Public Relations Activity

1. Find (3) examples of crisis public relations campaigns. Show an example of the campaign and explain what the crisis consists of and how it is being managed from a PR standpoint.

1) Snapchat’s “Blackface” Filter

Snapchat added two lenses that were found offensive and totally racist. The first was a lens that blended users’ faces with that of Bob Marley. This was perceived by many as Snapchat letting users don blackface, a caricature of black people that is offensive to many African Americans. A few months later, Snapchat followed its blackface incident with a yellowface lens. That lens turned users into caricatures of Asian people, giving them closed, slanted eyes and large buckteeth. Snapchat added insult to injury by arguing that the yellowface lens was simply inspired by anime before finally removing it.

                                               

2) Microsoft’s Hitler-Loving Twitter Bot

Microsoft introduced to the world when it experimented with Tay, an A.I.-powered Twitter robot. Tay was designed to talk like a teen girl and pick up the latest Millennial slang by learning from the conversations she had with real humans on Twitter. However, it all went wrong when The bot was quickly exposed to the worst of humanity and took it all in. In less than a day, Tay was spouting racial slurs and expressing an affinity for Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump. The incident caused a headache for Microsoft, which like most other tech companies has struggled to increase its hiring and retention of women and minorities. Microsoft terminated Tay a day after her release.

3) United Airlines’ Removal Of A Passenger

After videos of a passenger being violently dragged off an overbooked United Airlines plane circulated on the internet. At first, United stood by the forceful removal of the passenger but then issued a cold apology, with the company’s CEO saying, “This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers.” After intense backlash and boycott threats, United Airlines took full responsibility and made the apology that it should have made to begin with after what happened: “We have committed to our customers and our employees that we are going to fix what’s broken so this never happens again.”. This incident caused a plummet in stocks and consumer perception.

2. Find (3) examples of PSAs. Show a copy of the ads and explain what it is about and what nonprofit organization it represents

1) He has his mother’s eyes:

This PSA is for the nonprofit organization amnesty.org for abuse. It is trying to tell people to report abuse. Abuse of a parent can also become abuse to a child. It is important to report abuse if you see it.

2) Women need to be seen as equal:

This PSA campaign is by UN Women. United Nations organization dedicated to seeking gender equality, their campaign is to promote and bring to light women equality versus inequality. The google search results for “women need” goes to show the inequality that women face.

3) Nobody is immune to breast cancer. Not even superheroines:

This ad campaign by MFW is to try to show the need for women to make sure they are checking themselves and getting checked for breast cancer because no one is immune to it; not even Wonder Woman. Breast cancer can happen to anyone.

3. Find (4) examples of Propaganda – (2) dealing with historical events &
(2) with current. List what event the ad is about.

1)His war is over.. Yours isn’t!

This historical propaganda is dealing with the attempt to get more people to buy extra war bonds to help continue fighting.

 

2) This world cannot exist half slave and half free:

This historical propaganda is for the fight between slavery and freedom. They are trying to say that the world cannot be whole and cannot exist if it is divided. Fight for freedom!

3) Stand Up, be counted:

This current propaganda is meant to show that any kind of prejudice, discrimination, hatred or violence is wrong and people should stand up for their rights.

4) 77% of anti-abortion leaders are men…

This propaganda is about the fact that the majority of the people who are against abortion (77%) are men. Men who will never have to worry about being pregnant. Men who are not the ones who face the problem. 100% of men will never become pregnant. They do not have the right to decide a woman’s right for something they will never have to face.

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Product Placement in Movies and TV Shows

product placement: strategically placing ads or buying space in movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, blogs, and music videos so that products appear as part of a story’s set environment.

Below are 10 examples of product placement in movies and TV shows.

