Media Deconstruction Century Link & Alltel

October 26, 2014

Do you agree with the claims made in the deconstruction? I am going to say yes to the media deconstruction of both commercials they were very well presented and convincing.

Is the Century Link ad really a cover for a company that is making profits over customer satisfaction? When you first view their video it looks trust worthy and convincing it is not until you start to dig deeper about the actual company and begin reading about the networking mergers and how their employees lost their jobs then you begin to see the dirt under the rug the company does not look to wonderful anymore. 

The deconstruction of Alltell stood out to me the most I guess it was because Jessica Collins did such a great job of pointing out things I would never think of in an add. However, I have to wonder how many people actually research a product before buying it. Let’s look at our Young Consumers ages 14 through 21 this is the age of the biggest spenders I can’t imagine this group taking the time to research a phone company in order to buy their cell phone. Example the new IPhone 6 let’s assume apple is Alltel.  In the mind of a young adult they are processing the fact that this in a new product and they either must work to get it or ask for it for their birthday or Christmas. Not one is concerned about the Apple Company history or any kinds of merger. How do we then teach our young people about the meaning of media messages without scrutinizing critical autonomy?  

We as the consumer have to always remember that companies like Century Link, Alltell or even Apple are out to make their product appealing at all cost they are in the business of selling and making money. Ads are a highly familiar part of our cultural environment (pg. 116) (Hobbs, 2011). Does it matter the people lose their jobs as a result of company mergers, no it does not, does it matter that you can save money with a family plan no it does not, what matters is what end result are you looking for. Save money by doing your research read the fine print and the history of the company before you fall victim to the media advertising. 

I want to add that the deconstruction for Alltell was a great example of media deconstruction I had never seen one done like this before so for me it was a great visual.  

This is my interpretation of both commercials.