Prison Rape and Advertisement
The goal for this post is to practice the second tool of the Analytical Methods for making the implicit explicit: Uncovering Assumptions. (pg 91).
Here is a commercial for 7-Up that aired in 2002. The setting is a prison where the advertiser (a comedian, Godfrey) is trying to appeal to a “captive audience” of prisoners and get them to take his product. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHyD5_qSV-U
There was some negative response to the ad for its treatment of the subject of sexual assault in prisons (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/09/IN181350.DTL).
Step 1: Notice something that is done or said explicitly (for example: a prison rape joke is made in an advertisement for cola)
Step 2: List the implicit ideas the statement seems to assume to be true (for example: prison rape can be funny; rape in prison is recognizable to the average viewer as funny)
Step 3: Further analyze the original claim by drawing out implications of those underlying assumptions; asking questions and trying to pose possible answers for them (for example: the idea that prison rape is funny assumes that forced intercourse can be funny in certain contexts. What is it about a prison context that makes rape funny? Perhaps because we feel like people deserve the punishment they receive in prison. But does that mean we think people can deserve rape? What are the implications of that?)
Try this process for yourself. Use this method to try to uncover some assumptions a speaker might be making. Then, try to figure out what is implicit in these assumptions.
This process doesn’t just work for the commercial. You can do the same process with the article criticizing the commercial for its insensitivity. You can do the same process for the comments viewers of the video have made (and boy oh boy, I hope some of you do…).
Good luck!
Violence is a recurring theme in the 7-up commercial. A riot occurs in one scene as the spokesman is involved and claims there were not enough cans. Earlier in the commercial an inmate is putting the can in a sock, a typical way of fashioning a makeshift weapon. Violence is usually established with negative connotations and yet this commercial uses it for an opportunity of humor. It is assumed that the riot occurs because the actor did not bring enough cans and in which case the riot is over something in favor of the product to be sold. The commercial sends a message to viewers that the product is worth getting violent over, but is it really? The use of prisoners being violent instead of average citizens is additionally powerful because a viewer naturally assumes an inmate is likely more violent than the average person anyway. The audience is okay with the violence because it is between people who are held away from the rest of society anyhow. It seems that controlled violence is acceptable with the audience. Ideas of professional wrestling relate to this prison scene where the actual violence is out of control but the environment in which it is occurring is controlled i.e. prison is to inmates as ring is to wrestlers. If this scene is changed to the very real violence of a setting like war than the audience no longer finds favor with this commercial. The riot in the video is actually very brutal and if the prison is replaced with something very positive like a public park, than the audience can longer make a connection because that scene is unsettling to the average viewer. With these two opposing thoughts in mind it seems that there is support for violence at times and that it may actually be enjoyable for viewers. If the idea of violence is brought to something very nonviolent, however, credibility is lost; the commercial is no longer effective and is actually very negative. In reality human cruelty is human cruelty no matter who is involved one person is still striking another regardless of all other factors. The natural human being is no stranger to violence, as the instinctual actions of the id may condone it at times, but this does not mean that they want to be involved in it.
ReplyDeleteThere is a comment made under the video that addresses the fact that the people fighting the removal of the video are not fixing the problem. They actually need to get out fix the problem and this commercial is the least of their worries. For example, if McDonald's commercials were removed then obesity would end. This comment is assuming that awareness of sexual abuse has no affect on stopping the abuse in prisons. Awareness does not contribute to stopping a controversial cause. The comment uses the example of McDonald's. They say that if McDonald's commercials were taken down then people would still go and eat there, even with out awareness. However, awareness was needed in the first place. The comment is saying that action is more important than awareness. Awareness is needed first and then it can be put into action. Awareness of this commercial being criticized, will get awareness for organizations who support stopping abuse in prisons. Does awareness have no impact on such a cause? While creating awareness is not a direct way to stop abuse, it can have an affect on the process as a whole.
