That's a wrap!

I can't even comprehend the amount of media I consume in a single day, because it's everywhere. Everywhere I look there seems to be some form of media and it just becomes so overwhelming. I feel as if I'm going to explode, but I guess we have ourselves to thank for that. 

Since we started this whole unit on media, I have become so much more aware of what the media is trying to portray. Whether it be an ad that is targeting a certain target market or if an ad is using the need for affiliation. With this new information I have learned over the past couple months I tend to judge certain brands or products more harshly. I don't want to buy that product anymore or I will just turn the TV off all together because I know that they are trying to get a certain reaction out of me so I will go buy their product. I'm not susceptible to these ads anymore, but I have 0 period to thank for that.

Media literacy is so important these days, due to all the ads in our society. With all the media in our society people need to understand what is going on around them. We need to be educated consumers or we will fall short and be completely overwhelmed because we won't be able understand why Nike is the only thing that will make us achieve our dream. As a society we need to be educated, there are no ifs or buts to it.

Keeping this blog has actually been a blast. I really want to keep it going. There are so many things that I see through out the day that I want to write about and this blog gave me the key to do just that.

Well that's a wrap!

Starbucks has got my LOVE

On my mom's van, her license plate frame reads "Out of my way i'm going to Starbucks". She also is a gold member at Starbucks and has Starbucks at least once day. This got me thinking how much our society is dependent on certain stores and Starbucks being one of them.

Starbucks is usually preferred over other coffee places such as Peet's or Temple. This popularity is due to the amount of advertising they have done. Which has created such a huge culture. In big cities such as San Francisco or New York, you can find a Starbucks on almost every block. Need a place to study? Starbucks has a place for you. Need a quick pick me up? Starbucks has that iced coffee waiting for you. Starbucks has become one of the many lovemarks we have in our society. 

Starbucks became a big part of my life when I was around 4 or 5. Whenever my mom went to go get her coffee I would tag along and get a hot chocolate. As I grew up I would try different drinks and let my friends no about them. When I would go out of town the 1st place my mom and I would go was Starbucks and we still do. Starbucks just became part of my life and I didn't even realize it. 

Starbucks is a place that I have an emotional connection to because I grew up with it. I would rather go to Starbucks than to Peet's any day of the week. i hate to say it, but it's something I can't live without.


BTW I wrote this while drinking Starbucks

Pitch Perfect Product Placement

As I went to go see Pitch Perfect 2 last weekend, I couldn't believe my eyes. I'm not just talking about the stereotypical jokes and fabulous singing, but the product placement. The first week Pitch Perfect 2 was in theaters, the movie brought in 69.2 million dollars. That's a hell of a lot of people who went to see the movie! With the amount of product placement in the movie, people were basically watching a commercial for almost 2 hours. 

The product placement is ridiculous. When the Barden Bellas go check out their German competition at a German automobile fundraiser. The name, Volkswagen is everywhere. If that wasn't enough, at that event they are serving VOSS water. VOSS is then a huge sponsor at World's later in the movie. Covergirl and Nike make their appearance in the dressing room of the elderly home. Followed by the enormous amount of iPhones throughout the entire film. 

I just couldn't believe my eyes and it wasn't just me, Scotlyn and I would turn to each other whenever we saw any product placement. Though, I guess we have critical thinking to thank for that!

It's time for some SUPPORT!!

Did you know that 18% of girls are unhappy with their bodies? Girls get the message very early on that their value and worth is about how they look, instead of about their education or their job. In the documentary "MissRepresentation" and out in society, I have learned and seen that women are now conforming to men's ideals. Women want to be skinny, with flawless skin, and a big butt and boobs. Though in reality how many women look like this?

In the movie "White Chicks" Lisa has a melt down about her body in the dressing room. She talks about her thighs, back, and stomach. She believes that she isn't beautiful and can't wear what she wants, because her body isn't perfect. She believes that she is fat even though she is one of the skinniest girls in the movie. 

Though it's not just men's ideals that women are conforming too, women began to pin themselves against other women. Women see actresses with these perfect bodies and they strive to look like them. "MissRepresentation" put it this way, "You never see the photograph of a woman considered beautiful that hasn't been digitally altered to make her absolutely, inhumanly perfect". Women end up measuring themselves against an impossible standard and as a result we see women starving themselves for the perfect body, and that is never good. 


Actresses such as Jennifer Lawrence have taken a stand on this issue. She believes that women should strive to be "healthy" instead of "skinny".  To her, starving yourself is out of the question, it just makes no sense, you need food to survive. 

As a solution to this ongoing problem, we as in men and women, need to start supporting women that believe their bodies aren't perfect.  Every woman should be proud of their bodies' and themselves, instead of worrying about how others will judge them. 

Ad Placement

While in the bathroom at my temple I saw this advertisement on the back of one the stalls. Now I believe in standing up for yourself and saying "no" to abusive and controlling relationships 100%. Though I don't think this is a great place to put this advertisement.

