Volkswagen Precision Parking

Volkswagen Precision Parking

            At first glance, the message behind this Volkswagen advertisement is a little blurred. Where do fish and porcupines fit in when talking about a car company? Looking to the bottom right corner gives the reader the answer.

            Volkswagen is advertising their new technology that helps the driver park in tight spaces without hitting other cars. The alignment of the fish in the bags and the porcupine resembles the scene of parallel parking spaces and the tight squeezes driver often must make. The porcupine quills are centimeters from popping the bags where the goldfish reside. The diagonal pattern does not allow the actual amount of space to show between the fish and the porcupine, but the gist of the message is still easily attainable.

This advertisement seems to be very effective. The use of animals instead of people typically appeals to a wider range of viewers. People also seem to be more sympathetic and understanding with animals. The possibility of the porcupine, which represents the viewer, harming the fish creates an unsettling feeling. By using a porcupine with sharp quills surrounded by fish in bags, the creator of the ad appeals to an emotional side of the viewers when they represent humans as animals.

            The main emotion provoked is fear. There is a sense of fear with the goldfish so close to death because of the porcupine. This fear the image creator brings up relates to that when drivers are forced to park in tight spaces and Volkswagen shows that their technology can help prevent that fear.

            The scene in the advertisement also adds a sense of humor and irony. It is ironic that a porcupine would ever be in such close quarters with goldfish in bags. This effectively proves how accurate the Volkswagen park assist technology is.

            By using the comparison of the porcupine to the viewer and the fish to other drivers, the viewer can easily relate to the struggle of parallel parking. The visual representation the creator uses portrays our societal dislike of parallel parking. Volkswagen nonverbally states that their cars can help society with its fear of parking.

            The design of the advertisement is also very effective and appealing to the eye. The white background allows for good contrast with the fish in the bags and the porcupine. The placement of the porcupine follows the rule of thirds and lies at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal lines.

            The viewer’s eye is instantly drawn to the out of place porcupine. This focal point is proportional to the sizes of the fish and the bags the fish are in. Both the size and placement of the porcupine are pleasing to look at.

            The dark colors of the porcupine balance out the light background and the light color of the fish bags. The orange of the goldfish creates a nice pop of color that adds a little bit of drama to the advertisement.

            Diagonally aligning the animals creates eye flow from the porcupine to all of the fish. Even though there is good eye flow, the placement of the text may stand out a little more in a different location.

            Looking at the laws of Gestalt Theory in terms of continuity, the viewer has a line of direct eye flow to the top right corner that has the website link. This is important because without this diagonal line of fish and a porcupine, the viewer could easily skip over information about where to find these Volkswagen cars with park assist technology.

Volkswagen made a smart choice to go with such a lighthearted and humorous advertisement for their precision parking technology. The coloring and the placement of the focal point in the ad create a pleasurable sight for the viewer. The caption and website URL are both placed thoughtfully but the URL is in a more effective place in regards to the eye flow of the image. Even so, the ad is deemed a success.

Maybe for the first time ever, a porcupine and bags of fish do go together.

Gaga's Telephone: A Female Empowerment Anthem

Pop Phenom Lady Gaga and Beyoncé joined forces on the song “Telephone”. The video marks the second collaboration between Gaga and Beyoncé. The video was everything we have become accustomed to expect from Lady Gaga. The nine-minute music video, more like short film, picks up from her previous music video “Paparazzi” after gaga kills her lover and is headed to jail.

 The raunchy video caused quite the stir. Upon looking past, the scantily clad women and quizzical outfit and life choices, we see the deeper meaning the video holds. While in a more flamboyant fashion than we are used to, “Telephone” depicts the story of countless of women, who are confined by the expectations society places on them. We can use the prison as a metaphor for the imprisoned female identity. The video in fact is rather empowering towards women, as it assures women that it is okay to not to conform to gender norms.

Everything in the video serves a purpose, especially the clothing. Each female prisoner behind the bars looks unique, and different to what society expects women to look like in public. Their sexuality is on full display, but they seem helpless, tired and held captive by society's need to dictate who we are as women.

