Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Logorama: life in an overly materialistic world



Logorama won the academy award for best animated short. Anyone interested in advertising, branding or any aspect of marketing communication should see this short film. The film represents an apocalyptic vision of a world that is over-saturated with logos. The number of familiar characters and brands--there are 2500 logos represented--is simply amazing to see as the film's story unfolds. The film's producer, Nicolas Schmerkin, said in one web-site report, the film is
"not about America. It's about our modern western world. So it also applies to France and Buenos Aires, where I am from, so it's not about Americans. It's about the way we live and the way we react to these logos. The brain can register 14 logos in less than one second. Making the logos characters with sets and props is about what we're living. I'm not talking about what the logos represent. They're used for what they are."
I have to warn you that the language is R-rated. But the film makes an important statement about the overly materialistic world we live in and the consequences of abundance.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! This was actually an amazing short film to watch, and I really enjoyed it! It's amazing that they put 2500 different logos in this film. Every setting, prop, character, vehicle, EVERYTHING was a logo and it definitely makes one think. As I watched the film unfold, and see how everything crumbled in the end, I felt as though it was extremely symbolic! It's interesting to think about how many different brands there are in our world, and the fact that we are completely surrounded. We don't always notice this, but no matter what, it's almost as if every single thing we do is being used as an advertisement or somehow relates! The cars we drive, what we drink, the clothes we wear, the sunglasses, our pens, the places we go...everything is branded and it makes things a little scary. We're completely covered in ads... will our branded world cave as it did in Logorama?

It's definitely something to think about, and after watching this I've become much more aware of logos and branding in everyday life. This I never realized before have become clear to me now. It's kind of freaky to think about how many ads and brands our eyes are subjected to everyday without us even really knowing.

Becky Quinn said...

I thought this video was extremely well done; it definitely deserves its Academy Award. First of all, it both intrigued me and slightly disturbed me that the cityscape in this world does not look much different than the world we do live in. The overabundance of logos was supposed to be an exaggeration, but the scenes as I walk through Times Square or drive past a mini-mall are not drastically different than the scenes depicted in this movie. Logos and brands really are beginning to take over the world. In the movie Supersize Me, Michael Moore was interviewing young children, and more of these children could identify Ronald McDonald than Jesus. However, it is not even these children's fault; they are just a product of a world littered with logos. Although I do not believe that the world is going to collapse because of materialism, I do think that culture and human interaction are going to be severely affected in a negative way by the over-branding that we are exposed to.

Victoria Anne said...

This short film was extremely entertaining and I was not bored at any moment during the film. I was amazed at how many logos and brand names they used throughout the entire thing. The most interesting part of the film was the fact that the criminal was Ronald McDonald. It also represented how in society, McDonalds food really can be evil!

This short film really opened my eyes to how many thousands of brands there are in the world. You cant walk for ten seconds without glancing to your left or right and seeing some sort of logo or brand name. Whether it's on a side of a truck or in tiny fine print at the bottom of a poster, brands are EVERYWHERE.

It was amazing how the film incorporated brands not only into billboards and street signs, but into actual people and vehicles. Every image had a meaning. And all the images themselves had a huge meaning all together. Brands, logos, and advertising is everywhere around us.

Katherine Kalec said...

I found this short film to be extremely interesting and frightening at the same time. It was interesting because of the way they included 2500 advertisements into the film. The frightening part about it was the fact that I was if not extremely familiar with most of the advertisements, I felt like i had at least seem them once of twice.

It is amazing to me how much advertising has an impact on our lives. Right now, only looking straight ahead in my room I can count 4 advertising logos. My phone, my sweater, my pants, and my computer. The thing is, I don't even realized I am advertising my brands. That is howscary it has become.

All in all, I thought this was a great film and extremely insightful to the world we live in.

I'm Miz. said...

This short film really made me think about materialism and over-advertising in our world. As in Logorama, advertisements and logos can be seen almost everywhere you look. As stated in The Persuaders, advertising is clutter. It's kind of scary to think that materialism could cause what it did in this film. I don't think that the effects of advertising will be as drastic as those in this film, however, I definitely see a correlation between the film and our actual world. The amount of brands, logos, and ads we are subjected to every day can have a negative effect on our social and cultural world if not regulated.

nicole brianne said...

I am actually really glad I got the opportunity to watch this film, as I probably wouldn’t have known about it without this class. I thought it was so interesting that all the logos were so recognizable to me. It really made me think about how much I’ve seen them throughout my whole life. We have also basically grown up with these logos in a sense. I agree with Becky, that although this was obviously an exaggeration, it wasn’t too different than Time Square or stadiums with advertisements posted everywhere. Although our world isn’t as obvious as the movie is, I think it is completely possible to look around and picture everything in terms on brands instead of the objects themselves. I think it also goes to show the importance of branding. Products become more than products when they have a logo attached. They become an identifiable and relatable entity. People place such an importance on brands today to the point where products may be ultimately the same, but people will purchase a more expensive item to the association of the brand that comes with it. What’s the difference? Overall, this short movie really shows how materialistic our society has become and how everywhere you look, there are ads and logos and brands just fighting for our attention.