COMM 506 Burger King Commercials

     Since Burger King is now #3 in the hamburger fast-food market, we can expect them to come up with some changes to help bring in new customers. One of these changes was a much-needed boost in commercials on television. The commercials, featuring celebrities David Beckham, Sofia Vergara, Jay Leno, and Salma Hayek, are humorous in nature, and they use the humor to bring about the message that there are changes happening at Burger King; that it is the "place to be."
     This is not what I was expecting from Burger King. While I did expect them to use celebrities, because that's what most commercials seem to do these days, I was not expecting those four people. It seems like they are trying to attract a Latino audience, because of their inclusion of Vergara, Hayek, and Beckham - three big celebrities in the Latino community. The Latino population is the fastest growing population in the country, and while it would make sense to appeal to them, making three out of the four commercials directed solely to one group seems a bit much. The use of Leno, I think, was to give Burger King some credibility and class, while at the same time appealing to the older generation, who know him from his late night show.
     In addition, the choice of Vergara, Hayek, and Beckham is interesting because they are all very attractive people (sorry Jay). Another reason that Burger King likely chose them was to express the idea that you can go to Burger King, eat their food, and look like these celebrities.
     Personally, the only commercial I found myself laughing at was the David Beckham one. Something about it, whether it is the swooning of both the employee and the manager, or the shift between fantasy and reality, did it for me. The other three seemed a bit contrived, like they had to force a laugh out of it.
     I am not sure if I think this is the correct direction for Burger King to move in. On one hand, the Latino population keeps growing, so it makes sense to appeal to that population. On the other hand, they shouldn't alienate their loyal customers by not appealing to them anymore, or ignore other sects of the population. Only time will tell if these ads work.

COMM 506 Leadership Lessons from "The Godfather"

     Last month, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of "The Godfather," one of the most influential and best movies ever made. The film still has a grip on pop culture today, and is constantly referenced and quoted in movies, music, television, books, magazines, advertising, and more. Fast Company wrote an interesting article on the leadership lessons that can be found within the film. These five lessons found in "The Godfather" can be found in companies today.

1. Build a powerful community.

Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit organization that builds houses for those in need, is a company that partners itself with organizations that can benefit them, and at the same time, be able to offer assistance when needed. Corporations such as Bank of America, Lowe's, Home Depot, and Whirlpool donate time, money, volunteers, and materials needed to build the houses. In return, the company gets free advertising, and the knowledge that it helps a non-profit organization; this can help recruit new people for that company, or change people's minds about a company.

2. Hold people accountable.

     HP is one of the biggest names in the computer industry today. Last year, they released the HP TouchPad, a tablet computer. It did not sell well at all, and was not a very good product; it was slow, outdated, and bulky. They tried to remedy this by selling it at discounted prices, first $50 off, then $100 off. When they realized that this wasn't working either, they had a fire sale, and started selling them at $99. They sold out most places, just for the sheer idea of a tablet PC for $99. At the same time, HP announced that they were stoppling the manufacturing of the TouchPad, as well as stopping the research and development of their mobile phone line. This is an instance where the company realized they did not have a good product, and rather than drag it out, they decided to cut their losses and accept that this wasn't the market they would make it big in.




3. Don't get emotional.

     Netflix is a company that came into the business world with little fanfare, but is now a giant. They were able to play the game and come out on top; by offering free streaming and cheap DVD rental all by one company, they easily ousted Blockbuster, Hollywood Home Video, and other mail rental services. Netflix has gone through some rough patches as of late, but they are still on top of the rental business, and these days, it's tough to find someone that doesn't either subscribe to Netflix or know five other people that subscribes.




4. Be decisive.

     Facebook has shown to be decisive with its acquisitions. Over the last few years, they have been buying small tech firms and software development agencies, usually scrapping whatever projects they were working on, but keeping the talent in order to better Facebook. Yesterday, they bought the photo-sharing company Instagram for one billion dollars. With this purchase, they will now have skilled photo techs and programmers, as well as a program that thousands of people are already using. Now they can integrate Facebook into it, and vice versa, to sell more advertising and get the people who are not already members to sign up.




