, and also the actions taken by individuals who have branded corporate logo tattoos on themselves. Today, I wish to further this conversation by examining where the power really lies in the advertising industry. Some suggest the company has the upper hand because they create advertisements that sucker us into buying product. Others propose the idea that the power is in the person, who essentially chooses between all products, either to conform and buy the most highly advertised product or choose one that perhaps, isn’t as widely promoted. The first post, “Personal Advertising” focuses on advertising as a part of the “American Psyche” and the idea that corporate advertising has not only taken over public spaces, but also individuals personal space, for example, one’s clothes. The next post, however, “People, Not Labels,” studies advertising in terms of individuals, and their ability in the free world to make their own choices and decisions when buying a product. Ultimately, does the power truly lie in the individual who, against all odds has to decide how they want to represent their identity or is it in the corporations whose main function are to find ways of creating lifestyle brands as to lure the customer in for the during of their whole lifetime? Should such corporations have the ability to so greatly influence and possibly impeded in the daily routine of individual expression or should the audience become more aware and accustomed to the ways by which companies target market their product to distinguish those vulnerable customers to whom their advertising technique was centered upon?

Personal Advertising
Comments:
Thank you for your informational post regarding advertising and its slow progression into the “American psyche”. I wonder what the future holds for individuals not wanting to conform to the principles of trademarks and the idea no matter what you wear or where you travel you are consciously or unconsciously bombarded by labels, billboards, or advertisements whose main motive is to catch your attention, direct it away from that which you were thinking before, and let it resonate to the point where one will find themselves wanting to buy product to fit the label and standard set forth through advertising. Do you see a real danger in the labels that corporations are trying to coerce into our everyday lives?

I agree with your frustration towards those individuals who stamp a name, without any legitimate connection to their identity or representation, for say, on the back of their truck, however what is the difference between choosing to put the name on the back of their truck and choosing the brand a corporate logo tattoo one may or may feel reflect their individualism. In the mere process of branding a corporate tattoo on their body, they are subjecting themselves to conformity, not necessarily those individualistic ideas that may have been discussed verbalized, for example, in the commercials or advertisements. My last post centered on Apple computers and their advertising campaign that sold the “Think Different”, idea. Well, how different can one possibly be thinking when I look around the classroom and all I can see is the Apple logo. In a world where the sale of a product, in every area of life, parallels and constitutes the worth of the company, I’m not sure I completely see the difference in branding a corporate logo tattoo on your body because it’s only one step further than wearing the logo on your outfits every single day. I do think the corporations have it completely wrong, as you concluded in your post. They should be paying us to wear their label! However, the only reason these conglomerations are not is because they want to maintain the power of advertising, to direct a specific message to a explicit type of person.

People, Not Labels
Comment:
First of all, I would like to thank you for your interesting remarks about advertising and the power of the people within the industry. This is a topic that is obviously pertinent to every human being and the construction of their identity. Humans choose specific traits or labels that they want to include in their identity because for example, the popular kids in class had it or, the commercial or catchy song lingers in your head until it eventually consumes you. Certainly it is of great importance for the audience to recognize and be aware of the directedness of such messages and the possible vulnerability to some messages.

You raised a few questions to which you later answered in your post on the subject of dropping the idea of a target market. First and foremost, I think that, in order for any message to successfully reach society, the message must be either funny, hard to forget (for example the Chihuahua in the Taco Bell advertisements) or directed towards a target viewer. I’m unsure if whether anything would be persuasive without having one of those three mentioned criteria. However, considering the present day generation of the “I want it now” mentality, one may or may not be about to successfully devise a marketing technique to suit the needy mentality that is quickly sweeping into our future and our children. Also, I agree with your thoughts on the fear of thinking about people as targets and essentially losing sight of the ability to see them as real living beings, that is the main worry, I feel, for the future of advertising. When will the cost of advertising become so high and with such little benefits for the company, that we do away with the concept? I’m not sure that that is in store for the future because society has naturalized these messages to make them now appear normal, with little shock value. Consumers, regardless of the cost of a product will definitely think of per say a catchy song, a funny tune in the commercial or a sexy woman in the process of choosing a product. Maybe advertising won’t ever lose its spunk?

