Component 2 - Media forms and products in depth - ADBUSTERS

Component one - unseen content, unexpected questions, easier

Component two - seen content, expected questions, more difficult

Detournement - Hijacking or rerouting, AKA - 'culture jamming'

Culture Jamming - taking something which exists in popular culture, and changing it's meaning. It is the practise of criticising and subverting advertising and consumerism in the mass media, by methods such as producing advertisements parodying those of global brands.

A consumerist society is one which is based on buying things.

An issue with mass media communication, is that there is less variety. This means that it is easier for a producer to communicate with many more people, but if the message is bad, this can be viewed as problematic.

A parody is something which mocks something.

Adbusters front page analysis 

Everything about the front cover is stereotypically masculine. The colour scheme of dark greens and black, which are stereotypically masculine. Similarly, the white font in the masthead is covered slightly with dirt, this could suggest that the magazine is going to be unconventional.

There is no copy on the front page, other than two large titles. This allows a stronger focus on the dominant image. The mise-en-scene of the man's costume, is an Army uniform. This is a stereotypically masculine job.

The man's facial expression is aggressive, this could create the narrative of him being in a war. This could also represent war-games. "The year of living dangerously." Further reinforces this narrative of him being in a war, as war is associated with a sense of danger and threat. His hand is also balled up into a fist, which shows that he is angry and ready to fight.

There is not a lot of copy, so it could suggest that the magazine is suitable for those in the working class with lower-intelligence, as it is easy to understand. The image is not complex, either.

This front cover, unlike the woman cover, is highly polysemic. It can have multiple meanings.

His face is the main focus of the image, he is either angry or celebrating something. The way he is clenching his fist, acts as a symbolic code, symbolising anger, which could reinforce this idea of anger. It is unknown as to what he is angry about. This image looks as if it has been taken from the news, as he is not posing in a stereotypical way. This cover lacks anchorage, there is no caption at the bottom which tells the audience what or who this is.

Although he could be in the Army, he could also be a terrorist. Because of the lack of anchorage, it is simply unknown. He fits the stereotypical outline of a terrorist.

For someone who has never seen this magazine before, it is challenging to differentiate the masthead and the main headline. The main headline, however, is 'post-west'. This connotes the idea of western countries, which are developed. By saying that the West is developed, and we have a lot of resources, it shows that the East is not. This can create anchorage between the ethnicity of the man in the image, and the assumption the magazine is creating about his background and where he lives.

The man and the way it looks like brown is smudged all over the masthead, makes it look cheap, nasty and dirty. This suggests this magazine has low production values. The font is so large and strong, it could suggest that they are serious and confident in their views about this situation. The man in the dominant image is not ugly, nor attractive to a hegemonic standard. He is just normal.

The simplicity and basic composition and layout of the front page, it could be for a working class audience. It is unclear and therefore creates mystery for the reader. The lack of details creates a hermeneutic code surrounding the genre of the magazine. The target audience is also not clear, and therefore it may be challenging to know who it's aiming for.