1. Ray-Ban in Risky Business
   

2. FedEx in Cast Away
   
   

3. Bubba Gump Shrimp in Forrest Gump
   
   

4. Junior Mints in Seinfeld
   

5. Pizza Hut in Demolition Man
   

6. AOL and Starbucks in You’ve Got Mail
   
   

7. McDonald’s in Pulp Fiction
   
   https://youtu.be/uYSt8K8VP6k

8. Coca-Cola in American Idol
   

9. Ford Gran Torino in Gran Torino
   

   

10. Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Reebok, Nuprin and Doritos in Wayne’s World
    

Magazine Specialization

Choose 3 print ad’s of different categories or products

Ad 1: 

Ad 2:

Ad 3: 
Who is the target audience for the ad?Ad 1: The target audience for this ad could be either man or woman, however the ad shows Shonda Rhimes a writer and producer for TV such as Her hit Greys Amatomy. This ad while could be for a man or a women, it is targeted at the working person. “Be an Overachiever like me”

Ad 2: This makeup ad while it shows a picture of a young looking woman, it features “ageless”or age defying makeup. The need of age defying makeup is targeted at the older women ( those around the ages where skin starts to age). I think it is saying, “buy this ageless makeup and you too can look as young and beautiful as this woman in this picture” 

Ad 3: This ad is Targeted at the dog parent. The picture shows a young woman however it can be targeted at either men or women.  A dog parent can be of any age or gender.

What type of ad is it? Textual (Mostly words), Visual (Mostly images), or a Combination. How do you know? Explain.

Ad 1 and 3 are more picture and visual based. There is a small amount of writing on both of these pictures. However ad 2 is more of a combination of both. It has more writing on it versus ads 1 and 3. It is a combination of pictures and text.

How could you change the ad to appeal to a different audience than you listed in question #1? Be specific!

Ad 1: It could be changed to be like a college student at their desk or doing homework. The ad could be geared to college students saying the pen can make doing homework writing easier. 

Ad 2: I can’t really think of a way this ad could be changed. It is ageless make up which in itself is already targeting older women. The only way I could think of is if you were to change they type of make up in general but that would change the ad all over. 

Ad 3: One way I can imagine changing this ad to target a difference audience, is to change the dog in the photo to an older dog and say this food can make the dog feel like and be active like a young dog. I would also change the woman to an older woman or man. This would change the audience to an older age group. 
Source for ads: Good Houskeeping magazine. September 2017 issue.

Is the Era of Mass Audience Over?

As television and cable change their shape and size, do they remain the dominant way our culture tells stories?

Today, even with the largely influencing and high audience online streaming platforms, television and cable still dominant. While these streaming platforms have changed how people view their media/stories, it is still the same providers that they are watching. The textbook says “Internet streaming services help cable and broadcast networks increase their audiences through time shifting”. The way people are viewing their media doesn’t change who (in the first place) created it.

Today, television remains the main place, whether it’s the big LED screen or the handheld smartphone, where we go for stories. In what ways do you think this will change or remain the case in the future?

Television will always remain the main place we go for our stories. It doesn’t matter how much technology has advanced and will advance, the platforms we get our stories from will transfer and adapt to the way people view it. Currently, the technology people mostly use is smartphones, tablets, etc. We as humans don’t know exactly what the future holds for technology.

Where do you prefer to get your stories?

The way that I personally view all of my media unless it is strictly the news such as WBTV channel 3, is online. Whether I am watching on my tablet, Xbox, or my smartphone, I prefer to watch it on platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

How do you think new technologies will further change T.V. viewing habits?

As mentioned above, We as humans don’t know exactly what the future holds for technology. However, to guess, things will move to the likes of VR (virtual reality), holographic viewing, and most likely other fascinating ways to view media.

Couple playing a videogame in the living room

 

 

Sources:

Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2015). Media & culture: mass communication in a digital age. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Tracking my Listening Habits

How much radio do you listen to/ When do you listen?