Advertising and Individualism: Tattoos as 'Walking Advertisements'

In the global quest of large corporations searching to discover new revenues for advertising, corporate logo tattoos have emerged as an innovative way of publicizing a company while also revealing individual expression. Currently, in all corners of the world there are many ways of visibly expressing individuality, however, recently, “Tattoos Advertisements Turn People into Walking Billboards” where one can brand a company logo on their body and it will likely lead to free product or monetary incentive. The human billboard trend initially made an appearance in professional sports in 2001 when the professional boxer Bernard Hopkins was paid $100,000 by the online casino GoldenPalace.com to wear a temporary tattoo on his back during his championship fight with Felix Trinidad. As with most risky advertising, the trend sought to outdo its primary representation and eventually in 2003, twenty-two year old Jim Nelson sold the space on the back of his head for $7,000 to CI Host, a web hosting service and the transaction landed him a permanent tattoo of the company logo on the back of his head. Thus began the era of corporate logo tattoo advertising, an era filled with multi-faceted identity portrayal that resulted in taking advertising to a dangerously new dimension.

Advertisements of all kind are used to claim one united thesis that clearly reflects the company ideals and provokes a wide-ranging audience to buy their product. Tattoos, previous to the introduction of corporate logo tattoos, were also meant to argue or make claims for a particular individual because people generally tend to get tattoos of the things that define their lives. Throughout history the purpose of tattoos in society has varied from culture to culture. Often times, tattoos express the significant rituals and traditions of a society and they have the ability to tell a story about the age in which they are seen. According to the National Alliance of Gang Investigator Association, in the past, tattoos were often associated with the personality of a rebel, a motorcycle gang, or someone that was in a way anti-culture. Those that inked themselves did so with a unique or meaningful symbol they created of researched. Consequently, the purpose of the act was very personal and separated them from the norm or mainstream culture. However, when tattoos are stamped on people, the human body becomes a venue of advertising for corporations and the important distinction between self and consumerism becomes blurred because now both can make the same arguments advertisements alone were intended to make. Additionally, the emergence of corporate logo tattoos as “walking billboards” that have the ability to market anything from wine or energy drinks to cars has fundamentally altered the purpose of a tattoo placing it “mainstream” and changing the dynamics from personal expression to social identification. The new trend has opened an outlet whereby one can represent social identity, however it has done this at the expense of personal individuality.

The trend has quietly crept into American psyche and consumed a niche in the advertising world because the media, as with all trends, quickly acts to normalize the oddness of the idea by including the trend into the ebb and flow of mainstream culture and giving the viewer a feeling of comfort and attraction towards the trend. Similar to the way media glamorizes specific fashion tastes over others, it has glamorized the act of branding the human body with a “popular” corporate name. Celebrities are one way trends can become endorsed into society because they have authority and are constantly on public display. A famous singer Lil’ Kim (as seen below) was even featured in Rolling Stones magazine with the Louis Vuitton symbol imprinted all over her body. From the second a person places a corporation’s logo on their flesh, while media may give off the impression that the individual is singling themselves out as unique beings, in reality, they are highlighting their shared identity at the expense of masking personal representations of individuality.

At the forefront of the trend is the freedom of expression and the boundless measures individuals may take to communicate the whole of their identity to others. Corporate logo tattoos provide a viable channel whereby one can broadcast their connection with a social entity. When present on a body, corporate logo graphics are a way of associating with the governing discourse of consumer culture. The problem, however, is that the trend has created this connection at the expense of individuality whereby the force of media has immediately normalized it and socially accepted the concept. As you can see advertising can take place on many levels, but when will media draw line between advertising trends that will flourish in American society versus trends that will consume every aspect of individual identity? Will we continue to lose sight of our individuality and ultimately end up having to sell our souls to corporate America? Consider the name of the website www.leaseyourbody.com. How far is American consumer culture from commodifying our body parts and selling them to the same corporations that are paying humans to brand their name on our flesh? Exactly how far is too far?