5. Spend time with your family.

     As I've blogged about previously, the accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers believes in mandatory vacations. This way, their employees get rest, have time to spend with their families, and come back to work feeling refreshed and bubbling with new ideas. It is important to spend time outside of the business, especially with friends and family, not only to get a break from work, but to have time to think about something else. When this happens, ideas that one may not have thought of applying at the business level may come to rise, or ideas that have been needing that one more little thing to make it complete may be made complete, due to rest, relaxation, and an open mind.

COMM 506 Obama's Slip?

     

     Before President Barack Obama was set to have an on-air meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the two of them talked quietly about some things. Their microphones were on, and being in the positions that they are in, they had to know that whatever was said between them would be able to be heard and then re-transmitted. They were talking about nuclear missile policy, and Obama said that this is his "last election," and that he would have "more flexibility" to talk about it after "my election."

     This little "slip" on Obama's part has been argued about for the last few weeks. Some say that he did it by accident, and that there is no intent behind the statement. Others argue that he said it purposefully, and it is showing confidence on his part that he will be reelected.

     In these times of 24-hour news channels and the Internet, any tiny piece of news can be blown out of proportion. Especially in the United States, where politics is a hotly talked-about subject, anything that the President does, says, doesn't do, or doesn't say can and will be talked about by all parties. With the election looming, politicians are getting more and more desperate for something to use to attack the opponent. 

     Personally, I do not think Obama had anything malicious behind this remark. I think he was being confident in that he is going to be reelected, and when that comes, he will have more breathing room to talk about hot-button subjects like nuclear safety. He has been the President for close to four years, and was a senator prior to that; he knows the game of politics, and he knows that if there is a microphone in front of him, odds are there are people on the other end listening and recording. This is just a case of the other side wanting some ammunition against him; whether or not the general public will be swayed by it is up to them.

COMM 506 Internet Usage Among Different Generations

     This week, we were asked to comment on the findings of the Pew Research Institute in regards to internet usage among Millennials, Gen X'ers, the Boomer generation, and older. The full report can be found here.
    The only piece of information that surprised me was the fact that searching for health information is the third most popular online activity for all adults over the age of 18. For older adults, it would not surprise me; I just did not realize that so many younger people were using the internet to research health problems, so much so that it is the third most popular activity.
     Other than this, I was honestly not surprised about any of the other data in the report. It showed that younger generations, such as Teens and Millennials, are more likely to be online wirelessly, use social networking more than anything else, and get almost all their news from online. Older generations, such as the Boomers and the Silent Generation, do not use the internet that much, and when they do, it is for informational purposes such as government websites or health information.

COMM 506 The Engine 2 Diet

     The other night we attended a lecture at school about a complete plant-based diet, called the Engine 2 Diet. The creator of the diet, Rip Esselstyn, was the first presenter. He talked about how the diet has affected him, his coworkers, and people that he's helped with it. He was energetic, and definitely fully believed in the diet. Next, his father, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a physician, came on, and gave a lecture about the health benefits of the diet. He gave some good research and data about how the diet can reverse heart disease and lead to better overall health. Lastly, Rip's mother, Ann Esselstyn, showed what food and drinks you could buy, recipes for the diet, and where to find complete plant based foods.
     I liked a few things about this presentation. First, Rip was a fantastic speaker. He got the crowd engaged in what he was talking about, asked questions, and was humorous. He presented good examples of his diet working, and did not say anything about meat being "evil" or murder or anything along those lines. His father was also interesting, though a little boring. As a person with a heart defect, I was very interested in how the diet can help with heart health.
     One thing I did not like about the presentation was that none of the presenters talked about changing their lifestyle. They all talked about how good the diet is for their health, Rip showed examples of people whose health improved and they lost weight, and Dr. Caldwell showed evidence of reduced heart disease...but none of them talked about exercise, giving up bad habits, or other lifestyle changes that could have an impact on their health. Even if the diet is successful without lifestyle changed, it would have been a good thing to mention so that people don't have the expectation that they will lose a lot of weight by just changing to a plant-based diet. Another thing that bothered me was when Ann was talking about the different foods that we should eat and recipes we should use. The lecture was given at a university, and the crowd was a mix of the general public and students. She started talking about foods that could only be purchased online or in specialty food stores, and most students cannot afford to shop like that. I wish they had geared the food presentation more towards students; showing them cheap, healthy alternatives that they could buy at local supermarkets, and quick, easy recipes for the student on-the-go.

