MEDIA AND RACE

“This is just all about MIXING AND MATCHING.” –Bayo ad

Advertisements nowadays are made effective through the use of internet, television, billboards and many more. These are used to campaign certain products in order to be made popular and gain future buyers. But these ads can reflect different interpretations through different perspectives. Certain advertisements are criticized for lack of context, sensitivity and value; and Bayo’s recent advertisement is one of them.Bayo is a clothing brand enjoyed by many Filipinas for their many years of hip and modern collection of different garments. Their most recent ad (as seen above), was named “What’s Your Mix?” and was made public last June 2012. The main theme of this ad was to show people that Bayo can create varieties in their clothing and that there are many clothes to “mix and match” that can fit any personality. They portrayed this message through the use of Filipina models with mixed nationalities. The creators of this poster decided to go for the minimalistic approach, which made it more noticeable, simple and more memorable than others, especially if on a billboard.

This poster for me is a good way to promote the clothing brand, because it is easier to remember, the models used have fresh faces and the concept of having a variety of clothes and accessories to choose from is very inviting. The poster had a good design but I think the words that Bayo used to describe their theme was inappropriate. I think that they were careless when they used those words to define the concept of their collection. It is somehow telling people that being pure Filipino is not enough and that it is better to marry someone from another race. When they stated that “mixing and matching of different nationalities with Filipino blood is almost a sure formula for someone beautiful and world class”, it was a sure sign that it will offend people and cause a controversy. And it did.

If you search “What’s Your Mix Ad Campaign” on Google, most of what you’ll find are different blogs commenting on the way this advertisement affects people through racism. This advertisement, from most blogs, is seen as racist, promoting that it is better to have a mixed nationality in order to become better at something. This ad, although refers to the varieties the clothing brand can offer, can be seen in the wrong light because of the longer explanation behind the said poster. There are people who are open- minded that may accept this as just another form of campaigning. There are those who might feel insulted because they might see it as Filipinos being better off with foreigners in order to conceive better versions of themselves; angry because this campaign promotes racism; and indignified because of the sloppy words and misguiding statements that this advertisement used. Others may also think that Bayo deliberately conceived this form of misleading poster to cause a controversy so that the brand can have free publicity.

But I think that although Bayo is receiving plenty of negative comments, they should still keep this concept for their promotion because it can really pull people to buy from their stores. What they should do is to rephrase or change their interpretation of their poster to lessen the negative comments and misunderstanding that their words have caused.

How about you?

What’s YOUR MIX in this issue?


*images came from the internet, I do not claim ownership over them

MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

“To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say, write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic, but fundamental, right. Without it, human beings are reduced to automatons.”

–Ma Jian

Freedom of speech is the right to express one’s thoughts publicly and not be punished for doing so. It is legally defined as “the right to express beliefs and ideas without unwarranted government restriction (US First Amendment)”. This right has been given to every citizen in a country, with limitations mentioned in their own laws. Here in the Philippines, our government is known as democratic and therefore, our right to the express our thoughts freely is recognized by the law. Unfortunately, within these past few weeks, tension has been rising due to the issue of the newly proclaimed law which is known as the Anti- Cyber Crime Law. This law was signed by the president last September and ever since, many are trying to revoke it. Protests have been made by many activists, and professional hackers have been rebelling by hacking into government websites, endangering the government’s files to be exposed and corrupted. This law, destroys the concept of freedom of speech for the Filipino citizens.

The Anti- Cyber Crime Law** has been made in order to pursue those who are committing crimes in the online world. This law is said to include offenses against the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computer date system, illegal access, illegal interception, date interference, system interference and misuse of devices, as stated by presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. This law also covers fraud and identity theft, cybersex, pornography and unsolicited commercialization. The punishments are imprisonment for 6 to 12 years, payment of fines and suing of libel.

I think that this law was presented in a blurry manner and the provisions have not been fully clarified and dissected. This law which may have been formulated in order to protect the safety of people’s privacy and the safety of their intellectual properties is understandable but the provisions that have been made are not clearly reviewed and the punishments given are too oppressive that can be seen as unreasonable, that can stifle our freedom of expression. It is not properly reviewed because there are many flaws and there are also contradictory provisions in it. The manner in which they implemented this law might be the reason why many people disagree with its execution. Other people might also agree with me since this law hinders people who are using the internet to fully express themselves. This goes against the principle of democracy and freedom of speech that our country is said to have.

This law was supposedly implemented to stop online crimes. The intention may be reasonable, but the way the government has implemented it is not very competent; and due to these flaws, and also through the unity of the people and the media to expose the defects this law has to offer, the government has decided to reconsider it and provide revisions, if not the total removal of this law.

*link to the site: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/10/09/12/cybercrime-law-was-cut-and-paste-lawmaking

**additional info: http://www.gov.ph/2012/09/12/republic-act-no-10175/

***images came from the internet, I do not claim ownership over them

MEDIA AND TERRORISM

"Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time is now."

For the first media log, we were assigned the theme, media and terrorism, hence the title above. The material given to us to analyze is a viral YouTube video entitled "KONY 2012"*. This video was created by Invisible Inc. and is about finding a way to stop a terrorist named Joseph Kony, who is said to have been kidnapping children for slavery, prostitution and creating an army which he calls the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). This issue is in Uganda and not everyone is aware of this situation. The creators of this video decided that using the internet media to spread Kony's wrongdoing will gain enough attention from the members of the community and will raise some awareness all around the world that the American government will be forced to act upon this issue.

The short film was posted on YouTube last March 2012 and has now gained more than 93,000,000 views as of October 2012. The creators' technique of showing their message through a short film was smart and creative, and the way they edited the whole film made everyone who watched it aware of the message they were trying to send. The manner in which they communicated with their targeted audience was simple and the scenes they used have perfectly captured the essence of their message, which is to save the Ugandan people from Kony. And since the film is in YouTube, almost anyone can watch it and therefore makes their mission of making the subject of the video (Kony and his heinous crimes), famous. This message has been proven to be effectively sent because now, more people are aware of this issue.

The video itself, for me, was very informative and detailed, and the effect it gave me was that of pity and the need to help those oppressed by Kony. It made me feel that I have not been aware nor did I have any concern for the different social issues happening around the world. Not everyone is aware of this situation and honestly, this is the first time I have seen it and it made me feel a little guilty that I haven't watched it sooner. I might not have given any form of solicitation even if I watched it sooner but the thought that I could have seen this video earlier and made others aware of it too, might have made a difference.

But even so, the video gave me the encouragement that even if I'm not popular or powerful, I can still give a contribution to society. It also showed me the power of media, that it can affect the view of millions of people and if something needs to be known, the modern day technology can help spread these issues and the effect it can give us can contribute to the welfare of society.

The only thing that confused and somehow dismayed me was the last part of the video wherein they asked for money or to order for "action kits" in order for this message to be known. For me, this wasn't a big deal because it's really up to the viewers if they give solicitation or not, but it made me feel concerned for others who watched it, that the message they were trying to send may come with other motives. 

Other people see this whole video as a scam because of the donations being asked in the latter part of the film and others think that using funds or donations to make a criminal popular instead of giving the money to the Ugandan people for them to cope with their lives, is a bit naive. But I think that this message of making this terrorist popular is what will be more beneficial and more valuable for the people of Uganda because then, more people would be willing to help out with their situation. And at least the members of Invisible Inc. are doing their best to help out those in need and to show to the world the issues that need to be brought up, because the last time I checked, not everyone really cares for something that doesn't concern or affect them.

How about you?

Have YOU ever gone out of your way to help others?

*video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

**images came from the internet, I do not claim ownership over them