Fishing the Web: Ten Outstanding Resources for Creative Ideas and Argument

This week, I decided once again that it was time to scour the web in search of valued resources to add to my linkroll. It is evident that the focus of my blog has evolved to cover three main categories: argumentation, creativity, and the latest controversy present in the media. For that reason, the purpose of updating the linkroll seen on the elft is twofold, first to provide an opportunity to read elsewhere on complementary topics and second, to keep current the developing issues existing in my website. Each of the ten blogs and news sites were evaluated by applying specific criteria, the IMSA criteria for blogs and the Webby criteria for each news site. I encourage each reader to view the links independently, however, I will also examine each of them in this post.

My last post inspired me to search the web for alternate online resources on the topic of media related controversy. The first, a high quality and influential item titled The Moderate Voice focuses on news analysis both domestically and internationally. It is easily navigable, well structured, and emphasizes authority in the central location of its sponsors on the page, the most reputable being MSNBC. The left hand column features a list of the previous commentary where the reader can acknowledge the speed with which the author produces new posts, some occasions with as many as twelve in one day! But I wonder if it is too much information forced on the reader because there are so little comments underneath each post. A more comprehensive blog is the Huffington Post which includes practical links that engage categories ranging from business, to entertainment, and also living. This is a good place to get a complete view of all categories of news in one site. Its "The Room", link provides an up to date atmosphere where bloggers can state their opinions or reactions to the posts, however, the unique link does not compliment the home page which is unorganized and aesthetically unpleasant. A third blog, Discourse.net, unlike the other two sites, is a personal blogs that fails to inform the reader of the depths of content of its posts. Ultimately, the viewer will lose interest in the blog. However, the blog does have one striking quality that will stop readers at one glance, casualty count of the war in Iraq, and the numbers are rapidly increasing.

The second section of interest is creative blogs with topics comparable to my first couple posts. Those searching for new ideas from a wide range of sources should visit The Creative Generalist, a site by which the author not only provides his own input within the posts, but succeeds in displaying a category where he recognizes other blogger's creativity. While the author is creative in his broad ideas, the home page is ironically plain it its use of only light green and white. One step ahead, is ArtsBeat, a destination that fulfills and puts on show the heart of its subject matter, dance. From Ballet to Urban Dance, this blog has it all. The language is easy to read and clear, however, there isn't an archive section so it is difficult to find the previous posts. Today's Creative Blog ups the ante on visual appeal and creative ideas from decorating lampshades to building scrapbooks, conversely, it does not have as much influence as it fails to find the number of blogs that are linked to it. Creative Weblogging categorizes all creative blogs on the internet and is a good source for someone who wants to start their own website. The final three sites encompass the legal category of my blog. Show Me the Argument and The Winning Argument are just a few blogs that approach argumentation from differing perspectives; One lends information about how to present all angles of a given argument and the other is biased in that it only teaches one how to win an argument or tweak a closing sentence to persuade a listener. When combined, these sites are extremely influential. Show Me The Argument is written by graduate students in the department of Philosophy at Mizzou. The Winning Argument, on the other hand, does not reference the author, and as a result Show Me The Argument is a stronger resource. Scotus Blog takes the cake on the best law blog for authoritarian reasons; it is the Supreme Court of the United States Blog. It even has a section where the reader can review a list of petitions listed that same day. All in all, this blog has the greatest depth of content on law related information as well as the utmost credibility.

Advertising: Freedom of Expression or Invasion of Privacy?

Advertisements found throughout American media have been known to push the envelope in terms of obscenity laws, nudity, and sexually suggestive material. Whether we want to admit it or not, modern American culture has definitely experienced a broadening in sexualized marketing practices particularly with images found on billboards, lyrics on pop songs heard on the radio, and television commercials. Whereas only a decade ago, these images were directed towards teens, they now target a new market, pre-teens. A few weeks ago in the Abercrombie and Fitch store in Virginia Beach, angry parents of teen shoppers complained to two promotional photos, in particular, that were seen as inappropriate: One that depicted a topless woman (seen above) with her hand barely covering her nipple, and the second, depicting a group of boys (seen below) wearing pants exposing their buttocks (Also see MSN video for full new coverage broadcast). The use of sex for advertising purposes is not a new concept, however, what is new is the gradually younger target age group that those images are directed towards and the idea that marketers have gone to extremely low standards to achieve a profit.