On average I honestly don’t listen to that much music. I love music and believe that it is a way to ignite our emotions in many ways. However, I don’t find as much time to listen as much as I should. Going through my week tracking how much I actually listen to music, the majority of it comes from the speaker that plays at my job. Typically when I am in the car or sitting at home I am in quiet. For me driving down the road is sort of a solitude, a place to think and get away from the other loudness in my life so my drives are often silent. Ever so often I will get a song stuck in my head and I will have to play it from my phone (On Apple Music) and will listen to 3 or 4 more before I turn it off. I think out of my week of tracking, I listened to music, other than at work, at most 4 times. I am sort of an odd person when it comes to listening to music. I get my moods maybe once every few weeks where I want to listen to music constantly. I will listen while doing my homework, riding in the car, laying in bed, walking to class, etc. but it is on rare occasions. However, I usually enjoy my silence when I can get it.

 

What attracts you to a particular station?

When it comes to actual FM radio, I will pretty much listen to anything that doesn’t have a commercial playing. As long as it is somewhat modern music whether it be Pop, Rock, Country or Christian I will listen to whatever sounds good at the time. However, as mentioned above, when I am actually listening to music (usually on my Apple Music), it varies on what I am in the mood for, a majority of which being songs I already have on my phone. Every few weeks I will get on Apple Music and go through what is new in “Top Hits” and download what I like. I like to search through the Top Hits because it includes music of many genres, not just Pop and Rap.

 

How has your music taste changed over the years?

My music taste over the years has changed quite a bit. When I was really young (talking elementary school days), I was into artists such as Brittany Spears, Kenny Chesney, Gretchen Willson, Rob Zombie, and a few others. My taste in music was very much so influenced by what my parents listened to. Once I got into middle school I started to develop my “own” music taste, however, most of it was influenced by my cousin. She was older and one of the “cool kids” so what she listened to, I listened to. At that time it was artists such as Flo Rida, Bruno Mars, Black Eyed Peas, etc. It wasn’t until around 8th grade I really started listening to the kind of music I listen to now. I started to listen to Green Day and was also introduced to two bands by a boyfriend at the time, A Day To Remember and Bullet for my Valentine. These three bands started my love for alternative rock/rock/screamo music. Ever since then I have for the most part listened to those genres. There are exceptions because I am the kind of person who will listen to anything with an open mind. There are many artists of different genres that I like to listen to, however, Rock (of all types) will always hold that place in my heart as my favorite.

 

 

 

COM 120G

Anchorman: Not Just a Comedic Movie

Before getting into details and questions; We must first ask, What is Anchorman? Anchorman is a comedy based in the 1970s starring Will Ferrell as Ron Burgandy “lead anchor”, Christina Applegate as Veronica Corningstone “co-anchor”, Steve Carell as Brick Tamland, Paul Rudd as Brian Fantana and David Koechner as Champ Kind. Ron Burgandy is the top news anchor in San Diego joined by his news team of Brick, Brian, and Champ. Ron’s career and life are changed when the TV station he works for hires a new female journalist named Veronica Corningstone. Veronica while looked down on by all the men around her waits patiently for her big break as an anchor. During this time it is unheard of for a woman to be in news, let along an anchor. After Ron loses his job due to a “funny joke” that Veronica pulls on him (thinking it’s harmless), she ends up becoming “lead anchor” thus making her dreams come true.

However, the plot of the story isn’t the main point of today’s post. It’s the story behind the plot. In the 70s the main source of news and media was either news papers or the local news channel. There pretty much wasn’t any other way to view the news like there is today (i.e Social Media, online newspapers/news channels). While things today have moved online, one thing has always largely stayed the same, News channels and their storytelling. That being said, we come to our first question.

What are the advantages and pitfalls of the media’s appetite for telling and selling stories?

