Recently I watched 4 YouTube videos of commercials for the 2008 Olympics. I also recently read a paper by Lisa Nakamura from Race in Cyberspace. In this posting, I am going to look at how these commercials relate, if at all, to cybernetic tourism as conveyed by Nakamura. In my paraphrasing mind, Nakamura portrays Cybernetic tourism to be the perception that advertisers are selling their goods to be used by consumers as devices, services, technologies, etc. that can provide a portal to the world (or possibly the future) through their use.
First Commercial
The first commercial I watched was an ad for Adidas® showing a huge crowd of Chinese people (I am assuming they were Chinese, the commercial never tells me) cheering with their hands in the air. All of the people look very similar. Suddenly, an athlete comes running on top of the people, they are holding her in the air with their hands. She runs with a basketball and jumps up to lay it into a hoop made out of the people. One by one, athletes (presumably Chinese because of their red athletic attire) are shown doing what they do with the people facilitating their efforts. The people assume the role of several things:
- a basketball hoop and court
- a soccer field and a soccer teammate
- a supporting team for women's volleyball
- a high dive platform and then the water
I can see where a parallel might be shown here between the people above, and Nakamura's "other", but I really don't think that was the message of the commercial. I think it was simply meant to acknowledge and celebrate what has been overcome in order for the Olympics to be held in Beijing.
Second Commercial
This commercial shows Jackie Chan attempting to use his Visa to get to the Olympics. His quest started when he saw a billboard with Yao Ming on it and the message to "JOIN THE TEAM" at Beijing in 2008. Jackie first uses his visa to purchase a ping pong paddle, and attempts to get to the Olympics playing ping pong. Things just don't work out, and Jackie is forced to go back and buy more sporting goods with his Visa to attempt to get to the Olympics by means of another sport. This process repeats through several different sports, and finally Jackie sees a bus driving by with Yao Ming on the side saying that Visa is the easiest way to get to the Olympics. At the end of the commercial, Jackie is sitting at the Olympics when Yao Ming sits in front of him, basketball under arm, and completely blocks Jackie's view. Jackie pops the basketball out from under Yao's arm and pokes his head through so he can see. Yao looks down at Jackie and smiles and they happily watch the games together.
It seems likely that Visa is sending us the message that their product will bridge the world divide for us and bring us closer together. In Nakamura's paper, she says that these ads "claim a world without boundaries for us...".
Third Commercial
The third commercial I watched is a commercial for GE. It shows two traditional-looking Chinese girls walking through a wooded area. They join up with a group of people all headed up a nearby mountain with backpacks carrying what looks like branches, twigs, and grass. They throw it all in a big pile and a dragon comes out and starts eating it. The two girls get a little close and the dragon shoots flames out of its mouth onto a large copper ball containing water. Steam results and pipes leading out of the cave are shown with steam coming out of them. The pipes lead to an outdoor hot tub with a bunch of villagers swimming in it. The narrative states that turning plants and grass into energy is "no longer the stuff of legends".
This commercial really seems to parallel Nakamura's view on cybernetic tourism. In the beginning, a traditional looking view of the Chinese country-side was shown, followed by the trip to see the mythical Chinese dragon. I believe this demonstrates some of what Nakamura saw in her examples of the "other" being shown as different, "unspoiled", and exotic. Certainly, the hot tub could also be interpreted as showing a commonality between 'us' and 'them'. One might also read into the message and think that the use of GEs product will bring upon the utopian (read bio-energy) future.
Concluded
According to the great Wikipedia, "Cybernetics was defined by Norbert Wiener, in his book of that title, as the study of control and communication in the animal and the machine". Based on that, it seems that a literal definition of cybernetic tourism might have to do with technology allowing people to explore the world and, more specifically, how it works. Or, it might mean that tech facilitates some sort of spiraling effect similar to a wheel in motion on our society.
3 comments:
I noticed how you emphasized "people" in your analysis of the Adidas commercial. With Adidas' slogan "Impossible is nothing" is aimed at the consumer who watches in that they are a part of the games.
I love that Jackie Chan commercial as you will see on my blog. I can see how you came to the conclusion "A world without boundaries." Another way to tell the consumer that you can do this too, if you use our product since Jackie used the card to buy all his sports equipment.
The GE Dragon ad, I felt showcased the idea of the cybertourism. It had the sense of exotic, but also bridged the gap between tradition and technology.
Kerry
Jason- I liked the layout of your site (how you included the youtube.com commercials directly into your BlogSpot space) as well as the use of the intro/conclusion section. I thought that it was nice to see that you looked up the definition of “cyber studies” and tried to link the general idea to some of the topics that we covered during class. I did want maybe a little more about why you choose to write what you did (just your ideas behind why/or where you are coming from). Good job mentioning Nakamura and some of the ideas expressed in that piece.
Jenny K.
Jason, I really liked your post also. Including those videos was a real attention grabber for me. You never know if people are just making stuff up about what they are posting but the videos validate your work. I think those Visa commercials are right on with breaking down the boundaries and making an attempt to bridge the gaps we might have in the world. Good work.
Reed
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