Tuesday 21 April 2015

Theme four: newspapers and their supposed neutrality


One story, different versions ...

The Museum of Contemporary Art from Barcelona (Macba) has canceled the exposition "La Bestia i el Sobirà" ("The Beast and the Sovereign") because of the refusal of the commissioners at the position of the museum management to remove a controversial sculpture. The work from the Austrian artist Ines Doujak could be offensive for the last Spanish king. 

The commissioners of the exposition Paul B. Preciado, Valentín Roma (who are in the museum team) and the German Hans D. Christ and Iris Dressler have refused to remove the sculpture. Because that, the museum has decided to cancel an collective exposition from 30 international artists which was already ready for the inauguration at the afternoon. 

The work includes a sex scene of King Juan Carlos with a Bolivian feminist leader and a German shepherd while the king vomits flowers on a bed of SS helmets (you can see the picture here under your own responsibility). 

We already seen the same polemic new at different newspapers. Even if this seems to be very banal, the truth is a lot of newspaper from different ideologies and prestige have covered the theme: El País, El Mundo, ABC, El Periódico, La Vanguardia, etc. Each newspaper have treated this new very similarly, and the new is inside because of the type of image which this sculpture represents. At the first glance, they only have put an objective information about the facts without a lot of details apart from the opinion of museum director and the supposed meaning of the work, but really, the way that they have treated the new is different when you look the images and titles. 

For example, ABC, which is the most conservative from the newspapers in the last list, have covered a bit the new, without a lot of details. The image which they have used is a museum photo, there aren't any photo of the sculpture. Maybe their ideology doesn't leave them show this, we have to remember sculpture have Spanish king in a sexual pose with other real characters, is really provocative. Unlike ABC, other newspapers directly show the image.




ABC 

While all the newspapers have treated the theme only exposing the information without opinion, the online and free newspaper like El Diario, even when they doesn't say openly it, they have used the word "censure" a lot of times. 



What about less serious news?



About some news less serious, we would like to talk about the Cristiano Ronaldo’s shout at the Ballon Dor 2014. Here you have the video of the shout:




How we can see, this report have had lot of sport newspapers talking about this topic. Well, all of them.

Here we have some examples about this sport newspapers taking the event with laugh:


MARCA newspaper



AS newspaper



OLÉ newspaper (Argentina)



And another newspapers have taken that like a joke:




And mores title pages:




But in the other hand, more serious newspapers didn’t give the notice or only a few in their sports section: 


LA VANGUARDIA newspaper





EL PAÍS newspaper






ABC newspaper




The notice is not treated in the same way depending the interests of the newspaper because in all the sports newspapers it was on the front page but in the serious newspapers it was inside and very short. Also this situation was treated in different styles, one took it more formal and another took it like a joke. 

In conclusion, this type of news in some more serious papers aren't be covered at all whereas in others it would be headline news.



Shameful behavior of some newspapers


"Until we have a better relationship between private performance and the public truth,
as was demonstrated with Watergate, we as the public are absolutely right to remain suspicious,
contemptuous even, of the secrecy and the misinformation which is the digest of our news."
John le Carré: An Interrogation.

September 25, 1977. New York Times.




People, who make unfounded accusations without any sense in order to discredit the adversary, use the worse way to do it: they invent false information when, at the same time, they are letting themselves in evidence because the true always emerges. 

In Spain, many newspapers have made something like this. One in particular, called El mundo, invented that the president of the Catalonia’s government, Arthur Mas, has Swiss Bank accounts when in reality he hasn’t. 

Moreover, they have said this now because of the historical moment Catalonia is living: the independence is more alive than it was many years ago. So, this accusation in this period is more relevant now than probably in the past. 

They need something to make sure this way (the independence) is going to be bad for the whole country and for changing the results of an important election in the parliament. In addition, the government is always searching for something against this movement when in fact; they should take care of the bad situation of corruption they have to fight for. 

Is shameful be represented by these incompetent politics and how the media take advantage and, according their ideology or economic benefits invent or speak more about a theme that is going to affect others and benefit them. (This article was printed to try to influence our recent elections and is a blatant example of sensationalism with a political motivation.) People don’t see their defects; they only criticize and fix one objective: try to find that the enemy is worse than they actually are, which is a lot to say!



See this on this web: 


If you want to find another example of dishonest and misleading information just watch TV and you’ll see how Mariano Rayon is promising over a million place of work in two years. These words are full of lies. The economic situation is horrible and need a lot of years to make it grow again. 

Reality isn't presented as it is but they can't change the truth, which it's always the same.



"Famous people"



Many people think that to become a famous person, you have to do something important. However, in the society that we live, we know some cases of people who is known from everyone without doing nothing significant. 

For example, Belen Esteban is a famous woman in Spain who became famous to get married with a bullfighter. Nowadays, she is divorced but she continues appearing in different TV shows. She hasn’t got talent, but she is “famous”, so se earn a lot of money every month doing nothing. Another example is Kiko Rivera, who is famous because he is the son of a singer. 

A current case is “El pequeño Nicolás” (Little Nicolas), who became famous to sneak to parties of important people. 



See you!

Friday 5 December 2014

Theme three: Going Shopping!






Glòria Gas 1/11/2014  
Today I met with Meritxell in Tortosa at five o'clock. In order to do our part of work, we received 50 euros to buy something we like.   

My birthday had past one week before from this day, so I had a piece of clothes which my aunt gave me. It didn't fit me at all, and I took it as an excuse to save the money for the project: I could change it for another piece with other size. 
The piece was a pair of underwear from Benetton, and I had never been in their shops, even I never realized that Tortosa had a little shop by this chain. Also, I only saw an ad from them when we were working in theme two.  
I felt a bit awkward at the moment: this was the first time I entered in an underwear shop without my mother, only with my friend, and this made me feel shyer in front of the saleswoman. Luckily, she was really kind and guided me with a lot of patience.
I'm not really exigent with the clothes in general, but in the more intimate things like this, I'm really stubborn: I want something extremely comfortable. It doesn't matter the design, but at the minimal discomfort, I don't want it. For this reason I chose the simplest model.


Obviously, it didn't take money from the budget, this was a simple change:
Totally free. 



Meritxell Farreny 11/1/2014




On 19 October my friend Glòria and I went shopping to Tortosa. She phoned me if I could go with her to change the underwear her aunt has bought for her birthday. I accepted and I thought It would be a perfect day to search for a denim blue jacket that I have wanted for so long. We met at the Vienna’s Restaurant and went directly to Colors of Benetton's shop. There she explained to the shopkeeper the problems with the present. The underwear didn’t fit her at all and that’s why she wanted to change it for another piece of clothes. Haha she taked the simplest and comfortable, she didnt care about the design. 

Then we entered to another shops but only one in particular attracted me. From the outside I saw a basic but casual jacket, exactly what I was searching for. I had things clear: I really wanted it!! It was a really causality so nobody hadn’t influenced me at all. I trieds on and I felt very happy: I found whatever I asked for. It cost me 40 €. 
I paid for it, and then we went to a confectionery. We are really gourmands and we were hungry. While we were in the way to go there, we found by chance, our friends Rita and Andreu that they had gone to Tortosa also for buying something. What a great day!




Andreu Soler 1/11/2014


The 19th of October I went shopping with my friend Rita because we wanted the latest trend of some products. I saw on TV an advertising of Fernando Alonso with some girls sponsoring a beautiful watch, so I decided to buy it. Rita wanted to buy someting, too. A new handbag.  
I decided to choose the watch with this colour because black and red are my favourite. When I entered to the Viceroy's shop and I tried out the watch, I knew that it was the perfect watch. In the video I say that I bought this watch for the girls... This is not really true... Well, maybe yes but is worth to pay 75 € for it.



Rita Martinez 1/11/2014

One day, Andreu and I were talking about some objects that we want to buy. For this reason, we meet to buy them at the weekend. Andreu wanted a watch and I wanted a bag, so we go to several shops to look for the bests.
Some days before, I was doing a internet search to watch different models of bags. I watched some ads on the TV, but they didn’t convince me. Moreover, sometimes that I was looking for something that I watched on an ad before, it wasn’t the same in person. 
So we went to the city. In the last shop, I saw the perfect bag to me. I love this because it’s black, big and it has got lots of pockets. I am not an obsessed about keep on the trend of clothes and accessories. I just buy the items that I like, if it is fashioned or not. I don’t care about it. And I love the bag just I saw it outside the shop. It was more expensive that I expected to spend, but I think that worth it because it’s very useful, and it’s the most important thing. It cost me 63 .








Sunday 5 October 2014

Back to comenius project !!!

What's up magicians?


Welcom to our blog. How are you? Are you ready to work hard?

We are so exciting to start again the comenius project. New themes and funny videos will come soon, so visit our blog regularly, it will be very fun. We promise ;)





See you soon in Greece!