ReplyDeleteThe article criticizing the 7Up commercial for its content has clout but at the same time it takes the time to examine it too closely. The article says that 7Up thinks that rape and more specifically prison rape is funny. There isn’t any part of the clip where is specifically intents to offend anyone and look at rape as a joke. The joke used about dropping the can (aka dropping the soap) gives a little comedic relief. That line is used by males all over the country as a common joke and is meant to have no true harmful effects. The ad wasn’t trying to evoke a response from people that was totally negative. The company wasn’t trying to be insensitive to rape victims in prison, but that’s what a percentage of the media believed to be the goal: to look at prison as a place that’s dirty and rape is an everyday thing and it just happens. Its not something that 7Up was trying to promote it just was an idea that might have been a bad choice but it wasn’t meant to hurt those who suffer from it.
ReplyDeleteExcellence is what defines this commercial. To make make comments about a serious situation in a light-hearted manner is what defines a joke, and this commercial does it wonderfully. The core of what makes up the concern about this commercial is not, however, whether this commercial contains good jokes or not. The question is whether or not it is ethical to make such jokes and assumptions about prison or the people in prison. Assumptions such as: All prisoners become violent with scarcity of something they want, or that all prisoners will resort to rape at anytime. These assumptions stem from instances in the commercial like the scene when all the prisoners are in a mob frenzy, or the scene in the beginning when he drops a 7-UP. The intention is to make jokes to create a light-hearted, less serious mood that is both funny and sells the product, 7-UP. This is pushing the boundries of what might be considered OK by many people though. Most jokes about serious topics are made because of the impersonal wall between the person making the joke, and the topic. By putting the joke in a setting directly related to the topic, that impersonal wall is removed. The joke about prison rape and prison violence is put inside the actual scenario, or at least a suggestion of it. The intention may have been to keep the light-hearted nature to push the product, but they placed it in a more involved setting. Although there is a decent amount of comic relief, this came at the cost of creating a detached setting. This humor may drive the product to sell, but at the same time runs the risk of driving others off.
ReplyDeleteThis commercial brings touchy subjects about prison to light. It implies rape, fighting, and homosexuality. The point I found most interesting was the very end of the commercial when the narrator is sitting with an inmates arm around him. The narrator makes a comment about the inmate being too friendly. This scene seems to imply that the male inmate is homosexual. The uncomfortable feeling that the narrator has is apparently induced by the inmate's arm and smile. Without the rape jokes before this, the ending might not make much sense but continuing this joke through to a single man and the narrator seems to imply homosexuality in prison. But, why would producers assume the sexual orientation of any prisoner? Many people seem to connect rape in prison to homosexuality, including the makers of this commercial. Although prison rape is a reality, it's not necessarily true that you can sit in a cell with a prisoner and be any more susceptible to rape than anyone else. Furthermore, homosexuality can not always be connected to things like rape because rape may not always be committed to fulfill sexual desires. In a place like prison, power is what keeps you alive and rape may be a way of showing that power or dominance. Therefore, homosexuality and possibly even just pure friendliness can't always imply prison rape or vice versa.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the prime interest of 7up as a company, it's intentions to poke fun at prison issues like rape and violence were probably not focused on offending those who view it. At the end of the day this is still an advertisement, and offending your buyer is just bad for business. Instead, it seems that 7up set this commercial in a prison and referenced some popular cultural stigmas to appeal to the customer. Being able to relate to the customer sets a foundation for a good relationship. Also, if you're able to put someone into a good mood, in this case via humor, then it is likely that they will be more receptive to what you have to tell or sell them. A cynical, sulky mood is probably more tightly related to penny-pinching as opposed to a good-humored and brightened mood. So, 7up may just be playing on the emotions of the customer in order to put themselves in a better position to sell their product. If this were to be true, then 7up must have assumed that their decision to put prison rape and violence in a more humorous light would not offend most people. Besides, there will always be people out there who will find something to be offended by, but that's not to say that there aren't lines that shouldn't be crossed. But where should these lines be drawn? Who chooses what is offensive and what is not? What influences in our culture decide the moral bounds by which we live? From a Kantian perspective, the intentions of 7up alone are considered for whether their actions are justifiably ethical. I don't know what their intentions were, but assuming that they are looking to gain as much profit as possible, I would say they had no intention of offending anyone and thus are justified in their actions.
