Week 3 EOC: Rolling Stones Article SWOT Analysis

 

 Strengths of what the article is explaining the bombers on a new point of view. A point of view that no one expected from a well-known music based magazine. It seemed to place away from them, and more their harsh past. How the boys weren’t what the media has put them out be, or at least stating that it’s not the whole story. The article is a new and insightful take of the series of unfortunate events that concluded on the day of the bombings. It is also a shocking side to publish since it emphasizes what they did. Since 9/11, Terrorists attacks have and still are subjects that are one-sided and a sensitive subject to the public. Rolling Stones Magazine is well-known with a popular fan base, so the article will be read and circulated throughout their demographics or to even new readers.

"Reitman spent the last two months interviewing dozens of sources – childhood and high school friends, teachers, neighbors and law enforcement agents, many of whom spoke for the first time about the case – to deliver a riveting and heartbreaking account of how a charming kid with a bright future became a monster."(http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/five-revelations-from-rolling-stones-boston-bomber-cover-story-20130716)

Weaknesses would be that even if it’s something new, it won’t give the best popularity. Again, this magazine is known for they music pop culture coverage, and not serious political stories. Even if this has gained attention (both bad and good), it has been placed within the controversy category. More than anything the cover of this issue has been criticized displaying him as a star rather than a terrorist. Opinions like these can harm the reputation of the magazine. The criticism has brought enough backlash that popular retailer, including CVS and Walgreens, have decided not sell the issue in their stores.

"The survivors of the Boston attacks deserve Rolling Stone cover stories, though I no longer feel that Rolling Stone deserves them,” (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/18/retailers-vow-not-to-sell-rolling-stone-as-critics-blast-decision-to-put/)

Opportunities would come from the publicity this article has received. Not only from the general public, but a lot of attention in the media as well. Yes, it may not have been their ‘place’ to cover such a story. Yet this is an opportunity to take their magazine to a more diverse direction and a completely new one. A new path to becoming a seriously taken magazine that write in-depth stories on politics and other serious topics than just the music industry. The controversial cover has also given the magazine an opportunity because of its unique and shocking display of the bomber.

 "The cover presents a stark contrast with our usual image of terrorists. It asks, “What did we expect to see in Tsarnaev? What did we hope to see?” The answer, most likely, is a monster, a brutish dolt with outward manifestations of evil. What we get instead, however, is the most alarming sight of all: a boy who looks like someone we might know." (http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07/17/boston_bomber_rolling_stone_cover_with_dzokhar_tsarnaev_is_good_journalism.html).

Threats would be the extremely long length of the article itself. Its captivating at first, but then continues to place descriptions of how the boy was so normal and liked among the people who knew him that no one would have predicted the bombing that day. The length of the article does not match the reputation the magazine has built for itself. Its so risky and so rare to find amongst other magazines. Another threat is amount of advertising that is done with this magazine. If they don’t take advantage of this opportunity to start exposing their hard-hitting political articles, they’ll probably continue to not be taken seriously and expected to mainly cover music.

 "long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful” coverage of the most important current political and cultural issues.-The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens." (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/18/retailers-vow-not-to-sell-rolling-stone-as-critics-blast-decision-to-put).

Sources:

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/jahars-world-20130717?page=3

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/explaining-the-rolling-stone-cover-by-a-boston-native-20130719

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/07

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/18/retailers-vow-not-to-sell-rolling-stone-as-critics-blast-decision-to-put//17/boston_bomber_rolling_stone_cover_with_dzokhar_tsarnaev_is_good_journalism.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/five-revelations-from-rolling-stones-boston-bomber-cover-story-20130716

Week 2 EOC: Ethics In Advertising Part 3

My third example of a questionable campaign is an Antonio Federici Ice Cream ad that was the topic in an article int he Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/15/antonio-federici-ice-crea_n_718508.html). This specific ad is an example of the quote that that said that an ad must respect people's religion. People revoked against this magazine ad from London, that is was ultimately banned. 

