L5: Wrapping it up!

Here's a summary of all of my Blog Posts.

Entry 1: Attempting to define Media Culture by breaking it down to simpler terms - Mass Communication, Media, Medium, Mass Media & Culture.

Entry 2: Exploring & Deciding on Essay Question.

Entry 3: Further exploration on what has been taught in class - the All Seeing Eye.

Entry 4: An analysis of a Controversial design - The sexist adverts by firefly.

Entry 5: A look into how sexist adverts can contribute into the rape culture.

Entry 6: Another analysis of a Controversial design - Nando's went on from having advertising tactics that were praised by many to the most controversial sexist advertisement.

Entry 7: Exploring Essay Structure and Thesis Statements. Also some questions to bring up in the next discussion with my lecturer.

Entry 8: Details discussed with my lecturer and a slightly more solid Essay Structure.

Entry requirements that were met:

1) Essay choice (done)

2) Identification of keywords and experts (done)

3) Breakdown of the research domain and subtopics (done)

4) Generation of related questions and short answers (done)

5) Identification of some assumptions and biases (done)

6) Reviewing of the research literature (done)

7) Experimental /creative exploration of the question (done)

8) Relate the question to other lecture topics or courses (done)

9) Exploring possible thesis statements (done)

10) Strategising the essay structure or outline (done)

11) Work schedule (done)

12) Reflections on or tutorial sessions, etc. (done) 

13) Summary of blog entries (done)

This sums up the end of my research blog.

byebye

L5 Entry 8: I had a discussion with my lecturer.

Q1: Analyse in depth a design related issue that has courted major controversy in both professional and public domains. Evaluate if the negative accusations of the media artefact are merited.

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I needed to talk to my lecturer to clarify my essay structure direction, so I did.

Starting off with the Introduction, there is no right or wrong in both of the intro I listed out in Entry 7. 

If I were to start my essay off with several controversial designs in Malaysia, then the rest of my essay must be in relation to that so that a study of how the attitudes and behaviour of Malaysians to certain issues can be examined. 

Several controversial designs in Malaysia would be the KL Logo which I mentioned before, and how people are building softwares to imitate and mock the RM15k logo design, or even utilise Microsoft Word to replicate the logo. Another example would be the Ramadan Ad that was done in 2011 which got pulled off from 8TV due to its racist contents. It was supposed to be an ad that talks about the rules of attending a bazaar but it shows an asian girl being very rude and loud and crazy—which is a don’t in the ad. 

If I were to start it off with a brief history of sexist advertising on how it started and the situation back then, then my whole essay would be about sexist designs from different countries and the similarities or differences each country has. 

Taking the Firefly airline advert for an example, women’s bottoms were displayed on the ads which caused major controversy in Malaysia, but people in the western countries don’t see it as a big deal because generally, Malaysians are more conservative and reserved whereas the western people are more open, which leads to a cultural issue.

Both introductions share the same main topic which is sexual advertising but the direction of the essay would be different. Also, I asked if the controversies between the professionals and public are based on one particular design/topic or the overall of all designs and it should be based on one specific topic because, different designs will receive different reaction from people with different professions. 

My lecturer also did mention that it is possible to go beyond sexist ads and not just on one classification because it can be branched out into a lot of things; I need to research more on that.

After the discussion, I think I’ll go on with option two, which is to begin my essay with a summarised history of sexist adverts. Seems to be more interesting to me.

L5 Entry 7: Essay Structure & Exploring Thesis Statements

Q1: Analyse in depth a design related issue that has courted major controversy in both professional and public domains. Evaluate if the negative accusations of the media artefact are merited.

Organising the essay structure got my head spinning..

I think I’ll most probably start it off with an introduction to the many controversial designs in Malaysia such as the KL Logo, Wombat and more.

Or I’ll start off with a history of sexist design like what was it like back then and how it started..?