The theory of semiotics which refers to the production and interpretation of meaning. Its basic principle is that meaning is made by the deployment of acts and objects which function as "signs" in relation to other signs. We can use this theory to analyze "Telephone". The first thing we see is oddly dressed female prisoners and Quentin Tarantino-esque visuals. However, after the novelty of the video wears off and we begin to analyze the video more deeply, we attach signs and meaning. Quite frankly without the music video, I think the song would serve as "just another sing-along”.

We see a naked gaga covered with 'Crime Scene: Do Not Cross' police tape. As Meghan Vicks- an essayist and self-proclaimed “little monster” troupe leader- mentions we can see the likeness of how our society fears the criminal female. Vicks describes the criminal female as any female that doesn’t adhere to rules placed on them based on their gender, and how such a woman terrifies our society. This aligns with gaga’s real life personality, from her red-carpet appearances in a giant egg to wearing a dress made entirely out of meat.

 In the video, we see the transformation of gaga, from being trapped to the liberation, ironically from Beyoncé who is known to sing songs that promote girl power. We have heard of countless of stories where women have done crazy things after being pushed too far by our obnoxious and chauvinistic society, with examples of reality TV shows like "Secret lives of stepford wives".This makes us empathize slightly with the killings of the men in the diner

 

We are used to seeing women objectified on TV, like the infamous ad of Paris Hilton eating a burger in a bikini while washing car wash. So, when we see gaga eating the ice-cream in a rather unsexy manner, it seems as if gaga is turning the tables on imagery of women eating food seductively.

Near the end of the song, when gaga and Beyoncé breakout dancing clothed in superhero outfits covered in the American flag. This appears to be a celebration of a diverging America, one which deviates from gender constructs and where women can be superheroes too.

(Note: please don’t kill your partner!)

The Missing Thug

Celebrities can be very demanding and hard to work with. Their egos can change based on their mood, and their mood can be changed by one event. However, imagine directing an entire music video for a rapper who you have never met and never got to meet. This is exactly what Ryan Staake did for Young Thug, because he did not show up to the video shoot for his song “Wyclef Jean”. As you assume this is probably an inconceivably challenging mission. Nonetheless, Staake’s unwavering determination did to get this video done accomplished just that for Atlanta rapper Young Thug (Jeffery Lamar Williams). The video was released on January 16, 2017 and in just under a month; it has reached over 14 million views. Staake who “co-directed” this video with Young Thug (as he put it in the video) is a director, writer and producer for Pomp&Clout (who he shouts out towards the end of the video), where he is the owner and executive producer. Staake has worked with the likes of ScHoolboy Q, Lil Wayne, Charlie Puth, J. Cole, and many more, but I can only imagine that the video he shot for Young Thug was nothing like he has ever experienced before. Staake was determined to show us as an audience that no matter what adversity we face triumph is still plausible and that sometimes different is exactly what is needed.

            The aspects that make this video so great is Staake’s ability to do something different most have never seen or ever imagined seeing. The difference in this video comes from the fact that Staake narrates the entire video through text. Therefore, it certainly keeps you paying attention throughout its entirety. It begins with a voice recording of the ideas Young Thug had for the video shoot. As the

video begins Young Thug’s voice become subtitles. As the subtitles pop up so does the exact thing Young Thug wants in the background. Although it is Staake’s job to make what an artist’s wants to come true he did exactly that. His attention to detail and instruction seems unparalleled when it comes to this video in particular. They shoot the first scene and he explains that Young Thug did not show up in time for that part of the video, which explains why we, as the audience, have not yet seen him in video. Shortly after, he says that Young Thug actually never showed to for any of the shots in this video. With four minutes to go in the video we begin to wonder what exactly the rest of the video has in store without the artist that made the song ever being there. This is simply to me just when Staake begins to get truly creative and embraces the moment.

