50 cent banned advert. ‘ got shot 9 times’
1.How does the ad glamorise violence? (Consider mise-en-scene, shot type, camera angle, use of sound, editing)
The 50 Cent banned advert uses a variety of successful techniques in order to glamorize violence . The advert firstly begins with a train scene in the middle of the street . The emphasis that a train is being used whilst its moving in an incredible fast pace connotes the idea of a person’s life being taken in an instant . The sound of the train is loud therefore stating the danger of what a train can do if you were to be pushed into one by a bunch of hooligans who think that they are cool by killing other people to earn street credit.
The scene whereby the water drops of from the black wire , then transfers as if blood was dropping from somebody whose hurt in an accident , also the use of a police siren grabs our attention because we have thirst for the rest of the advert , however the use of sound of a young girl screaming in the background after 50 cents being shot for the first time would scare a younger audience watching the advert before the 9pm watershed.
50 cents voice over of being shot 9 times , makes us realise as an audience the dangers of crime within the UK and how its rapidly shooting up with the ease of getting a gun without a license at the age of 18 .
The colour contrast where 50 cent is sitting on a large box , with a dark background against his red jacket makes 50 cent seem involved with violent crimes perhaps in his past life or maybe that his upbringing evolved along a crime based family , therefore 50 cent may have been in an environment that exposed him to what crime is like and he may have thought that this was the correct thing to do therefore involving himself with violent crimes to make him look ‘cool’ .
The news broadcaster voices being used really quickly to get the news across in American T.V and to the public , will impact those people who think that crime is cool when they are at a young age , and make them think twice before being involved in gangs around the streets.
The music used within the reebok advert is quiet simple and plain however highlights how simple it is to loose your own life due to being drawn into the wrong crowd .
The director of the advert has successfully applied certain camera angles toward the protagonist , firstly an extreme long shot is used when we see 50 cent on the table ,this is to create an effect of how scary he really is from a distance , we could imply that he would kill us on the spot . Then the camera zooms into 50 cent ‘s face to reveal how serious he is about violence and that he will never do it again for the 10th time.
2. Why would a global company like Reebok glamorise violence in this way? What do you think is their intention?.
Reebok has only one intention : to educate and warn people of our age group 16-18 that crime in the whole world is wrong , its dangerous and you could potentially be taking an innocent persons life away . They want us to realise that music superstars are just like us they are no different from us just because they are followed 24/7 and lead a rich life and are seen in a good light does not mean that they themselves have not had near death incidents . In this case Curtis James Jackson III formally known by his stage name 50 cent is used as a product of crime because he had himself involved in feuds before and he did get shot at 9 times and luckily survived . Reebok does not wish to glamorise violence in a positive way but rather the opposite, they want us to view this advert and become more cautious of our own foolish gangster style behaviour that may involve us going to the hospital one day and not surviving from the first shot . Reebok wants us to be more politically aware of what knife and gun crime actually is ... its not glamorise its very dangerous ... hence the reason why so many police patrol the streets at night time in developed countries such as the UK because here its on the uprise and has not improved until recently the governments initiatives to tell people to hand over guns and knives in so called ‘bins’ .Reebok wants more of us (teenagers) to be those people who back down from gun crime and violence, and say to ourselves how can we become better people ? . We could turn the wrong path and continue like 50 cent and get shot 9 times , or we must do something to decrease this alarmingly dangerous trend.
3. Who is the target audience and how do you think they would be affected by the ideology of the ad?
The TA of this particular advert is teenagers because it them that seem to be on news headlines most of the time about stabbings and shootings .The ideas and beliefs behind this powerful and sorrowful advert is that we must be more aware of what dangers there are behind carrying a weapon with us for protection ,as carrying such things may lead to our ending of ourselves if we are the ones lurking on the streets on the middle of midnight trying to act tough and ‘rude’ . There is no way that we are tough and rude by taking each others lives ,its cowardice and murder .
Some teenagers may cry when they see the advert as a family member or fellow friend may ,have lost their delicate and youthful lives due to being a victim of crime attacks.
4. In your opinion, should the ad have been banned? Why/Why not?
To be honest I do think that the advert should have been banned , firstly it send out the wrong image of crime using 50 cent . 50 cent is an alternative representation of what crime is because he wants us to understand why we must never get involved in a mess like his past , which is cleverly referenced by his words ‘got shot 9 times’ .
Secondly younger audience such as 11 year olds may think that crime is cool because a famous rapper and artist got shot 9 times, therefore they are more likely to start violence from a young age thinking that its the correct thing when its not.
Thirdly the portrayal of the advert is really scary and may frighten us as a young audience due to the images such as the blood dropping , the train moving swiftly ,the gun shots, the news report ... the overall piecing of the advert sends out a reality check for us in a negative light .
The main endorsement of this advert is that 50 cent symbolises RBK new brand shoes , therefore anyone who wants to be like 50 cent has to wear those shoes . However it does not mean go out and kill people to be like 50 cent , because the advertisers want us to know that this is not the message to be carried forward in our heads.
Zainab Aljawahiri.
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