Mest 3 June 2011 Part A

Evaluate how each media product represents young people.

Both of the 2 media texts provide represent of young people in a different way and are made with the intention of representing young people in a specific way. Although in the Adidas advert there is 2 possible reading with are apparent.

Adidas video has two possible readings, the preferred reading and the oppositional reading. The preferred reading is the reading that the producers want the viewers to receive. It is likely to be read by young people whom Adidas products are aimed at as they can relate with the characters in the advert. This group may feel that the characters in the advert are represented as fun loving, cool and fashionable. They also feel that the activities being done in the advert are normal and completely harmless. This is an alternative representations of young people as they are seen partying but are not seen drinking alcohol or doing drugs or anything which is negative or stereotypical of young people.

Also there is an oppositional reading that could be read which enforces most of the stereotypes of young people. This is that they are anti-social, wild, crazy and out of control. This could be due to a couple of shots in particular; the spray painting at the beginning and .This is a reading is likely to be read by an older viewer who is unfamiliar which modern day youth culture. An may be believe stereotypes of young people due to their consumption of dominant ideology in other parts of the media.

The NHS binge drinking advert represents young people as being irresponsible and careless. It does this by showing the female in the advert doing all the things teenagers do as a result of binge drinking while they are out at her home before she leaves and ends with text saying “you wouldn’t start your night like this so why end it that way?”. This enforces the idea that the way the girl leaves the house is how young people come home after an evening out. This is obviously a very negative and unfair representation as it makes it seem as if all people binge drink on outing when that is not the case; therefore this is an negative and unfair representation of young people.

Why are shock tactics, such as those in media product two, so often used?

You may also refer to other media products to support your answer.

Shock tactics are used in media product 2 in an attempt to get the attention on the audience and make them take serious the issue shown, this is done by showing the extremes of the problem and the worse possible consequences in an attempt to make the audience change the way they act.

An example of shock tactics in a media text is in an advert made by “think” which was in attempt to increase awareness of road safety among young people. This showed filming from a mobile phone of a group of typical friend when suddenly a loud bang is heard and then one member of the group is shown on the road in front of a car, dead and then a statistic was shown saying the amount of teenagers killed and seriously injured on the road. This was an attempt to scare young people into being more careful and aware when crossing the road, and when being on the road and pavements in general.

Another common use of shock tactics used in the media is in charity adverts. These adverts often show images of shocking thin and ill children used to try and make the viewer feel sympathy towards the children shown and then donate to the charity to help alleviate the problem. This is an effective technique as people are more likely to react to shocking and graphic content as opposed to more soft content.

Documentaries are another media product that use shock tactics regularly, this may be to engage the audience and keep them interested my having clips of shocking content and then interviews with professions etc in-between. An example of this is Ross Kemp on gangs, this documentary series often had clips of when Ross Kemp interviewed gang members, and they showed of their gun and gave examples of their activity in the gang. This was often followed by an interview with the police in the area.

Consider the value of using online marketing to target a youth audience.

You should refer to other media products to support your answer.

Online marketing is the most effective marketing when targeting a youth audience. This is because the youths of today consume most online as opposed to the traditional media platforms such as broadcast and print. This means that any advertising put online on sites popular with young people is more likely to get seen more than adverts put on the print or broadcast platform, for example magazines or radio.

An example of effective online marketing is with Youtube. Youtube is the biggest video sharing/ streaming site on the internet and is very popular with young people. A recent change is before a video starts playing an advertisement is shown; these often come with a skip ad button that appears after 5 seconds of the advert and sometimes the full advert has to be viewed. This is a very effective way of advertising as advertisers can have their advert put before videos matching certain genre etc, so that they can get their advert seen by their specific audience. Also most videos viewed on Youtube are less than 10 minutes long and several short videos are viewed; this means the frequency of which the advert is seen is much higher. Also unlike TV and radio advert which have several one after another, Youtube adverts only have one which means the viewer is more likely to view it as opposed to TV or radio were the viewer will switch channels while adverts are shown and then come back after a few minutes. This is why online market can be more effective than adverting in traditional media products.

Another example of a media product that has used online marketing is Batman the Dark Knight. This movie used viral marketing which was a very interactive marketing campaign which had fans/ viewers meet in places and support certain movie characters etc. this was only possible because of the interactivity possible with online marketing and would not be possible with traditional media were viewers are passive when consuming advertising.

A possible problem with online marketing is the amount of places where it could be put. Because of the size of the internet it can be difficult advertisements were they will be viewed and by the target audience; if the advert is not seen, or is seen by the wrong audience it is pointless. This is not the case with traditional media like television as it is easy to find a suitable place to put advertising, and despite the increase in channels available recently it is still nothing compared to the amount of internet websites.

Another issue with online marketing is it can easily be ignored. For example adverts on the sides of websites such as Facebook can be very expensive to put there but the user of that website can use the website and not pay attention to the advert; this means it is not an effective method of advertising. Whereas on a TV advert the programming is paused and removed from the screen during adverts so if the person looks at the TV all they can see if the advert, because of this it is difficult to ignore when viewing the program.

Another issue with online marketing is it can easily be ignored. For example adverts on the sides of websites such as Facebook can be very expensive to put there but the user of that website can use the website and not pay attention to the advert; this means it is not an effective method of advertising. Whereas on a TV advert the programming is paused and removed from the screen during adverts so if the person looks at the TV all they can see if the advert, because of this it is difficult to ignore when viewing the program.