The Diary of an American Witchdoctor

Who created this media message? Why?

The artist Witchdoctor and the record label who releases him produced this advertisement to tell everyone that this artist(Witchdoctor) has an album available in stores.

Who is the target audience? What text, images or sounds suggest this?

The target audience is adults, particularly ones who watch adult swim and like rap music. In this ad there is a lot of sexually provactive messages shown in the characters. When they play a clip for the song "Best Year" you can see the man pretending to spank the woman. Plus listen to what exactly is being rapped when they play the clip for "The Barrel" The adult swim audience speaks to the fact that I first saw this ad on adult swim(cartoon networks nighttime programming) and that it's 9.99 at adultswim.com which means people who watch adult swim were probably the ones who demanded this product in the first place. I also think the fact that this album's parental advisory sticker is highlighted tells viewers that this material is explicit and probably not appropriate for young ears.

What is the text(literal) meaning of the message?

The literal text of this message is that this artist who is heard a adult swim programming has released an album so people can hear all their favorite songs from the shows. They are advertising it is for sale for 9.99 at adultswim.com and available in stores everywhere.

What is the subtext(hidden message)?

The hidden message is that this music will help you "get down." The people in the advertisement are dancing very provocatively and are hinting to viewers that if the camera wasn't on them, they wouldn't be wearing clothes. Essentially these guys knew the people who watch adult swim, will see this ad(because it airs on adult swim a lot) so they figured most of the programming is full of dirty innuendos, they might as well make the advertising that way to.

What kind of lifestyle is presented? Is it glamorized? How?

The lifestyle presented is the lifestyle of free loving individuals who like to dance. I think the expressions on the peoples faces throughout the commercial glamorize this life style showing that with Witchdoctor's music and hot sweaty bodies, good times follow.

What values are expressed?

I don't think any good values for elementary school children are expressed. If I had a child work his tail off at music his whole life and then when he turns 21 puts out a provocative album like that I wouldn't complain. At the same time I'd be worried if they were listening to that album when I have them as a 9 year old student. I don't have anything against Witchdoctor putting out this album, but I would have an extremely hard time justifying an values in this. One could argue Witchdoctor's values are pretty clearly stated in this advertisement. I think this commercial and music shown in it displays that the artist Witchdoctor is all about partying and ladies, thats what he values most.

What techniques of persuasion are being used?

The main technique of persuasion is humor and sex appeal. The commercial is poking fun at the collection of song one can order off TV(Like the BEST OF THE 90's or Now Music Collection). I have seen a bunch for old motown songs and the ads always shows these outdated people boogie woogie-ing down. This parody of those commercials helps sells the product to people who are looking for something thats different. "goofballs" haven't really attacked mainstream rap and I think Witchdoctor is trying to get this "goofball" market. He wants his fans(no matter where they are from) to know that he likes getting down and having fun. He could have made a hardcore commercial showing him as a man capable of shooting me, but instead they show him as a man capable of shooting me with a sense of humor. The sex appeal part comes from the fact that aside from Witchdoctor telling us about it being available on "Adultswim.com" a woman is always dancing sexually. I am not going to lie, whenever a commercial has pretty women in it, I think of those pretty women and get drawn to the product, I'm ashamed but I know it's true. An example of this is this video for a song called "Mama's Room" by Under Influence of Giants. The images in this video made me think of pretty women thus drawing me to CD and band.


What healthy and unhealthy messages are being communicated?

The healthy message promoted in this ad is that Witchdoctor stayed true to his guns. I don't really think Witchdoctor is a top 100 chart seller but I think his ad showed he doesn't care about that. He just wants to make his extremely provocative music and go on to the next thing. At the same time this commercial marinates in unhealthy messages. The way the women are shown could be argued as degrading to some. Some people may feel they are portrayed as objects for men. Also the music he's advertising isn't exactly all ages friendly. A child who sees this commercial might be exposed to too many things his/her parents were not ready for. I also would worry that kids might think the lyrics are funny(and might not understand what he's saying sometime) and repeat them at inappropriate times. For example a child at Campfire heard like a virgin and started blurting the lyrics out all the time without understanding what a virgin is.

What part of the story is not being told?

The part of the story is how "real" is Witchdoctor. Is Witchdoctor really from the streets or did he grow up with a butler. I'm sure these answers could be answered really easily with assistance from Google but he never claims what streets he tore up. I also don't know a lot about him, himself. For example I tend to stray away from artists who feel sueing people for more then they are worth for downloading songs. If witchdoctor feels this way I would hate to get really into his music and then have to know that, it would drive me nuts. If I knew right off the bat Witchdoctor was one of those people, I'd refuse to listen to the music in the first place.