After the introduction, here is where the main topic comes in: Sexist Advertising — which is a design related issue. Examples of it would be the Firefly Airline advert and Nando’s advert. Other adverts could be Calvin Klein and Lynx who also produce sexist adverts or the recent advertisement with bold words stating: Are you beach body ready? by Protein World.

Advert done by Protein World

Discussions should also include: How different professionals look at Sexist ads vs how the public sees it (overall or on a particular design?)

Most of these controversial happen on media — does that mean sexist adverts are defining our media culture today? Are they degrading the standards of women & promoting dangerous stereotypes just to sell their products? Even though sexist advertising may get media attention by only using shock tactics, their end results are mostly negative and hated. Perhaps sexist advertising is coming to an end? Andrew Ostrom, Executive Creative Director at boutique agency The General Store argues that: “Advertising has to work hard at grabbing attention. When creatives revert to using methods that objectify women it’s lazy and has become rather lame. It’s a short cut. A trick. Brands ought to be buying more top shelf thinking rather than cheap tricks(Miller, 2016).” I couldn’t agree more.

I need have a discussion with my lecturer on the essay structure because it seems a bit confusing and all over the place right now. But some possible thesis statements could be:

Controversial Sexist advertising grabs media attention and destroys reputations.

Sexist advertising are defining the media culture but it may be coming to an end.

I can’t really do much because I need confirmation on the direction I’m heading. So that would be it for now. 

References:

Miller, D. (2016) “Is this the end of sexist advertising?”. Available at: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/is-this-the-end-of-sexist-advertising/news-story/ef90659b9186b70ffa15d58e7140389f (Accessed: 27th June 2016).

L5 Entry 6: Nando’s Adverts — From compliments to disappointments.

Q1: Analyse in depth a design related issue that has courted major controversy in both professional and public domains. Evaluate if the negative accusations of the media artefact are merited.

Hello people of the Internet.

Today, we’re going to look into adverts that went viral on the various types of media.

On the 6th of February 2012, a KFC worker punched a customer in the face and kicked him. The customer had been waiting for almost an hour for fried chicken but was then told that there weren’t any left. Things heated up when the employee threw in a racist phrase: “Kalau mau makan, buat sendiri lah babi (If you want to eat, make it yourself, pig!)” (Lee, 2012). The whole incident was filmed and posted on YouTube which then went viral. It was all over the media from CNN to The Star Online and several Chinese media such as TVBS (Ooi, 2014). 

Long story short, a customer got punched by a KFC employee.

You may think KFC was sympathised by some of its competitors but not Nando’s. They are savage af.

After the incident went viral, Nando’s — a restaurant chain, specialising in flame-grilled Peri-Peri chicken dishes saw this as an opportunity to advertise their brand. So they came up with this poster and posted it on their Facebook page which says:

We’re Good at Punchlines, not Punches.

I think that advert was brilliant. A competitor’s misfortune is a rare opportunity for another company to benefit from and get its message heard in today’s increasingly noisy social media landscape. This is a competitive industry after all. Nando’s saw an opportunity, took the shot and it was worth it.

24 hours after the post was released on Facebook, there was already 3,389 shares, over 400 comments and over 2000 likes (Lim, 2012).

Many Nando’s Malaysia fans were saying that it’s funny and catchy; it’s brilliant on the take of the opportunity of an unfortunate event, turning it around so that it benefits them (Lee, 2012). Of course there were also criticisms, but they were overshadowed by compliments. One point goes to Nando’s!

This advert attracted the attention of many who complimented the ad and write/blog about it. Basically, everyone was talking about it. 

PLOT TWIST.

One day Nando’s is looked up by many, the other they are criticised and mocked. They are an embarrassment. 

On the 27th of March 2016, a sexist press ad of Nando’s India was released in Hindustan Times which lead to major controversy among the public.