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about this a little more, it would seem that my past thoughts on this ad were really decisive and approached the issue from a single angle. Like Nathan said, just because I feel a certain way about something, doesn't mean I should forego further analysis. Taking another look at the ad, I see that prison rape and other violence is referenced. Is this an accurate reference? I really can't say seeing as how I have yet to go to prison. However, 7up's recreation of a prison setting is supposed to appeal to the audience's idea of what a prison might be like. Their portrayal of prison is one that might also be seen in much of the popular media that many of us have become used to seeing. 7up assumes that by recreating and enforcing this popular image, they can enforce their own interests. Mainly, 7up would be interested in creating a successful, revenue-producing ad to boost sales, but that doesn't mean that they can't or don't have something to say. The content and how it is handled in the ad is suggestive of how the producers might view the issues included therein. Specifically, the guise of the pitchman, which is comedic and light-hearted. In a broader sense, I think being exposed to ads that convey a nonchalantness about serious issues condition people to give little care for the plight of others. This can be compared to the way in which homeless people are represented. Most people are familiar with the term, "Bum", and I think that word in itself is expressive of how some view the homeless. Why is it easier to assume that they are just bums, instead of people who just drew the short straw in life. So we don't have to feel bad about not giving them money? Why do we have to attach humor to serious issues like prison rape? So we don't have to feel empathy for those who find themselves in that situation. It's easy to experience humor. It's often hard and unpleasant to experience empathy, especially in this case. Is the reason why we choose humor entirely selfish in nature? Is it that we don't want to put ourselves through experiencing negative thoughts, feelings, and emotions?
DeleteThis commercial makes it seem like the things happening in prison should not be taken seriously at all because of how they make the situation in a joke. It assumes that prison rape can happen even in the most ridiculous places even outside of the jail cells. This commercial also shows an assumption on how they perceive what happens in jail cells such as inmates hiding their personal belongings away from their roommates. Also, they use this commercial and show an assumption through the violence that happens where people are slamming the narrator and choking him. This shows that violence happens even in open spaces like the cafeterias, etc. So since they know that this stuff happens in jail cells, how do the prisons should be reacting to this? Knowing that some people go to jail for less violent reasons, there should be a way to protect the prisoners that are in jail for less serious offenses.
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ReplyDeleteThis seven-up commercial use prison as a background. Basically, it is talking about a salesman try to sale seven-up in prison and finally those prisoners get crazy about it.
ReplyDeleteSince it is a commercial, the designers want to make things funny. Therefore, they didn't take the prison problem seriously. From the commercial we can see that those riot and the trial of prison break don't receive any kind of severe punishment. The purpose of such kind of action is just lack of seven-up beverage.
Although this commercial successfully emphasize the importance and powerfulness of the seven-up, it mislead people to underestimate the problem in prison, especially for children and juvenile who are the largest part of seven-up comsumers. Watching this commercial, they may think that prison is a funny place and it is not a bad thing to go into jail. These thoughts are very dangerous to children and juvenile, for they are not mature enought and always act on impulse. So I think a good commercial should not just focuse on make things funny. However, they should also have some positive influence on audience
