Video Response

Bubb rubb and Lil Sis News Report Video from Kron 4 News
Kevin Spann
10/5/07
Engl. 2123

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccgXjA2BLEY


“The internet refers to the electronic network of networks that links people and information through computers and other digital devices allowing person-to-person communication and information retrieval (Dimaggio 307-336).” The internet is the link between all persons across the globe that own a personal computer or work for a company that deals with computers. Through this “information superhighway”, we are able to convey messages through video, text, or audio recordings of all types (Atwan 283).
The Bubb rubb and Lil sis news report video is a recording of an actual news report by KRON 4 News that can be found on YouTube.com, or in this case, by using the link above. Although it is not footage from a personal webcam, it still exhibits the same properties that a webcam video would have. It causes either a positive or negative emotional response in the viewer, and the creators had a purpose in making the video as well. The medium of this video is a type of news media. The method that it uses forcibly expresses the gap between different cultures within American society. The message could classify this news report as a somewhat passive advertising piece of media, even if it is not at all effective at what it is passively advertising (the "whister tips").
KRON 4 News Center is based in San Francisco, California and is responsible for this news report. The broadcast of this report was originally for a local area around California, but it was spread even further when it reached the internet. Due to the vastness of cyberspace, the video spread on a national level. The video that was meant to be a news report quickly became a satirical video.
In this news report, two people that call themselves Bubb Rubb and Lil Sis are having a “whistler tip” installed in the exhaust system of their car. The term “whistler tip” refers to a small, round piece of metal near the car’s tailpipe that causes the car to make a loud whistling noise when it is being driven. Bubb Rubb and Lil Sis are interviewed along with a couple of other more sophisticated people. The more sophisticated individuals claim that the noise from the cars is keeping them awake at night, and that it needs to stop. There is currently nothing that can be done to stop this from happening, because it is legal. One of the mechanics in charge of installing “whistler tips” is also interviewed. He says that he “gives the people what they want.” The immediate message of this news report was meant to stir up rage in the local communities, causing them to band together to put an end to this new “fad,” but since the message spread much further than the local communities, it caused mass laughter elsewhere.
When watching this video, the viewer can’t help but laugh at it, because the report speaks of the “whistler tip” issue as if hinting that it should already be within the realm of discourse among all Americans by stating that it is “the latest rage for kids that is driving parents crazy”. This implies that this “fad” is happening across the country. I, personally, have never even heard of this trend, nor have I ever heard of a car with a “whistler tip” installed in its tail pipe. No kids were even interviewed in this report. The literary errors and argumentative fallacies within this report are subconsciously amusing to the viewer. Even though it is not stated in the report, the video also seems to draw a direct line between the races of people that were interviewed.
The unspoken solid line lies between people that are Caucasian, African American, and South American. The Caucasians in this report are sophisticated. The African Americans are represented by some of the least sophisticated people I have ever seen, and the South Americans are supposed to just be here working for everyone else as mechanics or whatever America needs. The report, perhaps unintentionally or even accidentally, irrelevantly draws on old stereotypes to present the message that this “fad” needs to stop. When the report spread across the country, it actually worked as a self-disciplinary tool.
The Convergences text book mentions that cyberspace “raises issues of consciousness.” It allows us to evaluate ourselves and our actions against others from across the globe. This is a variation of advocacy advertising. “Advocacy advertising involves all advertising that aims to solve social problems by influencing public perception and behavior.”(Atwan 285, 518) The people across the country that were able to laugh at this video probably made a mental note that read: I do not ever want to act this way. In this way, the video caused mass self-discipline for anyone that viewed it and laughed at how ridiculous Bubb rubb and Lil Sis made themselves look on television and all over the internet. The general public’s perception and behavior had been altered by this self-discipline that occurred.
America is a diverse nation with an underlying of many cultures. No matter which culture a person is part of in the U.S., each individual seeks for a way to express his or her individuality. The internet makes this possible through webcams and other means of mass communication.

Bibliography
1. Atwan, Robert. Convergences: Message Method Medium (2005). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
2. Paul DiMaggio; Eszter Hargittai; W. Russell Neuman; John P. Robinson (JSTOR). “Social Implications of the Internet.”
Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 27. (2001), pp. 307-336.
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0360-0572%282001%2927%3C307%3ASIOTI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-S