The Sneaky Spy: Commercials

The Sneaky Spy: Commercials

Name-calling + Snob Appeal

 

        The commercial above uses the commercial techniques name-calling and snob appeal.When you use name-calling, you use negative words and negative pictures to create negative feelings. When you use snob appeal, you are saying that your product is very valuable because only "special" people uses it.This commercial uses name-calling by saying that other popular companies. Notice that everyone coming forward is using an Apple or Samsung product.Also in the commercial you see someone's Iphone picture and it is blurry.Also,  whenever someone is saying some thing good about their phone (Apple or Samsung) they are cut off.For example, at the end, there is a woman who starts off by saying " Did you know that more pictures are taken everyday on the Iphone....,"before being dragged away by a man.This commercial uses snob appeal by saying that the Nokia Lumia 1020 is the best phone for taking pictures.For example, in the commercial, there is only one couple not going forward and fighting to take a picture.The man in the couple has a Nokia Lumia 1020 and is all the way in the back row of seats, yet still has the best and most clear pictures. 

Persuasive or Not?

    I liked this commercial because first, this commercial was really funny and was really easy to interpret. The strategy, name-calling, makes me want to buy this product by making me think about how bad the Apple and Samsung products are.The commercial makes the phone and the symbol on it stand out.For example, you can see  
the "apple' on the back of the Apple products(Ipad and Iphone) The commercial focuses on the phones they are using, the Iphone and Samsung Galaxy.The target audience for this commercial might be are people about 30- 40.I think that  this is the target audience, because the actors in the commercial are mostly about 30 and 40. 

The strategy, snob appeal, makes me want to buy this product because since it shows ONLY two people who are using the Nokia Lumia 1020 which makes you  think that only a few "special" people own it so you it makes you want to buy it.Plus, this couple looks very happy and good.Yes, I think that this commercial would make money because it is very persuasive and clearly shows how it is better. But since the Apple and Samsung products are popular, people who own  these products might really know how well the  phone works.

Top 10 Commercials that use Name-calling

      

This commercial uses name-calling by insulting each other's phone. Also they start fighting and showing how bad the Apple or Samsung product is.For example, they show a man under the table trying to search karate with SIRI but failing.



In this commercial they use name calling by saying that the Iphone or Samsung Galaxy 3, but the Nokia Lumia 920.They also give a source, "N Gadgets Readers"



This commercial uses name-calling by saying that the Verizon is very slow.To do this they do a comparison in which the Verizon download comes incomplete.


This commercial uses name-calling by saying that don't use PC Windows 7  because it is bad. They do this by creating an image that Windows 7 is not to be trusted because it has a lot of problems.
This commercial uses name-calling by creating an image that the PC is weird.To do this they make PC (Mr.Bean) do a weird dance while Mac acts "cool".

This commercial uses name-calling by saying that the PC is loaded with useless software and is very slow.To do this they show PC as chubby and slow.PC himself says it. 

 This commercial uses name-calling by saying that Microsoft doesn't care about their customers but more about advertising.To do this the commercial compares the amount of cash in advertising to fixing vista. 




This commercial uses name-calling by showing how "well" the PC works.To do this the commercial makes one of PC's "friend" repeat himself until you had to restart him.


This commercial uses name-calling by showing the support on Mac compared to PC.The trainer would keep on complimenting Mac making a negative picture about PC.




This commercial uses name-calling by saying that even in the future PC won't be able to  fix its problems.It shows this by showing how PC went to the future and still PC has problems like freezing.

Thinking Matters

 Think about how these commercials use the techniques name-calling and snob appeal.The next time you see a commercial, think about what they do to persuade you to buy  the product.Is the commercial Persuasive?Or could it use improvement?So watch out for commercials because they are very sneaky.To find out more about commercial techniques go to:  http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib/english/media_literacy/advertising_techniques.htm  

The Emperor's Army

The Army: Terracotta

This shows where the Terracotta pit is from the tomb

       The great clay army,Terracotta, guarded the first emperor of China's(Qin Shi Huang) tomb.In 1974, a group of farmers digging wells near Xi'an,China made an amazing discovery,the Terracotta army.According to History(article) ,the clay army consisted of 8,000 soldiers complete with archers, bowmen and foot soldiers all lined up to rank.According to Time for Kids(article), the soldiers were life-sized and were armed with real swords.These clay soldiers were made by Qin Shi Huang (pronounced "chin shuh huang") in 210 B.C.The emperor was strongly concerned about his death and afterlife, so he created an army to accompany him.He also made acrobats,dancers, and singers to entertain him, and also animals like horses.He even made a strong man!Each figure is unique, no two are the same.Each one has its own hairstyle facial expression and painted detail. It took about 36 years and 700,000 builders in lines to build his Terracotta army.