We see in movies and TV shows an obvious reason for storytelling whether it be fictional or nonfictional most of which have some sort of narrative telling the story. It makes it interesting to watch. When we are watching these things that we find interesting, we are typically paying for it in some form, whether it be going to the movie theatre and purchasing tickets, paying for a tv service, or a monthly subscription to an online streaming source, these people are making money off what we are watching. That being said, local and national TV news stories also sort of function as a sort of storytelling or “melodrama”[1]. Most are set in large cities and tell the stories about what is going on in and around said city such as crime, weather, sports, heroics, etc. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of these telling and selling these stories?  TV news has continued over the years to focus almost solely on the consumers who build the TV ratings and determine the ad rates rather than everyday citizens.  There could be an advantage and disadvantage to that. For the consumers and the TV stations, it could be an advantage that they are doing this because it is what fills their pockets with money. However, it is a disadvantage to the everyday citizens who get their news from stations who don’t cater to them. “Journalist must make the significant interesting and relevant….We are awash in news stories that try to make something significant out of the obvious trivial, mildly interesting, or narrowly relevant”[1].  While fictional TV shows and movies have very much so evolved over the years, TV news has not. It remains old fashioned and typical due to money and competition.

So to answer the question to what are the advantages and pitfalls of the storytelling, it depends on who’s side you are on. If you are the consumers who are making a profit off this than you are on the advantage. However, if you are the everyday citizen then you are on the disadvantage considering your news isn’t really catered to you.

As we reach the point where almost all media exist on the Internet in some form, how have our culture and daily lives been affected?

The biggest way in which our culture and daily lives have been affected by everything moving online is how we went from a face-to-face communication society to face-to-screen communication society. Now that everything is on the internet and is at our fingertips, our faces have become glued to a little screen. In obvious ways, everything being on the internet has made life much easier for our society, if we have to look something up, or if something emergent happens, we can get it much quicker and easier than before. However, in guessing, it has made people more antisocial and lazier than ever before. We can lay down in our bed yet have access to the whole world with just the tip of a finger.

Do you feel Anchorman is a comedy or does it more closely reflect in the shift in what and how viewers/readers want information?

Bringing this to a close with the last question, Is Anchorman a comedy or a documentary? As a whole, Anchorman is definitely a comedy. However, there are some for sure ways that it resembles that of which a documentary. The movie was based on a true story, Mort Crim- the real life Ron Burgandy and one of the first women to ever anchor a newscast-Jessica Savitch[2]. A woman who was surrounded by men and sexism in the workplace yet overcomes by becoming one of the first women to do a mans job in the world of news.

The news anchorman has always been one who people look up to and rely on to bring them their news. We see this in the movie where everyone adores Ron Burgandy.

To conclude, it is clear that there are many true things in the movie anchorman that could lead it to be perceived as not just a comedy but also a documentary. However, overall the movie is just a comedy that has a “based on a true story” background.

Works Cited

[1]- Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2013). Media & culture: an introduction to mass communication. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins.

[2]-Abbey-Lambertz, K. (2013, December 09). Meet The Anchorman Who Inspired Ron Burgundy, Mort Crim. Retrieved September 03, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/mort-crim-ron-burgundy-will-ferrell_n_4412364.html

First Drafts: It’s Okay For Them to be Shitty

Shitty First Drafts is a humorous piece written by Anne Lamott

visitingwriters.lr.edu/the-authors

that explains and explores the reasons we write (or should write) shitty first drafts. We read this in my Eng 131 class, leading up to the visit from Anna Lamott herself at Lenoir-Rhyne for our Visiting Writers Series. Lamott explains to the reader that while we think that first drafts are supposed to be good, it’s okay for them to be shitty. In fact, the best thing to do with your first draft is too especially if you are having a hard time getting down anything, is to write a really bad one. Lamott  refers to the first draft as the child’s draft, “where you let it all pour out and the let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later”(paragraph 4).

 

Lamott gives us an example of her own writing. She used to write food reviews for California magazine and even with reviewing food, she had a hard time anything that’s worth anything down. Lamott after having a breakdown, chowing down and taking a second to think she would pick up her one-inch picture frame, stare into it and realize that the answer is to write a shitty first draft. No one was going to see it.