There are so many wrongs in that one ad. First of which is they are objectifying women. "We don't mind if you touch our buns, or breasts or even our thighs. Whatever you're into, enjoying any Nando's meal with your hands is always recommended”. Are they comparing us to chickens? This is sexism at its best! Nando’s India was being so insensitive and what even are they implying? That rape culture and sexual harassment are not a big deal and should be normalised? 

People could be saying, ‘oh there’s a double meaning to it, why would you want to look at the ugly side, that’s sad you’re sad’. But they don’t understand that it’s out there, it is so obvious what the phrase is relating to, even their headline says it all: “Try something you an grab with both hands” & “Try something that shows off a bit of skin”, I MEAN.. (Glenday, 2016). Even though the company is simply just creating spontaneous attention in the mind of the reader and we should be more open minded, but India is a country where the objectification of women is a trend, so Nando’s should be more sensitive to the issue.

Other arguments that were made from the public can be seen below. Even Omar Abdullah, who is an Indian Politician criticised this advert in a tweet.

Criticisms made on Twitter by the Users.

After seeing all the criticisms, Nando’s issued a public apology on their Facebook Page (Agnihotri, 2016).

In a study done at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, it is suggested that nudity, violence , sexist image and indecent language are factors that should be taken into account when designing an advertisement (C, 2012). Sexist adverts like those designed by Nando’s and Firely have also proven for it to be true. As a designer, things like that should be taken seriously to avoid offending people but just like everyone says, one can learn a lot from someone else's mistake.

References:

Agnihotri, S. (2016) ‘Sexist or not: Nando's latest print ad is raising hell on social media’. Available at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sexist-or-not-nandos-latest-print-ad-is-raising-hell-on-social-media/1/629677.html (Accessed: 26th June 2016).

C, E. (2016) ‘MALAYSIAN ADOLESCENTS VIEW OF CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISING’. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/ErnestCdeRun/malaysian-adolescents-view-of-controversial-advertising (Accessed: 26th June 2016).

Glenday, J. (2016) “Sexist Indian Nando’s newspaper ad goes viral after inviting customers to ‘touch our breasts’”. Available at: http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/03/28/sexist-indian-nando-s-newspaper-ad-goes-viral-after-inviting-customers-touch-our (Accessed: 26th June 2016).

Lee, P. (2012) ‘KFC worker punches customer’, FMT. Available at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/02/08/kfc-worker-punches-customer/ (Accessed: 26th June 2016).

Lim, Y. (2012) ‘Nando’s Malaysia Posted Its Punching Policy on Facebook’. Available at: http://www.greyreview.com/2012/02/15/nandos-malaysia-posted-its-punching-policy-on-facebook/ (Accessed: 26th June 2016).

Ooi, C. (2014) ‘KFC staff punched customer’. Available at: https://prezi.com/ft2z_vlognpk/kfc-staff-punched-customer/ (Accessed: 26th June 2016). 

L5 Entry 5: Sexist designs contribute into the rape culture?

Q1: Analyse in depth a design related issue that has courted major controversy in both professional and public domains. Evaluate if the negative accusations of the media artefact are merited.

In my last blog post, I talked about a controversial sexist advert and mentioned along the lines of how it can contribute into the rape culture. It may seem ridiculous I mean, it is just an ad with added humour to attract people so what’s the big deal?

If you search for ‘contribution of rape culture’ up in google, the one reason that has always been mentioned is the normalisation of sexist jokes. It’s everywhere, in movies, music, advertisements, even stand up comedians and celebrities do it, so how can the rape culture be a serious matter when everyone is making fun of it (AJ+, 2014)?

Two examples in a sea of sexist ads.

A rape joke posted by Basketmouth - a stand up comedian.

CeeLo Green’s tweet on rape, which was then deleted and 

apologised for being insensitive.

A lot of people would directly point out that sexist jokes lead to rape but that is not entirely true. It doesn't mean people who are exposed to sexist jokes will eventually go around raping people. But studies have shown that appreciation of sexist jokes or being exposed to sexist jokes will lead to:

• Increased blame attached to victims of rape
• Increased acceptance of desire to rape
• Decreased view of rape as a “serious” problem
• Decreased desire to punish rapists

which means all the rape jokes are promoting the rape culture (Sivaraman, 2013).

