Alternative Youth

Creating the Sneeks ad campaign has been a more challenging task than initially thought. Sneeks is the name of a sneaker company and it was my team's job to create a three ad campaign and an image or brand for the sneakers. Overall, the ads are intended to target both boys and girls in their teenage years. One ad is specific for young women, one ad intended for young men, and an ad that appeals to both genders.

The brand my team has created for Sneeks is one of an alternative culture. Among American teenagers, rebellion is almost universal and at the very least met with empathy. The theme that our three ads share most visibly is an embrace of an alternative culture, where norms can be broken and self expression is encouraged. Those who listen to alternative music or participate in alternative sports will find this ad campaign most appealing. The slogan, “Put Your Best Foot Forward” is used in each ad to convey that this sneaker could be the catalyst for those who aspire to be the best in all their endeavors and it will complement their individuality. The ads also share the use of bright colors to celebrate the rebellion that inevitably comes with youth as well as a similar format.

The first ad we created was specific for young men. The bright blue carpet in the photograph of the kick-drum serves two immediate purposes. The first is the association of the color blue with boys. It takes up a good deal of space on the page and that bright blue really emphasizes which gender the ad is trying to reach. It also serves to be attention grabbing and follows with the bright color theme shared with the rest of the ad campaign. A Sneeks sneaker is strategically placed on the pedal of the kick drum to make the statement to young men who wish to express themselves that Sneeks shares those same values. It is Rock n’ Roll inspired and embraces the rebellion associated with that genre of music. The slogan is written in bright orange to keep the bright color theme as well as make it standout against the glaring blue carpet.

Photo Credit: BigDrumThump.com 

The next ad my team created targets young women. Right off the bat, the bright pink color scheme can almost be seen from miles away. In the middle of this girly color explosion is a young woman demonstrating an impressive martial arts high kick while wearing her Sneeks. The sport of mixed martial arts has become exponentially more popular in the past few years and this picture, now more than ever could reach a growing niche in the market. The idea of this ad is again rebellion and breaking norms. It is meant to show that Sneeks supports alternative sports and empowerment of women. The bright pink color scheme also emphasizes that this ad is indeed intended for young women. The slogan is once again written in the complementary color of the overall ad, which in this case is green.

Photo Credit: David Long (davidlongnow@gmail.com) 

The third ad we created can appeal to both genders. The overall impression of this particular ad should center on fun and youth. There is a young woman and a young man serving equally important roles in the ad riding a tandem bicycle together in their Sneeks. Tandem bikes are usually associated with being silly and something you don’t see everyday. Sneeks embraces this fun silliness and those who like to express themselves can appreciate this individualism. The color yellow is prevalent in this ad because it is more ambiguous and can appeal to both male and female. The similar format and the bright colors are again used in this ad to emphasize the same themes and feeling that are used in the other ads in the campaign.

Photo Credit: Hugger Industries

This should serve as a very successful ad campaign for Sneeks. All three ads share a  bright, rebellious, and individualistic concept. This attitude can be appreciated by many teenagers who wish to express themselves and perform at the very best of their abilities. These ads illustrate that Sneeks as a brand embraces youth, fun, and self expression. No matter the task, your Sneeks will perform just as hard as you’re willing to push them and yourself.

There Is Still Hope For Music Videos

Communications scholar, Sut Jhally has some pretty solid theories regarding women and the sexually objectified roles they typically play in music videos. While Jhally's Dreamworlds is a little dated, many of the theories he presents still hold water in contemporary music videos. But on the other hand as formats are changing from the constraints of television timeslots to the seemingly endless limits of the internet, music videos no longer have to conform to the three minute advertisement formula that were so prevalent in their early days.

For the most part, I don't really care for music videos because so many of them seem so egotistical and do in fact follow some aspect of the production formula Sut Jhally explains in his commentary film about the music video industry. So, this assignment began excruciatingly slow as I trolled the web for music videos of my favorite rock and metal bands, who met the requirement of being male dominated but would typically lack the example of a non-band member female being featured in said music video. Then, I remembered a video I saw earlier this year that was completely brilliant and tossed aside all normal conventions that are associated with music videos. This video did not attempt to tell some convoluted story with highly stylized imagery inter-cut with the featured band lip-syncing their newest single. It was more of a short film with a hysterically funny plot that features more than one track off this artist's new album. It still retains the spirit of a conventional music video but the creativeness of this video is unparalleled. I would like to personally thank the Beastie Boys for still being awesome after all these years and for breaking ground to embrace the format of the internet to make the greatest music video of all time with Fight For Your Right (Revisited).


Photo Credit: Joe Wolf / JoeInSouthernCa  http://www.flickr.com/photos/joebehr/5723002790/

The music videos Sut Jhally dissects in Dreamworlds were all still relatively new in format because MTV had only been around for a few years and the directors of these videos would typically have backgrounds in making television commercials. So, there is this idea among them that says the best way to sell this artist's album during the short time constraints of the featured single to the consumers is to entice them with sex. Unfortunately, the target audience seemed to almost always be adolescent males and the use of women in these videos were almost exclusively as sexual objects. Their roles are normally boiled down to faceless strippers, prostitutes, body parts, or just silhouettes with fit bodies whose sole purpose is to serve as eye candy with no thoughts, hopes or dreams.

In the Beastie Boys video, they have abandoned the three minute song, time format and made something that is completely fresh. Though they have borrowed some of the practices of the ancient music video, like the scene with the strippers/hookers in the limo. On the flipside of that, the women are not faceless or even voiceless, but are seemingly more empowered than the men playing the Beastie Boys band members. You’ll just have to watch it to see what I mean. This video is close to a half an hour in length, but this embraces the format of the internet where there is no need to censor any ideas or be held to television’s time constraints. I hope more musicians see the potential of this sort of format and abandon the traditional three minute ad.

I think Sut Jhally’s theories are mostly correct in mainstream television music videos, but as the internet becomes the new go-to format, I think videos like Fight For Your Right (Revisited) will become the new standard. As long as you don’t mind potty-mouth humor and pee jokes, check it out below! And see if you can count all the celebrity cameos.