While illegally downloading music from the internet may seem like a harmless or victimless crime, it is actually illegal and harmful to people other than the music artist. The common thought that artists have tons of money and that illegally downloading just a few of their songs wouldn't take away a large portion of their income is false. If the artist didn't write the song, which is the case for many artists, the writer of the song gains a portion of the money for every song or record sold. It's easy to say (hypothetically, of course), "Well, if Lady Gaga can afford to have sunglasses made of pure 16kt gold, not paying for an eight-dollar album isn't going to affect her." However, her song writer is most likely not living the same glamorous lifestyle that she is, and it does make an impact on their life if somebody illegally downloaded an album.
To this situation, it's best to apply Immanuel Kant's theory of the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is a theory that asks people to consider what would be the result of everyone acting the same way they themselves wish to act. So while Joe may think that illegally downloading one Lady Gaga album won't harm her at all, but may impact the writer just a little bit, he shouldn't do it. If Joe viewed the situation through the categorical imperative, he would realize that if everybody just thought it was no big deal and blatantly illegally downloaded music constantly, it would make an impact on the write and Lady Gaga in the long run.
Another way to look at the problem would be to use Sissela Bok’s three-step model for analyzing an ethical situation: consult your conscience, seek alternatives, and hold an imaginary ethical dialogue with all involved.
A person would be less likely to go to a store and take a CD from the shelf and walk out of the store without paying for it because there’s a greater risk of getting caught and we’re conditioned to understand that shoplifting is wrong. However, illegally downloading music is a form of shoplifting through the internet. If Joe thinks it’s wrong to shoplift from Walmart then his conscience would probably tell him that it’s also illegal to illegally download music without paying for it. An alternative would be to go to the store and pay for the album so it seems more “real,” to download the album via iTunes, or to have somebody who has already downloaded the album use one of their five “shares” allowed to make a CD. Once done with the first two steps of the model, Joe would have to have an imaginary conversation with all involved. Lady Gaga would most likely be upset because she’s losing money, and the writer would be upset as well. People don’t think of the songwriters as people who would be affected because they’re not the ones in the fancy music videos driving expensive cards. Joe would more likely respect the welfare of that person, just trying to make a living and not always getting credit for their work than the celebrity.
While illegally downloading music may not seem like a big deal, after applying Sisella Bok’s and Immanuel Kant’s theories, it’s considered illegal, wrong, and harmful to more people than initially thought.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Advertisement Log
After keeping a log of all the advertisements I experienced in a 24 hour period, I was surprised by the amount of advertisements I’m subjected to every day. The radio was one of the biggest surprises. During physical therapy appointments, a “light-rock” radio stations is played over the loudspeakers in the building, normally I just pay attention to the music and think, “Wow, I don’t really think the majority of the patients in here (ages 58+) would like this music.” During a one hour session, I felt that most of what I was listening to was advertisements. It seemed that there were more advertisements relating to food when my appointments were between 4-6 p.m. Many of the advertisements targeted working women providing quality food for their family. These advertisements would be heard by women who are driving home from work at rush hour listening to the radio. As if my magic, while they are thinking about what they’ll cook for dinner, an advertisement comes on about a deal on ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken at Weis. These women may be compelled to then stop by their local Weis and pick up something quick and easy for dinner that isn’t fast food.
I also paid close attention to advertisements on the television, instead of just changing the channel every time the commercials started. While watching re-runs of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” on TBS, I noticed target marketing in the ads. Because the show is mostly all African American actors, TBS would pitch to advertisers that a more ethnic audience would be watching the show. One advertisement always stuck out to me, Palmers hair relaxers. The hair relaxers are intended for ethnic women looking to make curly or natural hair appear straighter and smoother. I’ve never seen that advertisement before on any other station, but it always comes on during “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Advertising on the internet is what surprised me the most. I knew that there were a lot of advertisements on the internet, but I never realized how much. A few weeks ago I began looking at clothing online that would be appropriate for an internship and Google searching “internship appropriate attire,” and I noticed, while on a social networking site, that on the side-bar an advertisement for JcPenny’s. After going through the history of my internet browser, I realized that I had visited the JcPenny’s website 4 times in the previous week. It was almost as if JcPenny’s was sending out a reminder like, “Hey, we know you looked at that blazer last week, you didn’t buy it but you should check it out again.” This made my internet privacy seem violated because how would they know that I had visited their website. Now I notice on my Facebook that there are advertisements about “Finding A Job/Internship Near You,” because I’ve posted and searched about internships online.