            Staake could have just sat around with all of the his equipment and people ready to go and waited for Young Thug’s arrival on that day, but that was evidently not in his plans. This is what seems like the start of him making the most out of a bad situation. He does not sit around; he takes initiative and begins to shoot anyways. He even put a few clips that Young Thug shot on his own, that were sent to him two months after their initial video shoot. Which makes you wonder just when exactly the video was shot and how long did it take before Young Thug approved the release of the video? However, Staake made the most out the footage, by editing it in to give Young Thug a brief cameo in his own music video. He even jokes saying he wished he had thought of the idea to have Young Thug eating Hot Cheetos. This is just the beginning of Staake’s explanation of how the video fell apart. He points out places where Young Thug is supposed to appear in the video even placing and empty car and drawing a sketch outline of him in one scene. He goes on to question whether Young Thug would have like the video he set up seeing as how it was everything he asked for (spending $100,000 in the process), but in the end says it does not matter, no of it matter because he

never showed up. So does it matter that the artist did not show up? Most would say yes and maybe even Staake would himself, but he eventually realized he had done his job and that is all that he could do despite the absent rapper. That is what makes this video so enticing to the audience. As many in the theatrical world say “the show must go on” and it did, Young Thug or not the video seems to flourish without him.

            This video draws your attention to it simply because you want to know what exactly is going to happen next. Staake does a great job of keeping you entertained throughout while give the audience a bit of comic relief and explanations. It is different in the fact that narration in a music video is not common or thought of as appealing, but for this one it seems to be exactly what it needed. Making the most out of a bad situation seems to be the underlying theme of the video in general and can even be an underlying theme of some situations that we all face in life. The fact is for most people the a music video is nothing without the music but in this case the music is faded into the background and the video and narration become the true focal point. So much so that even once the song end you are told so and yet you feel inclined to watch on to see what else might happen. That is the exactly sense of enticement Staake brings to this music video and keeps you watching.

Delta Airline's Successful Speed

This is an advertisement depicting a Delta Airline airplane preparing to take the starting line on a track in a natural background similar to a track runner. It also contains text describing the new service and information to draw in the attention of customers. The advertisement also contains the Delta Airline recognizable logo in several places considering most people refer to logos when identifying major companies.

Delta Airlines is one of the many major American commercial airline carriers. The airline has more than 325 destinations, domestic and international. Delta Airlines was founded in 1924 and has serviced over 160 million travelers. The company has over 80,000 employees making sure that customers are the top priority. Loyal travelers can also join the SkyMiles frequent flyer program that the airline has partnered with. Not only do they provide customer service to travelers, they are sponsors to numerous professional athletic teams such as the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to Matt Benney, this advertisement was released after the announcement of the newly offered flight service from Nairobi to Atlanta. It was inspired by the recent Kenyan success in athletics (track and field in particular) to provide customers with an understanding for the company’s value of speed. The message that is being conveyed to travelers is that if you decide to fly with Delta Airlines then you will receive quick direct service and that the customers are their first priority. The purpose of the message is to persuade customers to fly with Delta Airlines rather than other competing airlines such as United Airlines.

The text of this advertisement portrays a Delta airplane lined up on a track ready to race in a scenic, natural background like an athlete prepping to race. It has a warm color scheme to create a representation of the comfortable and welcoming feeling that travelers would receive. The welcoming feeling provides a valuable sense of customer service, which is one of the airline company’s priorities. It is also portraying the concept that customers do not necessarily need to fly high-end (such as American Airlines) in order to receive high-quality service.

The red Delta Airline symbol guides the eye to the information about the airline’s new direct flight services from Nairobi to Atlanta. This guidance helps the audience find the message and purpose of the advertisement. From a marketing point of view, the words “ Fly Delta Airlines, The only direct service from Nairobi to Atlanta” lets the audience understand that the carrier is using a product differentiation strategy (the process of distinguishing a product/service to attract more customers within a certain market) to have an economic advantage over competitors.

