Media literacy assignment #12

1. Ad Analysis

Seventh Generation: http://www.seventhgeneration.com/

Who is sending the message?

Seventh Generation, a Burlington, VT based corporation committed to social and ecological responsibility.

Techniques:

Symbols-the green leaf is a symbol used to represent nature to appeal to an audience who is interested in the outdoors/environment.

Simple Solutions-the Seventh Generation site certainly tries to promote their household products on the basis that if you use their products exclusively, your home will be safe. This is a simple solution because it doesn’t take into account the toxins coming into the home in food, for example.

Plain Folks-although the website is not directly targeting mothers and homemakers, it is obvious that their ads are directed towards [probably] mothers. The constant message is about keeping your home and family safe from toxic chemicals.

Warm Fuzzies-this is a big one. There are multiple images of babies and young children all over the website. This supports their overall mission of preserving the environment for future generations.

Scientific Evidence- there is a “Did you know?” section, in which statistics are given. One of them is: “If every household in the US replaced just one box of 48oz petroleum-based powder laundry detergent with our vegetable-based product, we could save 96,000 barrels of oil, enough to heat and cool 5,500 US homes for a year!” This is a great fact that will certainly help to sell their products to a certain audience, but it is unclear if the company took into account the energy costs that go into creating detergent from vegetables. Obviously, it must take a lot of processing to get from a vegetable to a detergent, package it, and get it to the store.

What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in this message?

The lifestyle of a stay at home Mom is the first that comes to mind from the pictures displayed on the site. This could be expanded to include anyone with a home that needs to be cleaned, whom values socially and environmentally sound products. This tends to encompass younger, educated people with a stable income.

How might different people understand this message different from me?

Some people may see these products as weaker than what they are used to, silly or too expensive. The main consumers of these products are probably people with a strong environmental ethic to start with.

What is omitted from this message?

It is unclear how much these products cost, or where/how they are made. The ingredients in the products are included, which is great.

2. Activist Website

Grist-a beacon in the smog (environmental journalism site): http://www.grist.org/

I chose to follow Grist.org because I am really interested in journalism/activism. This site fulfills its mission by providing up to date articles on a variety of topics that may be overlooked in mainstream media sources. They focus broadly on climate&energy, food, living, news, and business. I looked into the news section of the page, and the first article that came up was one entitled: What the green movement needs from the next Supreme Court justice. This is a topic that I hadn’t even considered because it isn’t mentioned in the media that I see on a daily basis (granted I don’t regularly read newspapers or online news, and don’t have a TV). I’m not sure that this site could be considered activism, in that there is no obvious effort at campaign participation or organization for change. Many websites have applications to write emails to legislators or sign petitions, but this one does not so far. There is, however, a way to ‘share’ any of their articles via email, Facebook, Twitter, or a blog. Participation in the Grist.org site feels meaningful for me personally because I am interested in journalism, and certainly many of the topics they discuss, but my involvement doesn’t have an impact on our greater community.

3. PSA Group Blog Post #3

The project is going well at this point. Everyone has contributed to the research that was delegated to them. Nate and I met in the library last week to nail down our plans for which facts to use, and when/where we will film. We will get footage immediately after class on Tuesday afternoon, and after that we will schedule a time for final editing. If you have any other questions, Professor Debrosse, I would be happy to answer them or even email you the research that we’ve completed.