BP Phase

Lately the news has been focused on the freakish oil spills caused by BP. Many displaying their disappointment in the lack of effort on BP part to get things fixed and done. I can honestly say I have not paid much attention to the news. It seems like when one big story is out they do so much to over cover it to the point where it’s a bit redundant. Yes, it is horrible that they our polluting our waters and harming the wild life around the areas that the oil spilled. I am a BP gas user, will this major incident effect my view on this product, not likely. Needless to say, it is not that I don’t care about wild life it’s just a fact that once this story passes people will continue using their products. This negative news coverage has happened to many other companies before and most survived.

One thing that does come to my mind, being a public relations/ advertising major, is all the pr that is going to be involved to clear up this mess. I was recently invited to join a group on Facebook called, BOYCOTT BP UNTIL THEY STOP THE LEAK!! It is bad enough that the news coverage is focused on all the failed efforts involved in cleaning up this oil spill. But now they have Facebook pages and other websites encouraging people to stop using BP products. What makes it worse is that the picture that represents this page is the BP gas symbol with a picture of a large dead turtle next to it. This type of culture jamming is putting this company at risk.

One thing that is clear. The news is no longer covering stories on the bad rap Toyota has had lately. They have always been known for building quality products until recent malfunctions with their products. They have had to pull out some major pr tactics to cover their butts. But it seems that when one major issue leaks to the media, a company has a chance to get “lucky” and have their story set aside while another major incident arises. It seems a little wrong how easily one big story can be almost forgotten due to new stories. Lets see how long this BP scandal remains on the front of everyone’s mind.

-LV

American Idol: Over and Out

So American Idol finished last week, and for the first time ever I missed the result show. Needless to say, I was not disappointed that I missed it. This season on Idol has not excited me as passed seasons did. Yes, I was a fan of Crystal B. and Lee D. from the beginning and was excited to hear that they made it to the top two, yet that was not enough motivation. As I have stated before in my blog, American Idol is one of the shows that acts as a bonding experience between my family and I. It is a time out of the week where I actually sit down and bond with my parents. Turns out the week during the final episodes my parents where away on vacation. Which probably resulted in why I did not watch the last moments.

Either way I can say Idol was a disappointment for me. Lee came out as the champion, which was all well deserved. I was a fan of “MamaSocks,” but it was only right that the individual who came from nothing and worked at a paint store took home the prize. One thing I can say that did excite me about Idol was its Ford advertisements during the show. I am now totally convinced to buy the Ford Fiesta. It is cute, little and good on gas.

Overall, I feel that American Idol will continue to go down hill. Last year they choose to hire a fourth judge, Cara, which did upset my viewing pleasure. This year they got rid of Paula who was always excited and sympathetic toward the contestants and replaced her with Ellen who is funny, but honestly what does she really know about music other than if it sounded good or not. Finally, it was Simons last season on the show. I have heard talk about replacing his spot with Elton John, another one with a British accent. Still Idol is not the same as it was. I don’t think anyone can replace Simons brutal honesty. We’ll see if I tune in next year.

-LV

SATC 2!!

Sex and the City 2 has been a nation wide craze for all women (and some men). I was one of those women who stood in line at 11pm in anticipation for the midnight showing. What is amazing about this infatuation with Sex and the City is that every one who watched this series was able to identify with each one of the characters in the show, some more than others. This is not even including the fashion. Fashion has a huge part in this series. Not to mention all the glamorous fashion that has been overly done in both Sex and the City movies.

What catches my attention revolves more around the Jackie Stacey article that I have been reading for class. In this article she speaks of how audiences look up to these stars they see on screen and try to copy their appearance and behaviors as well as try to see themselves within these stars.

Sex and the City is a perfect example of this. While in line waiting for the movie I saw groups of girls dressed fancy or carrying out some type of theme that is present to this show. I saw one group of girls the all wore fancy dresses, when I say fancy I mean sparkles and glitter from head to toe with heels to match. Another group of girls I saw wore big flowers and other headband decorations acting as some sort of montage to Carrie who loves hats and other sorts of bold accessories in her hair. Not to mention that most groups of girl came in 4 (there are four main characters).

I am not the type to dress up to a movie, it was midnight and I was going to head home after this 2 hour and 40 min show and sleep anyway. But for other girls that look up to these stars and try to copy their appearance and take on the behaviors of these characters this was a night to remember. I can bet that those many groups of 4 who came dressed up to the midnight show came from a fancy bar or restaurant and drank some Martini’s to pay tribute to these 4 powerful and highly influential women known as Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda.

Stereotypes of Women in Cop Shows

This past week in class we discussed stereotypes. Stereotyping is something that we do on a daily basis. After all, by placing a group of people in set categories makes the way we process information easier. And what keeps us holding on strong to these stereotypes? The media.

I have been paying close attention to some of the shows I spend most of my time watching and noticed just how much stereotyping goes on. For instance, I am a heavy viewer of any type of Law and Order, CSI, Bones and other criminal shows. Obviously you have the typical stereotypes present such as suspects that are Black or Latino dress with their saggy clothing. They both speak with their accents and use street slang. The Latinos especially are shown in with tattoo’s on their face and bodies as though they are gang affiliated. But this dose not tend to bother me so much.

One issue that does catch my attention is the portrayal of women in these criminal shows. Women are always shown as the hard-working type that is so focused on their job that they have no time for their family. And if they do have children these women are single moms who cannot manage to keep her relationship together. For example in the show Bones, the main character, Dr. Brennen aka Bones, plays a very rational women who is extremely successful at what she does. In the beginning episodes she is mainly shown pretty much living and breathing her work. She was involved in few if any relationships. She seemed like the type that was too busy to be involved romantically. On the other hand, we have her co-star, Angela, who was always casually dating and in and out of relationships. She always manages to find the wrong guy or in relationship that end quickly and shown as being promiscuous.