While there is a lot of clutter with online advertisements because there are so many and many of them appear as spam, I can definitely see why the internet is the most rapid growing medium for advertisements. Advertisers are getting a more direct line to their target audience. Somehow, what we are Google searching and viewing is being recorded and then specific advertisements are directed towards our interests.
I also paid close attention to advertisements on the television, instead of just changing the channel every time the commercials started. While watching re-runs of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” on TBS, I noticed target marketing in the ads. Because the show is mostly all African American actors, TBS would pitch to advertisers that a more ethnic audience would be watching the show. One advertisement always stuck out to me, Palmers hair relaxers. The hair relaxers are intended for ethnic women looking to make curly or natural hair appear straighter and smoother. I’ve never seen that advertisement before on any other station, but it always comes on during “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
Advertising on the internet is what surprised me the most. I knew that there were a lot of advertisements on the internet, but I never realized how much. A few weeks ago I began looking at clothing online that would be appropriate for an internship and Google searching “internship appropriate attire,” and I noticed, while on a social networking site, that on the side-bar an advertisement for JcPenny’s. After going through the history of my internet browser, I realized that I had visited the JcPenny’s website 4 times in the previous week. It was almost as if JcPenny’s was sending out a reminder like, “Hey, we know you looked at that blazer last week, you didn’t buy it but you should check it out again.” This made my internet privacy seem violated because how would they know that I had visited their website. Now I notice on my Facebook that there are advertisements about “Finding A Job/Internship Near You,” because I’ve posted and searched about internships online.
While there is a lot of clutter with online advertisements because there are so many and many of them appear as spam, I can definitely see why the internet is the most rapid growing medium for advertisements. Advertisers are getting a more direct line to their target audience. Somehow, what we are Google searching and viewing is being recorded and then specific advertisements are directed towards our interests.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Pennsylvania Game & Fish
InterMedia Outdoors Magazines & Special Interest Publications, the publisher of "Pennsylvania Game & Fish," produce products for different media, including magazines, online apps, and television, that cater to those interested in outdoor endeavors. InterMedia is a major outdoors sports-oriented Media group and the magazines it produces are trade magazines because they are special interest magazines. Their Advertising Media Kit splits advertisers choices into three different activities; "Hunting Enthusiast Media," "Fishing Enthusiast Media," and "Shooting Enthusiast Media." In the online advertising media kit InterMedia Outdoors says that it "serves the interests of 80 million devoted sportsmen," and there's no mention on women to be seen. The publications that InterMedia Outdoors cater primarily towards men, especially "Pennsylvania Game & Fish."
The magazine's target demographic is men, ages 21-55, who are interested in hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreational activities. The age rage is large because a person in the united states needs to be at least 21 to own a registered hunting weapon. There are older men featured in the editorials in the magazine, making that age feel accepted within the publication. The magazine uses signals such as hunting jargon that would confuse non hunters or fishers. For example, on the cover a features section says "Bonus Gobbler Coverage!...Stick a Tom With Your Deer Bow!" The average person wouldn't know what a "Tom" is. A tom by definition is a make animal of certain breeds especially cats or turkeys.
The ads all appear to be very masculine, with dark earth-tones, all featuring active men performing outdoor sports. The ads all have little text, but the text that there is contains strong actions verbs that incite action to the reader. Many of the ads follow the "problem solution model." For example, an ad for Tohatsu boat motors shows an older man on a boat in a heavily wooded area, and a large picture of the motor above it. The text says, "Access to No Man's land." This would relate to men who are interested in history because "No Man's land" is a reference to the area between bunkers of opposite military forces where if you were crossing during an attack you would be shot and killed. This ad says that the reader will be able to gain access to formally unattainable and too dangerous to navigate.
