#riftsclassblogcom30721

[mark0benning]

GMOs: Trust Corporations to Decide What's Best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfVVwFkreo0

In a hilariously dry satire, the PSA, or public service announcement, entitled GMOs: Trust Corporations to Decide What's Best uses mockery to get its point across. The title itself is ironic, in that the true message is that corporations can NOT be trusted to decide what is best for consumers. In fact, the greedy bastards are more inclined to choose the contrary—what is best for them, more specifically their wallets. So by criticizing corporate, industrial America the PSA is able to suggest that food corporations should have to label their products as containing GMO’s. GMO stands for genetically modified organism. They are used to increase crop yields by changing the DNA of food. A war has been raged on companies, such as Monsanto, to cease this method or at least label whether or not products contain GMO’s. If they are harmless, as companies and corporations proclaim, then why not tell the consumers which product contain them? Clearly there is something negative about GMO’s and this PSA helps bring awareness to the absurdity of the secrecy surrounding them and their usage.

            The PSA initiates with a man speaking with a foreign accent, proclaiming that “telling us what is in our food is not the America I was raised in.” This scene suggests, satirically of course, that corporations have been able to get away with whatever they want for a long, long time but we need to change that aspect to achieve a more positive, healthy society. References to Agent Orange evoke traumatic memories for Americans who witnessed or have heard of that disaster. Agent Orange was used in the Vietnam War to destroy food crops, and caused death and defects to thousands and thousands of humans. The same corporation who created agent orange is the main adversary to, gasp, labeling whether a product simply contains GMO’s. Yikes.

            The remainder of the PSA is pretty straight forward. The featured speakers mock extremely ignorant people, making the opposing perspective seem ridiculous. Remarks such as, “I don’t want to know what’s in my food! Are you kidding me?” are hilarious and get the point across nicely. It raises the question: why would anyone be opposed to labeling? If you aren’t afraid to ingest genetically modified foods, well that is your own decision; but for those who choose to avoid GMO’s, it certainly helps to know which products contain them.

            All in all, the PSA is a successful example of satire that gets an important point across. Corporations are not to be trusted, and should have to label a product as containing GMO’s. And for the people who ignorantly wish for our “food to be shrouded in secrecy”, simply and without any doubt whatsoever, Trust Corporations to decide what is best for us.

[jrplowman]

The Ad Council’s 2009 “Stay in School” PSA uses humor and original music to encourage high school students to keep from dropping out.  As wistful, upbeat music declares “these are the good times,” we see an elderly man facing off against high school students in various athletic events. Needless to say, he holds up rather poorly, leading to the punch line “Once you leave school, it’s hard to go back.”

The premise reminds a young audience of the good parts of being in school, and encourages them to consider the permanence of the decisions they make even in their youth. While philosophically the ad could be criticized for ignoring the education aspect of high school altogether – which is of course the point – the “extracurriculars” perspective is probably better for communicating with the intended audience.

[stormbornsavage]

Sportsmanship: Pass It On

            We all have experienced the hype of a high school basketball game. Whether your team was one of the best or not, the feeling of pressure to perform is the same throughout every team. The Foundation for a Better Life recognized how the pressures of a championship basketball game can be a stressful situation with many tough decisions, so they used situation to support the concept of sportsmanship. In the heat of a big game, the referee makes a wrong call. Instead of letting it pass, one courageous teammate chose to acknowledge the mistake so that it constituted a fair game, regardless of the negative reactions of his teammates. After a few moments of doubt, his coach reassures him that he made the right decision. Although this PSA is only a minute long in length, its effectiveness comes from how relatable it is. There are many real life high school students out there playing high pressure sports experiencing conflicts like such. Having played a sport in high school, this PSA hit home. There is so much pressure to do the right thing but also do what it takes to win. By having this rather simple conflict portrayed in the PSA, it ties in all of the conflict experienced in sports in general. Sportsmanship is something taught at a young age and is to be taken seriously. The Foundation chose the right way to portray this message by having a more moving and serious scenario. It not only drives home the point for the younger crowd, but it also touches the hearts of the parents watching as well. The Foundation for a Better Life as over forty videos promoting different values throughout society, but this one, I believe, is one of their most successful.         

