Heartwarming Guinness Beer Advertisement

Observations

Effective advertising sells products. Truly remarkable advertising reaches the hearts and minds of the demographic it was intended for. In my search for a unique advertisement for alcohol, I came upon one that I found to be incredible, inspirational motivational, extraordinary, as well as heartwarming.

The advertisement is for Guinness draft. It involves a group of men in wheelchairs playing basketball. The words loyalty, duty, responsibility, dedication, and friendship are spoken throughout the beginning of the video. The determination in the faces of the group of men in the ad is evident. Their dedication to the game is obvious, as they repeatedly get knocked out of play but pull themselves and their chairs back into the game.

The beginning and the majority of the video show reveal nothing about the advertisements intent, and it demonstrates visually what true dedication looks like. The advertisement last aired on 29 September 2013 on FOX Sports Live and was designed to appeal to the young athletic men of the sporting generation. Most likely, this ad was intended to inspire men to strive for the best, as the slogan says “the choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”

As the players finish their final shot, they all stand up except for one who remains seated. The entire advertisement is shot from a low angle, and if one is not paying attention, it is hard to identify the actual person with a disability (PWD).

We live in a society filling up with injured soldiers coming back from combat that rely on the camaraderie from other veterans to survive. Some are born with a disability and some acquire a medical condition leaving them disabled. They are not looking for pity. All of these individuals are looking only for acceptance and the opportunity to show they are not any less of a person. This advertisement appeals to those men and women as well as to every person who knows what true friendship is like. After only one year of viewing, the video showed to have 5,660,493 views on YouTube which leads me to believe it was a successful advertisement.

One emotional shot sequence shows one of the guy’s wheelchair falling over, and his struggle to get back up without assistance. The grit to stay in the game and succeed on his own portrays a personal determination and a company’s commitment. This shows dedication and friendship by applying the same technique the actual (PWD) would have to do.

Conclusion

The final shots of this ad show the team enjoying together a cold Guinness draft freshly poured in a local tavern. It is the customer and the company understanding what each needs. The ideals portrayed in the video make a person want to go buy their product to experience their commitment and dedication as well as their loyalty and the responsibility they show to have with their customers. True friendship is as rare as true commitment to excellence, but Guinness was able to successfully portray both qualities through this advertisement.

 

Reference

http://www.guinnessgivesback.com

Changing youth engagements

     Every generation worries about the next one, and the following generation subsequently fears for the one after that. Eventually, the current generation voices concerns for the older citizens. This has been an ongoing action among societies the world over.

     Currently, an issue that concerns every generation today is the increased use of digital technology and a change in youth engagement in civil affairs in the public and social domain. While youth today are growing up in the digital age and adapting rapidly, older generations struggle and must give up their old way of life, adapt, or be left behind. The older generations fear that by evolving with technology, they are letting down future youth by giving up on the past.

     Youth today have stunned and fascinated the world with the unique application and methodological utilization of digital technology. I have been concerned with the thought of losing touch with ideas that have historically proven to be sound in regards to producing effective and competent citizens to continue our economic growth. Lance Bennet, in Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age, shows incredible insight into the shifting roles that society is experiencing in regards to future citizenship and responsibilities. Bennet (2008) reminds us that in the past, our identity was governed by the groups we were closely related to such as the particular church we attended, our social class, and so forth. (p.13)

     “Political participation does not come naturally, nor do powerful institutions have incentives to encourage it. In short, we must not only prepare citizens for politics but also improve politics for citizens.” (Bennet, 2008, p.4)

     “In the network society, individuals may belong to many loosely tied associational chains that connect them to their social and occupational worlds.” (Bennet, 2008, p.13) Making a connection and understanding these associations will help to assimilate past knowledge with current trends and future goals. “Effective teachers use a wide variety of teaching methods and techniques.” (Orlich, Harder, Callahan, Trevisan, & Brown, 2010, p. 162) Effective learners and productive citizens accept and utilize a wide variety of new techniques to accomplish their objectives.

     The opinion is made in Darling-Hammonds Preparing Teachers for a Changing World that prospective teachers are taught how to be the most effective in instructional delivery with concepts of backwards planning, thoughtful performance assessments, clear criteria, thought provoking inquiry, productive feedback, and lots of guided practice. (Darling-Hammond, & Bransford, 2005, p.197) With instructional advice such as this to follow, concerns that the digital era will degrade our youth or that life lessons from the past will be forgotten are all but voided.

References

Bennett, W. Lance. “Changing Citizenship in the Digital Age." Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth. Edited by W. Lance Bennett. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT

Press, 2008. 1–24. doi: 10.1162/dmal.9780262524827.001

Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world. SanFrancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Orlich, D.C., Harder, R.J., Callahan, R.C., Trevisan, M.S., & Brown, A.H. (2010). Teaching strategies a guide to effective instruction. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Participatory Cultures

Participatory culture is defined by Jenkins as being “a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.” (2006) He goes on to explain that it is a part of someone’s daily life in which their involvement gives them satisfaction and meaning. According to Jenkins, participatory cultures involve some form of affiliation with an organization or group, expression, team, or circulation that involves creating and affecting an area of the media world. (2006)

 I have never really been a part of a participatory culture as Jenkins has defined it. I have been actively involved in what most people call life. Participatory culture begins on the playground at recess as a youngster, and evolves as we age and grow into the adults we will become. I asked one of my children what they believed was meant by Jenkins definition and what was being described, and they replied with childhood. Without the internet, participatory cultures would still be defined in the same way that life has always defined us.

Jenkins writes of the growing gap in participation as an issue that must be addressed and faced as our digitalized society evolves. One of my many, many flaws is my unwillingness to grow in the digitalized and participatory arena. I am part of the growing participation gap as I see everyone around me forge ahead through acceptance while I attempt to remain anonymous and secure in my privacy. I grew up as an extremely friendly and respectful person, however, I was not always the most sociable nor did it matter to me. Now I do not understand why my children want to create a webpage, and they do not understand why I want to protect them and their privacy from the internet and what I see as the world’s problems.

I was intrigued by the “transparency problem” Jenkins wrote about in how the youth of today are influenced by the multitude of media outlets. I encourage my friends with exceptionally strong beliefs in a particular news story or world opinion to watch several different channels that air the issue. Each station portrays their view as the truth, when in actuality; they are voicing the side of the issue that closely relates those that provide their financial support. While not wrong, it is not a complete truth. Someone inexperienced to the vast world of social networking and participatory cultures of today will easily be swayed by opinion.

In time, I will become more involved in the participatory culture of the world around me. Right now though, I am content with continuing to study it and its effects on current participants.

References

Jenkins, H.J. (2006)., Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF