On Reading a Video Text

Robert Scholes wrote an article explaining that the humans are more attracted to visual movement and sound opposed to lengthy, wordy articles. The colors and noise magnetize us towards the object. Scholes goes on to talk about a commercial by Budweiser that is 28 seconds long, a longer version exists. The commercial constructs an entire life time by stating “the life story of a black man pursuing a career as a baseball umpire.” In a matter of seconds, we get this man’s life story warped up in a ball on a silver platter. Baseball being an American sport has long been recognized. Nowhere in the commercial does it give you any knowledge on baseball, as if society already knows what baseball is. The time the commercial was produced was in the early 80’s, a time period when black athletes’ were just starting to get accepted into “leadership” positions. This commercial wasn’t only to sell their product, but to also to get to another level with the audience and make them feel as if they belong in society. Scholes states “It is very hard to resist the pleasure of this text, and we cannot accept the pleasure without, for the bewildering minute at least, also accepting the ideology that is so richly and closely entangled with the story that we construct from the video text,” this is a way to connect with the audience and establish a National product, such as Beer in this case.
I decided to compare the commercial about beer to one that really brightens my day; the classic Orbit commercials. The Orbit company’s slogan has been “A GOOD CLEAN FEELING, NO MATTER WHAT!” also saying “for a dirty mouth, clean it up with Orbits New ___ Gum.” In this popular, funny commercial, 7 people sit in a row and open up a pack of the gum, with new decorations on the pack for a stylish new look. When each person see’s the new look they say a phrase that is widely known as profanity. Instead of saying the profane word, the Orbit lady puts a funny word in so it doesn’t sound that bad. Most people will know what they are saying when they say “What the _F_,” even when the word put in the blank is ‘Frank’. This ad demonstrates a new Era where even young people know profanity and can recognize it even with the word substituted. When people choose not to swear, they add in new words that aren’t inappropriate, such as “Son-of-A-Biscuit” or “Holy Moly” which still implies that they know what the meaning is and are trying to make it less offensive. The commercial isn’t just selling gum, it is also selling the idea and swearing should be toned down because it sets a bad example and that is isn’t appropriate in public at all. If the commercial got away with the profanity, the commercial would be banned because of such rude language. This language isn’t acceptable on TV or in public where children can hear it and pass it along. The commercial consists of average people that you would see at the supermarket or even at school. The elderly man in the commercial stands out because he is from 2 generations ago but then there is a boy who is from this generation. All ages are learning these words and using them wildly, sometimes without even noticing.

-MPN