Television Advertising No Longer Black and White ...

I'm seeing a change happening. Maybe it has been in the works for a while and I've just started to notice it but it is sweeping the nation. Television is changing. Why is it changing, what is causing this subtle shift, where are we headed? These are some of the questions I was asking myself as I sat in front of the television one night after a very long day of test taking, designing, and studying.

These questions dawned on me when i realized that there hadn't really been a break for a commercial for a long time. As a matter of fact, there hadn't been one since the movie started. So now my attention is drawn away from the movie (not a big deal, I think I had already seen it and it wasn't that good of a movie anyway) and i begin to wait, wondering when the next ad will show. Then it happened, the ad popped up on the bottom of the screen. It was there for just a little bit and then it disappeared.

I've noticed this happening with soccer games, other big television events, and obviously movies on basic cable. I personally think this might be a form of subtle subliminal advertising. I like it but mainly because my movies and games aren't really interrupted. But I wonder if this form of advertising really works. Could this be the new way of advertising, could the super bowl someday be technically commercial free and have these little bottom screen ads instead. I'm not sure really.

I don't think that this way of advertising works for all products so the remove of traditional commercials seems a little far fetched. Still the shrinking attention span of consumers may make this the ideal way to advertise to the upcoming generations. Now I'm sure that before this happens there will be test conducted and trial shows that open the doors for the rest of the television community. I think this is what makes the advertising and marketing field so interesting. There is always change taking place and uncertainty never really goes away.

White Words, Black Secrets...

Communicating has always been important to human kind. From the very beginning we grunted to express ourselves, later we developed symbols to convey our thoughts over greater distances, recently we have moved back to the oral communication and invented ways to converse at anytime and anywhere on this planet, and now we find ourselves taking an old creation and fusing it with new technology. An new form of communication has risen and with it, even greater possibilities.

As with every invention and assimilation of ideas, there must come a test period where this new idea will be stretched in countless directions to see if whether or not it will work. Sometimes this new idea will break and crumble before us and other times it will work better than it could in our wildest dreams. We are just starting to ascend the Internet mountain. We are learning that there are bumps, holes, crevasses, and impassable points along our journey but with every obstacle we manage to find a route either around it or through it. Privacy is the relatively new obstacle that is holding us back from scaling higher into the potential of the Internet.

I think the privacy issue first surfaced with e-commerce and whether or not your money was safe when purchasing items or doing online banking. I think we have pretty much got a handle on those issues and you don't really hear about people having problems any more. Now we are our own victims. Our own self disclosure is causing us greater head aches than identity theft ever did.

Facebook, Myspace, Blogs, and other programs such as Twitter are our new concern. What we disclose now will be forever held in some obscure archive for our future employers, family members, and generations to come to look up, examine, and scrutinize. Is what we say a reflective aspect of who we are? Are our private actions really that important that all we ever do be posted, labeled, tagged, or searched? We are all slowly becoming voyeurs of private lives. Peeping toms into lives of those we hardly know in hopes to catch a glimpse of the unknown.

Obviously I am being hypocritical with this blog in itself. I am opening a passage to my own personal thoughts that will be cataloged and almost definitely searched. Yet, for some reason I am OK with this. Maybe I feel it is the responsibility of my generation and the generations to come to not only maintain multiple identities (virtual and actual) but to supply a seemingly never ending record of who we are. To update those close to us and far away about our weekly, daily, and hourly habits.

I'm not sure where I find myself on this issue. And as with every issue, there are both positive and negative elements that make the decision even harder. But for now ... my current status is "Chris is finding his way out of the difficult spot between a rock and a hard place..."

The Gray Way of Life ...

Recently, as part of an assignment for advertising class, I was required to test out the program "Second Life." I explored the virtual world trying to get accustomed to living in a digital world. With this program, you can create your character, find a job, build a house, raise a family, and go out and have fun. Basically it is a way to escape you actual life and live a "Second Life."

I got to thinking this could be a great program but it also could become an all-consuming addiction. I could see a problem where people become so intrenched with the virtual life that they start to mix reality with "digi-reality." What happens when the line between the real and the false fades away and what you start to see is your life no longer in black and white but a mix of gray?

I've heard that you can make a serious living working in Second Life. An income to the tune of six figures. Now i'm not entirely sure how you would go about that because I only spent about an hour in my false world but if your willing to invest the time, anything is possible. I can see a real potential for advertising. You have a captive audience that is willing to spend countless hours exploring a world where the restrictions of advertising are limitless. Floating billboards, clothing with ads on them, and anything imaginable.

