The graph above is the culmination of the work that Tong, Iris, and I have done on Linn’s Journals. The red boxes represent a war. The first war was on Feb 7-8 and the Union won, you can see the amount of positive things that Linn wrote spiked on the first day of the battle, which was then followed up with a lot of negative thoughts on the second day of battle. In the time after the battle, there are three days in which there are more negative than positive sentiments. During the down time between the battles, there is not much neutral analysis done by Linn. In the few days before the next battle, there is a spike in negative sentiment, but there is no journals written on the actual battle date of May 14th. After the second battle, there is a spike in neutral analysis, which I take to mean that he is “battle hardened” and is analyzing his situation with less emotion and more factual analysis. In the down time between the second and third battle there is a spike in positive writing from Linn and in the days before there is a boost in both positive and negative emotions which is understandable because there is a battle that he should be getting excited for, but he has seen many people sick and dying and knows that he can be next.
This is a photo from the Journal.xml file that we marked up. In this screenshot, Linn talks about the how someone is hungover from heavy drinking the night before. He also discusses the hardships that he and the battalion are facing. This is a mainly negative excerpt and is a good example of the types of things that we were looking for regarding negative things written by Linn. I worked on marking up the middle section of Linn’s Journal, which contained time after the second battle, which was an interesting time in his journal to analyze. As you can see from the graph, there were many changes in sentiment around this time.
I found an American commercial from the “Top Super Bowl Commercials” which showed little kids playing and calling for their dad. It is appealing to American views of patriarchy in which your father is seen as a “super hero.” The catchphrase of the commercial was “he cares” for Dove Men #realstrength. This commercial was trying to market to the hard-working everyday man. The usage of familial relations enforces American emotional values. The localization of the commercial makes sense, it is appealing to an American ideology to men during the Super Bowl…makes sense.
The international commercial I found was from Australia and was advertising John West red salmon. The comedic visual of a man fighting a bear in the wild really caught my attention although I was unsure of what the advertisement was for. The company was obviously trying to appeal to the Australian lifestyle of being very “outdoorsy” and connected to nature. The commercial was supposed to be globalized as it uses a grizzly bear, which can be found many places around the world, not just native to Australia.
Both of the commercials were trying to appeal to emotional connections within the culture. Americans was a softer more familial approach and Australian’s was a more gruff and down to earth appeal in order to sell a food that perhaps suggests that it is what very active people should be eating.
The first advertisement I looked at was a Canadian Tim Hortons commercial appealing to a Canadian audience by using images of collectivism, hockey and nationalism. Using Sidney Crosby in the advertisement appeals to Canadians as he is seen as a hero for not only his outstanding hockey skills but especially for his winning goal against the rival team, USA in the 2010 olympics resulting in a gold medal. Hockey is a huge part of Canadian culture, so using this sport in the advertisement along with encouraging and emotional music allows for people to feel very proud to be Canadian. People of all ages join Sidney Crosby at the faceoff, standing behind him, representing that all of Canada supports team Canada. There is a large crowd of people in the stadium holding Tim Hortons cups and cheering for team Canada. These images used along with Tim Hortons slogan “Nothing brings Canadians together like a good ole hockey game”, results in a very nationalistic and collective message. This slogan is referencing the aspect of hockey in canadian culture and insinuating that a cup of Tim Hortons coffee is also a major part of the culture that will bring people together as a country along with hockey. There is no price mentioned or no image of what Tim hortons is selling other than people holding Tim Hortons cups. Therefore, the advertising goal of this was to emotionally appeal to Canadians by using their culture and the popular love for the game of hockey.
This advertisement translates to viewers that Canadian culture is very concerned with the game of hockey and that this culture is very nationalistic. I also reveals the carious cultural dimensions of Canada. The masculine aspects of Canadian culture are represented in this advertisement, especially through the usage of the context of hockey. As the advertisement shows that the whole country is watching and supporting one team, it reveals that there is a great sense of competitiveness in the society. Canada is also a high indulgence society and Tim Hortons uses this aspect of the culture to their advantage. Tim Hortons targets this cultural dimension by selling their coffee and food products to an audience who has the time and money to leisure and watch a hockey game. Canada is also a long-term oriented culture, therefore they have great respect for tradition. This advertisement plays into the tradition of ice hockey by using images of traditional hockey gear and images of pond hockey, relating to the origins of hockey. Tim Hortons appeals to the Canadian audience by adding traditional hockey images to add to the nationalistic and emotional tone of the commercial.
