Medium is the Message

I was recently watching a press conference after a baseball game. The game was between the Phillies and the Giants, and was during the National League Championship Series, so the expected viewership was high. During the conference, Jimmy Rollins of the Phillies was talking. In front of him sat two Gatorade bottles and a Gatorade paper cup. All of the objects were facing forward in a way that clearly depicted the world-famous G across the TV screens all across the country.
This blatant form of advertising is just one example of the thousands of areas in which we see similar product placement and ad manipulation. In the movie the social network, products ranging from Jose Cuervo to Mountain Dew, Gap to Under Armour ran rampant, displayed clear enough to see, yet so hidden that nobody would actually remember seeing.
Media has the ability to advertise without letting on to the viewer that they are being played. I learned in my Media Analysis class that we, as consumers, are most susceptible to advertising when we are least paying attention to it.
I personally feel as if I have been hoodwinked. I am just starting to notice all of the placed ads in the media that I consume, and am realizing that it has been going on forever, and that I was never noticing it because I wasn't truly paying attention.
Being able to look objectively at what we are seeing a truly taking it all into account when viewing is vitally important. It is so easy for us to be manipulated by advertising when we are oblivious to it, but the instant we open our eyes, the better equipped we are to avoid being played. Rather than being a passive watcher or viewer, become more active in analyzing what we are seeing.
This extends beyond simply the world of advertising. In fact, advertising is a depiction of what is really going on around us. There are so many times that we go through life with our heads down, only seeing what we are looking for. Stopping at taking in everything around us will not only allow us to have a better understanding of what is happening, but also a better appreciation for it.