Kendall
Steele
14
September 2012
Professor
Asher
FYS:
Visualizing San Francisco
Why
Eat this?
What we put into our bodies is important.
However, there is a lot of competition when it comes to advertising food
products. For today’s thought paper, I decided to discuss the ‘popchip’ signage
I snapped a photo of near Crossroads. I found this piece of signage
particularly intriguing, because it appeals to the healthy lifestyle that is
being promoted in a society where our body and its abilities has been taken for
granted. For decades, the US has been on slippery slope of obesity and
diabetes, so much so in fact, that these issues can no longer be ignored. It is
time for us to face these problems headfirst. In my opinion, this signage does
a great job at promoting that healthier lifestyle due to its mobility, it’s
advertising, and the location that it is selling its product to.
Why
make a moving sign? What is the point? Aren’t things supposed to stay in one
place? Well, these questions in themselves are enough to prove that a mobile
sign has a purpose; they are intriguing. In fact, “all reading we do, perhaps
anything we do, is backed up by various ideas or theories,” (Silverman/Rader,
3). Therefore, mobile signs are designed to intrigue a person and make them ask
questions. Mobile signs catch our attention. This “popchip” sign on the back of
a moving truck is interesting. For example, even if all you saw, as the truck
whipped passed you on a freeway was the vibrant red orange hues, you’d be
enticed; this sign leaves you wanting more. In my opinion, this sign does a
particularly great job at being mobile because the advertising is well thought
out.
Silverman
and Rader in their book, The World is a Text, explain, “advertisers use
various techniques to get us to respond to their ads,” (Silverman/Rader 15). The
advertising on this moving billboard is eye-catching. The red and orange
coloring is bright and fun, but they are also colors that trigger a reader’s
hunger. Furthermore, the font of the text is similar to that on an Internet
browser. Therefore, I conclude that this advertisement is meant for a younger
generation. In fact, one of the few textual things on the billboard is a URL
address. Furthermore, due to the fact that this signage is mobile, it is
definitely communicating to people who own cars or some form of transportation.
Additionally, this moving billboard creates many different forms of place,
because it is constantly on the move. For example, this moving sign would bring
up different questions is it was parked in front of an office building or a
jail rather then it being parked in front of a university.
In
my opinion, the location of this particular sign is important to its overall message.
University of San Francisco’s cafeteria, the Market Café, is known for its
healthy food and alternative choices. So, when I saw this sign unloading its
product into the cafeteria, I felt as if I viewing the process and decision
making the Market Café makes on a daily choice. I understand that they are
chips, but at least University of San Francisco makes the choice to pick all
natural chips instead of some over processed Cheetos or Doritos.
Overall,
I think this signage does a great job of getting a message across. A hundred
years ago, a moving billboard was unfathomable. Instead people, would hear of
things by word of mouth. But now, in a society that is so faced paced and far
less connected, moving billboards due a great job at connecting us to their
product. This ‘popchip’ signage is fun to look at and is promoting a positive
message. Therefore, I feel that this sign is a success and I think I’m going to
go eat some Barbeque Popchips right now.
Works
Cited
Silverman,
Jonathan, and Dean Rader. The World Is a
Text: Writing, Reading, and Thinking about Culture and Its Contexts. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. Print.
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