The second commercial I looked at was a German commercial that was advertising Opel cars, which is a German car company. This advertisement used the setting of a plane and the contrast between business class and first class. A female flight attendant on the plane finds an Opel car key in the business class section, then a man from the the first class section of the plane claims it his own. The commercial later shows this man driving his Opel laughing and smiling. These images reveal that the company wants viewers to think that Opel cars are associated with the upper class and therefore is a luxury and expensive car. The woman’s interest in the man is increased when she finds out that this man if of upper class man and that he has this car, revealing that this advertisement is appealing to men. The image of the man laughing and smiling while driving his car shows that the advertisement wants views to associate happiness with the Opel car.
There are many cultural dimensions demonstrated within this advertisement, one being the appeal to Germany’s long term oriented aspect and the culture’s high uncertainty avoidance. German culture tends to like well made products that are made to last a long time. This advertisement targets this aspect of German culture by representing this car as expensive, high class and there is well made. Germany is also a very masculine culture, therefore Germans value high performance and, according to The Hofstede Center, in Germany, “status is often shown, especially by cars, watches and technical devices”. Therefore, this advertisement perfectly displays the masculinity of German culture through the commercials imagery of having a well crafted, luxury, upper class car that will result in one’s happiness.
This advertisement translates to German viewers that this product is a very appealing car due to it’s high class status and the insinuation that this car is well crafted. This advertisement translates to other cultures that Germans may be overly concerned with having expensive products and therefore people could make negative conclusions about the German culture.
The two advertisements that I analyzed both use translating techniques that are both appealing and targeted at a particular culture of interest. The German advertisement was appealing to German customers and the Canadian advertisement was directed towards Canadian customers. If a German customer was to watch the Tim Hortons advertisement, they may not be interested in buying a Tim Hortons product because the particular advertisement is representing Canadian culture and nationalism. Similarly, the German car advertisement may not be appealing to Canadians because Canadian culture is less Masculine, less long term oriented and has less uncertainty avoidance than Germany. In order to sell a Opel car to a Canadian audience, the German company would have to create an advertisement that translates their product in a way that appeals to Canadian cultural dimensions. Similarly, for Tim Hortons to appeal to Germans, they would have to make their product seem very valuable in order to appeal to German cultural dimensions.
This commercial is and American Ad for M&M’s. It uses characters that are M&M’s to portray its product. I think that they do this to mark their brand with a personality. One M&M isn’t as smart as the other, while the other one seems to be the smart one. This could be trying to get people to relate to the M&M’s. The Yellow M&M misconstrues the meaning of “fan” in this commercial by thinking that they were supposed to talk to the air fans. This is a silly way to tell the actual fans that the new M&M’s are coming out that seems indirect, but is not. This could be playing off of American’s love of humor.
This commercial is from Mexico, it has M&M characters included in it as well. They are used a little bit differently, though. The commercial shows people doing things, then eating M&M’s and becoming the characters. There are many traditional Mexican activities being performed including wrestling, mariachi music, parades, and piñadas. This commercial has a lot of culture in it. It also tries to get people to relate to M&M’s. It shows the M&M’s doing the same traditional Mexican activities, which could strike a chord for many Mexicans when they see it.
I think that both commercials can teach us something about their respective cultures. The American commercial is very simple and only has two M&M characters in it. America also has an individualism score of 91. The Mexican commercial shows many different groups of people and they have an individualism score of only 30. The American commercial has the M&M mixing up two meanings of “fan”, America has an uncertainty avoidance score of 46 while Mexico has one of 82. There is a chance that Mexicans would not think that the American ad is funny because they do not like uncertainty.
Google is ubiquitously viewed as a universal search engine that helps solve our problems, connects us with people from all cultures and entertains us. My twelfth grade Spanish teacher created a verb called “Googlear” because she always recommended us to search for things on Google. It is quite interesting how Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, markets its’ connective and problem-solving abilities. In the Google commercial below, directed towards India and its subcontinent, the powerful tech company emphasizes its connective powers through an emotional and personal story.
