Senior Seminar Research....AHHH!!

So I am in the process of completing my first (and final) big research project. For my mass communication senior seminar class, we are required to do a group and personal paper on a research topic of our choice. A few weeks ago, we all submitted research proposals...mine was an idea to look at TV shows from the 1950's , 60's 70's 80's and 90's and compare them with the popular shows of today. Our society has gone from I Love Lucy where a married couple was shown sleeping in separate beds, to shows like Teen Mom, where we highlight the lives of unwed teenage mothers. After breaking up into groups, however, my team decided to look at alcohol advertising deciphering how beer, wine, liquor, and anti-alcohol campaigns all use different methods to hook their target audience.

Previous research has shown that beer ads as a whole appeal more to men, and often involve humor and women depicted as sexual objects. Wine ads have two main target audiences, ages 21-29 and 30-45. Their ads use specific jargon, leading viewers to believe knowledge is required in order for the consumer to appreciate wine as an experience. Liquor ads use lifestyle branding, grabbing their target audience by showing a desirable lifestyle of luxury or leisure.

So what next? we are going to look at the top ten brands of beer, wine and liquor and view five commercials and then compare these with anti-alcohol ads. At the end of the semester, we are going to turn in a 15 page paper on our findings and hopefully present at the student research conference at GCSU on April 16. Wish us luck!