The process of writing a good paper is to first write a shitty first draft, maybe it is much longer than needed, maybe it’s boring or makes hardly any sense but at least you actually have something down now, and not a blank page. Next, you need to take a pen and go through and mark out everything you can, maybe find a new lead and write your second draft.  Then go over it again fixing any little detail that needs it, finally rewrite your third and final draft. By now you should have a pretty good paper written that does and says what it needs to.

“The first draft is the down draft – you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft – you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately. And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it’s loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help is, healthy”(paragraph 10).

 

 

 

Works Cited

Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts.” Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed by Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virgina Clark. 9^th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s 2005: 933-96.

Prairie Home Companion, 1974-2014: A Sonnet

“A Prairie Home Companion, 1974-2014” by Garrison Keillor is a thought provoking sonnet that makes you feel his sense of humble success. Keillor talks about in this sonnet about how he never thought about being well known for a long time, yet for his brilliance and interrupted conciseness.

Keillor mentions Buddy Holly and Amelia Earhart. While they both have very different backgrounds they were also influential. Holly being a singer/songwriter in rock music he was a seasoned performer by the age of 16, who then tragically when a plane crash struck him down in 1959 at 22 years old. Holly came from a home of tailors by trade and then to become who many call a founding father of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Amelia Earhart was the 16th female to be issued a pilot’s license and the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in 1928 as well as the Atlantic and Pacific. Earhart then mysteriously disappeared while trying to circumnavigate the globe from the equator. Several theories have formed many of which have been connected to some artifacts that were found on Pacific islands.

Both Buddy Holly and Amelia Earhart were both well known, not for plainly existing but for doing wonderful things. Holly for being a founding father for Rock ‘n’ roll and Earhart for being the first women pilot to fly across the Atlantic and Pacific. Neither of these stories involve basic people doing basic things. Garrison Keillor says “Look at Buddy Holly and Amelia Earhart, remembered forever as a beautiful flash (4-5).”

Keillor took the low route getting a degree in English at the University of Minnesota and then becoming a radio announcer at Minnesota Public Radio, to also write for The New Yorker. One of his widely well-known work is his radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion. He says “But I took the low road and my plane didn’t crash (referencing Holly and Earhart). And now forty years later I’m still not done (6-7).”

Time flies when you’re having fun. You get lost and forget about time, when you wake up you are surprised to see where you have ended up. It’s sort of like taking a nap. You don’t realize how long you have been sleeping because you were having an amazing dream and time doesn’t matter. However when you wake up you realize that you were sleeping much longer than planned but it doesn’t matter because the dream was worth it. For Garrison Keillor, it wasn’t just a dream. For him, it was a reality. Keillor has been in the game for a long time now, and he shows us by this sonnet that he isn’t done yet. It has been going on for a while now yet he has only just begun (referencing line 11). Keillor is well known, adored and loved by many. Even though he has and will be known for a long time, he will be known for his brilliance and not just for his existence.

 

Screenshot from garrisonkeillor.com/a-prairie-home-companion-1974-2014/

 

 

 

 

Rooming With a Stranger: Is It Really That Important?

Two years ago Anna Altman published a blog post on OP-Talk about the importance of rooming with a stranger in college. In “A College Education Should Include Rooming With a Stranger” Altman talks about and introduces research done by several people on the effects of rooming with a stranger. Living with a stranger can influence whether and which social organizations an individual joins, “Who you live with can change your studying habits, influence how much alcohol you drink and encourage (or prevent) weight gain and mood disorders” (8^th paragraph). All of these things can influence who we become as a person. However today, there are many options to finding a roommate that we are compatible with, similar to an online dating website. Altman states from a source that however this makes us comfortable, it doesn’t help in the growth of ourselves.

