Corporate Windmills

When McLuhan said that "art acts as an early alarm system", I interpreted it as art influences people with what is going on in the movements of society. The main cause for this interpretation is that art changes with the times. As different movements come into our society many things change: art, politics, literature, trends, music, technology, etc. One of the main things that an artist does is convey their point of view through their artwork. People have really started to sense the influence that society has on them ever since media has become such a prevalence in their everyday lives. Art is something that is influenced by the culture the artist lives in as well as influences the culture the artist lives in. It can be what's effected and what has the effect at the same time.

Corporate windmills is an interesting advertisement. When I first saw the advertisement all I could see were all of the different logos of corporate companies. Then as I thought about it more, I felt it was the corporate way of trying to take a bite out of the green/environmental movement. All of the companies: Nike, McDonalds, Microsoft, Shell Gasoline, Mastercard are companies that Americans know by seeing just their logos. This makes the message (go green, we are too) influential to people who know and or use these companies. Using the catchy motto of the Nike company at the bottom of the ad also helps push the message forward as well. The advertisement companies do a good job of making their way into the movements that are going on in our country, going Green being an extremely important issue for the nation. Young people especially are feeling the most passionate about environmental issues and I bet you could conclude that almost all young people in America could identify those companies based of their logos alone. I think that this advertisement is a brilliant way to grab peoples attention. Going green isn't cheap and if anyone in this country should be heading in the green direction it should be huge companies that Americans (and people around the world) spend a lot of money on. http://greenrankings.newsweek.com/

With all of that said, the second picture tells the viewer something else. First of all it doesn't really make you do a double take, it is clear to see what the photographer wants you to see, the 8 windmills converting wind into energy. This advertisement is neither good or bad but it didn't make me really think or question the photo much like the one above had. Like McLuhan said "it was not the machine but what one did with the machine". The message is there either way, but it's what you do with that message that makes all the difference. Whichever way the message is interpreted by someone, it's about the environment. One medium of the message puts familiar things in it to get more emphasis while the other medium is the pure, uninterrupted message you should be able to see easily, without other influences playing on your interpretation.