Mr. Mehra’s granddaughter uses Google Search to rekindle her grandfather’s childhood friendship with Yousuf, an elderly Pakistani man. The two aged men, who were once best friends and created unforgettable memories together, had been separated for decades due to political and religious divides. This advertisement draws on the contentious relationship between India and Pakistan and illustrates how Google has the unique and invaluable capability of rekindling and forming relationships between people. Both Pakistanis and Indians come from a high power distance and relatively collectivist society, and these characteristics are accurately reflected in this particular ad. Mr. Meher’s granddaughter uses Google Search to perform an incredibly kind act for her grandfather. She eagerly searches for Yusuf’s bakery in hopes of finding Yusuf and possibly reconnecting the two. Helping your elders, especially your grandparents and parents, is a central theme in Desi culture, and the heartfelt story above warms the hearts of Google users across the globe. From a semantic standpoint, the dialogue of the actors is also different than that of a Google commercial intended for U.S. viewers. Obviously, the commercial is in a different language, Hindi and Urdu to be exact, as it is targeted towards a distinct linguistic region. This Google commercial contains far more expressive discourse markers compared to that of a commercial intended for Americans, which is a result of linguistic differences between the two cultures. When Yusuf and Mr. Mehra meet one another after such a long time, both men repeatedly say,”Oye”, to express their shock and excitement from the encounter.
Unlike the first commercial, the Google ad below, intended for U.S. viewers, focuses on the company’s problem solving abilities.
Since Americans come from a individualistic society, Google focuses on its software and program features that solve people’s individual problems and concerns in this particular commercial. Finding directions to a certain place or finding out if a store is still open are short term problems that can be resolved using the Google app. It is worth noting that each person who uses Google to resolve their respective issue does so with few words. Google addresses many Americans fast-paced lives and tendency to use words economically in this commercial. Each Google user in the ad, whether stressed or relaxed, uses the tech company’s products to make their respective lives easier. The Desi Google commercial evokes emotion from the viewer, while the latter commercial focuses on the individual benefits to using Google’s services.
In whatever culture, the advertisements about cars will always show us the image of the powerful car running on the road with its engine roaring furiously leaving audience an impression of speed and freedom, sometimes elegant and luxury. So considering about the advertisement of Jaguar, I first thought of some superstar driving a Jaguar and running on a highway then the scene will move to different parts of the car and describe the advancement about this car or show the Jaguar’s Auto Logos.
Britain & International
This advertisement is performed by three famous British typical “villains”. The scene is a night in London (we can recognize many landmarks in London), and all those three “villains” are in different roll to show different aspects of Jaguar dynamically. It omits the typical scene of dissembling cars into parts to show the construction, but emphasize more on the culture of the brand. Jaguar is a British brand; therefore Jaguar is trying to inject the elements of gentlemen and power which are most people’s impression on Britain to the advertisement.
America
I shows those two advertisements because they both compare Jaguar with other cars (Porsche & Mercedes-Benz). I found this phenomenon interesting because in other culture’s advertisement, advertisements never become a battlefield.
Korea
Korean advertisements are all focusing on the function of Jaguar: the construction, the durability, and the safety, which makes the advertisement not as impressive as the ones of Britain and American ones.
China
This advertisement shows Jaguar’s sport car in different era, which leaves audience an impression that Jaguar is a brand can go through the trial of the history, so it is a reliable brand.
Japan
Although this Jaguar advertisement is not impressive at all, I show this advertisement because it mentions price in the end!
I find Jaguar’s advertisements in different countries. The interesting thing is that no matter in a masculine culture or not, advertisements of automobiles are always performed by male. One of the reason is that most drivers are male, but I think another reason is that those cultures are more or less a masculine culture (according to the number given by Geert Hofstede, even the scores about masculinity of US and Britain are both above 60). Accompanied with masculinity, power is also a popular element inside the advertisement, mainly because male always desires for power and the car they drive can show their social status. As a result of this, it is easy to see a successful and confident male driving a fancy car in an automobile’s advertisement.
A significant difference between Asian countries and Western countries in Jaguar’s advertisements is that Asian countries’ advertisements always show audience the image of the construction and components of the car. Because those 3 Asian countries are all long term oriented countries; therefore customers from those countries pay more attention on the durability, precision and quality than the out-looking of the car. Besides, Jaguar’s Chinese advertisement is even made in a sequence of time to shows that Jaguar is brand with history in quick, modern and dynamic manner. Price is not mentioned except the Japanese one. Almost all advertisements will not mention the price, because once the price is not accepted by the audience, they won’t buy the product or they will potentially reject to buy the product. I think the reason why the Japanese advertisement mentions price of the car is that Japanese focus more on the quality of the car instead of the price. Japan is a long term oriented country; therefore people pay more attention to whether the product they buy will function well in the long future (a car is supposed to be driven for years most of the time) or not.