In the past, Abercrombie and Fitch has gotten away with the photography found on the walls of each store, on billboards, and in the pages of their catalogue and they have been successful using those images to promote their clothing lines. Thus far, the clothing line takes the stance that their imagery and the pictures under scrutiny "show less skin than you see any summer day at the beach. And certainly less than the plumber working on your kitchen sink." They also argue that the representations are meant to be cute and playful. However, parents of teen shoppers make an equally valid point: either the company must modify the advertising image and fully cover all the models or, the target audience must be raised to target men and women who are old enough to shop on their own, without parental guidance.

When the issue was brought to the attention of Mark Stiles, the Deputy City Attorney handling the case, he recommended that the obscenity charges against the manager of the store in Virginia Beach be dropped. Stiles confirmed that the case was a tough one to judge because Abercrombie's advertising is "designed to go right up to the line," but nevertheless still seems to remain within legal boundaries. The advertisement abides by the city law that specifically forbids the viewing of "obscene material in a business that is open to juveniles." The posters also abide by the United States Supreme Courts Miller test for determining obscenity that outlaws any illustration that, "appealed to prurient interests, were patently offensive to the prevailing standard of the adult community and had no artistic value." According to Thomas Lennox, a spokesman for the retailer, "these photos are tame."It would be easy to disregard the photos if it were just one or two that were troubling, however, it seems as though the public is not focusing on the website, clothing tags, and catalogue which all routinely feature teenage models in the nude and sexually suggestive material. Even in 2002, Abercrombie kids, a line for children ages seven to fourteen marketed rear-less underwear with phrases such as "kiss me," "wink wink," and "eye candy," on the shelves earlier this year. Taking into account Abercrombie's provocative past, outrage from parents who believe the company sells inappropriate sexual depictions to the teenage target audience is an incredibly strong case that stricter governmental regulation needs to be enforced, especially considering the thoughts from Lennox, the spokesperson, who openly stated, "The Abercrombie & Fitch brand is provocative and undeniably sexy." If further governmental action is taken, the precautions installed need to ensure the public that if standards are raised, Abercrombie & Fitch can no longer just receive a slap on the wrist if the rules are broken. While Abercrombie & Fitch has had a successful history of pushing the envelope and continuing to remain within legal boundaries, the company must protect children from their sexualized advertisements. Whereas other companies in its category have forfeited the extra profit brought in by controversial advertisements, Abercrombie has continually taken the risk that could potentially ruin the company name.

The purpose of advertising is to catch the eye of the consumer so it is no surprise that a clothing company such as Abercrombie will stoop to incredibly low levels to reach their goal. However, the issue is where the lines must be drawn between what exactly is appropriate for youths versus adults. Another problem related to this issue is who embraces the power in distinguishing the categories, does the store have the upper hand or should the authority be determined by the simple equation of supply and demand? Ultimately, consumer capitalism plays a role in this issue because a successful commercial infrastructure requires persistent growth and the potential for increasing market. In order for the marketplace to continue to bring in capital, new target audiences and revenues must be discovered and indeed the teen target group has proven to be a perfect niche. However, undoubtedly retailers also must take credit and regulate their image. The direct effect of erotica as part of mainstream culture is that pre-teens feel the need to look older and sexier while mothers strive to look younger and the ultimate outcome is a broadening in the acceptance of sexualized marketing techniques which reinforce those ideals. There will always be something in media stirring up controversy, but if the teen target audience did not actually sell, companies would not risk pushing the envelope. Perhaps advertising must actually hit rock bottom before the moral lines can begin to be drawn.

