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Prompt
For this assignment, consider the following scenario and submit your resolution as a two-paragraph journal assignment:
You are the head of human resources at a fairly large multinational company operating in northern California. You work closely with the marketing department on maintaining the company’s image internally and to the general media.
As part of the company’s outreach and community support, your company has started developing interactive docent stations at some of the state’s cultural heritage sites. These are electronic interfaces at a few regional state-registered historical and archaeological sites that let tourists interact, ask questions, and develop a more integrated sense of the cultural landscape than a brochure.
You and your team are working closely with state officials to make tourism more modernized and inclusive for a wider audience. Specifically, you have been tasked with developing the marketing campaign that will focus on the general public. You will likely have to produce billboards, television ads, and internet ads. Although you have a member of the National Parks Service consulting on your team, you and your crew are really the ones making the decisions. The advertisements you came up with were sent to final review with the National Parks Service and in public groups, and they came back with mixed reviews. You are struggling to understand why.
Billboard: The billboard is located alongside a major highway and near one of the historic sites. It reads, “Visit Governor State Historic Site . . . bringing the past to you digitally.” It has a picture of a family admiring a digitally produced, 3D representation of the state’s oldest estate with a line of RVs in the background.
Television Ad: Your television ad has a couple of spots in primetime, but they’re regional channels, so your audiences are likely local resident families and singles eating dinner. It talks about the good old days and has two different all white families climbing ancient Indian mounds from indigenous groups from to the area. One of the actors comments, “A fun place to bring your family!” as spotlessly dressed children play on top of the mound as dad and mom take a selfie on it. Everyone is laughing and enjoying the sunshine.
Internet Banner: The internet banner is only on the National Parks website, so visitors are likely people interested in outdoor vacationing and quick weekend retreats. It has a picture of a stoic-looking tribal chief, though he is not affiliated with the living groups of the ancestral lands. His wife and children are barely covered in their hide and fur squares of clothing. The image is beautifully drawn with immense detail by a well-known and expensive artist from a different state. The tagline flashes, “Visit State Archaeological Site and Learn Our Heritage.”
Without drafting responses, think about some of the questions members of the senior management team might ask you when this marketing campaign comes up in leadership meetings. These questions may include:
· What is each of these advertisements trying to accomplish?
· Who is the perceived audience in each case?
· What might the current advertisements suggest about the reason the company values the tourist sites? Keep in mind that values are not the same across cultural groups. One group may value something that another does not.
· Is there anyone who would not enjoy the message?
· How does our interpretation of their messages reflect our cultural biases?
Now, for your submission, respond to each of the following three items:
1. Provide an
analysis of the cultural representation each media outlet is presenting, including the billboard, television ad, and internet banner.
2. Discuss the
questions provided above, paying particular attention to the
ethical dimensions of the questions.
3. Offer one
recommendation that would improve the representation contained in one of the media outlets.
What to Submit
Write a minimum 2-paragraph journal assignment of your resolution and submit it as a Word document.