This is not just it though, there are many little different kinds of contributions in the rape culture such as controlling what a girl wears—educating and controlling women instead of men, victim blaming, objectifying women and many more (Irsyad, 2016). But I’m not going to go into detail on that because it has no relation to my topic.

The objective of this post is to prove the seriousness of sexist adverts, even if you might think that it’s a small matter and we all should just laugh it off, look at the bigger picture before you speak.

References: 

AJ+ (2014) ‘Rape Culture USA’. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT1_yP0w3jk (Accessed: 23rd June 2016).

Irsyad, A. (2016) ‘Rape Culture Is Pretty Much Rooted In Our Society. We Ask NGOs If Change Is Possible’. Available at: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/606492-rape-culture-is-pretty-much-rooted-in-our-society-we-ask-ngos-if-change-is-possible.html (Accessed: 25th June 2016).

Sivaraman, R. (2013) ‘A Scientific Case Against Rape Jokes’. Available at: https://rajsivaraman.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/a-scientific-case-against-rape-jokes/ (Accessed: 25th June 2016).

L5 Entry 4: The Sexist Adverts.

Q1: Analyse in depth a design related issue that has courted major controversy in both professional and public domains. Evaluate if the negative accusations of the media artefact are merited.

Hello world.

omg that is so cheesy.

On my second blog, I have shown an interest in the controversial mockery of the KL logo and I thought that would be the main topic of my blog/essay, but I found something more interesting when I was scrolling through Facebook — The Sexist Ads.

On the 7th and 12th of March, a day before International Women’s day, Firefly, a Malaysian budget airline posted two advertisements online as well as in local newspapers (see below), which were also emailed to Firefly customers.

The advertisements displayed the bottom half of women in pencil skirts with flight discounts printed on their backsides.

When the advertisements were released to the public, Firefly was heavily criticised and the ads brought up many arguments and hatred—mostly from women who commented on the ads for being sexist in a way where it is objectifying women with the aim of increasing sales, as if the selling point of the ads are women’s bottoms. A Facebook user Adriene Leong questioned the poor advertising direction and communication which clearly exhibit sexism. Some even say that Firefly is too stubborn in being professional and gender-sensitive, or even commented bluntly that the ads are disgraceful, disrespectful, disgusting and they tie to women exploitation because the offer on their bottoms seemed like it is conveying that the women’s services are on sale—which also give a terrible impression on how Firefly view their female staff, or even women in general (Malay Mail Online, 2016).

These ads did not only stir up discomforts among the public, they also caught the attention of Women’s Centre for Change (WCC), an organisation based in Penang. The organisation’s senior advocacy officer, Melissa Mohd Akhir told the Malay Mail Online that the fact that the ads are zeroing in on Firefly’s own women employees are obviously showing objectification. She also pointed out that these tawdry ads utilise tasteless marketing ploys, which are effectively saying that women are mere objects for “sale” (Kitching, 2016).

After seeing all these criticisms, Firefly bowed to pressure and deleted the images from its Facebook page, replacing it with a public apology:

I wanted to screen capture some evidence but there were no traces of these ads nor apology in their accounts on Facebook and Twitter. I guess they’ve removed it completely.

From reading this blog post, you may think everyone went against the sexist ads; like it’s the world against Firefly. But PLOT TWIST. I read through the comments on the article on Mail Online, and even on twitter when people criticised Firefly and the Ads, and guess what (Fox News, 2016)? About 80% of the comments are about feminists overreacting and not being fair for drooling over topless men on tv. They also mentioned that they are giving the Airline far more publicity that it paid for (which I think is pretty hilarious).

Comments screen captured from Twitter (Iqbal, 2016).

Comments screen captured from Mail Online (Kitching, 2016).