Scoping the Web: Exploring Reputable Sources of Information

This week I decided to stray from my personal reflections regarding argumentation and creative manifestations of expression and, instead, take up the task of probing the web to find a few reputable sites related to my area of exploration. In scanning the thousands of scholarly websites related to my topic, I was also surprised to see there was an equal amount of jargon. Because the internet is a mass medium of communication, new ideas are constantly replacing older ones and, as a result, web critique is an ever-changing phenomena. Keeping that in mind, however, there are six criteria that the Webby Awards have classified as critical aspects to examine when evaluating any website on the web. While most websites may not score a perfect ten across the table, the criteria serves its importance in creating categories that can help one determine particular features of a site that may or may not be as strong. The six criteria, as seen on the Webby Awards website are as follows: content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience. For blogs, specifically, another reputable standard of evaluation is recommended, the IMSA criteria. The ten websites that I have researched met the Webby Awards criteria and have proven to be reputable recourses for my topic. The first website, 50mm Los Angeles is a comprehensive graffiti art website that is successful in affirming the content, interactive, and navigational characteristics of the Webby awards criteria. This website spotlights on murals, graffiti art, guerrilla art, street art and lifestyle photography in Los Angeles. The content is multi dimensional and uses both text, music, as well as the inclusion of video highlights that serve to strengthen the author's view of graffiti as a form of art. The inclusion of a public forum where visitors can post and respond to others establishes the website as interactive and in a sense it can be viewed as a quiet conversation between regular visitors. The site is also credible wherein the author, Too Tall Jahmal, has been established as a veteran Los Angeles graffiti writer. Clearly, the author has experience and authority and can be trusted to construct a knowledgeable site.While researching similar sites on art in Los Angeles I came across another intriguing recourse. Neckcns is a website that delivers the most recent graffiti art and is most successful in the website structure and navigation. Although the website has many links, it is well organized, easy to navigate and functional. The major drawback, however, lays within aesthetics- the colors are not very inviting and do not match the creativity of the topic. An example of one website that is aesthetically pleasing and well designed is Great Dance. The color scheme is basic, it does not take away or override the content. Instead, it draws the reader towards its three main columns: the articles, the recent comments, and the recent video posts. Its greatest success is in its balance. There were no major drawbacks. Another great recourse is Video Art, which seeks to create an online community that assists artists in navigating the technical aspects of production and connects artists to curators, producers, and the public. The greatest aspect of success is in its content, the website is an easily searchable online archive. The videos are navigationally sound and they load quickly. Additionally, a site named Wooster Collective was particularly knowledgeable. The site is dedicated to showcasing street art around the world. The content was particularly engaging, a site where young artists can publish their art as a group or collectively often times focusing on similar topics or messages. The only drawback to this site was the dense amount of information placed on one single page. It would be easier to navigate if the author placed more links on the side instead of loading all the videos on one page. The website Voice of Dance was a great website that has many features and links, related to all types of dance. It was well designed, functional, and easy to navigate. It was especially interesting to see a website that was able to be extremely informative and maintain a clean structure. In scoping the web for websites having to do with different forms of persuasion I encountered two websites having to do with both law and communication, both of which I hope to persuasively argue in further blogs. Both the website Find Law and National Communication Association were a two fairly straightforward academic sites. The Find Law website was by far the easiest site to navigate and it was also structured well.Throughout the search I came across some very interesting blogs. A fantastic blog is Art.Blogging.La, a site that is useful in informing visitors about the recent art exhibits in the Los Angeles area. The site gives personal reflections and advice on the exhibits. Although the site is easy to navigate it is not very multifaceted. One of the best sites I encountered was Communication Nation, a site produced by the founder of XPlane, the visual thinking company. This site was structured well and visually pleasing-the material was also astounding because it links visuality to many areas of life, exactly what I hope to achieve in this blog.

Visual Argumentation: Graffiti and the Human Body as Art

My new interest in blogging has opened my eyes to many different topics that I hope to touch on in future posts. Just last week, my post focussed on web video and persuasion, the idea that web video may send an even more intense message than simply verbal argumentation. Unfortunately, there is no way to total the exact persuasiveness of web video mediums, however, last week's topic led me to think about argumentation as it relates to art and expression. The first blog I would like to comment on is titled, "Visualizing Dissent: Graffiti as Art". The article posted on blogspot by Jeremiah Mcnichols discusses a recent cleanup approach to graffiti in San Francisco. The project, sponsored by advertising agency BBDO West presented their pro bono project named Up with the People. As part of the cleanup message, they produced three advertisements (one of the three can be seen below). The messages, however, caused the art community to speak out about graffiti and their view of graffiti as a critical role in public debate. Much like in my last post, as I was discussing youtube and how the medium has given voice to an otherwise quiet group, graffiti can be seen in a similar light. The advertising campaign opened the door to many graffiti artists who describe their ability to "think in pictures," and gave them a chance to discuss their artwork in both words and images. Much of the work can be viewed on the website Wooster Collective. The second blog I came across is a reflection of the most lucrative business of the modern age, plastic surgery. Recently, a new show entered the television realm on TLC called "Ten Years Younger." The reality television shows main focus is to ask an "unrehearsed," crowd the age of the woman on telvevision. After the estimation, the purpose is to, through a series to surgery and stylists, make the woman look ten years younger. In relating this to argumentation, I would like to present the idea of viewing the human body as art, the idea that so many television shows commodify the human body and encourage one to nip here and tuck there to create a perfect work of art. In viewing graffiti and the human body as artwork and visual arguments, I hope to make my audience question their common assumptions regarding both subjects.