Moreover because both Britain and America are more indulgent culture, the scene of Jaguar running furiously on the road appears more in their advertisements. Compared with them, I find the Korean advertisement is extremely boring.
Another interesting thing is that advertisement in America compare its product another named (or obviously indicated) product, which is absolutely unacceptable in China. For example, the war between Coca Cola and Pepsi is so common in American advertisement. There was a advertisement shown in China in which a boy step on two cans of Coca Cola so that he will reach the higher button for Pepsi in front of a vending machine, and this advertisement was banned after a couple of days.
My first commercial, in Spanish, was aired in Spain. This is a clever advertisement that McDonald’s uses to promote their food. There is a family sitting down in the dining area of the McDonald’s. The commercial creates a nostalgic feeling of the way family dinners used to be conducted – where the family sits down to have a conversation and the parents and children actively participate. Now days, some families take the food to their own rooms, sit in front of the television or play on their cellular devices. With this nostalgia, McDonald’s is promoting how their food brings families together for a fun-filled outing.
Everyone at the table is smiling and laughing. The daughter asks the father, “Who do you like better?” The father responds saying that the daughter is like the sundae. She is full of joy and brings out the best in every moment. Then, he says the boy is like the McDouble and that he has a lot of flavor. After complimenting both his children, he says that picking from the dollar menu shows how they don’t ask for much. At the end, the daughter asks if her father prefers the sundae (the daughter) or the McDouble (the son). The father says he likes the McChicken (his food).
Not only is this a nice conversation between the three, but the father’s quick witted remarks set the background for the narrator’s appeal to McDonald’s, saying that McDonald’s offers many “rich” options. Also, price is never mentioned except for the dollar menu. Consequently, this highlights an inexpensive meal a family can eat, enjoying themselves without having to worry about the money. When a viewer watches this video, they might pair inexpensive, fun, and family-oriented with McDonald’s.
My second commercial is a McDonald’s commercial from Great Britain. This commercial shows the great differences between Spain’s appeal to McDonald’s. The commercial focuses on the main character and his hunger. He wants to go to McDonald’s to eat, but his wife or girlfriend is trying to shop. During the entire video, he attempts to get out of the store quickly by pleasing his wife or girlfriend with compliments on every thing she tries on. Then, the man briskly walks into McDonald’s, escorting his wife by pulling her arm, as if he couldn’t have gotten there quicker.
Thus, the viewer might relate McDonald’s as a restaurant that can satisfy hunger. At the end of the clip, the narrator states, “Sometimes only a Big Mac will do.” By using the word “only” the audience may feel as if there is one possible way to satisfy your hunger – by eating at McDonald’s. Then, there is a joke, when the man cannot decide what to order, asking the cashier for his opinion.
In terms of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, both advertisements clearly exemplify their dimensions candidly. The UK is marked as the right columns, and Spain is marked as the left columns. Individualism is ranked very high for the UK. This is represented in the advertisement because it focuses on the man’s hunger. Also, the man does not really care about what his wife/girlfriend is trying on. Spain has a high uncertainty avoidance. This means that Spaniards like to have order and know what is coming next. Even in the video, the daughter wants to know who her father likes best. She wants a clear distinction.
Both countries value long-term orientation. In the case of the Spanish commercial, this is evident through the family itself. A family has strong bonds that can never be broken. In terms of the UK commercial, the long-term orientation is shown through the couple being together, and the man, although hungry, sticking with her to help pick out her clothes.
Here are two skittle advertisements. The first one is from mainland China. It talks about a female high school student called the Skittles’ hot line and all her dream came true. She could recite the text backwards, she got into PKU, one of the best universities in China, she was even offered a job from Google. This advertisement shows the incredible magic of Skittles.
I believe the second advertisement is from America. Although there’s no human voice in this advertisement, the style of the houses are Americanized. It talks about a man exchanged a packet of Skittles for a singing rabbit. At night, the singing rabbit bitted the person and ran, but in comparison to this, the man who got the Skittles ate and watched TV happily. This advertisement shows Skittles are even more precious than the singing rabbit.