THIS COMMERCIAL IS ABOUT A SALESMAN WHO WANNA SELL HIS PRODUCT-- 7-UP IN PRISON. THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE SALESMAN IS THEY SAY IF YOU ARE GONNA SELL SOMETHING, GET YOURSELF A CAPTIVE AUDIENCE. I SEARCHED FOR THE MEANING OF CAPTURE AUDIENCE, I THINK THE CAPTIVE AUDIENCE HAS 2 MEANINGS. THE FIRST MEANING IS PEOPLE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO ATTEND OR LISTEN OR WATCH SOMETHING WHILE THE SECOND MEANING IS PEOPLE ARE TOTALLY ATTRACTED BY SOMETHING. THESE 2 MEANINGS SHOW THAT PRISONERS HAVE NO FEEDOM TO DO ANYTHING AND THEY ARE FORCED TO DO A LOT OF STUFF INCLUDING ACCEPT THE 7-UP. BESIDES, THEY LIKE 7-UP SO MUCH LIKE A FAN AND MAKE THE IDEA--7-UP IS POPULAR-- CLEAR. THE SALESMAN IS SO HAPPY ABOUT HIS WELCOME IN THE PRISON AND HE SAYS--THIS PLACE IS GONNA BE SO MINE. HIS HAPPY MOTION COMPARED WITH THE HANDS STRETCHING FROM THE IRON FENCE IS VERY REVEALING. WHEN THE SALESMAN DROPS A CAN OF 7 UP, HE DOES NOT EVEN WANNA PICK IT UP FOR THE PRISONER. WHEN A SALESMAN DO THAT, HOW ABOUT THE GUARDS? WHEN THEY GIVE FOOD OR DRINK TO PRISONERS AND DROP THEM, WOULD THEY PICK THEM UP OR NOT? THE SALESMAN IS NOT LIKE PRISONERS AND THAT IS EXACTLY THE REASON WHY HE LIKES JAIL. AND I SAW A SCENE THAT THE "NEIGHBOR" IS PUT HIS 7-UP INTO A SOCK. I DO NOT KNOW WHY. MAYBE HE JUST WANT TO HIDE IT SO THAT OTHERS CAN'T STEAL IT FROM HIM？THIS COMMERCIAL STILL SHOWS THE VIOLENCE HAPPENED IN PRISON. SALESMAN MAKES A TATTOO ON HIS FINGERS TO "FIT IN" WHICH IS RIDICULOUS. HE WOULD NEVER FIT IN IF HE GOES INTO THE JAIL AS A SALESMAN INSTEAD OF A PRISONER.
ReplyDeleteThere is a comment under the video says that remove the commercial is the least productive thing to stop the sexual abuse in prison. In other words, this commercial has very limited negative effect on people's attitude towards the abuse. By making this point, the viewer assumed that people's attitudes are not easy to be changed my a commercial, and commercials have little power to control people's behavior. But in reality, many people always trust what commercials are saying. This may imply that people will be convinced by a commercial in some circumstences. So whether viewers' attitudes will be effected by a commercial depends on viewers themselves.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another assumption is that there are other methods more productive to stop the abuse in prison than simply removing a commercial. And if there really were people concerned the sexual abuse, they should do other more useful things other than removing a commercial. This implies those "humans right activist and other organizations" are not doing well on the abuse stuff. The abuse problem will be fixed by doing right and productive moves.
The assumption I got from this commercial is that if you control the market on a certain product, and you are able to dictate what people get. As long as you can control what a certain group of people can and cannot have, guarantees success. In the beginning of the clip, the spokesperson says "THEY say..." I think the "they" he is referring to could be some sort of business gurus who know what they are saying. And what better place can a group of people be controlled than jail? In jail, prisoners are limited to things they have access too and if 7-Up is the only soda offered, it can easily become very popular among the prisoners.
ReplyDeleteThis commercial has a few light prison jokes, such as "I'm not picking that up" and "That's enough being friends." First and foremost, the commercial assumes that the majority of viewers will find the topic of prison rape funny when it is not shown in-depth. The comments below the video suggest that this assumption was right - except for the human rights groups and sexual violence organizations, most people thought it was laughable. This may be because people associate convicts with deserved punishment, so the idea of rape in prisons is not taken nearly as seriously as rape outside of prisons. It may be that all prisoners are deemed sexually punishable just for being in prison in the first place (even if the crime committed to get there was not that serious), so the idea of prison rape is not as bad at people's first thought. 7-Up assumes that viewers will not think too hard about the idea of prison rape, but instead will see the ad and want 7-Up without a second thought. It relies on witty rape humor to sell 7-Up. An example of this occurs at the end when the commercial spokesperson says, "When you bring the 7-Up, everyone is your friend." The "everyone is your friend" part relates to both sexual promiscuity in the prisons and being awesome for buying 7-Up. It brings a laugh and the urge to go buy it. Again, it assumes that people will not take prison rape too seriously.
