{"id":211,"date":"2007-03-15T04:35:32","date_gmt":"2007-03-15T04:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=211"},"modified":"2007-03-16T10:40:57","modified_gmt":"2007-03-16T10:40:57","slug":"stuck-in-the-middle-with-you-or-media-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/?p=211","title":{"rendered":"Stuck in the Middle With You or Media Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever think about why those television ads are so cute and creative?\u00c2\u00a0 Notice that ads are everywhere<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

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Advertisements are a big part of life.\u00c2\u00a0 You can say you are not affected all you want to.\u00c2\u00a0 There is simply no way you can get around them unless you totally ignore each one when they are on and refuse to look at them when they pop up on your computer screen or in magazines.<\/p>\n

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I am one of those that advertisements are wasted on.\u00c2\u00a0 I learned long ago that it was all about money.\u00c2\u00a0 I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ever look at pop ups unless I am trying quickly to get rid of them and I leave the room when a commercial comes on to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153multitask.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 I rush to get dishes out of the dishwasher and put them away before the show comes back on.\u00c2\u00a0 I also use that time to fold clothes in the laundry room and often quickly fixing a drink during that minute or so.<\/p>\n

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In addition to that, I comparison shop like crazy at the stores and purposely avoid name brands because there are generics that are just as good and much less expensive.<\/p>\n

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That is not, however, the case with many of us.<\/p>\n

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Many of us, including our children, are mesmerized in front of the television watching sensual, emotional, humorous and often socially acceptable ads that promote bad habits – gripping us immediately and trying their best to make us believe their product is the best and most desirable.<\/p>\n

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It happens constantly and it is seizing our very souls.<\/p>\n

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As adults, we are supposed to be able to manage this responsibly. \u00c2\u00a0The key word here is supposed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Let me say here, that there is nothing wrong with making a wise choice when it comes to quality and dependability.\u00c2\u00a0 For instance, I learned long ago that there are carmakers that have better reputations for producing quality products than others.\u00c2\u00a0 I held out as long as I could when it came to buying American made cars.\u00c2\u00a0 My problem is, they stranded me on the side of the road one too many times and I felt my safety was in jeopardy.\u00c2\u00a0 When it was time to buy another car, I went with a foreign made car that has a longstanding record of safety and reliability.\u00c2\u00a0 Couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help it.\u00c2\u00a0 I needed something I could depend on long term.\u00c2\u00a0 I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been disappointed yet.<\/p>\n

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Media experts are savvy at making sure they create a culture and environment through ads. They are masters at making sure they take products and price them well, place them in a high profile area and promote them like crazy.\u00c2\u00a0 We are all exposed to it when we see a race car, a bus, a website. Even schools have displays that advertise items.\u00c2\u00a0 Those companies are pretty smart. They support school information while they \u00e2\u20ac\u0153advertise\u00e2\u20ac\u009d around the edges or at the bottom of the ad.<\/p>\n

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Did you know that advertisers even know where to place the wording on a picture or ad to get the most attention?<\/p>\n

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Yes, folks, media is BIG <\/strong>business.\u00c2\u00a0 There are ads specifically tailored to the more mature generation, the baby boomers, and the teenagers. Much of it is aimed right at our children.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, kids have more buying power that we do.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 They are easy targets for marketers because of their lack of experience.\u00c2\u00a0 While we adults are spending our money on car payments, food, house expenses, etc, our children have lots of disposable income.<\/p>\n

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One of the participants at a recent seminar on media marketing asked if this problem wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about something much deeper.\u00c2\u00a0 His question was answered well, but he was playing the devil\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advocate and doing a good job of it.<\/p>\n

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Quite frankly, I agree with him. In fact, this IS much more about what is going on with our society in general.<\/p>\n

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Bottom line is, our children follow our example as adults.\u00c2\u00a0 If they see their parents or grandparents grasping at the products that are highly advertised, they learn from them that this is what they should do as well.\u00c2\u00a0 If they see adults on the ads looking like they are having a good time, they like what they see.\u00c2\u00a0 They have no idea what the consequences of those behaviors might be.\u00c2\u00a0 Quite frankly, it is up to us to make sure they know the real picture.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes, adults don’t even know all the ramifications.<\/p>\n

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Look in your house and see what you have in there.\u00c2\u00a0 Is it the full of the best of everything?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you have the finest car, the biggest boat, the fastest computer, the largest house in the neighborhood?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you give children an allowance or do they work for it?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Do you wear the finest clothes and buy them the same?<\/p>\n

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It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really all about marketing and what is important to you as parents and grandparents. If we model and teach responsible behavior, more than likely our children will be responsible individuals.\u00c2\u00a0 If we communicate responsibly about drinking, partying, smoking and live a good example for them, they will likely do the same. The key is communication.<\/p>\n

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Now this puts a great deal of pressure on each of us as role models.\u00c2\u00a0 But isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that what parenting and being a responsible adult is all about?\u00c2\u00a0 I mean, we did sign up for the job when we decided to have children.<\/p>\n

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Media marketing reminds me of the song \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stuck in the Middle with You<\/strong>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was written in the 1970\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when a blitz in marketing was just getting started.\u00c2\u00a0 The song talks about staring off with nothing and being proud you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve accomplished a great deal on your own. Friends come looking for something from you…etc.\u00c2\u00a0 You get the picture.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It talks about trying to make sense of it all but it makes no sense at all.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They continue singing about \u00e2\u20ac\u0153keeping a smile on their face but they are losing control and there are clowns to the left of them, jokers to the right\u00e2\u20ac\u009d…and they are stuck in the middle.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

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Yes, we can get wrapped up in all this media hype real fast.\u00c2\u00a0 We can quickly believe we have to keep up with the Joneses when, really, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about what we let the media convince us is important.<\/p>\n

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In the big scheme of things, it is fine to be in a modest house, ok to drive an older car, have less expensive clothing, and comparative shop for the best and most dependable items whether they are name brand or not.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also wise of us to teach our children that media is just telling us what they want us to know to buy their product…they are not out there to be our friend and they don’t tell you everything you need to know about what they are trying to do.<\/p>\n

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My wish for you today<\/strong> is that you do not succumb to the high pressure of media and that you keep your focus on what is really important in life. You know, like health, peace, love, responsible behavior. \u00c2\u00a0It might sound sort of corny, but these things can make for a more sensible and happy you and they are certainly things your children need to see you modeling.\u00c2\u00a0 Try it and see how much better the quality of your life can be and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll never feel \u00e2\u20ac\u0153stuck in the middle.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

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~ Joellen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever think about why those television ads are so cute and creative?\u00c2\u00a0 Notice that ads are everywhere? Advertisements are a big part of life.\u00c2\u00a0 You can say you are not affected all you want to.\u00c2\u00a0 There is simply no way you can get around them unless you totally ignore each one when they are on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,16,27,31,28,35,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conflicts","category-life-events","category-living-life-to-the-fullest","category-releationships-general","category-safety","category-shopping","category-teenagers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reflectionsfromacountrygirl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}