For many years freshman students were paired with random roommates, some offering the ability to give some preferences such as wanting someone who has the same sleeping habits or same taste of music as you. While used often in the past, this is no longer needed, there are many apps that work like an online dating website to pair like-roommates to avoid a conflict, examples would be: RoomSync, and RoomZoom . As Altman states “Moving students around within dorms can be a frustrating and time consuming, but there’s even more at stake: the risk that students will be so unhappy that they might transfer out of the college before sophomore year” (3^rd paragraph). To avoid having to do this, many colleges have taken advantage of these apps. Much like dating websites, not everyone is 100% honest about who they are. Who you room with can significantly impact who you are as a person. If your roommate drinks a lot chances are you will also. If your roommate is always depressed, chances are they will bring you down. While these apps help, they are not always effective. While there are many cons to rooming with someone you don’t really know, there are many pros. Such as, if you room with someone who is very outgoing, they can help bring you out of your comfort zone, which is one of the main parts to college.

Nevertheless, this post was published in 2014. Has things changed significantly since then? I really don’t think that it has changed all that much. However in 2016 some things have changed. I believe while more people are independent, there are others who are very dependent that might need a roommate to be with. Personally, I am a commuter. I am always alone at school. I work two part time jobs. I don’t have time to worry about what everyone else is doing. I go to my classes’ then leave. I do not have the choice of rooming with a stranger, or anyone for that matter. Today, things are different. Students have more on their shoulders than to worry about rooming with someone who they are just alike, or the struggle of getting to know a stranger. Majority of students are only in their room to sleep now-a-days. I have friends who hardly know their roommate because they are both busy and don’t have time to worry about each other. Everyone has their own lives.

Now, the questions is: Is it really that important to room with a stranger? I think that it is not that important who you room with as long as you trust them and are comfortable with them. We all have our own lives to worry about. The likely hood of being in your room for any length of time with your roommate other than to sleep, is not as much as it was a couple of years ago. If someone wants to room with someone they know and already trust, it isn’t that big of a deal.

While Altman brings up some good points on the pros of rooming with a stranger, I think today it is not as important. Many students have their face in their technology than talking to someone. While this is sad, it is the reality of teenagers today. If rooming with a stranger is as important as Altman states, then they would make it more of appoint. It is not worth losing students, and money to continuing moving students around if they get a random roommate that they cannot deal with. It is a waste of time for the staff and students.

Works Cited

Altman, Anna. “A College Education Should Include Rooming With a Stranger.” The New York Times. The New York Times,  7 Sept. 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2016

Snow Day

“Snow Day” a poem written by Billy Collins, is a perfect representation of how it feels when you have a snow day. The eagerness of waking up knowing that you don’t have school that morning and you get to sit around in your Pj’s sipping tea (or in my case coffee) enjoying the peaceful quiet view.

In the opening of Collins poem, he creates an image of a peaceful, beautiful snow-covered town. Everything is closed, and a sense that the whole world is shut down under its “white flag”(2). Knowing that later there are responsibilities to be done, but in this moment the speaker is going to sit down, relax have some tea and enjoy the snow day.

When I think of a snow day as an adult, I don’t get quite the same joy and playfulness in my mind as I did when I was a child. When Collins said “So this is where the children hide all day… Where they put on their bright miniature jackets, all darting and climbing and sliding..”(31-34). This reminded me of my childhood. However now that I am an adult, I have other things to worry about. “Will I get sick if I go out in the snow, the can’t go to work? What if I need to get out, will my car crank? What if there is an emergency and we need to get out?” As a child we didn’t have these worries, and I think that is what Collins is portraying in my mind.

We Surrender! Ice cold Flag… N.d. About Flags. aboutflags.com

My favorite, although not the only imagery that Collins uses in this poem, is when he uses the symbol of a “white flag”(2). During a battle, a white flag is used to symbolize surrender and to bring peace in a fight. In his poem, the white flag shows the peaceful side of the snow. In the first line he uses the word “revolution” which I like to think being between the snow and the town, they are at war. Finally the town waves the flag, and it falls down over the town covering it in snow. This creates a beautiful image of the white snow covering the world. I think Collins uses this to portray and give a vivid image of how peaceful and beautiful the snow is.