This helps highlight the important value of speed for the airline. The importance of speed for Delta Airline is highlighted through the inspiration of Kenya’s well-known success in the sport of track and field. The words “direct” and “quick” also helps support the message of the airline’s importance of speed to the flyer’s final destination. It also helps differentiate themselves from other carriers that only provide the traditional route of having a European stop-over. The audience can connect the concept of quick flights with the new direct service flight to Nairobi, Kenya. We can interpret the red Delta airline logo as being “direct” with the audience and leading the eye to what the purpose of the advertisement is.

This print was a great way of portraying Delta Airline’s new service in a concept inspired advertisement. It is too early for the airline carrier to determine in an economic sense if the advertisement was effective for the new direct flight service to Nairobi. However, from a strategic marketing stance, it proves to be effective representing the warm customer service and direct service that travelers are looking for. The design concept and context portrayed helps persuade travelers to fly Delta Airlines. It is clear that Delta Airline airplanes are the true gold medalist racing against David Rudisha, Almaz Ayana, or Vivian Cheruiyot.

The Dark Side of Ballet

by: Maria Borrero

Ballet is often referred as the “body profession” since it uses the body as its main instrument and this body must adhere to certain qualifications. However, the perfect, fragile and classic ballet dancing is contrasted with the harsh reality behind it. Ballet dancers often live extremely restricted lifestyles and the consequences of it can be alarming. Results from a study carried out by the University of Pittsburg in 2006, shows that 83% of ballet dancers develop eating disorders throughout their careers. The extremely high pressure, long-working hours, and restricted diets these dancers have to endure can cause severe psychological damages.

Black Swan portrays the lifestyle of a ballet dancer and the struggles she goes through as a result of her vocation. This movie came out on 2010 and stars actress Natalie Portman. The film is a psychological thriller that revolves around Nina Sayers, a ballerina in a New York City ballet company, who is chosen to play the main role in the new production of Swan Lake. She loses the grip on reality when she realizes she has competition, which transforms her life into a living nightmare.

The movie poster exposes the Swan Queen, Nina Sayers, and its main purpose is to represent the movie’s genre, which is psychological horror. In a deeper level, the movie as well as the poster, uses this genre to expose the harsh truth behind those fragile, sweet and graceful ballerinas and the dark consequences resulting from their profession. Their obsession to achieve perfection leads them to their ultimate downfall.

The poster consists of the face of Nina Sayers. She is dressed up in her swan costume. Her face is completely white, she is wearing a silver-black sharp-pointed tiara, there are black wings painted around her red eyes, and her lips have a burgundy red color. The image has a white background once again to emphasize Nina’s face and thus making her the main focus.

The main focal points of the poster are Nina’s red eyes. The use of direct eye contact serves to engage the audience and make them feel uneasy and scared while looking at her face. One does not usually get red eyes unless it is caused by allergies or irritation thus suggesting that Nina’s eyes have a darker more terrifying meaning. She actually looks like a crazy person. The disturbing feeling this image produces, displays the mental instability of the character in the film and indicates the observer that there is something odd going on with her. The mental instability of Nina is caused as the result of the mortifying pressure she feels in her job as she has to depict perfectly both swans, which are complete opposites, while she fights to keep the role.

Something that is important to note is that in the image, Nina is unreadable. She puts a poker face expression showing no emotions whatsoever. In a broader sense, it portrays the inhuman side of her. As a ballet dancer she has the purpose of being perfect. It is almost as if ballerinas are robots and objects instead of actual people.

The main colors used in the poster are black, white and red. Each of these colors convey a specific meaning. White is the color frequently used to represent innocence and purity. In reference to the movie, white is the color that would represent the flawless White Swan, which is the Nina at the beginning of the story. White is also the color one would use to describe ballet dancers since they seem to be delicate, elegant and classic. At least this would be the first thought that would come to mind when thinking about them.

