Intertextuality in LV ad campaign

In my Creative Advertising class we recently talked about the concept of "intertextuality" used in print ads, commercials, music videos, etc. Intertextually is a theory about how the audience interprets & understands cultural texts. This theory made me immediately think of the recent Louis Vuitton Ad Campaign of the Summer that commemorated the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon with Apollo 11 Mission on July 20th, 1969. The campaign features Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the Moon; Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 mission in 1970; and Sally Ride, who became the first American woman to go into space in 1983. Interestingly, this advertising campaign was the first for Louis Vuitton that included integrated press and digital advertising. Louis Vuitton launched "louisvuittonjourneys.com" which displays interactive videos where the astronauts share their experiences and how it changed their lives. But also in the ad, on the hood of the astronaut's truck, is Vuitton’s "Icare travel bag" which runs at $1,530. It is named after Icarus, the hero of Greek mythology who dies when he flies too close to the sun. The ad is supposed to be a homage to the astronauts but also advertises the new bag. In some print ads and on the website the ad says, "Some journeys change mankind forever". I think this is not only alluding to the astronauts themselves and their journey, but the journey of Icarus whom the bag is named after. This thus links and brings this Louis Vuitton travel bag to the same level as the astronauts who are "changing mankind". Louis Vuitton is very expensive and exclusive so they want this status and prestige to be directed at their audience. This would be considered vertical intertextuality because it links old & new cultural texts across multiple genres.

Celebrities and Politicians Alike Can't Get Along

When I think of a "celebrity", or what a celebrity should embody, I think of someone that should be a role model to the public and use their resources and fame not only to entertain but also for the greater good of society. However, many celebrities in recent times have shocked and stunned the public with bizarre antics and crude behavior to get more publicity for themselves, or their message, and have not exemplified a person that our youth in America should be looking up to. Many celebrity stunts have made headlines such as Britney's breakdown (& bald head), Lindsey Lohan's public drunkenness & previous coke problem, Nicole Richie & Khloe Kardashian's DUIs, etc. All of these are problems & choices that are unfortunate for the youth of America to see, but I have never been so shocked and embarrassed for a celebrity as I was with Kanye West at the 2009 MTV VMAs this past week. As Taylor Swift, one of the young stars that is still a role model for the youth of America, was accepting her award for best female video, Kanye West jumped on stage and stole the microphone from her exclaiming, “Taylor, I’m REALLY happy for you, I’m going to let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of ALL time! Of ALL time!” Poor young Taylor just stood stunned. I felt utterly horrible for her because as a young star this was one of her first major awards she had one and her moment to relish in that was ruined by some pompous rapper who thinks he’s “the voice of our generation”. If he is going to act that way I DO NOT want him to be remembered whatsoever as the voice of my generation. I think it’s horrible today that society endorses all of these celebrities who act like complete morons in public. Even if he does have more money than God, he should still be respectful and mindful of others. Celebrities are a big part of American society; people can’t help but want to know about their lives because the tabloids and many news shows like E News and TMZ are everywhere. Celebrities have a huge influence on many children and adolescences worldwide and it is so disappointing that he acted this way. Another recent controversy was when Republican Congressman Joe Wilson shouted out “You lie!” at Obama while delivering a speech on Healthcare. All of these outbursts deliver a horrible message to not only the youth but people of our country. This is also disappointing because even though Joe Wilson isn’t someone that is in the tabloids everyday, he still makes decisions for our country and represents our country, just like Kanye represents our country. It is sad that not only our celebrities, but politicians as well have such differences publicly. Ideally, in difficult times we should be able to unite and support each other. Everyone has their own differences and opinions, but you can’t just have an outburst of rage when you disagree with someone because that would lead to utter chaos. If everyone is always butting heads, nothing will get accomplished for our country. I hope that these are some of the first and last controversial public outbursts because these both do nothing good for our people and society.

Searching for "the one" or is this a notion of society?

I was inspired to write tonight after seeing "(500) Days of Summer". This movie is not a romantic comedy by any means, so I thought, but is a boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl doesn't, kind of movie. A little corny, and at times frustrating, it was about the struggles of finding that special person and true love. A boy falls hard for the girl, Summer, who doesn't fall hard for him and quite frankly just wants casual sex. This movie moved me to wonder, is there just one person meant for you in this BIG (6 billion people big) world? In the movie, Summer has grown up with divorced parents from a young age and doesn't believe in "love" or "marriage". However, the boy is a hopeless romantic who wants nothing more than to be in love with her. Summer says at the end of the movie, after getting married to another man, that she didn't believe in marriage until after she was in a deli reading her favorite novel and her now husband asked her about it. She said everything felt right, and then thanked the boy for telling her love was possible. She didn't realize it was until things fell into place with her new beau. She said she knew it was meant to be and "what if I hadn't gone to the deli that day? What if I had arrived 10 minutes late? What if I hadn't been reading that book? Everything lined up perfectly." She realized those things didn't line up with them and she just didn't feel that spark. And in time, he too realizes he was so blind with the good to see the bad that out weighted their relationship. I also think a lot of time what you think is "love" can be blinded with other temporary feelings of happiness, but that's another story. It makes me think about this a great deal. I myself am currently involved with someone I met under circumstances that seem too good & right too be true, but it makes me wonder - what if there's someone you're equally or more compatible with that lives half a world away? Or, your timing is just off - if being involved with someone else overlaps that time you could've met someone else. Are you only meant to be with just one person, or what if there's multiple people you could have equally as happy lives with? How do you choose? Are you meant to be with one person and the cosmos line up for you on that one special day you meet? Does a higher power control these things? Destiny? Fate? For now, I like to believe that everything happens for a reason, and I think that's what this movie tried to convey. On the 500th day of Summer, he met the person he was going to be with, but he wouldn't have been in that position if it weren't for her. Just something to think about....