  Source: http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/106-Basketball

[blakewhiteside23]

NSA Wiretapping PSA

The public service announcement that I chose to analyze is entitled NSA Wiretapping PSA. This video features Trevor Moore from “Whitest Kids U’Know” tells us what we can do about the NSA wiretapping our phones. The NSA has done this through data mining our IP addresses, and tapping all Verizon and AT&T cell phones with the hope of fighting terrorism.

As far as premise is concerned the setting for this announcement is the United States, and the market that advertisers are trying to reach is anyone with a cell phone with Verizon or AT&T as its service provider. Characters used within the PSA are Barak Obama, Hilary Clinton, and two other democrats which are used to show that our politicians will do nothing to solve this problem.

The conflict is presented within the first few seconds of the PSA, and is shown in the title, which is the use of phone taps and data mining to try and find terrorists within the United States. The aspects of this PSA are used well, and although it is a comedic context that gives a humorous and unethical solution to the problem, the overall point is made.

Regardless of context it isn’t hard to see that this is an issue that takes away the general privacy of society, and since our culture enjoys humor over seriousness this was a good way of presenting this information. Giving a logical solution to this problem would have been nice, but given since this is a government organization that’s implementing this it is hard for this blogger to think of one.

  < http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ba0cc80eec/nsa-wiretapping-public-service-announcement>

[1nt3r3st1ng]

Drivers Ed.

Texting and driving is something we think is harmless, yeah, everyone sees the PSAs on T.V that show the effects, but no one really thinks that could ever happen to them.  But it does, and that's why those PSAs exist, we aren't invincible and sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

 The PSA was made in the U.K. and hasn't been shown on American television, although I really wish it would.  In the beginning of the video we are introduced to three friends, two are laughing while the one in the back is groaning as the driver pulls out her phone to text her friend's crush.  As she types the letters the car begins to swerve into oncoming traffic.  The first impact kills the girl in the back seat, the audience cringes as they hear her neck snap and watch as their bodies are tossed around the car like rag dolls.  They are completely helpless when the car finally comes to a stop, the two in the front begin to cry in pain as they look at each other, the driver watches in horror as another car heads their direction.  Another painful scene, the crack as the girls bump heads, and then another when the passenger breaks her neck.  She is now limp, her eyes closed. 

The driver looks at her friend and begins screaming. The other three cars involved are silent until the firefighters come to pry the cars open, then we get a glimpse of how her decision to text affected others.  This is the most powerful part of the PSA in that it moves the attention away from the driver, alot of people don't really worry too much about themselves, but when they see the damage they have done, things take a turn.  In one car there is a girl about 7 years old shouting to her parents, "Mommy, Daddy, why don't you wake up?"  her baby brother is in the seat next to her, there is a close up of him as they get the door open while a woman shouts, "I'm not getting a response!"  At first you think it's the parents she is talking about, but then you notice, the baby isn't crying, it's eyes aren't even moving.  That child at less than a year never got to experience life.  That girl may not have parents when all is said and done, she may have just lost her entire family.  The driver has lost her friends, and lays in pain.  The other cars remain silent.

This is one of the best Texting and Driving PSAs I have ever seen, it does more than just say "Oh, you could get hurt."  it doesn't end with the sound of brakes and a crash, it shows you what happens exactly from the beginning to the end, there is no mercy here.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E

[daniela0013]

Think Before You Post

   The Think Before You Post PSA is trying to promote the idea that the information that is posted on the Internet can be something prejudicial for those who are involved. Sara, a young girl who has been posting personal facts about her life on the Internet is the main character of this announcement. Sara’s conflict point out how different people from different environments and ages are commenting about her posts.  The settings of the story are regular places where Sarah uses to go like her school, mall, and cinema.  She starts to feel that she has no private life anymore, and even when she was the one who decided to put that information on the web, she is feeling uncomfortable with it.

