JOURNAL WORK 16

Think about how advertising affects you:

A. What sort of ads do you find yourself responding to? Name specific products: has there been an advertising/marketing campaign that you have so strongly identified with that you have bought certain products, consumed certain media, or changed your behavior in some particular way? Was this conscious or unconscious on your part?

B. Now take the VALS (values and lifestyles) survey to find out what type you are, and then study the VALS types more carefully. [NOTE: if you list your income, and you are a "poor" student (like most students) this may skew the values/lifestyles that you truly identify with, so you may want to take the VALS survey with and without income.] ? Can you think of ads that are meant for precisely YOUR type? What ads might those be and what tactics do they use to get you to pay attention?

C. Finally, what do you love or hate about adveritising? Can you imagine a world where there are no ads (Vermont, for example, outlaws billboards, so it's a really different experience driving on the highways of Vermont). What would that be like? Do you prefer a commercial environment, or a noncommercial environment, or something in between--and why? Is there a part of you that likes being adveritised to? Do you like telling marketers (for example, on Hulu, before watching a program), which ad campaign you prefer?