Have you ever heard of a viral video that no one has seen? Focus on the Family has shot a pro-life spot featuring the college superstar and former Heisman Winner Tim Tebow. The spot will star Tim Tebow and his mother who will discuss how she went against the doctor’s advice to abort her son due to a life threatening infection. After contracting a dangerous infection during a mission trip to the Philippines, doctors recommended she terminate her pregnancy, fearing she might die during childbirth. They named their son “Timmy” who later was known to the world as Tim Tebow, the University of Florida’s Quarterback who led his team to national championships in 2006 and 2008.

Check out these photos of billboards put up at Kaiserdamm metro station in Berlin, Germany. The original ad was for Britney Spears, Leona Lewis, and Christina Aguilera’s new albums. However Mr. Tailon, Baveux Prod., Kone, & Epox put up giant photoshop stickers to transform this giant ad into a “street art”. Pretty clever, though it is still vandalism.

Vandalism or Deserved?

AMP UP / Pepsi Iphone App “Before You Score” Gone too Far?
Amp, a Pepsi owned energy drink company, released an Iphone App called “Before You Score” that categories women and helps you score and brag about your conquests. This app created a lot of controversy because of the way it objectified women.

However more than the backlash, what is more surprising were the responses from the general public in defense of AMP…

France: Regulate those Manipulated Pictures!
This is going to create some interesting controversy. French lawmakers have decided to regulate airbrushing photos by requiring disclaimers on photos that are photoshopped or enhanced in any way. This action was taken as a way of fighting against body image issues at the source.

This disclaimer would be needed in newspapers, photos, magazines, political pieces, product packaging, art photography.

Did you know the images you see in magazines are touched up and photoshopped to be pleasing to the eye?

I am sure you all said yes. Everything we see today has been digitally enhanced. Every face we see is not only cleaned up, but necks are trimmed, the chins are tucked, and eyes are enlarged. Every blemish from the skin is erased, hair is made more glimmery, all this on top of picking the prettiest of models.

But did you know famous pictures from history were also manipulated long before the existence of photoshop?

Get your saline-soaked, aloe-treated, grape-scented tissues for your child! It’ll make blowing your child’s nose safe and fun! Don’t let him feel discomfort. Be a good parent.

In the Kiddie-Safety Industrial Complex, parents are gobbling up hitherto unheard-of stuff like those Boogie Wipes tissues, toy wagons with seat belts, sure-grip gloves for lifting baby out of the bath, and even knee pads for babies to wear when they start to crawl over that crushed glass you chose instead of carpeting for the nursery.

Trashy Advertising Influence
We talk all the time about how bad emotionally driven advertising has had a detrimental influence in our society. Starting at a very young age, billions of dollars are spent to take advantageous of our inner desires for love, significance and our insecurities to sell us things we don’t need.

So what can we do? Try out this awesome little plugin for your browser to block all ads!

In 2004, a survey by NPD Group showed that on average, girls started to use beauty products at the age of 17. Today that average is 13.

Here at Clean Cut Media, we show a critical eye to TV Commercials, TV Shows and Movies in regards to the level of unnecessary mature themes such as sexual innuendos and crass jokes , even in children movies. We also touch upon how media tends to paint a particular way of life or a particular image that can give the wrong kind of picture of reality and what is considered the norm.
Product Centric vs Lifestyle Centric TV Commercials
Mac vs PC Elimination TV Commercial Spot
However we aren’t all just about the …

Growth of the Information Age
The proliferation of the Internet and the ease of sharing information online has greatly enhanced the power of media and advertising. It shapes are attitudes, behaviors and our values in regards to how we view everything and everyone. Everyone speaks about how media affects our society but the power of advertising also comes from the ideas and messages that get portrayed as an underlying reality in media.
Advertising Providing Solutions to our Deepest Longings
Luxury Acura Advertisement Lifestyle
Everyday we are exposed to a particular lifestyle portrayed in movies, …

 
Media Influence on Children – Marketing Power
“The advertising and marketing industry spends over $17 billion a year on shaping our children’s identities and desires.”
Below is an excellent article discussing the influence of media and money in “commodifying” of children in our modern culture. The article itself is very long so I’ve excerpted pieces of it below with a link at the bottom to the original source. Enjoy!
As we face difficult economic times, everyone is wondering how are we going to bounce back? What can be done? In all the pain …

TV Media Consumption

When the subjects were asked to recall their media consumption behaviors, “people underestimated the amount of time they spent with TV by a substantial amount,” about 25 percent on average. – Mr. Wakshlag

Average Americans are exposed to 61 minutes of TV ads and promotions every day.
An Average Adult are exposed to some form of digital screen (TV, GPS, Cellphones, Computers) for 8.5 hours a day.
Computer usage has supplanted radio as the second most common media activity

These are some of the statistics found by the Council for Research …