COMM 506 "Bad" Commercials

The following are commercials that are "bad." They are not bad in the sense that they are poorly made commercials; they just do not sell their product or service in a smart or appealing way.

The first time I saw this commercial, I thought it was a part of the show I was watching. I could not believe that they would say something as cold as "It's not for women." I definitely got a good laugh out of it, but once I started to think about it, I realized that this is a terrible way to sell this product. Maybe they were thinking that if they said it's not for women, more women will want to buy it? I don't know. Regardless, I think there are more people out there, both men and women, who see this as sexist and plain stupid. Now these people will tell their friends and relatives about this dumb commercial and the product that it is for, and they will most likely not want or buy it. The commercial is definitely geared towards men, and it is pretty silly; it has the macho guy with the gun, beating up bad guys and whatnot...but when that last line is spoken, the entire commercial just seems stupid and too over-the-top.

These commercials do not bring about good will for the ASPCA. These commercials are downright depressing. They show images of mistreated animals with a sad song played over it, meant to tug at the viewer's heartstrings and donate money to their cause. Having adopted three dogs from shelters, I know how run down animals can look there, and there is no reason to show it on a commercial to try to get donations. Show the animals having fun and running around. Talk about how easy it is to adopt from a local animal shelter. But please, don't interrupt my Simpson's episode with a sad song and equally as sad animals.

Lastly, the commercials for the Department of Homeland Security's "If You See Something, Say Something" do not help their cause, in my opinion. These commercials breed fair and paranoia in people that travel using public transportation, and telling them to call if they see something suspicious could lead to an outbreak of worried, angry passengers. These commercials say that if a person sees something suspicious, they should tell someone; who's to say what makes something "suspicious"? Altogether, I think these commercials harm public transportation.

COMM 508 Ben & Jerry's Press Release

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc.

30 Community Drive, Burlington, VT 05403

Kellie McLaughlin & Max McLenna

802-846-1500

facebook.com/benjerry

twitter.com/benandjerrys

February 15^th, 2012 18:00

BEN & JERRY’S TO INTRODUCE NEW FLAVOR – “OCCU-PIE MALT ST.”

Burlington, VT – Have you been watching the news lately? Have you been seeing all those people camping out in tents, protesting for something…but not sure exactly what? Well, wonder no longer! Ben & Jerry’s is pleased to announce a new flavor to its always-growing selection. “Occu-Pie Malt St.” is a new flavor, consisting of graham cracker ice cream, blueberry and cherry swirls, and chocolate malted milk balls!

            Ben & Jerry’s CEO, Jostein Solhein, said, “This flavor was created to represent the American people and their struggle to achieve to achieve the American dream.” This flavor, inspired by the Occupy movements all across the United States of America, is meant to be a delicious reminder of what is trying to be accomplished.

            “Ben & Jerry’s is proud to present Occu-Pie Malt St. in hopes that it will bring about recognition to the Occupy Wall Street movement,” said Solhein. This delicious, inspiring flavor is set to hit shelves late February 2012.

            - 30 - 

COMM 506 "Good" Commercials

     When I say "good" commercials what I mean is commercials that appeal to me personally, and have a lasting effect. These are commercials that I remember, and while I may not go out right away and buy it, there is definitely the chance that it could wind up buying it sometime if wanted.

First we have the various Simpson's Butterfinger commercials. These ran for a long time, from 1989 to only a couple of years ago. As a die hard Simpson's fan, I'm pretty much hooked on whatever media in which they are displayed, and these commercials are no exception. All of these commercials are funny to the average person, and even funnier to a Simpson's fan. It has a memorable catchphrase - "Nobody better lay a finger on my Butterfinger" - and makes the viewer want a Butterfinger for them self and no one else.