All of the articles are very informative for readers. Many include tips on improving hunting or fishing equipment and how to improve hunting or fishing techniques. Articles also feature prominent members of the hunting and fishing industry, such as Gary "Mr. Walleye" Roach, an expert walleye catcher on rivers. Even though this article looks like a feature piece it's full of information on how to catch walleyes like an expert. In the March issue of "Vogue," Adelle has a feature piece written about her, but there's no information on how to hit a high note like Adelle. This tactic makes the articles much more laid back and let's readers relate to not only the men featured in the articles, but to the publication as well.
The magazine's target demographic is men, ages 21-55, who are interested in hunting, fishing, and outdoor recreational activities. The age rage is large because a person in the united states needs to be at least 21 to own a registered hunting weapon. There are older men featured in the editorials in the magazine, making that age feel accepted within the publication. The magazine uses signals such as hunting jargon that would confuse non hunters or fishers. For example, on the cover a features section says "Bonus Gobbler Coverage!...Stick a Tom With Your Deer Bow!" The average person wouldn't know what a "Tom" is. A tom by definition is a make animal of certain breeds especially cats or turkeys.
The ads all appear to be very masculine, with dark earth-tones, all featuring active men performing outdoor sports. The ads all have little text, but the text that there is contains strong actions verbs that incite action to the reader. Many of the ads follow the "problem solution model." For example, an ad for Tohatsu boat motors shows an older man on a boat in a heavily wooded area, and a large picture of the motor above it. The text says, "Access to No Man's land." This would relate to men who are interested in history because "No Man's land" is a reference to the area between bunkers of opposite military forces where if you were crossing during an attack you would be shot and killed. This ad says that the reader will be able to gain access to formally unattainable and too dangerous to navigate.
All of the articles are very informative for readers. Many include tips on improving hunting or fishing equipment and how to improve hunting or fishing techniques. Articles also feature prominent members of the hunting and fishing industry, such as Gary "Mr. Walleye" Roach, an expert walleye catcher on rivers. Even though this article looks like a feature piece it's full of information on how to catch walleyes like an expert. In the March issue of "Vogue," Adelle has a feature piece written about her, but there's no information on how to hit a high note like Adelle. This tactic makes the articles much more laid back and let's readers relate to not only the men featured in the articles, but to the publication as well.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Favourite T.V Show Evaluation
One of my favourite t.v shows to watch is House. It's a medical show that focuses on less than five doctors with specific medical specialties working in a diagnostic center at a hospital in Princeton, New Jersey.
The characters aren't portrayed very realistically at all. All of the doctors are extremely attractive and look well-rested even though they claim to have many sleepless nights running a battery of tests on their patients, who rarely seem to die. The lead doctor, Dr. Gregory House, is an addict. Throughout the seasons he has been to rehab (numerous times), a mental health facility, and jail. Even a high functioning addict can barely function in everyday life to maintain relationships, but House pops pills like their candy and manages to save patients lives. Yes, the show highlights his temper and his terrible attitude towards life, but it doesn't show the nitty-gritty hardships of being an addict.
There's also no way that the head of the hospital would let the House continue to work there in a real-life situation. On the show he proves to be a danger to himself and others in every episode but the dean of the hospital always let's him do whatever he wants. If a real hospital ran that way, there would be much more dead patients and fewer doctors working under her due to her lack of care for the rest of the departments in the hospital.
The characters aren't portrayed very realistically at all. All of the doctors are extremely attractive and look well-rested even though they claim to have many sleepless nights running a battery of tests on their patients, who rarely seem to die. The lead doctor, Dr. Gregory House, is an addict. Throughout the seasons he has been to rehab (numerous times), a mental health facility, and jail. Even a high functioning addict can barely function in everyday life to maintain relationships, but House pops pills like their candy and manages to save patients lives. Yes, the show highlights his temper and his terrible attitude towards life, but it doesn't show the nitty-gritty hardships of being an addict.
There's also no way that the head of the hospital would let the House continue to work there in a real-life situation. On the show he proves to be a danger to himself and others in every episode but the dean of the hospital always let's him do whatever he wants. If a real hospital ran that way, there would be much more dead patients and fewer doctors working under her due to her lack of care for the rest of the departments in the hospital.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)