Advertising at its best.

Do you ever wonder who makes what commercial and why? I do all the time, that is why it is a pleasure to inform you about one of my personal favorite commercials.

• The product being advertised is The 5.5 Carmelo Anthony by Jordan.
• The year the ad was made was 2007.
• The advertising agency who helped produce this ad was DDB Needham Chicago owned by Omnicom Group.

What I enjoyed the most about the ad was its uniqueness, it showed Carmelo was walking through his rough upbringing in the inner city and would jump cut to his new found success with the Nuggets. I think that symbolized his will to overcome hardship and achieve his goals. The ad absolutely snatched my attention because I can relate to the premise of what the commercial is implying. When I think about my upbringing and where I am now I almost think it is symbolic in the way my character is. The elements of the ad that makes it memorable and effective is the mood, music, and pace of the commercial. The mood is a very humble and Innocent with a splash of a victorious swagger, I felt emotionally drawn from the first 5 seconds of the commercial due to the way the mood is constructed, which makes the commercial effective. The music, like every commercial, plays a substantial role in the mood and pacing. The music is dream like if you will, the music gives you a modest outlook on the commercial without actually overshadowing the content. I found a huge indication of "puffery" in the commercial when the popular head coach of the North Carolina Basketball team took the teenager off the streets. I think this was done to resemble how Carmelo Anthony got discovered and what good can come out of his neighborhood. Essentially, the ad is selling the 5.5 Carmelo Anthony's but to me the commercial is selling a lot more than just a shoe. I perceive the commercial selling a sense of clarity to those who don't know what Carmelo came from; I can also argue that the commercial is selling inspiration to those who can relate to what he came from. When you see a commercial glorifying a self-made person like Carmelo Anthony it only plants positive seeds. I believe the placement of the ad was effective in reaching the target market because the average consumer of Jordan shoes is very broad. I think males from the ages of 4 years old all the way to 40 year old bought this product. Specifically though, I think the actual target market was basketball players because that was the main theme of the commercial. I bought this product after seeing the ad because I thought they were really good looking shoes plus I enjoyed the commercial so much I wanted to support Carmelo in a way.

The man, the myth, the legend: Rift Fournier

Want to know what had me in a ebullient mood Friday, November seventh? If no to bad, I had the honor of having an Emmy Award Winning Writer come and share his outlooks on the communication field, personal experiences, and answer any question my class had in mind. The Emmy Award Winning Writer that spoke in my class was no other than the great Rift Fournier. The charming Fournier began his seminar but saying that he adores are teacher, Jill Falk, and informing us on how he earned such a unique name like Rift. His mother was a artist married to a French man; originally his name was going to be Junior but his mom adamantly disagreed on that name. The two had a "rift" about naming the newborn so justifiably they named him Rift. Fournier has wrote for more than 12 television series including some like, Matlock, Charlie's Angels, and NYPD Blue. He also produced more than a half a dozen television shows like, Dark Justice and No where to Hide.


Fournier announced to my class that to be serious about media in any form it is vital to read. To me that make the most sense because most of the time if you are a good reading then you are an good writer, which obviously Fournier is. He ending that particular lesson by saying that it is almost impossible to make it in the field of communications if you do not read a lot. Fournier was started his college studies as a pre-med major, he switched around from school to school ultimately ending up going to law school. He worked his way through law school by becoming a deputy coroner and sheriff. Fournier dropped out of law school as an upperclassman to pursue his love for television.

To conclude the class by telling us because of the Internet the media world has changed for the better. He also said it is bad not to broaden your horizons by being clingy to one thing. All in all the visit has changed my perception about communications for the better.