While going to the bathroom most women don't want to see this. Instead the advertisement could be posted outside the stall maybe on the wall or on the mirror. I believe it's a great idea to put the advertisement in the bathroom, just not in the stall. 

The advertisement is for the National Domestic Violence Hotline and is directed towards women and that's why the temple put the advertisement in the women's bathroom. I just don't find it very appealing to put the ad on the back of a stall. 

I wanna be popular!!

Gossip Girl was a show about privileged highschool students living on the Upper East side of Manhattan. The show was very drama filled and attracted teens just like me. The show is told from the perspective of an online blogger called "gossip girl". This blogger shows the audience the ins and outs of New York city as well as the relationships of all the characters.

Through out the series we can clearly see that the message being conveyed here is that to be successful and happy in life you must have lot's of money, a good solid relationship, and material goods. A key example of this is one of the characters named Blair Waldorf. In the final episode of Gossip Girl, Blair get's married to another character named Chuck, she's very rich, and with that comes material goods, such as clothes. Her happiness is based off all of those things, and she is never really happy during the show if she doesn't have money or a good relationship.  

A characteristic that is presented to the audience about teen culture is that teens are obsessed with being popular. Gossip Girl conveys the message that being popular and having a high social status is the key to success and happiness. If you don't throw extravagant parties and have tons of friends you aren't a successful and happy teenager.

I believe that the feedback loop came from teens and ends with teens. Most teens I know want to be popular and successful, but teens wanted to be popular and throw huge parties before Gossip Girl started. Now that Gossip Girl has ended people are still throwing parties and trying to be popular. This is why so many teens were attracted to this show because Gossip Girl conveys to us what our life should be like and how to be successful. Now I don't believe one bit that most people live like Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen. So this image of teens is very distorted. Though most teens want to be popular and successful whether they are living on the Upper East side of Manhattan. 

Gossip Girl first aired in 2007 so around 8 years ago. The characters within the show had so many devices ranging from the flip phone all the way to the iPhone in the last episode. Over time there was such a big change in technology. I cant predict the future but I believe that in 15 years media will be everywhere. It will be with people at all times no matter where you go. The devices will change, but the messages the media is trying to convey will still be the same.

Back of the Building Advertising

While going through a Starbucks drive through in Elk Grove this past weekend I saw this add for a dentist office. Now you usually don't see any advertising on the back of buildings, but since the dentist office was right next to the Starbucks they put one of their advertisements on the back of the building so when people drive through the Starbucks drive through they can see it. 

This is just another way businesses are trying to break through the clutter. Instead of advertising their name on the front of the building they advertised on the back, because they know that the Starbucks next door gets a lot of customers that will see the ad, when they drive through the drive through. 

I find this such a simple but genius idea.

Kudos to Apple

Last night I found myself FaceTiming with my cousin for about 2 1/2 hours. Now usually we would just text each other like most people do now days, but we were actually talking to each other. I found it so different, because I normally just text people and while doing so I don't see or hear their reactions to what Im saying like you normally would when talking to someone

When apple came out with FaceTime came out in 2010 I thought it was pretty cool, but it was just like Skype so I didn't think it wasn't anything special. Though since 2010 I have bought more Apple products that have had FaceTime. I didn't realize how great FaceTime actually was until last night. Apple is a very big company and a lot of people I know have iPhones meaning they have FaceTime. So I could FaceTime most of my friends no matter where they were and not worry about them having a Skype.

I also realized how great FaceTiming someone is. My cousin lives in Baltimore and I don't get to see her that often, but over FaceTime I can see her anytime I want. We can talk face to face on our phones or laptops instead of flying 2,500 miles across the country. 

I applause Apple so much for this great tool. Though I feel that this tool can do so much more. Maybe we can integrate it into schools so students can learn about life in other countries or if kids are sick at home they can just FaceTime in. I think we can make this app become so much more than what it currently is.

Just Buy It?

Nike has always been a brand I have been fond of. It's a true lovemark, a brand that I have an emotional connection with even though I could shop other brands that are cheaper. I have been playing soccer for almost 12 years now, so I have probably bought around 15 pairs of cleats give or take a few. And I would say about 75% of those pairs of cleats were Nike. 

Nike cleats are one of the more comfortable brands of cleats and they fit my feet perfectly. So naturally when my feet would grow I would buy a new pair. Even if a cleat ripped, I would go any buy a new pair because I knew that Nike would have a new pair that would fit me. 

My dad usually takes me cleat shopping and he would make me try on other brands and everytime I tried them on, even if they were comfortable I would still refer back to Nike because I was loyal to the company. The company had made a lasting affect on me, that I started to buy other products such as spandex and shorts. Then running shoes and so on. I have become so loyal to the brand that it's been hard to wear or buy any other brand. 