However, the other two colors, black and red, are probably more important since they represent the dark, corrupted side of Nina. These colors are used in key parts of Nina’s face including the tiara, lips, and eyes. The black color portrays the Black Swan; to which she turns into towards the end of the film. The Black Swan is evil, jealous and murderous since it will do everything in her power to get what she wants which is keeping the role of Swan Queen. The contrast between the black color of her eyes and the white color of the rest of her face shows the good girl gone bad kind of theme. Moreover, tiaras usually have connotations with femininity and princesses, however this tiara is noticeable spikier and black which denotes a rather evil princess figure.

Finally, the burgundy color of her lips is also emphasized and sticks out from her face. This color denotes passion and sensuality perhaps implying the discovery of sexuality of the main character or the use of it for manipulation purposes. Also, the red of her eyes shows the presence of violence and blood which are recurring themes in the film.

Furthermore, the details of her face are extremely clear once again showing her has the main figure. Nonetheless, her ears and the outline of her figure becomes extremely blurred and blends into the white background. This kind of gives her a ghostly effect, which foreshadows what happens in the movie as she becomes completely demented and starts imagining things.

The creator of this Black Swan movie poster uses different colors, face details, focal point and contrasts to portray the psychological horror genre of the movie. Moreover, in a deeper sense it also represent the struggle ballet dancers go through has part of their profession. Ballerinas have to live extremely restricted lifestyle and are not allow to enjoy life at its fullest. This makes them have an inhuman side as they are sacrificing their lives due to their obsession with perfection.

Darth Plagueis: Tragedy or Reality?

Star Wars is without a doubt one of the most successful movie franchises to ever be created. In the midst of its third trilogy in over forty years, its content has spanned much of our recent history. Some have even recently gone as far as to draw parallels with movies such as Rogue One and the resistance and protest we see in America today in response to Trump’s inauguration. To be sure, our reality and this fictional universe have a great deal in common. One such similarity comes in the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, a story told by the antagonist of the first trilogy of movies, Chancellor Palpatine. 

The story describes the rise of a man who became so powerful he came to possess the ability to halt death itself. He eventually passes this power on to an apprentice, who, ironically, kills him after having learned all he had to teach. Yet, this tragedy grips its listeners. It appeals to our imaginations, but it also captures something more near to our heart, something more palpable. The tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise probes our own fear of death, entices our yearn for such a power to control our own mortality. At the same time, however, it challenges our willingness to claim such a power and forces us to confront our moral code.

Darth Plagueis’ tale is one of the vicious cycle of evil’s rise to power. But stirring beneath this tragic story is the question, wouldn’t it be great to have such a power? The atmosphere of this scene is dark, with intimate camerawork that emphasizes the rather calm and intense conversation between our two main characters. In the background, this rather dark exchange is contrasted by a bright and extravagant light show. The decadence of their surroundings juxtaposes excellently with the story being told to challenge our concept of value. Much of society is built on arbitrary constructs like governments, nations, and money.

These things pale in comparison to the very mortality of our species, yet one dwarfs the other in our daily lives. True, one can’t currently attain the powers that this character Darth Plagueis does, but this concept appears disproportionately in our science fiction, demonstrating an infatuation with the idea of the thing. And what’s so appealing, as with many sci-fi elements, is how close it feels to reality. The Jetsons, Star Trek, and so many more popular media products exist as realizations of things we hope to one day come true. To go to space, to have friendly robots who care to our every whim. So too, with this power described in Darth Plagueis’ tragedy. With all the advances in modern medicine, the power to reverse or halt death feels so palpably close.

What Plagueis’ story - and the ensuing downfall of our protagonist - offers is an answer to that almost taboo question. Perhaps if one could harness this power, it would only consume them as it did Plagueis and as it does all those who learn it. The scriptwriters seem to suggest that perhaps the power over mortality is too great a perversion of our humanity, that to possess such a power demands too high a cost.

Again, it challenges us to question the morality of such a power, if there is something inherently wrong about changing nature’s course. Our protagonist, Anakin Skywalker, is motivated by powerful visions he has of his lover dying in the near future. At a glance, one would argue that such a power would spare so many people from the terrible pain of losing someone they cared about. The scriptwriters again capitalize on this deep-seated emotion in this narrative, tempting not only Anakin, but we the audience as well, with such a fantasy.

