Using "The Avengers" To Teach Media Literacy

[Peter Gutierrez]

In today's post over at Connect the Pop I do something a little unusual... I share all the emails about The Avengers that I've received from Disney publicity over a 6+ month period. Here are the critical literacy-flavored discussion questions that I finish up with:

• Why are journalists positioned as “sharing” assets and news with readers? And how might this in turn position readers?
• In what ways can publicists and journalists get more mileage out of what is essentially the same development? (Sample answer: a trailer is unveiled — but at first it’s only on iTunes; later it becomes available for any news site or blogger to post, which becomes the topic for a separate press release.)
• How does the mixing of actual “hard” news (Scarlett Johansson gets a star in Hollywood; the movie’s grosses) with more purely promotional items serve to blur the line between the two? And what are some possible outcomes from that blurring?
• What are all the different types of media alluded to… and why might it be wise for publicists and marketers to vary them (text-only, static images such as photos and posters, moving images such as clips and trailers, etc.)?
• How does such a publicity campaign reflect the twin objectives of both serving fandom and leveraging it for commercial ends? Are fans aware of their role in this system? For example, do you think the fans who chatted on Twitter knew that their thread would eventually be disseminated to journalists?
• How does using the full title of “Marvel’s The Avengers” create a branding effect over time?
• In what ways do the subject lines or email texts employ a band-wagon-y tone that persuades recipients to join in on the fun?

more, including the list of emails itself, at: http://bit.ly/JfDMBT

Thanks!

[Marek Bennett]

That "Marvel's The Avengers" piece of branding is significant from the perspective of Creator's Rights...

Could James Sturm's boycott article add some perspective to the whole topic? http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/02/the_avengers_... 

[Peter Gutierrez]

Wow, that's great -- I should have thought of that. In fact, I may go back and add it to the post (crediting you, of course). Also, I do plan on dealing with the creators' rights issue in some separate posts in the next couple of months, including a guest post from Marc Tyler Nobleman. Do you know him? Wrote the Siegel and Shuster book a few years ago and has a new one coming out on Bill Finger?

Anyway, thanks, Marek... :)

[Peter Gutierrez]

Don't know that you saw my reply below, or the posts that we've done on this issue, but I do go back and (belatedly) acknowledge you for this important point. Thanks again...