Alyssia Pacheco, W14, Topic Selection

The podcast show I have chosen to emulate is Under the Influence. I have chosen this show because the basic concept of the show is presenting ideas of the changing world of marketing. I have always found marketing to be an interesting and fascinating area of focus. I am interested in the basis of a marketing campaign, specifically how a certain idea originates in ones’ mind, as well, I enjoy learning about what exactly makes for a successful advertisement, versus what does not. I also enjoy looking at the ways in which a marketing campaign decides to promote a specific product, in a way that makes it their own, and different from any other marketing campaign tactics. I find enjoyment in anything from analyzing commercial ads or posters, to creating my very own. This is what I hope to emulate about Under the Influence. Terry O’Reilly examines the cultural impacts of advertisements, and just marketing in general, on modern life. This is the whole basis of the show and I find it to be particularly important as ads surround us in today’s world, and whether we are aware or not, we are effected by them in one way or another. The show captures this in different ways, and this is what I hope to do as well. The best part about formulating an advertisement which focuses on a certain idea or product, is including my own creative ideas within it and especially, marketing that idea in a clever way, to ultimately make the viewer think and reflect on it. I would like to make the focus of my podcast on how including humour in an advertisement can make for a very effective and successful campaign. Everyone gets enjoyment out of humour and laughing, but how can this contribute to the success of an ad? What kind about humour makes the ad itself a memorable one? Are there different kinds of humour an ad may contain? Which ones work better versus which ones don’t? Why is dry or offensive humour often so funny to viewers? The focus of humour came to mind when I came across a rather hilarious commercial that is part of the ad campaign for Old Spice. It is a commercial which aims to persuade teenaged boys that using Old Spice products will turn them into young men. The commercial features hilarious portrayals of different mothers who aren’t ready for their sons to grow up and mature. I realize now after seeing that commercial, the reason it stuck with me and made it so memorable was its humour , specifically its exaggerated representations of clingy mothers. The Old Spice products aren’t made for someone like myself as I am a female, and the commercial doesn’t aim to target females of my age, but rather the mothers of teenaged boys, yet I found this commercial brilliant and connected to it somehow. This was made possible due to one thing- its excellent use of humour! This is what inspired my idea of the art of humour in advertising. I found Spark very useful for helping me come up with my topic. I was able to make it more specific and not so general, to ultimately be able to come up with my central research question. At first I thought I would focus on what makes an ad campaign successful. This question can be focused in on at so many angles and in so many ways. The answer is endless, really. This meant that my topic was much too broad and I needed to narrow it down to something specific about a successful ad. I then came to the conclusion that my focus would be on humour and what exactly it can add to an advertisement. Some advice I would add to help students choose their topic more effortlessly, is to focus on a topic of enjoyment always. A topic which speaks to you and interests you is always easier to work with and learn about. Choosing a topic which isn’t already overdone by so many people is also a good idea. This allows for more room for new ideas to be presented on that topic, keeping the interest of the viewers, while entertaining them at the same time.