The ad displayed a pregnant nun holding the ice cream. The text on the ad said "Immaculately conceived...Ice cream is our religion". Comparing how quality of the ice cream to how people belief in their religion. The magazine several complaints, believing the advertisement was mocking the beliefs of Roman Catholics. The company of the ice cream defended the ad saying that "the idea of conception represented the development of their ice cream and the ad aimed to gently satirize religion. "

Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/15/antonio-federici-ice-crea_n_718508.html

Week 2 EOC: Ethics In Advertising Part 2

Continuing further into the ethics in advertising, the second section from the article by CNN was about hazardous substances. It explained that while we don't always know what is hazardous (from the obvious things like alcohol and cigarettes), it is still important to be truthful in the ad. Especially in this category, where the cost for accountability is higher.
An example of a advertisement with hazardous substances that not only kept the truth in mind, but remembered to make the ads shocking. An article from the National Health website, covered campaign from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions campaign to raise awareness on smoking. The images are shocking and graphic, showing former smokers in a pose that exposes the consequences of smoking. One displays a man shaving his beard, looking at the camera with a serious expression, and showing the stoma that was his consequence from his smoking. The words in bold "BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT YOUR STOMA" is placed above a his name, current age, and the age that he was diagnosed at. This was one of the hard-hitting ads used in the campaign.

 Even if the truth is what sells today, many were outraged and saying that they were too aggressive and shocking. It did serve its purpose though, according to public health leaders that praised the campaign. The article pointed that that research showed that these type of ads were the ones that created the most effective.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/08/jwt.answer/
http://thenationshealth.aphapublications.org/content/42/5/1.3.full

Week 2 EOC: Ethics In Advertising Part 1

"Thus ethics in advertising means a set of well defined principles which govern the ways of communication taking place between the seller and the buyer." (http://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-ethics.htm).

At first, one might not think that advertisements are not truthful and only deceive the public to persuade them to buy their products, and they wouldn't be wrong. There are many ads. that are deceiving. From the definition in the quote above, ethics and advertising seem to come hand in hand in the advertising industry. Therefore, the people that work in the industry are likely to spend a great deal of their job making ethical choices. According to our textbook Advertising by Design (http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/#/books/9781118038505/pages/48991016), not only does ethics and advertising goes together, but there is responsibility involved as well. The responsibility to us, the public. Companies are in the end responsible for they tell consumers through advertisements.
 Three clear principles were listed as well:

 "Treat the audience with respect; respect people's religion, race, gender, age, and ethnicity. Be truthful. Be responsible."

Even as having the obvious existence of rules that should be followed for ads to be considered ethical, some don't follow that path. An article by CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/08/jwt.answer/), there were three defined aspects of the advertisement industry that can be questioned on the ethics shown. The first one was how consumers are seduced into buying products, something that is well seen in ads these days. They did pointed out that consumers expect be shown the truth from companies through ads than before, and treated as intelligent decision-makers.

An example of a questionable advertisement would be the political campaigns we Americans are bombarded with during the elections. Now these type of ads. are all very typical, a politician will more than likely point out the weaknesses of his opponent and show his strong points to look even better to voters. A specific ad. from President Obama's campaign against opponent Mitt Romney gained the attention of CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/politics/campaign-distortions). The ad that is being put on the spot focuses on a Obama supporter that explains that when he Mitt Romney closed the plant he worked in, he lost his job and his health care. That meant his family lost that coverage did as well. Then his wife got sick and died of cancer. Now, seeing this ad. within itself tells a tragic story that seems to put the blame to the Romney. Voters are 'seduced' and manipulated into thinking that the candidate is inadequate to become president. As someone who will cause nothing but harm. Yet research showed that the ad. had told the public a different story that was far from the accurate. Yes, the wife was diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately did pass away. What wasn't explained was that even if Mitt Romney was CEO of the plant at the time, but he wasn't overlooking the business. He formally left the plant later on. This is just one ad. out of many that is seen very often in campaigns. Its so popular because people have come to believe them, basing their opinions on them.






Sources:
http://digitalbookshelf.artinstitutes.edu/#/books/9781118038505/pages/48991016
http://www.aef.com/on_campus/classroom/speaker_pres/data/3001
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-ethics.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/07/08/jwt.answer/
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/politics/campaign-distortions

Week 2 EOC: Pinochet in Advertising

General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte was an infamous ruler that has been described as a “the brutal dictator who repressed and reshaped Chile for nearly two decades and became a notorious symbol of human right abuse and corruption.”. He was the head of Chile’s military who overtook the socialist government of Chile in September 11, 1973. Even during the period in which he ruled resulted in economic growth for the country, more than 3,200 people were executed or had disappeared. Thousands more were arrested, tortured, or exiled from Chile. In 1982, Chile began to experience an economic crisis, and the amount of protests against the Dictator began to increase. It was true that the leader had manage to increase the economic growth overall, but this only affected the 40% of the country. The remaining 60% had no advantage from the Dictator's rule. After attempting to stop the groups, Pinochet failed to weaken them. Leaders from these groups established a list of demands for the government in the mid-1983. On May 11, the first major protest was a success that police responded violently. 600 people were arrest and several protestors were killed. Yet people become more aware of how Chileans have had enough of the dictatorship and wanted change.

