RA #3

The piece of art that I have chosen this week is the famous sculpture by Michelangelo, the Pietà. This is a wonderful piece of art that I have admired for quite some time and I even had the opportunity to see this sculpture in person at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Italy. This sculpture is very different from others that are similar to it because Michelangelo depicts the Virgin Mary as a young woman instead of an older and aging woman that she would have been at the time of Christ’s death. The argument then, is the idea that the Virgin’s youth symbolizes her innocence. Michelangelo himself put it best when he said that her youth symbolized her incorruptible purity. Also, I believe that it shows that Jesus and Mary were indeed very close. Although he was the Son of God, he was also the son of Mary. The audience for this piece would be all Christians and anyone who believes in God. I think Michelangelo did an amazing job depicting what he wanted to in this sculpture. It is very beautiful to look at, and a real emotion is portrayed in Mary’s face. When I saw this in the Basilica for the first time in person, the overall beauty of the sculpture took me by surprise and I actually began to become a little emotional. This sculpture is very effective in portraying the innocence and purity of Mary along with her unconditional love for her son. It definitely makes you think about what it would have been like for her as she watched her son be murdered.

RA #2

The TV commercial that I have chosen this week is the freecreditreport.com commercial with the guy that sings and plays a guitar. There are a few of these ads but the one that I chose is the one where he is singing in a restaurant dressed up like a pirate. The argument of this commercial is pretty obvious. They are saying to their audience that they better sign up at freecreditreport.com or else you might end up working at a crappy job because someone stole your identity. The audience that this commercial is targeting is probably younger adults that are just starting to look for career opportunities. However, I think that anyone with a valuable identity to steal is a justifiable target audience. I think that this commercial definitely appeals to the audience’s emotions by way of comedy. They have a very catchy tune and clever lyrics which makes people laugh and in turn causes the audience to pay more attention. I would say that it also is logical in the minds of the audience. They are saying that if you don’t want to end up like the guy singing in the commercial, then all you have to do is sign up at freecreditreport.com in order to stay ahead of those trying to steal your identity. Personally I feel that this commercial is very effective because it is very funny and convincing. The song is very catchy and it tends to stick in the head of the person that is watching it. I have subscribed to similar sites before, but now if I were going to sign up with a service that monitored my credit, I would probably go to freecreditreport.com first to check out what they have to offer.

(Lyrics to freecreditreport.com commercial)
They say a man should always dress for the job he wants
so why am I dressed up like a pirate in this restaurant.
It’s all because some hacker stole my identity.
Now I’m in here every evening serving chowder and iced tea.
Should have gone to freecreditreport.com (yeehaa!)
I could have seen this coming at me like an atom bomb.
They monitor your credit and send you email alerts.
So you don’t end up selling fish to tourists in t-shirts.

RA #1

Blog Post #1
The ad that I have chosen is a Nike advertisement for shoes. The argument in the Nike ad that I have chosen is the idea that it is worth buying Nike shoes even if it’s the only thing you have money for. The ad shows a homeless man sitting on a bench with a pair of really nice Nike shoes on. The whole ad is in black and white except for the Nike shoes that stand out in a flashy red. The ad is trying to convince its audience that even though you might not have much else, that they should buy the shoes because they are worth every penny. I would say that the audience in this ad would be anyone who is into sports or participates in any type of athletics. I think it even goes a little bit farther by targeting teenagers or young adults who don’t have very much money. This ad plays mainly to the audience’s emotion by portraying the message of “Just Blow It” at the top of the page. It tries to give the audience the sense of a “who cares” attitude about money and that it will be all worth it once you have the awesome shoes on your feet. I think that this ad is quite effective towards the audience that it is trying to target. It appeals to the young mind in a way that is somewhat like a friend saying, “Just do it man, don’t worry about a thing, it will be worth it in the end.” Many teenagers and young adults tend to give into peer pressure and the temptation of instant gratification and worrying about the consequences later. I also thought that it was interesting that they slightly tweaked their famous slogan of “Just Do It” into “Just Blow It.” This was a clever move because it catches the audience’s eye because it is not exactly what they are used to seeing.