Andreu, Rita, Glòria and Meritxell


Sunday 30 March 2014

Theme two: Advertising


The advertisements are a visual support, auditory or visual which are short. Advertisements send us a message based in a  basic fact or idea, generally with a commercial character.



Types of Advertisements


Acceptable / Unacceptable



Please, first watch it before read the text. 
Advertisement has english subtitles


ACCEPTABLE
We consider this advertisement acceptable: is funny, original and has nothing derogatory. Also, people love Pancho after watch it! 
This is advertisement about dog trainer called Ramiro Benite and his dog Pancho. The dog is like a slave or servant for the master: Pancho does everything in the house instead of Ramiro! But, one day, the man ordered him buy the Primitiva (lottery), and dog never returned again.  
The video is narrated by Ramiro, who speaks with some sad tone about Pancho, his partner (the dog). He does it like a father talking about his missing son, even the background music suggests this.
At the end, the change of atmosphere surprises audience: Sancho enjoying life in a large mansion, outdoors, while his master is in a house that looks very old, full of golden objects that make more closed and dark the atmosphere, for increase the feeling of sadness. This probably did it to make the final more fun.
The Ramiro's clothes reminds us the clothes which men wore at seventies, so we know that the owner is a person quite out of place, scruffy. This image gives the sense of need, without Sancho he is nothing. The relationship between Ramiro and Sancho is master and dog, but the man thinks that is something deeper, although the dog thinks that he is only his bossy master.
This advertisement it's surprisingly fun to announce lottery, and probably one of the best we've seen, it could be good if it return to transmit. 


Facts / Opinions


FACTS

Please, first watch it before read the text. 
Advertisement has english subtitles



We consider this advertisement acceptable: is a little funny, although there are elements that don't fit (cleaning is not only a matter of women!). Although this don't tell the truth, it isn't  so offensive, so we classify as acceptable.
In the adversinment we can see a nursery teacher who teaches her students the colors. When the teacher asks about the color from her shirt, the children answer yellow instead of white. Her shirt have lost the original color.

The advertisement is a little funny because childrens bring the humor. The childrens are very known for their innocence, they tell the truth without evil. They don't know about the things they shouldn't say, that's why the teacher feels worse. Moreover, the teacher wears so smart and she is in her class. This isn't real!

Another thing that is not clear is the evidence: it is very obvious how fake they are. The advertisement itself is very artificial: the professor clothes', the perfect attitude of children and the fact that white shirt recover to the point of shine.



OPINIONS

Please, first watch it before read the text. 


We consider this advertisement unacceptable: it is very offensive to women, unlike Vanish advertisement, this don't tries to hide it, make it very cheeky! The announcement highlights the sexist stereotypes, also has a rather irritating presenter.  
In the adversiment we can see two women's views about a cleaning product. They try it and say it is perfect.  
The kitchens where they do the tests try to bring closer with the examples. They try mimic normal kitchens: nothing fancy or disordered, full of everyday objects. But they screw with the poor performance of the womens in the video: is very obvious that the reviews aren't real, the actresses act so badly (facial expressions are very forced and the voice is very exaggerated) and nobody believe it. Besides, the spots are prepared: is completely clean except a piece of something ''unknown''. 
Besides false, it is also an offensive for women: with two examples, they could also put a man besides another woman. But they decided to put two women smiling while cleaning, as if that were the principal objective of them.  
Besides these points, we can't stand the presenter: he is really irritating! He is the worst actor, looks like an idiot when he shout a lot. When he talk, you only wait for the end of the advertisement.

Here you have some parodies of this ad (It is really fun):


Kitchen Gun 




Cillit BONGSubtitles are in the annotations 



Persuasion


The House of Häagen-Dazs

Please, first watch it before read the text. 




All turns around the ice cream which plays the main role. We move to a very glamorous and elegant palace. Inside, the music is awesome which completes the ambiance. The song is “Spoonful of Diamonds” by the Belgian singer Selah Sue. The two characters are both attractive and gorgeous. They are wearing smart and formal clothes. That makes the effect to us to think that they're important persons with a big category. The man is the famous and American actor Bradley Cooper and the woman is the Spanish top model Jana Perez. 