Blink Blink Blink

Recently while watching soccer on TV I realized that I wasn't watching the game, but instead I was watching the advertisements that were blinking around the edge of the field. This is a new way that advertisers are breaking through the "clutter" of media.

These blinking signs catch your eye and then you end up watching a cycle of adds instead of the game. It's frustrating, but that's how the advertiser gets you. They incorporated their add into the game instead of going to commercial break. No one watches commercials anymore due to DVR so this way they know that you will see it even if you skip the commercial break at the end of the half. 

I believe this is a very clever way to break through the horrendous amount of clutter we have in our society. Everywhere you look there are adds. They are plastered on billboards, played on TV and the radio, and now they are on social media. This clever way of advertising sure got my attention!

Protection vs Discrimination

Last week  Republican Governor, Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This act protects business owners in the legal department, if they refuse service to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender customers if they want to cite their faith as justification for their actions. 

Eric Miller who is the Executive Director of Advance America and stood behind Pence while he signed the act said, “It is vitally important to protect religious freedom in Indiana. It’s the right thing to do. It was therefore important to pass Senate Bill 101 in 2015 in order to help protect churches, Christian businesses and individuals from those who want to punish them because of their Biblical beliefs!” Since Miller is an anti- LGBT advocate we can sense that he really believes that this act can do wonderful things. He uses the word "protects" giving the audience a positive connotation of the word. It gives off the feeling that this act keeps us safe from the gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender. And that this law will protect Christian businesses that follow their faith.

On the other side of the argument, we have Marc Benioff. Benioff is the CEO of the tech giant Salesforce, he tweeted, "Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination". Using the word discrimination has a very negative connotation to it. The act is singling people out and that's why Benioff uses that word.

In George Orwell's piece, Politics and the English Language he says,"The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not. This mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence is the most marked characteristic of modern English prose, and especially of any kind of political writing". I believe this is completely true. Pence using the word "protects" gives us an image, but he cannot fully express it. Yes he says that the businesses are being protected from being punished, but he is super vague. He has a meaning, but he only says that the act is protecting people from punishment. He has no way of expressing his ideas so he uses the word "protect" instead. Benioff on the other hand does a good job in explaining that he doesn't want people from his company traveling to Indiana so they don't get discriminated. Using the word "discriminated" fully explains his point because people are familiar with that term and it isn't vague.

I'm just glad I don't live in Indiana.

Goodbye McDreamy

On Thursday April 23 a horrible event occurred. Derek Shepherd, the male lead of Grey's Anatomy was killed in a car accident. Derek (Patrick Dempsey) had played a neurosurgeon working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for around 11 seasons. He had two children and a wife, Meredith who is the female lead of the show. He was also known as "McDreamy" you can probably see why.

I took Derek's death pretty hard. Grey's Anatomy has and always will be my favorite TV show. Grey's Anatomy was shaped around Meredith and Derek's relationship and now there is no Derek. I hadn't watched the 11th season yet, so I wouldn't have known about Derek's death at all, except something called Twitter ruined that. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty upset. I shed a couple tears, I just couldn't believe they had killed him off. 

After Dempsey had signed a two year contract last year, I thought he wouldn't be going anywhere. Well I was definitely wrong. It's reported that Dempsey wanted to branch out and do some new things. So they killed him off right in the middle of the season. Quick and easy, with no warning. 

Derek's death didn't just hit me hard. It hit the whole Grey's community. The hashtag #ripDerekShepherd has been trending all weekend on Twitter. Even Taylor Swift was grieving about his death. 

Derek Shepherd you will be greatly missed. 

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

If you were to unlock my iphone 5 the first thing you would see would be social media apps. These would include Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Snapchat, and Yik Yak. If you were to open my laptop and look at my bookmarks you would find Netflix, Spotify, and Youtube.  So I guess it's safe to say that I really enjoy social media. Whether it's posting pictures on Instagram or binge watching Orange Is The New Black on Netflix.

I first started using social media when I was in 7th grade. I had just gotten a Facebook and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. You could communicate with people from everywhere and if you were friends you could even see their pictures. I  was so excited because I hadn't seen anything like it. Then all of a sudden there was something called Instagram. What was an Instagram? But I had to have one, everyone did! It was the new Facebook. This trend continued with Snapchat, Twitter, Tumblr, and Yik Yak. 

One of my favorite things in the entire world, is watching Netflix on rainy days with a cup of hot chocolate with sweats on. Though I usually watch Netflix more than just on rainy days, because then I would be watching Netflix about 4 times a year, due to this drought we are currently in. Netflix has become a nightly thing whether I'm watching Friends or Greys Anatomy I have just become so accustomed to it. 

Social media and other types of media have been so encompassed into my life that I feel that I cannot stop. I feel a need to share the pictures I take and post what comes to my mind on Twitter. I need to listen to music while walking down the halls during school and watch some Netflix before bed. I guess you could say I'm a little obsessed.