ReplyDeleteIn the commercial there are a few jokes regarding sexual abuse in prison, such as "I'm not picking that up" and "Bring the 7-up and everyone is your friend. Ok, that's enough being friends." The first joke which is about dropping a 7-up can in the prison then refusing to pick it up because the salesman is in prison, refers the the implicit idea that if one bends over to pick up an object in prison they will be raped. The second joke refers to the implicit idea that a "friend" in prison implies sexual relations or rape. Both jokes imply that rape is not only a common occurrence in prison but that the average viewer of the commercial will find prison rape to be a humorous topic. This leads one to question if rape can ever be considered a humorous topic, and if so, in what circumstances, only in prison, or are there other circumstances when rape is also acceptable? Only when it is people who "deserve" it, and last but not least, what makes someone deserve to be raped?
ReplyDeleteOne line of this commercial that I found rather interesting was the "get yourself a captive audience" line. One assumption I got from that line was "if you want to sell something, go to a place where the consumers have no other choice" (like prison). If you are selling a product somewhere and you are a monopoly, then the consumers have no other choices to compare your product to so they will be "forced" to purchase it. A prison would be a great place to get a "captive audience" because those confined within it cannot leave and have minimal choices for products to buy. This makes it much easier to dictate what the consumers choose from. Another assumption this video makes is that if you "have the right attitude, people will buy your product." In every scene of the commercial the salesmen appears happy and is smiling. As a result, we see prisoners getting 7up from him. We are lead to assume that how you say and market your product is more important then the actual good or service itself.
ReplyDeleteI initially took notice to the first line of the video after we studied it in class. After analyzing the first line I found that the sell something connection could have possibly been made to the selling of one's body. Why is this significant? Well, you see the captive audience which I analyzed to be possibly a hint at irony because of the captive maybe being a notion that men in prison could possibly be held captive in one way or another to maybe the other inmates who want and seek to control them. The audience possibly being the other inmates as well, possibly even as far as witnesses to the rape in prison or act of homosexuality in some way. Regardless, the selling of body connection was made when I recalled the part of the inmates being the audience and possibly this is why the newer prisoners feel that they are captive because they are being forced to sexual relations with other male prisoners. Also, this made me realize as I further watched that there wasn't really a joke or hint toward women in prison, who most likely are subject to rape as well. I found that quite interesting. Is this possibly significant that maybe more males find rape funny? Then, this could possibly be a connection to why the salesmen was a man. Thinking of the salesmen then got me realizing to go back and recall that not once was 7UP mentioned.
ReplyDeleteWas this because if people did not make the connection they would not buy the product? Or possibly, was it that if people didn't find this funny would they be opposed to purchasing the product? Also, I found it strange that the jail was used in general. Why? you may ask. Well, as most have came to conclude, the captive audience is more subject to buy this product based on the forcing of purchase or something along those lines. However, I took from this the point that why don't people ask the question of was the company so desperate that they had to also force us or someone to buy a product? Is this why force was used? Is this possibly why the connection of forced sex was used to be humerous? Was it maybe that people were so clueless that 7UP was displaying hidden messages in their videos because they mock people who buy their product based simply on laughter about a video? Throughout the entire video there were numerous things used to insite laughter. Dropping of the can and not picking it up, the inmates arm around the salesmen, the tattoos on the hands, filling the sock with the can of the drink, and other various things were used. Among these examples are things viewed as violent (prison weapons made using socks) and sexual (don't drop the can a.k.a soap---homosexual joke). However, were these things used to poke fun at prison rape? Or was it that the 7UP company was smart and realized, like I said earlier, that many people mostly males think these things are humerous and joke about these things quite often. So, were they using these messages as an appeal to males to get people to laugh and purchase their product? Did this commercial actually have nothing to do with prison rape and homosexuality and was it possibly just an appeal to the mass percentage of viewers? Various things throughout this video, possibly everything, was arguably either a smart move or a discriminative joke poking fun at something that most view as not funny at all. This leads many to believe one way or the other, however, is this even really about the product at all? Maybe, the reason 7UP wasn't actually mentioned was because the company was trying to get the audience and whoever that may be to them that this is a possible issue in prison and maybe they just wanted to show this message. There are so many possibilities to the root of why this video exists that it makes it difficult to pick a side. However, I will say that maybe commercials in the long-run, even tough we don't usually like viewing the, may be more helpful then the show they lead up to, at least as far as analysis goes. Maybe, commercials in general are used by companies like this to display messages of issues in the world today rather than trying to sell a product? So, the real question of the matter could actually be, are you patient and concerned enough to analyze something at foot rather than just initially judge and make a potential bad decision? This maybe is the root and could mean that 7UP used this to convey the message that we should think before we buy products and not just go purchase them? I don't know exactly, but then again, not knowing is the beauty to analysis!