Finally in 1987, General Pinochet made an announcement nation-wide that there would be a nation vote for his continuation as President. In the end of the vote, he lost with 55% voting no and 43% voting yes. He stepped down as ruled in 1990, after spending eight year terms as president. After losing in the election many wondered what would become of the man that caused the country so much suffering and loss. They wanted justice for the horrible things he did but, “ through intimidation and legal obstacles, General Pinochet sought to ensure his own immunity from accountability and in fact was never brought to trial”. Yet years later, he was arrested in Britain and returned to Chile. He fought the legal charges of human rights violations and corruption that were placed against him. Throughout the last years of his life he lived in seclusion, cursed and mocked at by his former military colleagues and many people. He had earned more disfavors when people discovered that he secretly held about 28 million dollars in secret bank accounts abroad. He may not have gone through trial but, “the humiliation Pinochet has gone through is probably a better outcome than any trial could have achieved”. In the end He died on December 10, 2006 after a cute heart attack at Military Hospital of Santiago at the age of 91.

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/world/americas/11pinochet.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/461158/Augusto-Pinochet

http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/chileans-overthrow-pinochet-regime-1983-1988

Week 1 BOC: My Voice

Fashion had always been a hobby for me. I always liked to dress well and in my own style. Looking up latest trends and never saying no to a shopping trip or styling my friends. I think I unconsciously knew then that this was what I wanted to do. I just wasn't aware at the time. It was probably because I never considered it as a serious career. I stereotyped that profession as only for people were creative. People like Fashion Designers. That is why I majored as a law student in my high school. That was something that allowed me to be the organizing and serious person that I mostly was at the time. I believe I began to change in the beginning of my Junior year. I wasn't as focused in what was learning and I didn't find it interesting anymore. My heart was burdened as I came into class everyday. Law wasn't at aIl what had thought it would be. I figured out that even I was interested about trials or cases didn't mean I was able to do it myself. It didn't go with my interests, lifestyle, or personality. I was terrified that was how I was going to have to live my life. It wasn't until the Art Institute visited my high school that I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I finally had a dream. To work with what I never lost interest in, fashion. I could become a stylist where I can get paid to shop for others and dress them up,  or a visual merchandiser that creates a wonderful and stylish atmosphere that draws customers in the store. Even though at the moment it isn't clear on the exact job I want to do, I know I'll be happy doing it because its in the Fashion industry. An industry that is full of exciting opportunities and forever changing.

Week 1 EOC: Volkswagen Lemon

Lemon Volkswagen:

The Lemon Volkswagen phrase refers to the Volkswagen Beetle advertising done in the 1960s. The originally design was invented by Hitler in 1938. He called it "KdF-Wagen" or the "Strength Through Joy Car". The model dwindled like its inventor, but the design came back. This time they wanted it be available in the US.  Interestingly enough, this Jewish ad agency accepted the product and began thinking of a way to make sure it became successful in the American market. The Volkswagen was introduced in 1959 by the New York ad agency called, Doyle Dane Bernbach. Advertising that was a refreshing new take in advertising a product. What made it vastly different from its competition was that it wasn’t afraid to turn the product into the butt of the joke. The consumers that became greatly attracted to the ads were the new generation of the time rebelling against the image they had on the last. One ad in particular was the lemon Volkswagen ad. The ad showed the model with the words "Lemon" in bold font. The ad also explained the glove compartment had to be replaced because the chrome strip had a blemish. It gave the Volkswagen the image of a well-built and reliable car. What makes the results from this ad impressive and praised was that the product itself was unimpressive. That the ads were so simple, catchy, but creative and different from anything else done. It became so popular that other ad agencies began to imitate the style, causing a movement in the industry that would impact that period to today. This was called the DDB approach. The idea of placing creativity into the ads was all that began during this period in the 1960s. Now using creativity and emotional connections with the consumers is basic when creating advertisements.

Sources:

The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide. “1960-1969 Volkswagen Beetle”. How Stuff Works.com. Web. 13 Jul. 2013.

Ogden. "Volkswagen ad campaign was far from a lemon". Biz Journals.com. 21 Nov. 1999. Web. 13 Jul. 2013.

n.p.. "Volkswagen New Beetle History". Edmunds.com. Web. 13 Jul. 2013.

http://www.writingfordesigners.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/volkswagen_lemon_hires1.jpg