The first advertisement used a pretty female student to appeal to the male audience of this advertisement. The girl was kind of stupid from my point of view since she did not study well but had lots of unrealistic dreams. This is a degraded of female, which furthermore shows that mainland China is a masculine culture. China is long-term orientated. High school students study hard under harsh environment to get into their dreamed university. American is also a masculine culture, so two characters in the second advertisements are both man. American is more short-term orientated, so eat Skittles and watch TV is a fascinating thing. China is more a collectivism country, so when the class heard that the girl got into the PKU, the class was astonished. They’re surprised and envy the girl who was so lucky to get all of this. In comparison to this, only two persons appeared in the second advertisement because American is more individualism. If the second advertisement happened in China, there would be lots of people to come and see the rabbit.
In this Got Milk commercial, Dwayne’s family runs out of milk in the morning. The girls are disappointed and Dwayne frantically chase after the milk truck. The background music becomes intense and fast paced to intensifies this situation. Furthermore, to emphasis the priority and importance of milk, Dwayne encounters events that need his assistance. Furthermore, each event escalates in severity and degree from a girl with her cat to alien invasion. However, Dwayne has no time for that and pass over all requests for help and assistance. In the end, Dwayne manage to obtain his milk and brings it back to his family. He masculinely drinks down a glass of milk and punches a crawling alien outside of the window. The commercials ends with “Protein to start your day” and the catchphrase “Got milk?”
The commercial targets male audiences because it features Dwayne, a macho and muscular man. To portrays the benefits of milk to the body and makes it desirable as an commonly accessible tool that can make you like Dwayne. Furthermore, a calm and unflustered attitude as Dwayne composedly walks through the calamity around him and punches a crawling monster like a mosquito. The commercial fits with United States’ Hofestede cultural dimensions of a low uncertainty avoidance and low long term orientation. The videos emphasis the urge and need to obtain milk, yet never explicitly explains the motivation behind it with long term health benefits associated with drinking milk. Furthermore, the characters live in fantasy world of gigantic alien ship invading the earth and aliens attacking citizens, those events are highly unexpected!
In the Japanese commercial, a high school student becomes amazed at the fact that milk can increase concretion. Then, he imagines with superior concentration that he can avoid all the chalks the teacher throws at him. The advertisement is humorous because the effect of milk enhancement on concentration is hyperbolized. He swiftly dodges all the attacks of the teacher as the intensity and rapidity of the attack increases. Furthermore, he taunts the teacher “How about class?” The target audience this commercials are kids in school because the setting of the commercial and a teacher who throws chalk when a misdemeanor is conducted. Furthermore, it associates milk with super powers as the main character performs humanly impossible movements. In contrast to the American milk commercial, the Japanese commercial focus on the long term benefit of milk as it helps to increase concentration. Which implies a better performance in school and a possibility to avoid an surprise attack from the teacher. Therefore, it demonstrates the high masculinity of Japanese society that focuses on achievements and successes.
Overall, the two countries advertisement are accepted within the boundaries of hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Except, the uncertainty avoidance in Japanese commercials because majority of times its bizarre and unexpected. Prices are not mentioned in both of the advertisement because it hopes raises the public desire to drink milk and milk is a commodity.
Thousands of “zombies”–men in shabby clothes–ran after the polished Audi car with metallic luster but were locked out of the splendid car service building, and the commercial ended with “Don’t let your Audi fall into the wrong hands”. This commercial is made like a science-diction movie to present the contrast of destitution and superiority.
All the scenarios are recorded with methods used in Hollywood movies: wild western background, grey houses, sands and wind, excessively-huge crowd…It takes advantage of American’s favor in movies and successfully creates an engaging stage with mysteriousness of the background and contrast between the car and the zombies chasing it. The stark contrast (and the demeaning of the poor) conveys the superiority of Audi as unique, high-class, and noble, and therefore catches the potential customers with their desire on such socially accepted goals.
The artistic combination of sand-painting and real-life photos, together with the use of dim lights, also creates a feeling of mysteriousness and unknown that capture the idea of “future”–the theme of the commercial.
While the Americans share a preference for grand movies, Chinese have a special taste in art that features in obscurity and abstractness, which are presented in the latest popular form of art–sand-painting. While the American version use sand to depict the background as desolate and bleak, the Chinese version use sand to convey the sense of fluidity and mysteriousness–just like the idea of future as unknown. Therefore, it evokes the desire for success in the future and integrates it into the feature of the product-Audi car.
In terms of Hofstede’s culture dimension, both the Chinese and American show low uncertainty avoidance by creating a imaginative and unreal scene, while the Chinese one takes more by describing the future as unknown like sand. Besides, the Chinese demonstrates long-term orientation by focusing on the future, while the American one is captured by short-term orientation because it focuses on owning it for the right person.
