So what do you see?
The Ipod logo in the top right hand corner, the lowercase “I” , the white rope to the IPod that looks like headphones and the small imprinted detail information about the IPod on the bottom of the ad. So it basically looks like the common Apple Advertising you see everywhere for IPods. Right? … Wrong?
Welcome to the world that’s invested by Culture Jamming!
Let me give you a definition of what Culture Jamming is, “ Taking an ad and subverting the meaning and radically changing the intended message.” [1] In this case, the idea behind the culture jam took an iconic ad of Ipod, took away all is accustomed features and transformed it to present a message that implicates the facts of 10,000 Iraqis were killed and 773 American solider dead. This culture jam, allows us to never forget about what they presented, it will leave us with the unforgotten memory when next time we see an actual IPod ad. “ By showing little or nothing of a given scene, and offering only clues to the reader, the artist can trigger any number of images in the reader’s imagination.” [2]
The idea behind this ad is to reach out in different ways. Most of you reading this blog would actually take time to glance and see what it’s about, because IPods are so influenced within our culture. But I don’t think having a poster with a bunch of numbers everywhere, gruesome pictures in every open space would attract your eye. That is where culture jamming fits in., it replaces what the simple elements of an advertisement and brings about the allusion to a cause or a message. It also leaves an intended message in the viewer’s minds.
However, going back to this particular advertisement, it can be argued that such a culture jam trivializes the Iraq War. Which we all know today is such a serious and heartless topic. The decision to post this message on the apple ads can be seen as a slap in the face. Well all know that the Iraq war is something that many of us do not touch base on. With the incidents of the 9/11 attacks, no one cares to bring attention on what is really happening. So maybe the media treats the Iraq war the same way as they would treat a new release of an IPod. So maybe it’s a culture jam on it’s own. That they simply talk just as much about the Iraq War then they do about an Ipod. Think about it ?
As I look back to my first question, “ So what do you see?” I can simply add that this ad acts and speaks and delivers a message, that there are hundreds of people dying and we simply don’t know. But with a simple ad that gives us background knowledge of pop culture we are able to make a connection and understand the intended message.
Work Cited
[1] Reilly, Ian. Lecture. Mass Communication. The University of Guelph-Humber, Toronto, Canada. 5 Nov 2008
[2] McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. 1st. New York, USA: HarperPerennial, 1994
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