Sunny is Great

i definitely do not want to fill my blog with reality shows but i really wanted to talk about something (a rather disturbing something…) that i realized while i was watching reality shows…

covert or i guess explicit advertising is rampant in reality shows..

Let’s look at each shows and how they wonderfully shape their shows around products and brands

*America’s Next Top Model

America’s Next Top Model (ANTM) can actually change their name into America’s Next Cover Girl. Cover Girl is so emphasized that it seems that the show is looking for the next cover girl not the next top model. Before each elimination Tyra Banks announces the prizes for winning the competition. One of the prizes is being the cover girl (actually making a contract with covergirl) . Also, so many of the challenges are cover girl related. For example, for every single season ( after ANTM started to get sponsored by cover girl) the girls shoot an advertisement for cover girl, each introducing the new products of cover girl. Of course, there is the mini challenge that involves doing makeup with cover girl products in WALMART (walmart is definitely prominent as well in this show) The last shoot is the spread for Cover Girl, and usually there are other small shoots for something of cover girl (very vague, i realize but it changes every time!) So wow, it is so obvious that ANTM is doing a stupendous job at advertising their sponsors, but sometimes it feels like this is too much. I can see that the size of the houses that the girls live in improved immensely (despite the bad economy…) compared to the seasons in the beginning. However, i think that the show is losing its focus. Tyra repeatedly says that she is looking for high-fashion models… but i really think that they are looking for cover girl and walmart models. Just to add on i really think that Tyra is promoting herself as well, because every single episode seems to be very… tyra related.

watch?v=DEs-DI9KD1M

-cover girl commercial made in cycle 9

*Project Runway

Project Runway is doing very well in this competition of advertisement and promotion. As project runway is a competition for designers the show needs FABRIC!!! It must have been the smartest idea get sponsored by the fabric place..of course. As a result every single competition the contestants go to a specific fabric shop and carry around a specif fabric bag that has a huge emblem of the store – Mood on it. The cutest part is yet to come, every contestant shouts out “thank you Mood” before they leave. The winner of Project Runway gets the opportunity to sell their line on Bluefly, which is an internet shopping mall (i guess). Obviously, the host Heidi Klum repeats the prizes every episode and Tim Gun reminds the contestants to use the accessories from the bluefly wall (a wall that has products from bluefly) Since, the designers have to present their products there should be a runway, and the models need to do their makeup and hair. For project runway and of course the sponsors, this is a perfect opportunity, so every episode Tim Gun shouts out “Ok, send your models to Tresemme hair salon for the hair and makeup” For this week’s challenge’s winner, the designer and the model got to take a picture that will be shown on a tresemme ad.

the bluefly.com wall from Project Runway

*The Hills

The advertisement from The Hills must be the most covert because they do not actually have challenges or competitions to involve the sponsors with. In stead the places and brands that the main characters go and have get advertised. For this show, i guess that the advertisement is not entirely set up…However, the affect of the show is great. For example the People’s Revolution, which two of the characters work at, became immensely popular after it became shown on the tv. Other than this, the restaurants and clubs that the characters go to are always shown on the screen by subtitles, and by looking at the fact that this show is has the highest viewing rate in mtv’s history, i bet that the impact is substantial.

main character working at People’s Revolution

For most of the parts, the directors of the shows may not be comfortable with the excessive advertisement. In many cases the promotion can be inevitable for financial reasons. However, i think that the producers still need to find the happy mean because viewers, at least me, can be disturbed by too much advertisements. In some way, this whole situation is quite sad…because it clearly shows the commercialism and competitive aspect of the society.

(for some reason i can’t get the video posted up )

http://www.seenon.com/image/external/SeenonSlideshow/albums/album-72/lg/project_runway_bluefly_1.jpg/fetch/project_runway_bluefly_1.jpg

http://img2.timeinc.net/people/i/2008/features/tvblog/080428/lauren_conrad.jpg