The Terracotta was large and included animals like horses.

 The Ruthless Emperor 

       Even though Emperor Qin made many feats, he was harsh to his people.According to Wikipedia, Qin outlawed and burned many books and buried scholars alive to ensure stability.He massacred the army of  six  states.He punished hundreds of thousands of people into forced labor.he subjected his people to high taxation and showed little tolerance for dissent.
          He survived numerous assassination  attempts and was  quite paranoid about revolution. Maybe this is why the Emperor built his army. The army faces East, coincidentally towards states he conquered.But the army actually supplied the rebellion against the Qin Dynasty. People grabbed the swords from the statue. It is like he was expecting another army to come over the horizon.According to LiveScience(article), Qin was paranoid about intruder attacks so he built a wall which consisted of smaller defense walls known today as the Great Wall of China.Also according to Wikipedia,the Emperor died because of digestion of mercury pills made by his court physician, which ironically was supposed to make him immortal.

Thinking Matters

What do you think you would do when you were alive in China during the Qin's rule? We are lucky to be a democracy and not have a tyrant.Yet Qin still lives in the heart of China. 

          Top 10 Facts:Terracotta

10) 8,000 soldiers accompany Emperor Qin.

9)The sculptures are more than 2,200 years old.

8)Discovered by farmers while digging wells.

7)Each face in the army is unique.

6)The height and uniform varies by rank.

5)Over 650 horses are part of the army.

4)It is believed that the statues held real weapons.

3)Over 700,000 workers were employed for construction.

2)Experts suggest that the emperor's tomb contained simulated rivers of mercury.

1)Yet, the tomb has not been excavated

THE MONSTER:SUPER CROC

     Introduction

    Over 90 million years ago, a monstrous beast ruled the Earth.Even the  fierce T-rex bowed down to it in fear.About 40 feet long and weighing eight tons, this creature,named "SuperCroc" ruled the rivers and the prehistoric era.Its real name "Sarcosuchus imperator."Its armored plates were hard and it had 250 bones unlike humans who have 206.Its skull alone was 6-7 feet! Having 132 teeth, the SuperCroc tore its prey apart. It could hunt on both water and land making it a ferocious creature. SuperCroc had a rounded snout unlike most crocs. SuperCroc  probably used its snout to call other crocs or use it to find prey.The longest bone in SuperCroc's body is the femur (thigh bone ) just like humans.                  

                                                                                                                                             My Opinions

   In the article,"This Croc Really Rocks," Paul Sereno says "Once it clamped onto the leg or neck of an animal,there wasn't a lot the prey could do."Luckily this humongous beast is not here today or we would be in deep trouble.But why is this beast extinct? Because of its size,there were only a few SuperCrocs alive,so any disease or natural disaster could wipe them out easily. But why are crocidillians still here today?Crocs can live up to two months without food which came in handy when the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs crashed.but did you know that Super Croc had cousins?

10 Interesting Facts about SuperCroc's Cousins       

Source:"Ancient Super Croc had Cousins" (article)

1. BoarCroc grew to be 20ft.
2. BoarCroc stood upright and ran fast.
3. RatCroc was about 3ft. 
4. RatCroc was a herbivore unlike most crocs.
5. Pancake Croc grew up to be 20ft long.
6. Pancake Croc could take down animals three times its size.
7. DogCroc was about 3ft and also a herbivore.
8. DogCroc could run, but away from predators.
9. DuckCroc was about 3ft long.
10. DuckCoc used its long,narrow snout to search waters for fish or frogs 

Thinking Matters

   What if Super Croc was still alive  today ?
What would happen to us?Would we still be alive or extinct? What do you think?