Lily's Blog

PETA, or "People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals," is an infamous animal rights organization, known for their outlandish and often controversial campaigns. In the past few years, it seems as if more negative press than positive has come out regarding the organization. PETA has made some offensive statements in the past that have definitely pissed people off, like saying that dairy can cause autism or comparing phrases that indicate cruelty towards animals, such as "bring home the bacon," to racist and homophobic slurs. You would think they would learn their lesson after the second or third time they have offended people, but nope. They keep going with insensitive and out of pocket remarks. Nothing is ever subtle about their marketing strategies. PETA uses several of the marketing appeals we have discussed in class, including need for sex, need to nurture, need to aggress, need for attention, and more. But the one they use most often is not included on our ...

You wouldn't typically expect to be emotionally touched or inspired by an advertisement on TV. But these days, it's becoming more and more common for brands to use emotional appeals to sell their product. Companies like Nike, Coca-Cola, Tide and more all like to sprinkle in a little bit of sentiment into their ads that keeps you thinking even after you've moved onto the next ad. Take Dignity Health for example. I'm sure you have seen their commercials. I feel like I see at least one every time I watch TV (which isn't even that often). They show people doing good deeds to help other people or animals. Their slogan is "Hello humankindness" (yes, "human kindness" as one word). Of the appeals we have discussed in class, I would say that the need to nurture is Dignity Health's most utilized tactic. They often feature cute kids or animals that will immediately make you say, "Awww," when they pop up on screen. I had seen Dignity Health...

The PBS documentary The Persuaders  brought up a marketing strategy that I had never heard of: psychographics. Merriam-Webster defines psychographics as " market research or statistics classifying population groups according to  psychological  variables (such as attitudes, values, or fears)." To my understanding, marketing staff use psychographics as a sort of profile for their target consumer. An example of this is "Carrie," who is mentioned in The Persuaders  and was Song Airlines' target. She is described as a basic, relatable, American mother. Learning about Carrie and Song Airlines' desire to single out a specific kind of person to be their customer made me think, "Do I fit into any company's psychographics?" As a teenage girl, there are a lot of products that are targeted specifically towards my age and gender group. Various shoe, clothing and cosmetic brands all seem to gravitate towards young female consumers. But this gets me to wo...

George Orwell's essay "Politics and the English Language" was an interesting read. While I found it slightly difficult to understand and somewhat contradictory at times, I did agree with much of what Orwell had to say about the abuse of language by politicians. More specifically, when I read about the vagueness Orwell has observed in politicians' speech, a particular political figure came into my head: President Donald Trump. Probably Trump's thought process when he is about to make another imprecise statement. Trump is the master of vague language. He is constantly using euphemisms and unclear phrases to water down his true beliefs. I noticed this in a big way in August 2017 when Trump made a statement to reporters after the white supremacist rally that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. he said, "I think there is blame on both sides...You had some very bad people in that [white nationalist] group. But you also had people that were very fine peo...

A news report is supposed to be completely unbiased, with just the facts given. But most of the time, the writers of these reports can't help but let a little bit of their personal opinions bleed through their writing. This is evident in a Fox News article and a CNN article reporting on the same topic: the Notre Dame fire. Fox News' article is titled "More yellow vest protests despite Notre Dame fire." The word "despite" in this context suggests that the author believes that the Notre Dame fire is a reason for the protestors to stall their cause. This view doesn't really make sense considering the yellow vest protestors were protesting the abundance of money raised to rebuild the cathedral, while the economic inequalities French workers face are continuing to be ignored. The writer also continues to use words throughout the piece that suggest that the yellow vest protestors are just an angry group of people that are dramatically lashing out and c...

I would honestly say that I'm kind of addicted to media. More specifically, my phone. Apple recently added a new feature to their phones where it shows you how many hours per day you spend on your phone. And it shocked me to find that I use my phone for up to six hours a day. That's a whole quarter of my day behind a screen. And that doesn't even account for the time that I use to watch Netflix or YouTube on my laptop. This made me think about how essential media has become to my life. I use it every day to stay connected to the world around me. Whether that be talking to friends or family that I don't get to see on a daily basis or looking at the news online to stay informed.  I feel like the internet (which is definitely the most prominent form of media in my life) is often viewed negatively by older generations, and I definitely understand that aspect. Social media can be very harmful to teens, especially ones who star...