At the Mall

This image was taken in a department store in the mall. I find it interesting because there are many signs featuring Valentine's Day. This is a way for the store to enhance sales by convincing shoppers that they have a duty to buy something for Valentine's Day. It is expected for shoppers--especially those with partners-- to buy something. The store seems to say, "Who better to buy from than, well, us?!? We have everything! We have enough to make your holiday (or if you continue buying from us, your life) complete!"

This next picture was taken at a department store as well, and as shown, the only word visible next to the model says, "woman." There is also something written underneath it in Spanish, but at first glance, everyone notices the word "woman." I think this advertisement is trying to say that if women wear their clothing, they will look and feel like the model-- like a woman. So, what if you don't wear their clothing? Well, in that case, you will look like a female who doesn't belong. You won't look like a woman. You won't qualify for the standard of what "woman" means.

The girls' shirt reads, "OMG! DO YOU EVER STOP TALKING" I find this fairly disturbing. I feel like this is just one example of the way children are trying to look "cool" and grow up faster. Let me explain. I realize that the idea of adolescents and teenagers having an attitude is not a new concept. Teens are known to be rude and easily annoyed. I don't think that children have always held this image. I think that children in the past have had an innocence that older people have tried to protect. Nowadays, I do not think many of the the older siblings or parents of these children care as much about preserving this innocence (and imagination and creativity along with that.) Instead, they treat them like mini teenagers, attitudes and all. The children want to be older, so when they're attuned to it, they act like it. Enter, bratty kids! So, I think that stores play a hand in bringing up children to think that it's normal to get their own way, and to make it known what exactly they want. And, of course, who cares if it's rude?

This forth picture reads, "Donate your jeans and get an additional 25% off your next pair of jeans." I think the central question to ask regarding this promotion is whether the store would gladly do the jeans donation if they didn't expect anything in return. In the case at hand, Aeropostle gives people an incentive (a discount) to buy more of their jeans if people donate old ones. So, Aeropostle might be doing this so that people will just buy more jeans. However, I think that there will be good done through this, which is encouraging.