I guess all I have to say is give it a try yourself. Be careful of the Gray way of life but enjoy the chance to create a Second Life.

Black Doesn't Belong in Paradise...

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit paradise this past week. Well maybe not paradise but pretty close since I was coming from Moorhead, MN. (where there was approximately thirty inches of snow on the ground) and going to Peurta Vallarta, Mexico.

While I was sitting on the beach in a warm bliss, I began to realize that there was something surrounding me. A saturated feeling came over me and my senses opened, letting me become absolutely lost, adrift in an ocean of beauty. What was this surrounding element? Color! Everywhere you looked a new hue of color, an new brilliance of light, a constant rainbow of color illuminating everything in a seemingly perfect way.

As the sun began to set, the colors found their strength and opened the flood gates letting blue, purple, orange, red, yellow and every shade in between out into the vastness of the ocean. Even as the darkness began to swallow the last bit of light, color found other ways to survive. The glow from the orange lamps along the walk way bounced off the perfect blue pool and created a color that can literally only be described as darkened paradise. And then it hit me. Black doesn't belong in paradise. A place where color reinvents itself on a daily basis does not need black to cover up it's beauty.

Next time you are in paradise, look around and try to find a true black that feels at home. My guess is you won't. And then look around and realize that color in paradise has created a palette for this portion of the world that seems limitless. Take time to take in one shade at a time because you never know when you will experience it again.

I Take My Coffee Black...

I started this blog in hopes that people wanted to understand how I think and what I think about. I wanted this blog to reflect my personalities, my values, and my life and so far I think it has. I've relized though that in order for those people who do want to know who I am to get to know me, they need to know other things about me as well. Other things such as how I take my coffee, what my favorite color is, what kind of music I'm listening to right now, and other little quirks about me. So today I'm going to take the time to let people know more about me.

1. Obviously I take my coffee black

2. I play guitar (Creating Self on Myspace)

3. I'm the oldest of my brothers

4. I like sunsets more than sunrises

5. Greece is the most beautiful place I have visited so far

6. Steak medium rare is the only way you should have it prepared

7. I paint when I have time

8. My favorite color is white (I know technically it isn't a color but what ever)

9. I'm 5'8" with brown hair and brown eyes

10. I have a love for art

Ok so I know this sounds like a crude online dating format but really I just thought that you, my readers, needed to know more than just my thoughts. So I'm sorry if you were hoping for a deep reflection on my life, advetising, or design. Next post will be much more like my previous posts.

White Gloves are a Nessecity

As I'm grearing up for graduation, I am recieving countless pointers as to how I should prepare myself fo the coming real world. Some are telling me to take the summer off because this is going to be your last summer vacation, others say that you'll be in disastorous debt and you should try and squirm your way out. I think the most crucial information that I have come upon is the advice to make sure that I have a clean digital image. No .. I don't mean a nicely resolved picture for my resume.

What I mean is that I should be aware of what I have on the internet. More and more employers are starting to use the internet as a reference on young applicants. It gives them a way to see the social person that they are comtmplating. Most likely you are going to be more yourself amungst your friends and what better way to see how you interact with people than to check out Facebook or Myspace.

But is this really ethical. Where do we draw the lines on our private life and our work life. Does what a person do with his or her friends on the weekend really reflect their work ethic and deteication to the job. I'm not sure. I haven't been in the position to where I have felt the two crossing paths. I'll admit that I am young and there is much out there for me to experience and I'm sure somewhere along the way I will have to deal with this question.

In a world fastly becoming digital, we need to be more globaly concious of our actions and the possible publication of pictures, quotes, actions, who knows. It is almost like we should wear white gloves to make sure our image is squeaky clean.

Your Reflection is Never Black and White

Here is something I bet not very many people have taken the time to really notice. You will never see your reflection in black and white. Take some time to really let that sink in... Kinda strange to think about that but that is how my mind has been working lately. I've been taking the most common occurences and trying to scew them, re-invent them, and view them from a completely different perspective in hopes that it will cause me to think in a few different ways.

First, I've noticed that just like everything else, you need to practice your creativity in order to get better at it. What better way to stir up the creative juices than to take the most mondain event and cause it to be something exciting. It's like areobics but for the mind.

