Cybertypes

Todays reading was for Nakamura entitled "Identity Tourism" describing the commercials and the companies of technology companies. Commercials are a risky business because in the attempt to find something attractive to get the audience to buy the good or service being presented, the company may alienate or isolate a certain type of people. This often happens with race or gender and can have devastating effects on the sale of that particular item. One of the main commercials that Nakamura is describing is a MCI commercial that is the "largest internet network in the world", saying that the company is very worldly and accepted by most people. However, as Nakamura describes, it is paradoxical because it shows many different people and the aim is to show that they are not different and their minds should only be viewed.

One of the key concepts of this article is that fact that it is very much a fantasy and is not a true representation of real world activities. Stated on page 94, describing advertisements about travel, Nakamura writes " Including these 'real life' images in the advertisement would disrupt the picture it presents us of an other whose 'unspoiled' qualities are so highly valued by tourists". By showing real life, it may make things less desirable for the consumer and the product or service may not sell. What is good for one set of consumers is not for another.

A question I pose towards this article is that in some aspects, the truth may be better than lying about the product being sold. In one particular instance in my past, my family took a trip to Belize City. In the description it sounded like a tropical paradise, but when we arrived there was a bus strike and it was the equivalent of a 3rd world country. In that case, it would be better to have described some problems because the customers view of that product is now permanently scarred from that experience.

For myself being a business major, I found this article to be very eye opening in the sense that sometimes lying about a product in order to make it sound better and less discriminatory is not always the best policy.