It's no secret that athletes today are making themselves known. From Nike commercials, to "Got Milk?" advertisements, athletes are taking every extra step they can to be sponsored. Now, I'm definitely the farthest thing from being a sports fan. I don't have a list of teams I cheer for, or make a big fuss when a big team wins (or loses.) However, though I know little (nothing) about sports, I can spot an athlete when I see one in an advertisement. Lately, I've been noticing more and more athlete-endorsed ads everywhere I look.
Take this ad for example; this here is Danica Patrick, who is a race car driver. Now this ad is selling nail polish, as you can see from the bottom right corner/her "pop of color" finger nails; great advertising, in my opinion. I just love how it not only sells what it's supposed to, but it also keeps Danica within her element of being a race car driver. The greatest thing about this advertisement is that it potentially attracts an unlikely audience to racing. Not saying that females can't enjoy racing (my mom is a hardcore Earnhardt Jr. fan), but the fact that this ad is for nail polish will likely appeal to women, and possibly even be interested in seeing what NASCAR or indy racing is all about.
Another good ad I spotted was this one featuring Tiger Woods. This ad for Nike was done shortly after Wood's sex scandal we've all heard about. The big, bold, "Winning takes care of everything" is rather ironic, which may or may not have been Nike's intentions, though I feel it was definitely intentional. This ad was certainly controversial because it made Wood's scandal appear to be something of little importance, or that it wasn't a big deal. Regardless of whether the feedback was positive or negative, overall it was still getting the attention it was seeking. So even though some people were very aggravated at this, it was still a very successful ad, and it did help boost Tiger's career.
I do feel that athletes take advantage of advertisements because it is a really useful tool in promoting who they are, while also profiting from it.
For those of you who know me, or just by knowing me in class, you are well aware that I am a passionate music lover. Stemming off from my father's and brother's influences, music is a huge chunk of who I am today. Sure, I'm not the conventional definition of a "metal head" by the way I look, but metal music has inspired me in so many ways to express myself. Even though the metal genre is nearest and dearest to my heart, I do enjoy branching out in the music community. I like being able to say that I adore Lamb of God, but I still have a soft-spot for Coldplay. I don't feel that you should be limited to enjoying one particular genre of music, or having that one genre or sound define who you are as a person or your interests. However, in the media today, I feel like they want this kind of conformity.
It's no secret that the most well-known and common genre of music today is pop. You know the stuff; it's the same 20 songs you hear on the radio all day long. It's the same 20 songs that seem to follow you wherever you decide to go; The grocery store, the bar, the club, a public restroom...I think I've made my point. These popular hits are so well-known, regardless of where you live, and if for whatever reason you don't know this stuff, you've obviously been living under a rock. So what's the common theme between these songs, other than their genre? THEY. ALL. SOUND. THE. SAME. It's like if a clan of robots decided to pump out music, look no further, it's pop music. Now, I'm definitely not saying all pop music is bad. Trust me, I've fallen into the catchy trap of some Gaga tunes, and listened to Katy Perry's "Peacock" on loop for an hour. I'm not totally against pop music, I'm just against how the media portrays it.
Take Rihanna for example: she's super talented, has produced a number of hits, and is obviously a great artist considering her fan base. I don't see anything wrong with this...however, I have noticed that a lot of her songs sound the same musically. It's always the same beat, the same message (which seems to be rather sexual 9 times out of 10), and I honestly have a hard time distinguishing which song is which. They all start to blend together. Now, take that principle of one artist's songs blending into her own songs, and mix that with 20 other popular artists following the same theme; all of the music begins to sound exactly the same. It starts to become mind-numbing when I don't know which artist I'm listening to, and what song it is. This is why I find it so refreshing when there are artists with super unique sounds, or actually try to give variation in their music. Don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate consistency in an artist's work, but if it's all the same, I'm not likely to be "wowed" by it.
This is the video for Rihanna's song, "Pour It Up." I've honestly never listened to this prior to writing this blog, but I feel like I could find another song with this similar sound/beat. There isn't anything "special" about this song; it's generic....side note, this video disturbs me, but that's another story.
It's no surprise that this lovely video would be featured here under what I see as "generic." We all know this song, so I don't feel that there's much to comment on here. However, focusing purely on the construction of the song as a whole, there isn't anything "special" about this one either. I'm sure there are tons of other popular artists that have recorded something similar musically, unfortunately Miley fell into that trap.
