The advertiser (Toyota) is reinforcing dominant ideology in one promotion and attempting to forge a new one in the other promotion.
There are no real stereotypes in these promotions, as there are no real characters, other than the fake bug. It is worth considering, however, that the audience in both cases is viewed as a stereotype. Those concerned about mileage are taken as very concerned, and enamored almost solely with this aspect of the car. The Internet community at large is taken as having little moral qualm with the co-opting of user-generated content to create an ad campaign -- the complicity of the audience is assumed and that may too be a stereotype of the typical Internet user.
e. What a Girl Wants illustrates the power of the media in terms of defining image for consumers. It reflects dominant ideology -- what those with the media power want is projected onto the population. Often, the audience does not realize that they are being socialized. The audience will over time, if the message is repeated often enough, begin to parrot that message and adopt it as their own. The video is interesting in that the boys and the girls interpret the message differently. The message that the girls receive is that the song(s) are about...
Students of both genders, therefore, are a product of the way in which they have been socialized -- the dominant ideology of society.
The video shows how messages in media are received by their intended audience, but when the audience is given the opportunity to reflect on the message, they might come to a different interpretation. The socialization process can actually be challenged when we encourage people to think about this process and evaluate how they have been conditioned and influenced. Communication, such as we saw in the video, is a key to breaking our patterns of socialization. It did not appear that the boys and girls were, prior to the discussion, aware that the two genders had entirely different interpretations of the songs' messages.
Works Cited:
Toyota Yaris YouTube ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skhaeXwfh3s
Yaris viral campaign: http://yar.is/
Shah, A. (2009). Media conglomerates, mergers and concentrations of ownership. Global Issues. Retrieved November 2, 2011 from http://www.globalissues.org/article/159/media-conglomerates-mergers-concentration-of-ownership