As you can see, most of the people who commented on the article are from the Western countries and maybe they don’t understand our cultural differences that’s why the ads do not appear to be a big deal to them. Because in general, Malaysia is more of a close minded country, so these adverts may come across to being more sexist and may cause more discomforts to others. I think everyone has their own opinions and it is vital to be respectful to one another, even if you don’t totally agree with them.

But I personally think that this issue was a little exaggerated and people were overreacting a little but on the other hand, I also agree with the criticisms because these kinds of ads promote the idea that women’s body are there to be judged and are seen as an object (particularly a sex object) and when that perception is made, it is much easier to commit violence against women. This might not make sense to you but it is these small actions that contribute into the rape culture without being aware of it (Boscamp, 2015). That is another topic of discussion that I will most probably talk about in my next post.

So, during the discussion with my lecturer, I summarised the information above and decided to went on in this direction and also how it leads to the rape culture for my essay. But my lecturer advised me to explore different types of adverts instead of just sticking to one, or maybe even ads that had been praised, but with criticisms unknown to the public. Each adverts can be a subtopic to aid in making the main topic more interesting. Also, it is advisable to focus on sexist ads and less on the rape culture.

That is all for now!

References:

Boscamp, E. (2015) ‘12 Ways We All Contribute To Rape Culture Without Realizing It’. Available at: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-21715/12-ways-we-all-contribute-to-rape-culture-without-realizing-it.html (Accessed: 22nd June 2016).

Fox News (2016) ‘Budget airline apologizes for ‘sexist’ ad featuring women’s rear ends’. Available at: http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2016/03/15/budget-airline-apologizes-for-sexist-ad-featuring-womans-rear-end.html (Accessed: 14th June 2016).

Iqbal, A. (2016) 7 March. Available at: https://twitter.com/ashrafiqbal/status/706649402744504321 (Accessed: 22nd June 2016).

Kitching, C. (2016) ‘'Come grab it real fast': Budget airline apologises for sexist adverts that used women's buttocks to sell cheap flights’, Mail Online. Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3491368/Firefly-budget-airline-apologises-ad-campaign-featuring-women-s-buttocks.html (Accessed: 13th June 2016).

Malay Mail Online (2016) ‘Firefly roasted on Facebook over ads featuring women’s bottoms’. Available at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/firefly-roasted-on-facebook-over-ads-featuring-womens-bottoms (Accessed: 13th June 2016).

L5 Entry 3: The All-Seeing Eye - Then & Now

ಠ + △ woahh

What is the All-Seeing Eye? How would one define this omniscient symbol and has its meaning evolved with our culture? In class, we touched on this topic and it’s pretty interesting if you understand how it all started to what it represents today.

Taking a look back into the ancient cultures, the all-seeing eye has many representations in different cultures. 

In india, the Hindu god Shiva has three eyes and the third eye is known as the eye of Shiva, which symbolises knowledge that destroys all evil and ignorance. 

The eye of Shiva

In Nepal, Buddha is referred to as the Eye of the world and is also known as the eyes of wisdom and compassion. The graphic shown below can be commonly found in temples and the dot in the mid brow represents the third eye.

The Eye of the world

In the Middle East/Asia, the all seeing eye is in the palm of a hand, usually the right and the symbol is called Hamsa, Khamsa or Hamesh. Also, it is a symbol of protection against the evil eye such as back luck caused by jealousy from others. 

Hamsa

In Greece and Turkey, they have the Nazar, which is also a protection against evil.

Nazar

In the ancient Egypt, the all-seeing eye is known by many names which are the eye of Osiris, the eye of Ra, the eye of Horus, the eye of the Moon or Wad-jet. 

The eye of Horus

By now, you can already tell that there are many myths about the all-seeing eye but they all have one thing in common: it is an apotropaic symbol; a symbol of protection against evil, healing and restoration (David, 2014). 