   Since social media has become such an important part of our society, millions of data are been updating to the Internet every single second. People are living trough many kind of different electronic devices in which they can post everything they want in the very moment that this is happening. Thus, million of people are exposing their personal life on the web without even thinking in the consequences. Posting personal information with words, pictures, or videos can be very damaging because once this data is online anyone can access to it and take advantages of this situation.

   The Think Before You Post campaign has a serious context of persuasion, trying to persuade people to think about what they are going to publish on the Internet before it is too late, its purpose is to create a responsible awareness among social media and blogs users promoting the idea that the data that they are updating can be used against them. This PSA is trying to target the youth because people at these ages are more likely to act by their feelings without thinking about the harmful impact that social media can cause to them.  In the last years social media pages like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have become an essential part of almost every teenager and young person in the country. These applications were created to share people’s lives with the world, but it is an every person choice to decide what they are going to post. For instance, people who is constantly posting pictures of where they are with the exact location is making easier the job of anyone who might want to reach them.   The “think before posting" idea is to avoid overexposing people’s lives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w4_Hrwh2XI

[abbiemclark11]

The Empty Seat

 Suicide is obviously a tragedy which few are unable to explain...few want to think about explaining it for that matter. More often than not, when an individual commits suicide we morn for a little while and then sweep the idea under the rug. We don't want to dwell on the possibility that maybe if we had said "Hi" in the hallway or got to know and care for the victim at a deeper level they would still be here with us. So, when it's all said and done, we as every-day civilians do not go out of our way to prevent the hopelessness of another individual. And when they are gone, we submerse our minds so deep in our busy schedule that we forget about the life left behind.

The “Empty Seat” PSA establishes a sense of loss. It establishes that the victims of suicide did and always would have a spot which they were to fulfill. It creates a sense of sadness and paints a picture of an unfulfilled life. Whether the field is missing a cheerleader, the band be missing it's trombone player, or a classroom be missing a classmate, there is a void in society. A void which could have been filled by a talented, unique individual is left open.

This PSA has emotional transfer and really emotes a sense of sadness and remorse. As Americans, we need to take our nose out of the air and be aware. It is beneficial that it tells one what the signs of suicide are so we can be more cautious. It is sad that suicide is becoming more and more common amongst the younger generation and it is essential we do all we can to stop that. View suicide for what it is, a tragedy. But it is a tragedy we should intend on preventing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT8lw1Rl-WM

[littlebrianna22]

Would you drink pond water?

The PSA I found is about charity for clean water for Africa.  I found this PSA to be particularly appealing to me because everyone can relate to it, everyone drinks/uses water. Advertisers are trying to get anyone to donate.  They are using a serious approach to help deliver the message of how serious the lack of clean water is for the world.  I personally know that this hits home with anyone living in the St. Charles area this month with the boil order that was placed in effect on September 14.  People immediately freaked out and ran to the store to get bottled water.  All stores were sold out of water within a couple hours of the boil order going into effect.  This only lasted for 2 days and had people in a panicked state of frenzy.

 I can’t imagine how the people living in Africa have to drink dirty water on a daily basis, and have no other option.  It seems as if people forget that other people in the world don’t have the same availabilities that we do, and that is why I think this PSA speaks volumes.  The ending line of the clip says that donating $20 can provide one person clean water for 20 years.  I think that line is the most effective part of the whole PSA announcement.  Anyone who sees this will think about what they could spend $20 on, and possibly save a life.  It only takes $1 a year to help someone who is in need of safe drinking water.  Why would you not donate after seeing this PSA?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AqlLyLeJuQ