Coulisse

We come to you live from the thoughts of a lead pig, Snowball.

Those idiots. They don’t know what’s going on. Those apples and milk aren’t just good for our health, but they’re rather tasty. Boxer, too, the biggest fool. If one thing goes wrong, he’ll just say “I’ll work harder!” This is why us pigs are in charge. We’re smarter than the others. But Napoleon . . . that pig has to get his thoughts straight. If this arguing keeps up, he could throttle the perfect idea of peace we have right now. Maybe it’s time for a change. I should take control. Forget Napoleon and Squealer, this is my time to shine. I know what’s best for me, and I know how to make the others think they know what’s best for them.

In chapters three and four of Animal Farm, more trouble is stirred. The milk was found to be mixed in with the pig’s food, as well as harvested apples. The pigs claimed that this was because apples and milk are essential for a pig–or the thinkers–to be healthy. So the milk and apples were decided to be saved for the pigs and the pigs only. Then, the Jones returned with help, and was briskly defeated by the animals. Afterwards, Snowball decided that there should be some medal of honor. So he and Boxer received a brass medal that said ANIMAL HERO, FIRST CLASS. Then all the sheep that had died in the battle received a medal that said ANIMAL HERO, FIRST CLASS.

The pigs, however, set themselves up to run the farm because they are the most intelligent of all the others, and know how to read and write and such. They immediately took controll and told the animals things that wasn’t understandable, but seemed to be true or make sense.

The fact that the pigs are eating all the milk and apples, doesn’t fit the needs of the Seven Commandments. The seventh rule, and probably the most important, is that all the animals are equal. If that were true, why would the pigs be hogging the apples and milk to themselves? Why would they give out directions but never work? This kind of system can be the very downfall to Animalism and Animal Farm.

In chapters one and two of Animal Farm by George Orwell, a few particular things went on. First of all, all the animals in Manor Farm gathered in the barn to hear Major speak. Major spoke of what he believed; the Rebellion. He spoke of their reasons to rebel, and he sang “Beasts of England” that simply roused up everyone’s spirits. Everyone got so excited, they made a loud enough cheer to wake the old farmer, Mr. Jones. Then, a few months later, when the animals had finally had enough, they drove Jones and his helpers out of town, his wife not far behind. The animals started to take things into their own hands, first milking the cows. Then they moved to the fields to harvest grain, and found that the buckets that had been filled with milk were gone once they came back.

The farm can easily become a utopia. If the animals work hard, be fair, follow their Seven Commandments, and all that jazz, yes, they can achieve a utopia. Though, it can also turn into a dystopia if the leaders–the pigs–start to act communist-y on the poor, less intelligent farm animals, because not all of them can think for themselves.

Snowball seems to have the most power, though he, Napoleon, and Squealer were all in charge as a group. Snowball seems to be putting thoughts into the less intelligent horse’s head, which can lead to no good, once this power is overused. He has good intentions, but something can and will go wrong, no doubt.

The animals are so easily led because they’re not that smart, quite frankly. They can’t exactly think for themselves at all, and that’s hazardous. The pigs are the most intellectual of the animals, so they’re very manipulative to the dumber animals on the farm.

Advertisement just might be ruining the minds of our future leaders; children, and as young as six months. At a preschool center, a taste testing was held. Two samples of the exact same food from McDonald’s were presented to the preschoolers, one packaged and one unpackaged. Most of the children said that the packaged food tasted better, some said the unpackaged food tasted better, and very few said that both samples tasted the same.

             Advertisers pay psychiatrists to find out how to get the attention of youth. They build brand name loyalty by sneaking in brands into everyday life items. For instance, someone like Pizza Hut may stick their logo onto a toy truck and donate them to a preschool. By doing this, they build a familiar sense with the children in hopes that when they’re older they purchase the brand that they’re most recognizable with. Studies show that children as young as six months can already identify brand logos or company mascots. Evidently, this is some form of brainwashing that wipes out the independent opinions of children.

Teenagers are the most-known group to ignoring advertisements. The advertiser’s way around this? Buzz marketing. People from the advertising company go out and try to find the coolest kid in a community and pay those kids to use or wear their product, thus creating a buzz about it, with peer pressure coming into play as well. Now the internet is opening new doors for them. With chat rooms and blogs, advertisers can now spread new music or brands with the internet at their fingertips. This isn’t a form of brainwashing, but it’s peer pressuring teenagers into buying products that they may not be so sure about, or just plain don’t want to wear, but it’s the fact that they don’t want to be left out of the loop. Obviously, buzz marketing mixed with peer pressure is definitely to advertisers’ advantage.

 Now advertisers are bringing it to the next level; specifically targeting adult entertainment to teenagers. Studies show that 80% of 44 R-rated movies had previews that targeted people from ages under seventeen. They purposely run the commercials during hours that teenagers are watching, on TV channels that are popular for their specific age group. A representative from a violent R-rated movie stated, “Our goal was to find the elusive teen target audience, and make sure that everyone between the ages of 12 and 18 was exposed to the film.” Also, music that contains explicit content is advertised on the internet, radio, or even on TV. Though laws restrict the explicit words from going on air, it still leaves it to the consumers’ choice weather to make the purchase of the clean or explicit version. In addition, there are toys and action figures made from mature movies and sold to children as young as four years of age. This is making young people want to jump on the explicit bandwagon earlier than they should. In a sense, it’s another form of brainwashing.

 In conclusion, advertisers are definitely trying to get their items flying off the shelves, but some of their techniques are a little twisted. Building brand name loyalty is building a recognizing sense with slipping in logos to the most everyday objects so that when children are old enough to purchase something, they go directly to the brand that they’re most familiar with. Buzz marketing is peer pressuring teenagers into wearing certain clothes, maybe when they don’t want to wear those clothes, but do anyways to fit in. Then youth is being targeted by movie studios to see movies that they are specifically restricted from seeing, thus expanding their audience. Maybe there should be laws about this, because it’s unhealthy for growing teenagers and children. The advertisers are using a form of brainwashing on young children with brand name loyalty. Brainwashing is illegal in some cases, and it should be in this one. Next, the peer pressure of “buzz advertising” is unhealthy for teenagers, when teenagers should wear what they want without pressure that is put on them. It all starts with the advertisers. Changes need to be made before something bad happens, because advertisers are beginning to turn youngsters into shoppers without opinion, turning into just what advertisers want them to turn into. If something isn’t done about this soon, this country will have even more problems than we already have.