Confusing Cartoon

All though this is a cartoon, it makes a very valid point. Overwhelming, your audience with an abundance of unexplained statistics leads to confusion. In this particular situation the result that the statistician is rambling off is supposed to represent the opinions of voters, but in order to comprehend the audience has to reread the sentence multiple times. 75.8% of the 65.2% of GPs, so to begin with you only have 65.2% GPs, and out of them only 75.8% bothered to vote. The voters were only 29.3% happy, with 14.2% of the proposals. Seeing it more thoroughly explained makes it slightly easier to understand the sentence, however there are still too many statistics and the details are still fuzzy. Though this example is from a cartoon, that is clearly meant to make you laugh, it brings about an interesting point. When writing technically we want to present the audience with all of the information, but it is important to properly explain the information without using jargon and numbers that will only confuse our audience.

Poorly Written Sign

This sign does make a point; the road is flooded during floods. However the average person would view this information as common sense. There are many ways this sign could present the information more effectively. Stating the obvious makes it seems like the sign is a joke. If the sign took on a stern tone it might convey the message more seriously. Perhaps the sign should read, “Road Prone to Flooding.” The sign might also be more visually appealing if the English script were larger and more emphasized than the Spanish. Since English is our primary language it is most likely the portion of the sign that is read the most, therefore making it more accessible to the audience would be an improvement.

Funny, but Not That Effective

I was wasting some time on you tube when I came across the “Real Men of Genius” advertisements from Budweiser. You might recall these being somewhat comical songs about the less intelligent average Joe, with titles such as Mr. 80SPF Sun block Wearer, Mr. All You Can Eat Buffet Inventor, and so on. At the time these advertisements were created I thought they were great because of the humor involved. However, after being in Technical Writing for a few weeks, I can see some real flaws with this method of advertising. Yes the songs may bring a smile to your face, but Budweiser really did a poor job reaching their entire audience. They supported and the average Joe, but what about Jane? Budweiser’s campaign might have been more effective if they had included a Ms. Tone-deaf Karaoke Singer. It is feasible to think that by mentioning women in their advertising, the company might have gotten the attention of more women thus increasing sales to females. In addition, and it might be stereotypical on my part to say so, but the men described by the Budweiser commercials all seem Caucasian. I believe it would have been a much wiser decision on the company’s part to create an advertising campaign that did not imply any race or gender affiliation. If you are going to spend millions of dollars in advertising wouldn’t you want to reach the largest audience possible?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHNt9rXSsTM

Wait, how does that go?

Last night my friend Viktoria and I were driving home and heard the song Crank That by Soulja Boy on the radio, and suddenly it came to our attention that neither one of us knew the dance made to go along with the song. Once we got back to my apartment we did some searching on YouTube to find instructions to the infamous dance. Finally we found a video of Soulja Boy himself instructing his listeners on what to do. After multiple failed attempts we both had our complaints about this instructional how to. I was hard enough to conquer the poor grammar and annunciation throughout the video, but when you throw in the fact that Soulja Boy rarely tells you what leg to lead with it becomes even harder. This is one rapper who definitely needs to work on his instructional dialogue. Not to mention, if you’re facing the screen while trying to dance you’ll be completely backwards. This video would have done a much better job communicating to its audience if the language were clearer and more concise, or perhaps just proper language versus slang terms. It also would have been a lot more helpful to have better visual aid while practicing the steps. An aerial view of what your legs and feet should be doing would have been ideal. Then the viewer could face the screen to memorize the steps without being intangibly tangled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLGLum5SyKQ

Confusing Pregnancy Tests

I myself never have had the need to take a pregnancy test, though I admit I’ve been present when a close family friend got her good news. Our friend was patiently trying for a new bundle of joy, so she had become a professional at the various plus signs, lines, and facial expressions. However, to the innocent by stander reading the pregnancy test might seem like an impossible feat. The makers of these tests should be more efficient in their descriptions of the symbols; smiley face, frowning face, the only face I’m wearing is a confused one. The graphics are unclear, and the written instructions that come along with the tests don’t offer much of an explanation for the perplexing pictures. The Pregnancy test providers should be more aware of their audience’s needs, and offer answers for those tests that don’t read as clearly and distinctly as the diagrams that come in the instruction manual.

http://thefertilityshop.com/pgstrins.htm

Unethical Gas Stations

When exiting the interstate I noticed a tiny sign beside the prices of gas at the Exxon gas station. The sign explained that the listed prices were only for customers paying in cash or with an Exxon Gas Credit Card. The small side sign was not effective because it leaves what is the most important information to the consumer, the actually price of the gas if you’re paying by other means, unknown and presumably higher. Not to mention the small disclaimer sign has text so small that the consumer has to be in close range of the gas station in order to read it. Posting this sign was a very unethical decision by the gas station. Its as though they’re trying to trick their clientele. The sign breaks the company’s credibility with its audience and goes against common values and beliefs. Who wants to buy gas from a company that’s trying to trick them?

(Disclaimer: This picture is from a different Exxon and obviously taken a while ago when gas was cheaper. However it's nearly identical to the one I'm referring to.)