Visualizing Dissent: Graffiti as Art
Comment

First of all, I really enjoyed your knowledgeable reflections regarding the post "Visualizing Dissent: Graffiti as Art," response to graffiti cleanup in San Francisco. I especially enjoyed the parallel you drew between the Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner commercial, where the housewife is boasting about the cleanliness of the servicemen who come to clean her already spotless house and the idea that the conflict of graffiti essentially boils down to a class-based conflict and/or insensitivity. The increasing visuality of our culture, because of mediums such as the internet, has posed some interesting situations regarding illegal, yet controversial, expression such as graffiti. While I can understand the arguments against public graffiti, I find it hard, considering the fickleness of advertising, to reason with the illegality of the public art, graffiti. Unlike advertisements that can continually airbrush a model or even commercials that can airbrush movement to the point where the model is subhuman and unrealistic, graffiti is the real deal, an argument and expression in and of itself. It is truthful in its original form. Unlike advertising, graffiti or any other form of public art does no need to be altered to be appreciated, it is original and that is half of the message being expressed. The artists who compose graffiti are doing so because they need to express a world view or communicate a message that otherwise would not be heard. In that way it can be considered a line of communication. What right do we have to regulate graffiti, while not regulating or at least agreeing to the placement of the cigarette or alcohol advertisements (see picture to the right) I see everyday on my way to school? Graffiti inspires the audience not just to look, but to truly see the visual vocabulary and practice behind the images drawn. While I believe the strength of graffiti is in expression, I think context has the ability to completely sway the appreciation. Take, for example, graffiti placed on a white wall in a Los Angeles museum. Now, imagine graffiti written in French at a center in Montreal, on brick "urban canvas." Next, imagine preserved graffiti in Warsaw, done on "ruins," where the paint is slowly peeling away. These images present the importance of understanding the context in discovering the background and underlying circumstances that created the need for expression. Understanding the artist's message and context, to me, is key to understanding or at least identifying the need behind such expression. In looking at the picture to left in support of the cleanup project, a private bathroom in a home is no context or argument where graffiti can be regulated. Therefore, I see little that is actually being advertised.

The Animal Disco: Ten Years Younger? No Thanks.
Comment:

I greatly enjoyed reading your post regarding plastic surgery in the modern age. Much of what you said in the blog reminded me of a quote I recently heard. E.E. Cummings once said, "To be nobody-but-yourself- in a world that is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting." The theorist Raymond Williams once explained that culture is created on two vastly differing scales, the large scale, meaning the high culture ideals that are created by those in power and the small scale, the individual ideals that act to separate each one of us from everyone else. In the first sense, culture can be looked at as a whole, created on a large scale by those who hold power. There are certain "known," facts that are thought to be true and regarded by society as just that, true. For example, Mercedes Benz, while the engines may be no better than Honda, is held in higher esteem than most other car companies. The name is what gives it its worth much like plastic surgery, where only if you are the "perfect" size, you have worth. The second sense, however, the individual sense is what is supposed to separate us as individuals. The idea that you are who you are because of the choices you make. While society continually imposes messages and poster-perfect ideals in every area of life from shampoo to vacation destinations, individuality is a result of the selecting and choosing to represent one's true character. The problem is, however, media and television shows that reinforce what E.E. Cummings quote is all about. Shows like "Ten Years Younger," are only trying to make us look like everyone else, they are essentially trying to sculpt the human body to make it look absolutely "perfect". Although the image is pleasing, the problem is that post-perfect image is unrealistic and only until you are enlisted as a plastic surgeon patient can you attain that image. Such shows and magazines (as seen left) reinforce extreme importance on body image and as a result they are telling their audience to of fear the natural aging process, to see it as a negative thing and to do anything possible to prevent it from happening to you. The thing that each of us need to keep in mind is the idea that we are lucky we even have enough time in the day to worry about such petty issues. In some corners of the world, that would be a dream come true. For some, they are constantly worrying about the next meal, or pure survival. How then do we convince the world to stop subjecting others to a mere gaze, and start to actually see them for who they are? At this stage, do you believe change is even possible? When is the post-perfect image going to become too perfect to safely achieve?