This is an Old Spice commercial from about 5 years ago. It is Bruce Campbell playing piano and singing "Hungry Like The Wolf" while attractive women get closer and closer to him. It is funny to see an icon like Campbell singing "Hungry Like The Wolf" - a hair metal song - to a jazzy, mellower tempo. THe point is if you wear Old Spice, you will become classier and attract women.

This was a commercial that aired after the Superbowl this year. It is for the restaurant chain Chipotle. It is a simple message: go back to the start. They are talking about the meat that goes into their food; instead of using animals that have been raised in crowded barns and fed hormones and other types of chemicals. The commercial shows a farmer realizing that he should go back to the way it used to be, and changing everything around. It is set to Willie Nelson covering Coldplay's "The Scientist," which works really well, because the message of the song is "going back to the start." This commercial stuck with me because of the simplicity of it.

This is an interesting commercial. It is for Google Chrome, and it showcases The Johnny Cash Project. This commercial stuck with me for a few reasons. First of all, I really like Johnny Cash, and I thought it was cool seeing him recognized on a wide scale and hearing his song in a commercial. Secondly, the song. It's about how nothing can hold his body down, which is true of Cash; he is timeless and will never be forgotten. Also, the commercial showcases the versatility of Google Chrome.

Lastly, I chose this ad because whenever I think about using a GPS now, I hear "Mayhem" telling me to go the other way. These Allstate commercials are funny, and a little over-the-top, but not so outlandish that they could never happen to a regular person. I think they make an impact with people who see them, and if someone had been in a similar accident, they could relate even more and think about switching to their insurance.

COMM 508 Newsletter Example

     The above picture is a screengrab of the first page of a newsletter that goes out to commuter students at Western Connecticut State University. I think it is a good example of a newsletter for a number of reasons. First of all, it looks inviting: it is separated into two columns, has a nice blue and gold color scheme (the school's colors), and has pictures. As one begins to read, one notices that the article is written in bullet points, which I think people like to road because they are quick, concise, and to the point. On the left hand side, there are links that are able to be navigated to, straight from the newsletter, which is convenient. There is also a table of contents, so if someone wants to read a specific atricle, they know exactly what page to jump to.
     Throughout the rest of the newsletter there are some items that stand out to me. The use of a lot of pictures is a good idea; it keeps the reader interested and makes the newsletter more attractive. There is a section of the paper with more useful links that students may not be able to find easily. This will help people think of the newsletter when they are looking for something important.
     As far as incorporating some of these ideas into my own newsletter go, the first thing I would want to use is the bulleted style of the article. I think this is a smart way to get your article to a reader; you can fit a lot of information in, and since they are quick blurbs, the reader will not get bored with the article and move on. The use of pictures is always a good idea, and I plan to use them to make my newsletter look appealing to the viewer. Lastly, if my newsletter was going to be electronic, I would definitely make use of a section with important links, and make sure they could all be navigated to. Even if the newsletter was not electronic, I might include that section. Not only will this assist students while they are looking at the newsletter, but if they ever need that link again, and cannot find it, they will come back to the newsletter and remember that it is a helpful tool.


The rest of the newsletter can be found HERE

COMM 506: Honne vs. Tatemae

     Honne and tatemae are two important parts of a person's self-concept. Honne refers to a person's true feelings and desires. These feelings and desires are often hidden because they may not conform to the rest of society, and may be seen as odd or wrong. Tatemae refers to the opinions and behaviors a person displays in public. It is their front, their facade. It is what's expected by society and by those around him or her. It may or may not reflect their honne.
     The ideals of honne and tatemae are important in the field of public relations. It is important for advertisers, marketers, and people trying to get a message out to figure out which part of a person they are trying to influence: their honne, tatemae, or both. If someone is trying to influence a person's honne, they may try to use a message that will appeal to their core values and emotions, eliciting a deep response and making the person follow the message. Hopefully, the person will tell people close to them about the message, eliciting a response from them. If someone is trying to influence a persons tatamae, they will appeal to what society thinks is "in" at the moment, eliciting a response that will hopefully get people to agree with the message because everyone else will, or so they hope. If they are trying to appeal to both, they may go after emotions or core values in a wide sense, appealing to certain emotions that they think everyone will react to, instead of just targeting a certain response.