The main portrayal that surrounds these top women detectives is this stereotype of being a single mom. I can recall the blonde women’s name from CSI, but she has a daughter and frequently finds herself struggling to spend quality time with her child. It is as though these shows make it clear that if women spend too much of their time focused in their career and are good at it, it is their own fault if she can’t keep her marriage. Now what does this say about society? That if successful women want a stable marriage they should not or are not capable of holding such demanding jobs while maintaining their love life.

It is funny if you look at the men role in these criminal shows. Most are shown either being divorced or not being married at all. The main difference is that these shows do not make this a big issue in the man’s life as they do in the women’s. This reinforces the back in the day stereotypes of women staying in the home or holding less successful positions so that they can live up to be the caregiver of their family.

-LV

Living in a World full of Ads

New methods for advertising has increasingly popped up over the past few years. From traditional forms; radio, media, telemarketers, billboards and direct mail to text messages, pop-up on websites, back of receipts etc. Advertisements can now be found anywhere. You cannot venture out during your daily commute and not see an advertisement. They are most likely in the music you listen to while at the same time being exposed to windows and walls plastered with ads on the bus or train your riding, not even mentioning the view outside those windows.

After a long night out in the city this past weekend, my ride and I made a pit stop at a near by gas station. As I sat in the car and waited at the local SpeedWay, I started to notice that the usual radio music was no longer and was now replaced by TV’s that were placed on the top of each gas pump. As I sat to watch the TV program I began to realize what was actually being shown on them.

The program was titled NBC @ the Pump. Included in the programming were ads for Chevy trucks, Pepsi cola, Lowes and American Express. There was also mini news coverage on the weekly weather forecast. Famous,or the word might have been extreme, sports moments were brought to you by ESPN. Lastly, there was an ad for the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

I found it pretty interesting and actually a great way to advertise and market. Showing car ads is an obvious and effective method since you are in a gas station and a driver that may potentially want a new car, Pepsi is effective especially if the driver has been on the road for a while and needs a pick me up and lastly how will you end up paying for your gas and drink? American Express of course. I wonder what will be next!

-LV

"Alliens in Arizona"

Lately the news channels have been coving the new immigration law controversy taking place in the state of Arizona. What is interesting is the way in which these stories are covered by the news casters. It is no secrete that different networks reinforce their own ideals, liberal versus conservative. Which ultimately affects how they cover a news story.

While watching the news, a news caster was reporting on the protest against this law in Arizona that is suppose to take place nation wide. He was reporting from Arizona and speaking of where and when and how many people are estimated to take part in this march. Suddenly, the subject quickly changed on a negative note. In the midst of his story about the protest the news reporter quickly jumped to the recent happenings involving a detective or deputy that was shot by alleged illegal’s that were smuggling drugs. Key word: Alleged.

By covering this story, while speaking of the controversy and protest to be taken place against this new immigration law, serves as a means to convince and form viewers opinions on the issue. Those who were already in favor of this new law, now have an additional reason to hold those views. While those who were on the fence, now have reason to sway in favor of this law. This news station has now imbedded a negative image in the eyes of society. They are enforcing their views, obviously pro of this immigration bill, onto its viewers.

What this says to me is that there will always be multiple sides to different issues surrounding the news. If you are a liberal and stick to only watching liberal news networks you will only be exposed to one viewpoint. The same goes for if you are conservative. The best way to get a full perspective on an issue from all sides is to open your mind to all viewpoints. I will say, I did find this type of coverage offensive and unnecessary. I bet these types of incidents happen on a daily basis in the lives of police officers. Just the fact that it happened where it did and that the suspects are supposed to be immigrants calls for an over coverage and exaggeration of the issue.

LV

The forbidden "A" word.

16 and Pregnant is one show which I am a fan of. Recently the season finally ended and the after show was on MTV where all the girls come out and talk about their experiences with Dr. Drew. A typical 16 and Pregnant session hosts a hand full of teen girls that keep their children and one couple that opts out for adoption. What is interesting to me but is starting to become a problem for me is that there is never a couple that opts out for an abortion.

Sure there are a couple episodes where someone mentions an abortion as an option. But usually that talk comes quickly and from the boyfriend upon the initial shock of hearing that his girlfriend is pregnant. It is like they screen every girl on the show to learn her values, so that if that question comes up during filming she will be quick to express her pro-life points of view.

I know this subject does not sit well with most individuals. But it is another reality of our everyday society. This show is suppose to depict real life drama of teen pregnancy, but it only chooses to show two of the alternatives involved in pregnancy. It seems these days teen pregnancy is high, and yet as Dr. Drew said only about 2 percent of teen pregnancy ends in adoption. I would like to know how the other percent is broken up? I would not be surprised to learn if abortion was equal to or above that percentile.

So why is it that a teen mother who decides to have an abortion will never be aired on a 16 and Pregnant episode? Easy, advertisers. Advertisers do not want to associate their brand with a controversial subject. After all most funds earned by networks come from ad dollars. What is interesting is that, this show message is not trying to endorse teen pregnancy yet teach the struggles in hopes that other teens watching will consider using protection. In that case, why would it be so bad for one episode to showcase a teen girl choosing abortion and her struggles based on her decision. It seems that presenting all sides to a pregnancy would be more beneficial. Guess we have to let advertisers know that.

-LV