Secondly, the world has become less dull. I'm starting to realize that my little slice of the world has so many intertwining elements that go unnoticed unless you make the effort to notice them. Take the title of this little blog; I sat and really thought about the different ways I've seen my reflection for at least forty five minutes. To be entertained by that little curious thought shows me that there are countless bits of entertainment lurking around every corner, I just need to be actively seeking it.

Lastly, I've been reminded of how much I have lived and how much I have left to live. I'm starting to really become aware of who I am and what I am surronding myself with. Your surrondings make you, create you, and define you. So take time out of your day today and look around. Find the charm in the life you live in. I garuantee you that just like your reflection, it is sitting right under your nose.

A Black Day ... for all apparently ??

Yesturday Anna Nichole Smith died. Yes death is tragic. Especially when it happens to a young woman such as her. But is it nation wide news worthy and should it be deliberated on for two whole days?

I think the media is going way overboard with this story. She was a public figure who was having trouble with legal issues but comparing her to Princess Diana (which i heard on CNN yesturday) is just too much for me. It seems to me that everyone is making her out to be some great American figure.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me remind you of who Anna Nichole Smith was. She was a stripper, an obese televsion personality with a horrible show, and plastic pinup. Do we as a nation really need to be caught up in all of the issues that surrond her and then also raise her to a platform of excellence. I don't think we do. I think that we should re-examine the comments that are being made and make them more true to life and not some false coverup to fill the newspapers and draw readers.

A Black Heart

In honor of the greatest marketing achievement in all of communications history, I would like to take time and congratulate Hallmark on successfully creating a timeless occasion where they can almost guarantee a jump in sales. Yes, I am talking about the much covenanted, respected, and hated holiday of Valentines Day.

While i was growing up i would always here my parents refer to Valentines Day as a Hallmark Holiday and yet my father would go out and buy a card and some sort of gift for my mother. It was almost expected. Even if you are only casually dating someone, Valentines day is a day where you are expected to exchange gifts and spend money you don't have on your significant other.

If you don't have some one special in your life, you wind up hating the day because you are reminded (on an almost hourly basis) that you are either lonely or socially inept (i mean this in the nicest way).

But still, I think congratulations is in order for who ever was brilliant enough to think up a day where people would show their significant other how much they loved them with a folded piece of paper that has a cute, quirky, or loving saying on it. Nothing says I love you like a $4.00 piece of paper with a a lame excuse for a pick up line and your signature on it. It makes me all tingly with excitement(sarcasm).

Don't think me bitter. Valentines day is a great idea and is a perfect time to show someone how much you care but i can't understand how a folded card got put into the mix. To me, it says - look how much i care, i drove to the nearest Walgreen's and spent 5 minutes trying to find the perfect card for you. Aren't you impressed.

Maybe I have a black heart. Or maybe I expect too much from myself and the rest of the male population (because lets face it, it is mostly the men who are scrambling to find some kind of Valentines day gift and a Hallmark card is the easiest option). To me, the expressing of your feelings to the ones that you care the most about shouldn't be some sort of mass produced, cheap cop out but instead it should be creative and deliberate. Your present should show them that they are important to you and that you spend hours think about them.

I don't think that i am the only one with a Blackened Valentines day heart and for Hallmark to realize, convert, and capitalize off of people like us, they deserve a round of applause. So cheers to you Hallmark for helping our nation cheapen our love for others to the point it is worth $5.00+tax.

Staying in the Black

Recently I was watching the television and it occured to me during one of the comercials that I was witnessing a new era of Advertising. It was something so suble that had I not just been talking about advertising with a couple friends, it would have most likely remained aware to me only in my subconcious.

I'm not sure how to refer to is so I'm going to give it the name of "2X Advertising." It is still the traditional advertising but with a little twist. An Ad within an Ad.

It happened while i was watching TBS and an ad came on for the television show Monk. Nothing out of the ordinary took place in this commercial but i noticed the purposeful positioning of Windex throughout the 30 sec span. It seemed like TBS or whom ever was responsible for the making of the commercial went out and got Windex to pay for product placement with in their own ad.

If this is the case, then i think this could really affect the way we approach commericals. With the ever rising price of the Superbowl Commercial slot and television commericals in their own right, smaller businesses need to find a way to make tv commercials more affordable. This could be the answer. Business might not have to break the bank and stay in the black for the quater.

Soon we could be watching a commercial and not have any idea who they are advertising for. Only time will tell.