Anakin inevitably is devoured by paranoia and gives himself over to evil in the hopes of learning this power to save his now wife from the inevitable death he foresees. Ironically, it is this evil path that brings him to killing her with his own hands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-rMXlu-39c), and losing his humanity and most of his body in a battle with his former master. In fact, he never even learns the power, and ends up nothing but a slave to his inhumanity for the remainder of his life. This quest and its suspenseful end goes far beyond being a compelling plot point. The moral of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise is not just that power corrupts. The real moral cuts far deeper, suggesting that the quest to escape death is not only fraught with immorality, but it is corrupting. It is motivated by fear, and it claims that this fear will create self-fulfilling prophecies just as Anakin’s visions came true by his own hand. Or perhaps it asserts that humanity just isn’t ready to control such a power until our motivations become more pure.

However, this incredibly compelling story so artfully nestled in the movie is lost in the cracks. Anakin’s motivations are never fully explored in light of this moral dilemma, nor are his actions well driven by his intentions. It seems as though George Lucas and the producers found an incredibly motivating narrative in the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, and abandoned it instead for flashy fights and one-line zingers. Yet, they left behind an incredibly complex piece of fiction that challenges not only the fear of death, but how that fear might drive us in the presence of a power that might make death a thing of the past. It offers a very plausible and disquieting consequence of such a power over mortality that forces us to question if it is even moral to seek it out. It leaves one wondering just what Plagueis’ tale can teach us as we blaze a trail onward to a future where such a power exists.

The Painful Realities of LISA

LISA: The Painful

Lisa: The Painful is a darkly comedic story-centric videogame based on the 1992 novel Children of Men. As its subtitle would suggest, LISA: The Painful is an unforgiving journey where the small touches of humor are the only sources of respite from the neverending feeling of struggle that the game cultivates through its themes and gameplay.

The main character, Brad lives in the fictional world of Olathe, one in which all females have suddenly disappeared overnight. The explanation for their disappearance, described by a few as nothing more than a “white flash,” is kept intentionally vague to reduce its importance to the game’s story. LISA is more interested in exploring the hypothetical consequences of an event like this than explaining how it could be possible. Aside from a few flashbacks into the young life of Brad Armstrong, our main character, the entirety of the game takes place long after this “white flash.” Where all idyllic homes with white picket fences have been replaced by dilapidated houses and mud huts.

The world Brad now inhabits has become a perverted, disgusting, and run down parody of its former self with an extreme masculine influence. One of the game’s main sources of humor is in observation of some of the ways this hypothetical world may deal with being completely male-dominated, always to its detriment. This humorous parody is almost whimsically portrayed, with things such such as having dirty magazines as the main currency for the game, and runs in direct contrast to the serious consequences of introducing a female adolescent into this unforgiving world.

The main hook of the story revolves around a character Buddy, which is a baby female that Brad mysteriously finds on the ground outside of his hut. Brad is reminded by her of his abusive childhood, with his father Marty, and his sister Lisa (A character of which the game is named after), and takes this moment as an opportunity to make up for not being able to save Lisa from the horrors of their abusive father. He then raises her in secret, until one day when she is captured, kicking off the game’s adventure. LISA uses the relationship between Brad and Buddy to highlight how child abuse can perpetuate cyclically, despite his supposed intentions to protect her.

This theme of the game is rooted in substance abuse. Reminiscent of their father Marty’s alcoholism in Brad’s flashbacks, our main character Brad is addicted to a drug called “joy”. This drug, which it is entirely up to the player to take, has consequences in the game’s mechanics. When on “Joy” combat is a cakewalk. All attacks deal critical damage and the player’s defense is bolstered significantly. While off the drug, there is a chance that Brad will experience withdrawal, which will render all of his attacks ineffective. This serves to mock other video game “powerups” that help the player advance in the game by bringing “Joy” closer to real life substances.