Web Video and Persuasion: Does the Medium Intensify the Message

On February 9, 2008, The Wall Street Journal produced the article, But Can You Dance to it about a pair of teenagers who flew to New York in hopes of signing a contract with Universal Motown, a high end record label company. Much to the company's surprise, the song "Crank Dat Batman," was accompanied by incredible dance moves which included "flapping their elbows, gliding on their toes and raising up their arms." According to the label president, it wasn't necessarily the song, "Crank Dat Batman," that caught the company's attention, but it was the artistic dance that instantly, "filled a void in our business plan," and was the tipping point for the record label contract. Dance has recently hit an upswing all across the United States due to the introduction of a new medium, Web video, which has extreme popular appeal among all ages. The new medium has drastically altered the lines of communication between varying regions and demographics and served as a key utility for persuasion among competitive dancers.

In the past, especially with regards to artists that were not linked to a contract, dance was used as an extra to promote an artist's music. Now, however, because of the availability of viewing videos on website such as "You Tube," the two come as a package deal, where dance not only promotes the music, but it enhances the sale of the record and has come to alter the way labels advertise their product. Interscope Records, for example, has "harnessed the biggest dance fad since the Macarena and put a teenager named Soulja Boy Tell'em in the running for a Grammy Award on Sunday." Soulja Boy originally publicized his work on a website by the name of "SoundClick,"a place where unsigned artists go to upload their songs. His song, however, was not discovered until the dance hit the web and exploded. Even icons such as MC Hammer, a popular artist in the 1990's has re-surfaced and become involved in the search for some new, "spotlight dance styles as they emerge," on the web.

The incorporation of Web video in the music industry marked a shift in the emphasis from primarily auditory listening to a duel auditory and visual technology medium. While the dynamics within the industry have changed, the ease of accessibility of such website marked the ground-breaking communication channel that has created a new definition of argumentation in the field of dance. In airing dance moves over such a medium, people of all ages are allowed to make the argumentative claim that their moves are the "new," the most important, the hardest, and more innovative than their competition.

Unlike other visual mediums, film invites the audience to engage in the beats, by rewinding, fast forwarding, and studying the composition of the dance multiple times as proof of their claim to the fact that the dance produced was truly the best. As described by David Fleming in the Argumentation and Advocacy Journal, visuals are persuasive because they have an "inherent richness, concreteness, and ineffability." While Web videos may not be perfect from a production standpoint, the intensity of the message, especially in terms of break dancing definitely comes across loud and clear when heard by an audience.

Web video is especially persuasive when it comes to proving specific points of persuasion that are embedded in a larger context. For example, clips within a movie or television episode that an individual needs to use to prove a point. The movie 8 mile, exhibits an intense freestyle rap contest in an underground garage. The back and forth upstaging battle between Eminem and his competitor represents an alternate form of argumentation in a creative and innovative sense and the clip can be successful in proving my claim.

In viewing the medium as a message of argumentation there are several key factors: the artists, the audience, the message, the context and whether or not the work is important enough to be preserved throughout time. There are also two main aspects to any argument, the claim and the evidence. The claim, with respect to dance videos on "You Tube," is that the dance produced is the "new," and that the artists moves are the strongest and most creative. However, the nature of the medium has changed the standards of evidence by giving new and different authority to website and technology as a source. Additionally, acting as an anti-hegemonic tool, it has given a voice to all different kinds of people including those that may have been otherwise silent. In terms of record label companies in search of dance routines, the new medium has introduced a new audition setting than what most artists have been used to, but it has given them a louder voice and a larger stadium with which to compete.