COMM 508 Non-Profit Ads

Non-profit advertisements that make an impact. Personally, the ones I chose that I thought made the biggest impact were those that were simple, yet able to get the message across clearly.

Warning

This ad makes a bold and clear message - if you smoke around others, it is just as dangerous as a loaded shotgun. Its message is to warn others that it is dangerous, and I believe it does a good job at that, because it is simple yet powerful.

Denouncing

This ad uses a powerful image to make its point - the rear view mirror is meant to look like a coffin. This has a strong impact on those with children, hopefully persuading them to make sure their child is buckled up.

Argumentation

This ad makes the argument that no matter how the person wants to look at it, smoking is still smoking, and it is still harmful to their health and to those around them. This ad made a strong impact because I know of many people who feel this way not knowing what they are doing to their health.

Emotions

This ad is designed to make you feel guilty for smoking around a child. The halo made of smoke represents the child going to heaven early as a result of second-hand smoke. They purposefully picked a cute child, and did not show the person smoking, to represent that it could be anybody.

Consequences

This ad is designed to show that if a child is left to sit in front of a television all the time, they have a higher chance of death due to cardiovascular disease. This makes an impact because the child's gaze at the perceived television out of frame is the same type of gaze that a deceased person may have, as well as the mourning family.

Solutions

This ad uses a simple yet clever idea to highlight its message. It makes an impact because it is simple, and easy to do - all one has to do is recycle, and they will know that they have helped in some way.

Direct Marketing, Packaging, and Outdoor Pieces

This ad is simple and to the point. It persuades people to stop smoking by only offering one match, as well as the contact information for counseling to stop smoking.

Complicity

This ad is for the recruitment of volunteers, and it is a simple photo. It represents the lack of people in the organization, and that without more volunteers, people like you will not get the help they need in emergency situations.

Irony

This ad uses clever placement to get its message across. The sandwich is blocking a letter, showing "Live Fat, Die Young" on the shirt of an obese person. Also, it looks like the sandwich is an unhealthy one. This impacts people who may be overweight or obese, and hopefully gets them to think about a lifestyle change.

Guilt

This ad is meant to cause guilt in people when they see it. It is visually striking and disturbing because people are not used to seeing an emaciated white boy. This causes an almost visceral reaction, and hopefully persuades people to donate money to starving people.

Gratitude

This ad shows the gratitude of the child, now that he is getting better through the medicine and donations that were made for cancer research. It is meant to make the viewer feel good about themselves if they have donated, or persuade those who have not donated to do it so that they can feel good about themselves.

COMM 506 Shrinking Vacation Syndrome

      PriceWaterhouseCoopers handling of the Shrinking Vacation Syndrome is done in a smart and beneficial way to the company. The Shrinking Vacation Syndrome is a phenomena that is plaguing the workplace throughout the nation. Since jobs are not as plentiful, and people are worried about keeping their job or trying to advance, they tend to not want to take any days off. Couple this with higher costs of living, such as gas, and you have the recipe for workers that do not want to take vacations.
       Vacations are important to people. It gives them a chance to relax, not think about work, and recharge their batteries. Unfortunately, with people not taking vacations anymore, they are not getting time to relax, therefore adding more stress. This could bring about negative consequences in all aspects of their life, both home and work. In addition, those that do take vacations often do not get a chance to totally relax, because they find themselves unable to "unplug" from work; they will go on conference calls, prepare presentations, answer emails, etc.
      PriceWaterhouseCoopers remedy to his problem is to shut down its business, nationwide, for 10 days around Christmas and 5 days around the 4th of July. This gives employees a mandatory vacation, where they do not answer phone calls or emails, or have to worry about meetings or conferences. They are given time to relax and recharge, and the company has been seeing positive results. This is a smart idea, because it gives its employees a chance to not only relax and be away from the company for some time, but when they come back they do not feel as encumbered by work, and are prepared to face work with a fresh mind and body, which has the potential to bring about new ideas or changes that could benefit both clients, employees, and the company.