Throughout the game, players observe that other characters who are addicted to joy, turn into mindless killing mutants when they die. This runs in parallel with Brad’s relationship with the young female Buddy, as she sees him as becoming more monstrous in his attempts to protect her throughout the story. Evently the characters who you have met on your adventure along the way turn on you, insisting that you can only do so much to protect someone before you start to overbearingly control them, or start doing them actual harm.

Games like this which betray the player’s expectations in creative ways are cropping up more recently. Another one with a similar artstyle and surreal world is Undertale, a slightly more popular game which has been gaining a lot of praise recently, topping a lot of “best indie game of 2015” charts. Both of these games are reminiscent of 1994’s Earthbound for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

LISA has a lot to say about things relevant in the real world. It tackles the issue of overbearing masculinity and contrasts it to feminine capability, which ties into Buddy’s confident independence from her overbearing protector Brad. Their relationship also tackles the issue of how, despite intentions, child abuse has repercussions beyond the first generation, especially when cycles of substance abuse are passed down to cloud the minds of good people.

The Modern Amelia Earhart

The Modern Amelia Earhart

            Cam is one of the breakout female names in country music. Her album Untamed reached the number 2 spot in country music albums. Mayday is a single that debuted shortly before it was released with the album Untamed. The music video is centered around Cam dressed as what appears to be Amelia Earhart. The video is set in thee 1930s and shows as Cam (or Amelia) gets interviewed, takes off in her plane, and ultimately crashes. Aside from Cam`s storyline it also shows clips of a young girl who is following along with Amelia`s story. She is there at the interview, watches as Cam takes off, and is watching the TV as the news reveals Cam and her plane are missing.
One of the overarching themes in the music video is female oppression- which being set in the 1930s is not surprising. But Cam also uses it as a message to show that maybe things have not changed that much. For example, she is one of the few women who have made it in the country industry. In the video, before she leaves on her flight it shows ads from the time period which are a good representation of how women were viewed: as subservient to men and in charge of cooking and cleaning. This is shown alongside Cam`s interview in which signs are displayed criticizing her because flying across the ocean is not a task for a women. Even further, her boyfriend is alongside her the whole time, always looking mad despite the amazing things she is doing. She even appears to be afraid of him constantly checking back while she talks to the crowd.

         This goes along with lyrics that show a similar message, such as “You are overbearing, I'm not in love, But I don't wanna tell you,” “I said I'm moving on, 'cause things were getting rough, But here I am in your bed.” She is stuck in an unhealthy relationship but for some reason she can never get herself to leave. Until now that is. Taking the plane and being free. Despite his anger and the disbelief of those around her, she leaves him and goes off on her own adventure. The boyfriend in the video is a pretty clear symbol of an overbearing even abuse boyfriend/ relationship. The plane is the freedom she has been seeking.

       Another major part of the video is the young girl. She looks up to Cam. She is inspired by the way Cam breaks out of norms. She plays with toy planes in her house and watches the news of Cam`s disappearance. But long after the disappearance she looks in amazement as the T.V shows how women are starting to make a new name for themselves in a society traditionally run by men.

      There are a lot of symbols and messages in this music video. First, the title is very loaded. Mayday is a term used as a distress signal in emergencies. She is stuck in this unhealthy relationship and although she keeps calling for help the only person that can free her is herself. The plane symbolizes this freedom. She is all by herself without help from anyone else. Even when she crashes, she is truly free. While a large storm and a crash traditionally are negatively viewed icons, in Cam`s video it is seen as a positive. Even though it did not end well for her, she is free of the negative relationship she was in. And not only that, but she started a whole movement amongst other women as well. 

       In behind the scenes clips, Cam talks about how her past relationships inspired the song. One of the most memorable things in her past is an ex-boyfriend who told her that “No one’s going to love you like I loved you.” It takes a lot of bravery and strength to force yourself to leave a relationship like that, which is the point of this song. It is not an easy thing to do but Cam makes it clear that nothing is impossible and it can be done. Personally, I love this message. So many people are afraid of leaving unhealthy relationships and this is a very powerful message to encourage women. Because even though she may not have made it all the way to where she wanted, she started a domino effect.