In many Greek Mythological stories, the eyes play an important role such as Oedipus, Odysseus, The Legend of Perseus and many more. 

Oedipus

Odysseus piercing the eye of the Cyclops

Medusa from The Legend of Perseus

The eye was already such an iconic symbol long before we were born, but what does its presence say in the 21st century?

200 years before, the eye-in-pyramid symbol was used in the design of the Great Seal of America. The Great Seal was designed with a message to convey their vision to the world, and to the future (John, n.d.). It was a symbol for God, for awakening the third eye to make America a better place. 

The Great Seal

But this symbol wasn’t fully appreciated by the public. Some interpreted the symbol as a sign of sinister influence from the Bavarian Illuminati (a secret group formed in 1776) upon the French revolution and believed the illuminati has taken the all-seeing eye for its own purposes. Although the secret society had been disbanded before the French revolution began, some believe that it continued to exist and had some influence over the French revolution therefore, the all-seeing eye appeared to be sinistrous. 

In 1913, The Federal Reserve had taken control of America’s currency and in 1934, the Great Seal all-seeing eye together with the phrases “New World Order” and “He has blessed our beginning” in latin was placed on the US one dollar bill (David, 2014). 

US One Dollar Bill

Perhaps this symbolises their power and control from the rest of the society as they are seen as the tip of the triangle. So, this is where the meaning of the all-seeing eye symbol was changed—control and power.

Today, the all-seeing eye surrounds us. It can be seen everywhere from modern media to art, entertainment and the corporate world. Company logos have also utilise the eye and the eye and triangle icon and some logos very much look like the Big Brother’s watchful eye (Grand Lodge, 2015). 

Company Logos that utilised the eye and the eye and triangle icon

These dark illuminati symbols are making people think that the company is under some sinister influence but I wouldn’t be surprised. There are so many conspiracy theories out there that are saying that the government are spying on our every move and they aren’t always honest to us. They shield us from the truth for peace and make us see what they want us to see.

View more of these logos here.

Moving on to the Modern Pop Culture, the eye and triangle symbol is KABOOM. It’s become  ubiquitous in fashion, music, movies, art and even kid’s cartoon (Grand Lodge, 2016). Some symbols are still interpreted as control or sinistrous but most of these symbols are seen as normal and meaningless such as those in fashion. Teenagers especially, put them on because it looks cool and in style. 

Music

Cartoons

Fashion

But some people wonder if this is all happening for a reason, to make the younger generations accept these symbols that do not reflect peace and harmony. Could this be because they are setting them up for something more sinistrous in the future? All I know now is that the once protective and respected symbol has become something everyone fears and tries to stay away from. But what if people had mistaken the meanings of these symbols all along.. Well damn it’s a little too late for that. I don’t know what the future holds, but let’s hope that it wouldn’t be too chaotic or dark or out of control. What if they are planning to corrupt our freedom to a whole new extent?! ok I'm out bye

References:

David, P. (2014) ‘The All-Seeing Eye: Modern Use of a Hijacked Symbol’. Available at: http://consciousreporter.com/cultural-conditioning/corruption-sacred-symbols-all-seeing-eye-part-2/ (Accessed: 2nd June 2016).

David, P. (2014) ‘The All-Seeing Eye: Sacred Origins of a Hijacked Symbol’. Available at: http://consciousreporter.com/conspiracy-against-consciousness/corruption-sacred-symbols-all-seeing-eye/ (Accessed: 2nd June 2016).

Grand Lodge (2015) ‘Corporate logos utilizing an eye, or eye and triangle’. Available at: http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/all_seeing_eye/logos/index.html (Accessed: 3rd June 2016).

Grand Lodge (2016) ‘The all-seeing eye in popular culture’. Available at: http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/all_seeing_eye/index.html (Accessed: 3rd June 2016).

John, M. (n.d.) ‘The Great Seal of the United States’. Available at: http://greatseal.com/overview.html (Accessed: 2nd June 2016).