ReplyDeleteThe person who design this advertisement may assume that all the audience can understand the jokes made by spokesperson. At the beginning the spokesperson just claimed that the commercials are supposed to be captive and attractive and he used the way of making laugh of prison rape. However, prison rape seems a sensitive and serious topic in the prison and society. Since the victim is someone who admitted crimes in the past, most of the public may not focus on these "irrelevant" events. Even more, the outsider will laugh when they hear about this kind of mocks. That's really attractive to audience and people may pay more attention on 7-up beverage when they are choosing something to drink. However, the problem is whether it is legally and morally appropriate to catch audiences' eye by making fun of prison rape. Obviously, the designer assumes that there is no problem to do so. When I am searching for the actual influence of the commercial, the statistics shows that it really worked at that time ——the sale of 7-up improved. Why no one except the people of some relevant organizations noticed the problem? On the other hand, people seemed to feel great about the advertisement. Perhaps normal people think it is the prisoners' fault to get into the prison. They deserve it. Or maybe they feel like that the problem is not relevant to their life. They will not regard the problem as a big stuff. Even they may think it is just a funny TV commercial. There is no necessity to argue.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, just my opinion, that's unfair for the prisoners to have punishment more than their already have had. If no one is against and stop the advertisement, common people will take it as a normal thing, which will worsen the problem. The victims will feel more pain.
In the commercial, I notice the spokesman states one should better sell things to a captive audience. And then the bar door slams. He is not willing to pick up a dropped can, showing a weird smile. The next scene is about a fat man filling a sock with a can of soda. Meanwhile, I hear "hiding from room-mates is not nice." And so on.
ReplyDeleteThe hidden meaning is when people get trapped, you can in some extense coerce them to accept something given no other choices, whether such things are good or terrible. Then, the slam implies the spokesman is now being one of the prison, staying in the same circle. If something happens to him, that will be related to the prison violent or so. I notice when he's not picking up the soda, he is actually standing out the cells, meaning no instant harm could occur to him. However, he has a stereotype that inside a prison, nowhere is safe. "Hiding is not nice" suggests if one resists, the situation will be worse. Instead, one should better cooperate.
The implicit message in the commercial indicate the real circumstance in the prison is brutal, violent, coercive and sick, even though it's expressed in a joke. When people are looking at a picture or a video clip about prison, they might be quite ignorant. But when we draw out the implicit idea even in a commercial joke, and then use imagination and empathy, we should be alarmed that the prison system has a serious problem of protecting prisons'human rights.
Well I think I'll just switch things up a little bit here. I think 7-up intentionally made the video this way. The video may be offensive or funny depending on the viewer. If it is considered funny, then the product will probably be purchased in the future. And if it is considered offensive, it is still on the mind and noticed more then the other commercials. It might not be the best slogan in the world but it sticks more then most. Its offensiveness leads to notice-ability which in the end could lead to better sales. Although its a crude and unusual style, its effectiveness could out-weigh the probable lawsuits faced by the ad. I find it oddly similar to the Dr. Pepper commercial with the slogan "It's not for woman".