Firstly, he is eating patiently an ice cream when suddenly; he exchanges a mysterious look with her. Then, she persuades him with a game of seduction. It’s pure captivation. She takes his hand and drags him to a sofa. The way she moves hypnotizes him. This moment, when she puts her eyes on him, recreates the typical scene of the kiss. It’s like: “she didn’t kiss him and she should have”. Romantic people were waiting for something to come along but unfortunately, nothing appears.  She takes advantage of the situation and takes him the ice cream. Hahaha! She is really smart!!! This ice cream must be really amazing.  
This advertisement, wants to express the idea that the ice cream is more delicious than the sexy man. It’s a difficult election because on the one hand, we have one of the sexiest men of the world and on the other hand, we have not a simple ice cream, but an experience of sensations for the senses. It awakens all the passions. 
People expected that she obviously would have preferred the man, but in fact they were wrong because she finally, chooses the ice cream. 

So, please tell me… Which you prefer? 



Chupa-Chups

''It's the end of the world without it''




These advertisements wants to communicate that, without chupa-chups, is the end of the world. They use children to emphasise and to create another point of view. It’s a little dramatic because we can see in this pictures how they are too much focused consuming this product. The first child gets depressed, the other wants to suicide and the third decides to go to the psychiatric.

Lego





This is a great example which shows the children’s imagination. They are the future inventors so, since their childhood, they’ve already experimented creating new things.


 WWF, DESFORATION



This picture is a clear example of the environmental problem. They compare this with human lungs for giving a bigger impact. We have to act before it’s too late.


TOYSRUS



I really like it. It’s a creative way to promote a product reminding a film, in this case, Titanic. They’ve recreate a universal scene.

Opinion about pictures...
I’ve found every single one of them acceptable. There’s no any vulgar and offensive sign. According to my point of view, I think they’re so original and creative. 




RED TAPE
Misogynist ad!




Live your fantasy is the logo of the campaing for the india’s shoe RED TAPE company. This is  associated with beauty and success in India.  
In the advertisements we can see a “winner” who is always lucky with the ladies. What’s more, he can choose which type of woman likes for each day.  For example, in the first picture, the girls are closed in a vending machine posing to capture the attention of the boy for being chosen. They are trapped behind the glass and every single one of them has the same category that has a can of coke; and in the second picture, they’re in his closet which makes the sensation that they’re as a change of clothes. 
This attitude shows us the  male psyche, playful and obsessed about women. Moreover, he objectifies the person of womens and reflects them as simply something without feeling and only useful for his pleasure.  
To sum up, all this is for buying Red Tape shoes. Oh my god…. We live in the sexist society.




Art


Please, first watch it before read the text. 
Sorry, but this advertisement hasn't english subtitles




This announcement is a clear example of how art is used in marketing. It is obviously acceptable, as it contains elements of cultural interest.
This ad of Mastercard pays tribute to the Spanish and Catalan culture: In just 37 seconds, we can find references to painters like Sorolla, Picasso or Dalí, architects like Gaudí and writers like Cervantes and Garcia Lorca (the background music is the Nana de Sevilla played by Lorca at the piano). There are so surprising artistic references in this ad! 
It is intended for a cult consumer who understand at least some of these references and want to come back to see the ad for find more of this. 

Some of the references:


Joaquín Sorolla
Miguel de Cervantes

Antoni Gaudí
Pablo Picasso






CREATIVE AD





On the one hand, Fabrer Castell is known as one of the world's largest manufacturers of pens, pencils, other office supplies and art supplies, as well as high-end writing instruments and luxury leather goods. Now, this company has made a creative ad for waking up the minds of the public. One of them is the half dog- half brown colour and another one is the half shark-half grey colour. It’s a useful way to captivate.






On the other hand, Schwan-STABILO is a German maker of pens for writing, colouring and cosmetics as well as markers and highlighters for office use. We know it for their highlighter pens, Stabilo Boss that we use at high school. This company has also used a simple but effective way to surprise us. They're cool.






Truth


McDonald's Ads vs Real Thing

Please, watch it before read the text. 





This advertisement is talking about the difference about the McDonald’s food in the advertisements and the McDonald’s food in the real life.We can see Big Macs, Cinnamon Melts, Fries, Quarter Pounders, Grilled Chicken Salads and McChickens and the relation between the advertisements food and the real food, which you can buy actually in a McDonald’s.The thing that catch more my interests is how the companies want to the people go to their restaurants and we you are there, the food aren’t how the ads seen. 
This advertisement is not selling a product, it is judging the advertisements. In our opinion, the companies ought to teach the real food that they will sell in their restaurant and don’t have to show dishonest things.



We have chosen this advertisement because the advertisements that you can see on TV are not really reliable. There isn’t any advertisement who says only the truth.After this, we want to publish some interesting ads that are crticising some real products or companies. If ads were brutally honest, here's what they'd say:











Our own advertisement






See you!