Valentine's Day Denial [Media Meditation #2]

Monday night I was reading Perez Hilton's blog, when I was exposed to a post with an embeded YouTube video of a marriage proposal at a hockey game.



A man named Nick was trying to propose to his girlfriend, Melissa, on Valentine's day, but she stormed out soon after reading the scoreboard message.

Now, I personally believed the video. I thought that maybe she reacted in a bizarre way, or she just really wasn't that into Nick. However, at 1:15pm today, Perez reported that the video was a fake! Not only was it a fake, but according to the North Jersey website, the Rangers set this up. Melissa and Nick were apparently hired actors used to provide "in-game entertainment."

Sounds a little whack to me, but makes for a good media meditation on so many levels.

My first observation comes from the eight shifts in our media culture. This video is a good example of an epistemological shift. The definition of this shift is "from word to image" and this makes me think about before technology, people would only find out about this type of scam through word of mouth. Viewers may have been able to catch the video on the news, but it probably wouldn't have made it to the news until the information about it being a fake was released.

I also noticed that it is definitely a personal shift because it is on YouTube and a variety of blogs. People have the technology to tweet, blog, and comment about this video. I'm a part of this personal shift myself because I'm blogging about it! Also, on the news article, at the end of the story the email to the journalist was written. People have the opportunity to directly contact people who write about things on the Internet.

Next, looking at the seven basic principlesseveral of them were used in the short video clip.

This scam connects to "reality" construction/trade-offs. The people connected to setting up entertainment for the game went a little far when they decided to create a fictional marriage proposal. To me, and probably most people, this seemed like a reality until we were told other wise. This principle made me really think about if the production was taken a little too far, or if it was just really good entertainment. I was definitely entertained by the entire situation, but after I found out it was a hoax, it made me think. I thought about whether this form of entertainment was the best thing they could think about, or if it was perfect for the occasion because it was Valentine's Day. I still can't decide. I was entertained, but deceived.


A large part of the video was about production techniques. As you can see in just the screen shot alone, there were a lot of production techniques going on. The camera angle showed the wedding message on the right side of the scoreboard, and then the actual scores for the game on the left. In the actual video, the sound is sportscasters talking about what is going on. They walk the audience through the situation, even reading the message on the board. Another production technique I noticed happens in the very beginning of the video, and in between the repetitions, is the fade in. The fade in says Tampa Bay with a lightning bolt. This is ironic, because the Lightning was the other team, and the Rangers set up the hoax.

Ownership was also tied into this video. The entire production was set up by the Rangers, who must have paid for the entire thing.

Moving on to persuasive techniques...

Big lie was definitely used. The video grabbed people's attention through dishonesty. It was entertaining because people thought it was a real situation. I don't think it would have had the same effect if the audience was pre-warned about the marriage proposal being fake.

Humor was also used. The video was intended to be funny. The sportscaster also made a joke when Melissa walked out saying, "let's talk about a prenup!"

Plain folks were also used. These people seemed like normal sports fans who were enjoying the game, when Nick decided to be romantic. It was not obvious to the audience that this was fake, or that the people were paid actors.

Repetition was used on the YouTube video created by HockeyBash.com. The clip was shown three times in one minute on the video.

Nostalgia was also used for this Valentine's Day proposal. It was intended to set the viewer up to think about how romantic this gesture was.

Another persuasive technique is symbols. There are a lot of symbols seen in the video. The clip first starts showing the HockeyBash.com symbol. Then the video starts rolling, and the name of the hockey arena, Madison Square Garden, is showing. The names of the teams are also being shown while the video is playing. The people of the audience next to Melissa and Nick are all wearing Ranger's jerseys. Melissa is even wearing the assistant captain's jersey. The last symbol I noticed was the fade in of Tamba Bay's lightning bolt symbol.

The triune brain, as always, was involved.

The reptilian brain was demonstrated by Melissa when she decided to leave (flight) after being proposed to in front of a large audience.

The limbic brain was involved by the background sounds and images seen on the screen. There were whistles in the background noise along with sports music. There were also sportscasters talking the entire time. The images are watching Melissa and Nick, and even the scoreboard.

Neocortex was used by the viewers. The video got me thinking about Melissa and Nick's relationship. I was trying to figure out why she would shut him down in such a harsh way. I was also thinking about how much he would have had to pay to put the message on the scoreboard. When I found out that the entire thing was fake, I thought a lot about the way this made the Rangers look. I wonder if they will get any negative attention because of it, or if people will think it was humorous.

What do you think about this video?