BBC and The New York Times

After looking at both the BBC website and The New York Times website, I saw quite a few similarities but some differences too. They both broadcast the top stories big so that everyone can see it. The New York Times post many different articles throughout the website with some sort of description with it. I think by doing this they have made the website very cluttered and it is hard to notice everything and it makes it hard if you are looking for something particular. The BBC website has a few articles on the main page but they have a sidebar on the left with different categories. I liked the neatness of the BBC website compared to the NY Times. I'm all for less clutter!

By: Katie Sasser

Bars, Beers, Bathrooms, and Advertisments

I noticed lately that everytime I go to a bar, and then I go into the bathroom there is an adverisement on the back of the stall door. Before this class, I never noticed or paid any attention to any type of advertisement. But now I've become very aware of commercials, billboards, and any other form of advertisment. I sit there and figure out if I like it or not and if I dont what is wrong with it.

Well since recently turning 21 in August combined with taking RCS-362, I now seem to always see the bathroom advertising and I think it is a great way to advertise! When you go to a bar, you are most likely going to do some drinking. Drinking more and more is going to make you go to the bathroom more often. So when you go so much, you are bound to notice the advertisment on the back of the door and read it every single time you go. In my opinion I definetly think that this is a great way to get more people to know about your business, and i have seen that it is becoming more and more popular.

By: Katie Sasser

Yahoo! Avatars Part 2

I had never heard of Yahoo! Avatars before this assignment and I think they are pretty cool. I like all the options you can do with them like different faces, hair, clothes, backgrounds, and extra things to make it your own. I sat there for like an hour just playing around with different options. I first made one that was just an everyday me, but that was boring so I got fun with it! My avatar turned out in a brown dress, the background was a red carpet and a limo, and I had two penguins hanging out with me! haha! I think that Yahoo did a good job with these but if they are trying to appeal more to a younger adult crowd then they defintely need to come up with some more clothes that are fashionable because in that area they really didnt have anything that's why I ended up choosing something crazy. Also i think we should be able to pick out the shoes because I notice that when I choose an outfit I didnt like the shoes that went with it but couldnt change it. Another thing I thought should be different was with putting on the hats you had to have the short brown hair and i wanted to have a hat with the hair i chose. Oh well! Just a few suggestions, but other than that I think they are fun little things!

By: Katie Sasser

Yahoo Avataars

I did not have a Yahoo account previous to this assignment. After creating one, I created an Avataar. These miniature images are a fun way to waste time. You can customize your own to look identical to yourself or anyone. You can dress them in practically anything including cultural dress and active wear. There are options to place them in different background settings with multiple accessories and add-ons. The Avataar is a fun creation that you can play with to be as creative and expressive as you want. These little customizations are becoming hugely popular. I first saw them with AIM and the WeeMee world. Then when Nintendo came out with the Wii, they had Miis, which you can practically create your own network of players and teams. The level of detail involved in creating these people is amazing. From face shape to multiple colored highlights in hair to the distance from your beauty mark to your nose and the size of that beauty mark. The options are practically limitless. Avataars are a great way to personalize the online experience and really make it YOUR homepage. I love the little guys :)Here's my creation.

Energizer goes Pink

Today in class we started talking about how brands use colors as a way to advertise their product to a certain target market. Well it got me thinking about if i had ever been a "victim" to buying a product because its a new, pretty color and i remembered a certain product that got me.

About a year ago I noticed that suddenly energizer batteries went pink.
I was walking down the aisle at Target and those darn pink batteries caught my eye and i was amazed. I mean who would have thought PINK BATTERIES, of course I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I purchased those batteries that day and only bought them simply because they were pink. But the thing about these batteries i later realized was why they were pink. Energizer had joined forces with the the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation so when ever someone purchased a pack of these pink batteries they were supporting breast cancer. I think this type of advertising is a step forward for companies. Not only does this give more money into Energizer's pockets, but it supports a very important and relevant cause in our society. Who would have thought that my purchasing something as simple as batteries because they were pink would turn into donating money to a breast cancer foundation!



By: Katie Sasser

*clearasil may cause confidence

After discussing the inappropriate message the Old Navy Flirt commercial is sending it got me thinking about other commercials that are sending the same inappropriate message. One commercial in particular popped into my head. Just recently Clearasil has come out with a new commercial for the Clearasil Deep Cleanse using their popular tagline “Clearasil may cause confidence”. With this new commercial I think they took it a little too far in trying to get that message across. Below is the commercial…



Watching it for the first couple of times I found the commercial hilarious and still watching it now I laugh, but when you think about it like after talking about the Old Navy commercial you realize that the commercial and who it is targeted to is really not sending out the right message. The message in this ad is much more noticeable than the Old Navy ad. If I were a mother with teenagers (which is who they are obviously targeting) I would not want them thinking that they can act like that, and also teenagers already have such impressionable minds. I think they could have done it in a different way still making it as funny and suitable for their target market!!!

By: Katie Sasser

Yesterday while I was watching tv, I came across a commercial for Heineken Beer. I had never seen it before and it struck me as kind of odd. There was a robotic girl "dancing" across a room and as she danced she "opened up" and turned into a keg. She then tapped herself, poured a glass, then she multiplied into 3 girls. Now, at first viewing I was quite impressed with the animation and the creativity. But after the next few commerials I was still thinking about this Robotic chick and her sisters...yes, it was creative, yes it was futuristic, and yes it appealed to the young adult male. After some searching around the internet and the Heineken website, I discovered that their marketing strategy was themed around being "futuristic." I guess this girl was Heineken's idea of how the future of serving beer should be. This would be perfect if the only people who drank beer were guys between the ages of 21 and 35.

My experience with college and beers of choice, from a girls perspective...
It's your freshman year and you want to make new friends and you want people to think you are cool, so you drink freaking Smirnoff Apple or Raz and you end up drinking more sugar than anything and your stomach hurts for the next 2 days. That being said, I think beer companies need to make their products more appealing to women. Maybe have a party scene with a bunch of people hanging out at a house and the camera pans to a girl in a pair of blue jeans and a tank top of some sort sitting on a couch getting ready to down her second fruity, sugary "beer" of the night... Her face twists into what we all know as "do I really have to drink ANOTHER of these?" She looks up and her eyes lock with a guy across the room holding a Heineken (since their commercial started this) and he raises the bottle in her direction and "invites" her over. She grins, gets up and walks toward him, takes the bottle and takes a sip. The camera swings around her body to the other side and she brings the bottle away from her lips with a satisfied smile. The guy winks at her and opens another Heineken. They clink bottles and the screen reads, "Here's to good beer."

This is just a flutter of the imagination and I'm sure it can be done better, but I would rather see real people enjoying each other's company then some robotic chick dancing around and pouring beer out of keg that is produced from inside her body... My idea appeals to both genders and can be modified and tweaked to appeal to an older audience as well. It is more versatile and will reach a wider variety of people.