ReplyDeleteFrom the commercial, I found that the writing on the mans hands caught my attention most. He spelled out "evil ways" on his knuckles. This is an assumption that the commercial presents about prison mates or prison itself. The assumption can be broken up into a few different illustrations: People in prison are evil. People participate in evil acts in order to end up in prison. Prison is a house for evil ways. Each person in society depicts this in their own way. The commercial leaves the assumption up to interpretation by the viewer. As the commercial moves to the speaker, he says he is "just trying to fit in". This gives the imposition that even a new prison mate will end up molding into the "evil" prison environment. But, this is not only how a prison may work. All of society has been set up this way. We all mod to the environment we live in. If this is true, then how are we so different from those in prison? And, who are we to judge someone who is doing the same thing we are to survive?
ReplyDeleteI think an assumption made in this video is that prisoners do whatever they have to in order to keep their own life decent. I can see this when the one male is hiding the can of 7-up in a sock from his roommate as noticed by the narrator. He doesn’t want the roommate taking it from him and this will only make him happier in the end so he will sneak it from the roommate at all costs. Another instance where I see this is at the end of the clip where the one inmate is befriending the 7-up salesman. He has his arm around him and the salesman says “Okay, that’s enough being friends.” Here you can make the assumption that the prisoner wants to be friends with the man who is selling the 7-up because he wants more of the pop and will take advantage of that friendship however the salesman realizes that the prisoner will go to any length to be friends with him and wants to draw the line by saying that quote. These are all examples of how these prisoners want to make their own lives better in prison, which is an assumption one can make. However this then got me thinking to the question if all prisoners are living in the same conditions, why do some prisoners think that they can live a better life than others?
ReplyDeleteThe article that criticizes the 7-Up commercial says that many organizations argued that no corporation would make jokes about rape outside of the prison context. If this is true then why would it be okay to make a joke about rape inside the prison context. The studies of the ad showed that everyone 'got it' when the spokesman said he wouldn't pick up the can he dropped but they never thought about what was really being said there about rape in general, not just in the prison context. The organizations were very upset about the ad and eventually got 7-Up to pull the ad from the air which makes the statement they made seem to be going in the wrong direction. If they said in their arguement that no corporation would make jokes about rape outside of the prison context, then doesn't that make the ad okay to be aired. Since the joke is about rape and inside the context of prison then according to their arguement, shouldn't they be fine with the commercial? The 100 or so human rights groups should've maybe been more clear about what they were trying to say, unless it was the author of the article that made the organizations seem like they weren't sure what they were talking about.
ReplyDeleteI guess every one has noticed that the when the man dropped one jar, he said:"I am not going to pick that up", which means i won't get raped. At the end of the commercial, he was sitting in the cell with a big fat guy with tatoo. He said:"When u bring a 7-up,every one is your friend, ok, now' let's being friend". The big man kept his hands closer and with wicked smile on his face. Every audience should get the implications of the video, the rape in the prison sometime can be fun. But is a fun rape can be called rape? Can rape really be fun? As a commercial, this one is successful since from most comments, we can see people are enjoy the light joke about prison rape made in the video. Only some particular organizations about human right are affend against.Which implicit that most people treat the rape in prison and in society differently. They may think the rape between desirable prisoners are acceptable.
ReplyDeleteThe advertisement, according to the designers, has a funny theme, which involves some aspects of prison, to sell seven-up to a captive audience. The advertisement depicts prison life in such a way that it seems funny to many people. It does not show any kind of disturbing violence or inhumane treatment which is sometimes the case in many prison all over United States. I believe that the assumption made by the designers that the advertisement would be funny to their audience should be questioned. This cola drink is consumed mostly by children and teenagers. The funny portrayal of prison life could have negative effects on the children and teenagers who consume this drink. They might be under an influence that prison life is not that bad and is rather funny in some ways. This advertisement could influence different people differently.
ReplyDeleteFor instance the violence shown during the advertisement when the prisoners fight among each other to get to the cola drink, has been shown in a very funny and simple manner, while this kind of violence in many prisons results in serious injuries and sometimes death. The question arises that is it justifiable for the designers to show the violence in a funny way so as to make it a better advertisement to sell their cola drink? Different people have different answers, while some people might find it offending and disturbing, many find it amusing.