my first finding

This blog is a collection of things I find in the media that stop and make me think. I am in a Media Literacy class this semester, realizing the importance of stopping to consider the power that media has in our culture and for our future students.

Last week I was listening to the radio while I drove to St. Louis from Columbia. This advertisement came on from the governor of Texas trying to convince Missouri residents to move to the state of Texas. He spoke about how Texas doesn't have as many taxes as Missouri does and how easy it is to come start a business there. At first, I just listened to this like I would any other radio ad, but then I realized the oddity of this. Normally I think of ads as trying to get people's business because they need it. When I thought about the huge state of Texas as trying to get people to move there, it struck me as such a strange thing. Why does Texas want Missourians to move there? Is the governor advertising this in other states? Is this even a thing? And also, are states going to start advertising in other states convincing people to move? It reminded me of commercials of California I used to watch when I was a kid. They would show clips of the ocean, Disney Land, and a kid swimming with a dolphin. This is more trying to convince people to vacation there and to attract more tourists, but the Texas governor is trying to get more residents. It's just interesting to think about the fact that everyone is trying to get people to want something different. Even states. The classic advertising model: making people realize that what they have isn't as good as what they could have.