Music in Ads:

First, check this baby out:



Neat huh? In this post, I will explore the affects of music in that commercial.



Lets make a list of obvious things:

1. The music in the beginning is soothing.
2. The music is reminiscent of Lord of the Rings.
3. The imagery "matches" the music (looping roads, soft green colors, etc).
4. Shocking, freaky end.
5. You'll never totally forget this commercial.

Why are we scared when we watch this? One could answer this query with something as simple as "because it's surprising." Why is it so surprising, though? Anthony Storr's book Music and the Mind can help answer this question:

What seems certain is that there is a closer relation to hearing and emotional arousal than there is between seeing and emotional arousal. [Music and the Mind by Anthony Storr, pp. 26, paragraph 2]

Emotional Arousal is defined as thus:

Noun: emotional arousal

1. The arousal of strong emotions and emotional behavior.

If music can cause an arousal of strong emotions, then it's only logical to assume that the mood of the song will invoke emotions to match (unless the person in question has some sort of negative, prior, association with the song in question). Therefore, the song in the advertisement invokes emotions of peacefulness.

At the end of the commercial, the car vanishes and the monster shocks everyone out of the lull that they've been been hypnotized into.

This is an action that totally contradicts the music that was previously heard and shocks the viewer. An interesting way to think about this sudden change is to picture yourself walking down an empty hallway. The only sounds are your footsteps echoing off the walls and nothing can be seen.

Suddenly, a giant blade appears and severs one of your limbs.

It might be a little extreme but the idea is that the first-time viewer of this ad is slightly traumatized by the screaming monster. Though minimal, this might cause the viewer to remember the commercial and product (I know I've remembered it after seeing it a year or so ago).

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The reason I chose this commercial (apart from the fact that it's awesome), is because music is used in a different way than in theatrical films or other commercials. Instead of using music (or sound) as a simple "look how great this product is" (example) sort of way, it is utilized as a more obvious tool: to trick you, and then shock you into remembering the product.

Wag the Blog

After watching the movie Wag the Dog the class was asked to answer the question "Could this happen in real life?"

The answer, however interesting, is painfully obvious: We don't and couldn't know.

Although, one could count the "There are WMDs in Iraq!" thing as something akin to the happenings in the movie (minus the fact that it totally failed).

Regardless, if there really was someone that was able to manipulate the media as well as the character in Wag the Dog we really wouldn't (or can't) tell if we're being lied to. The only solution, then, is to investigate large matters yourself and not blindly trust everything you hear.