Building Imagination with LEGO

If there is one thing that has a guarantee to elicit absolute joy in children and stir up nostalgia in the oldest souls, it would be our toys. In the past, LEGO bricks were generally targeted towards younger audiences. Yet their recent advertisement's message of unlimited creative potential encapsulated within some little plastic bricks is a message designated for all ages.

In 2006, LEGO hired Blattner Brunner to create a series of advertisements for the Lego Image Campaign. In this series are several LEGO creations alongside shadows of what they represent such as a dinosaur, ship, or in this case, an airplane.

The key statement being made is that LEGO bricks provide the mechanism to build anything and do anything that your imagination entails. The company evokes feelings of endless fun and creation without any words or gimmicks, but with just two of their most famous bricks.

By using a minimalist approach, the iconic LEGOs are clearly the primary focus of the image. By having a suggestive airplane shadow being “reflected” off from the creation, the relationship between the two items indicates that the LEGO bricks and the airplane figure are not two separate things.

Rather, the LEGO figure is the airplane itself, casting a shadow of what it is meant to be. The use of a shadow to represent this relationship is meaningful as shadows often represent the image of the beholder. As Alice Yoo states, the paring of the shadow with the LEGO figure expresses our own ability to use our imagination to make the LEGO creations come to life.

The ad implies that by using our imagination, something small like LEGO bricks can reflect something large and powerful like an airplane. Yet, without the bricks themselves, the shadow (and our potential for imagination) disappears. Therefore, the symbolism of the shadow figure not only calls upon the consumer to have the creative potential to turn those bricks into something meaningful, but presents the bricks as tools needed for imaginative production.

Using only two primary colors (red and blue), the warmer red color of the LEGO bricks strongly stands apart from the cool blue background. Here, blue also functions to further reinforce the idea that the bricks are an airplane, as it is a color most often reminiscent of blue skies.

Paired with the three dimensional structure and orientation of the LEGOs, the figure seems to come to life, ready to soar off the page. Thus successfully showcasing how your imagination can make LEGOs take flight.

Cleverly, the specific blue and red hues displayed in the image are the same classic colors used in their LEGO bricks. This reinforces familiarity and is a subtle connection back to their product. The color cues allows the consumer to quickly associate the message of unlimited creation and imagination to the one and only LEGO brand.

Further, while LEGO bricks are typically seen as children’s toys, the solitariness of the product (in contrast to having children play with it) removes this bias from the product. In a revolutionary change of events, LEGO seems to be turning away from the toy stigma, and moving towards the idea that LEGOs are agents for creativity. Establishing that LEGOs aren’t just for playing, they’re for creating. So why is this distinction important?

The LEGO Group is a privately owned toy company with deep roots in the business of toys. In fact the brand name LEGO, is an abbreviation of “leg godt,” Danish for play well. Yet as Jake Mckee, previous leader on the LEGO company community board explains, there was a time when most of the company’s product production was done without any insight to their consumer base.

LEGO had closed its doors to any outside input for fear of lawsuits. Which meant that they no longer knew who their customers were. When they discovered online chat groups created by adults who built with LEGOs, they uncovered the potential in expanding towards a larger audience. One that included these adults who would spend large sums to produce large scale LEGO creations.

Lindsay Kolowich writes in her blog, Building a Playful Brand, Brick by Brick: The History of Lego Marketing, that this 2006 print ad was released as part of the company’s new movement to recreate the brands image. This ad symbolizes what Mckee noted, LEGO is no longer just a toy for children; it is now a creative medium.

By focusing on the creative potential of LEGOs, the ad associates a concrete object like LEGO bricks, with the concept of boundless creation. Thus, by using their iconic bricks as the centerfold of the page, LEGO reminds us that being creative doesn’t have to be left behind like most other childhood mementos. Rather, with an assemblage LEGO bricks by your side, your creativity and imagination can just keep on building.