Blog Response 3

After reviewing some of my class mates blogs on the topic of how Adventists "hail and interpellate" us into their products, I found many similarities in the opinions of my classmates to my own. Many agree that a sufficient amount of advertisements today is directed to the most consumerist population, youth and teens. These advertisements make us want and need the product they are selling because it makes us feel that we can become the person portrayed in these commercials or advertisements. For example, anti aging ads show a beautiful (usually younger) women with perfect sin and the complexion of a goddess. It directly targets vulnerable older women, giving them unrealistic outcomes of a cream that may not do anything. But because we (society) see these beautiful women advertising this cream, we picture ourselves as a younger more beautiful individual and feel that buying this cream will make you into that woman.
A classmate's blog i read over had a similar view in women's advertisements stating that “The prospect of being hailed comes from the aspect of gender assignment to specific roles as way to facilitate for socialization." The ad that she viewed "...speaks to women as the homemakers with the connotations of being dainty that is essential for the validation not only of the feminine but also of the more masculine roles in society as that of the male counterparts” (http://lt09mj.wordpress.com/). Advertisements choose their target population and use instill hegemonic values upon individuals, making society want to be and live in that person. For example the dominant white female is seen n many advertisements as a dainty, soft, caring and gentle human being, and very rarely do we see a women of colour or a girl getting dirty and running around in ud or acting "like a boy". The dominant male is very rough, bulky (toned and muscle-y ;) ), strong, doing  "manly" things such as lifting wights or shaving his face (like it or not women get facial hair too). We are hailed into these ads because we want to be the individual we see in it.
Another classmates blog portrayed a young male Canadian male 'coming to the rescue, in a beer commercial. This individual believed that the commercial, "[...]using the mode of address to interpellate the national ideologies of being Canadian and fortifying the cultural identity that we travel far and wide helping those in need (http://robsblogforclass17.blogspot.ca/2013/11/what-hail.html), hailed him because he felt directly related in the commercial, and saw himself as a Canadian, wanted to be the individual in the advertisement.  Like stated before advertisement set their target population, glorify the individual in it and make us want to be that person by instilling the values set in the ad.
I was very surprised to see one classmate discuss how advertisements (particularly the one she reviewed) could be used for the better, rather then just a promotion of a product. The dove campaigns is a very powerful campaign encouraging women to feel beautiful in the skin their in, being the person they are, rather then having unrealistic expectations for weight and beauty. This individual found that "This advertisement [...] sheds light on the ideologies present in our society and ourselves, and urges us to change this in the future. Seeing how we are determined by the ideology we were born into, seeing how our behavior has been shaped [...] can give us a broader set of social choices about who we want to be and what we can do in the future.. The campaign and individual commercial’s goals, to show women how they've been affected by the beauty industry, has been widely successful. The effects of it can be seen in the growth of the campaign and series of commercials for which Dove is now known.” (http://madelainelegaultcpcf.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/1f25-post-3-what-the-hail/). She expressed her experiences in being hailed into particular beauty products, but how this commercial impacted her in a way that made her feel more positive about being true to herself in her own skin. Advertisements have a huge impact on us particularly in the way they hail and interpellate us as individuals. With the right goals and values, instead of encouraging a consumerist all for one approach, advertisements can also encourage positive behaviors and values because we are so directly impacted by our media choices.

By: Brenda Bouk