Media Logic

Since becoming more aware of media logic, I have found myself analyzing more and more commercials that I see and what they amplify and what they reduce. As I was watching TV last week, a Bissell vacuum cleaner commercial really stuck out to me because it was a middle aged white woman cleaning with her about ten year old son sitting on the couch in the background playing on what appeared to be a Nintendo DS. I started thinking, what is this commercial amplifying? Well, it is amplifying what is portrayed to be the American dream. The white family with a nice house where the husband makes enough money so the wife can stay at home and clean. They have enough money to provide nice electronic toys for their children. And of course both the mom and son are thin and socially attractive. When I was preparing to write this blog, I searched youtube trying to find it, but to no avail. But what I did find was many other middle aged, well-dressed and white women in their commercials.

Beyond their physical characteristics, these women were portrayed as desperate and trying all kinds of crazy ideas before they got their Bissells. One woman soaped up her dog and tried to have him slide all over the floor. Another poured a bunch of laundry detergent on the floor and sprayed it with the hose, thus causing the whole room to fill with bubbles. But once these ladies got their Bissells, cleaning was not a hassle at all and they could do it in their nicer clothes and not old cleaning clothes.

It has been really interesting for me to be more aware of what messages are being amplified and reduced in the media.