Hand Love

How adorable is this?  Something that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I really hope this does get to the lucky lady.  No more love letters or home-made tape mixes, the thing to do is make a Youtube video.  I even had a friend proposed to via Youtube.  He made a video and at the very end popped the question.  Does this mean that the world is becoming so entirely consumed by media that we are losing our personal touch?  I don't think so.  It is merely just another way to express ourselves.  And what better way to share a love video to someone far away?  I enjoy all the things that make you say "aww" and this was one of them!

Scenic Interstate Stores...

On my 7 hour drive home this past week I was yet again disgusting by something.  Every time I drive through the darling state of Missouri I am bombarded by these awful, revolting stores.  What am I referring to?  Adult Super Stores.  Why is it that every 10 miles through the state does there need to be another bright, red and yellow sign hanging over some dingy, run-down shed without any windows?  I am truly appalled at the number and hope to God that it isn't like this elsewhere, even though I bet it is.  Can there really be a need that great to keep these businesses running?  I can't imagine that people actually stop while traveling through (because people just go through Missouri, they don't actually want to stop and stay a while - hence the nickname: Misery).  This is a serious problem that needs to be taken care of before it gets even more out of hand.  There is an over-abundance of XXX and Pleasure Zone shops.  Crappy hick towns get enough of a terrible rep without these "stores" darkening their doorway - or entrance to the interstate.  In my opinion, state representatives should want their roadways to be scenic and enticing to travelers, not overrun by shitty garages that look as though a murder took place inside.  I know that I am not the only one bothered by these adult super-disgusting-stores.  Will the day ever come that they are banned?

SCAM!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=advertising%20google%20fraud&st=cse

Everyone should read this article!

Today, my English professor, a few other students and I had a very interesting discussion about this article.  A quick overview of the article: A man has beat the Google system.  He runs an online company that sells eye wear, but he has no inventory of his own.  (I will refrain from using the site's name just in case it creates more publicity for him.)  Once consumers order from him, he goes to places such as Ebay and buys what his customer requested.  This would work, except for the fact that all of the sunglasses that he sells are cheap knock-offs.  Customers realize the scam so attempt to return their orders.  Unfortunately for them, this man is aggressive.  He threatens them, most of the time causing the angered customers to post reviews of sites.  All of the reviews that mention his company's name, whether positive or negative, get his site boosted a little higher on search engines like Google.  He found that the more people he pissed off, the more they complained, which lead to more service.
How a scam artist as popular as him wasn't caught sooner blows my mind!  The internet is a scary place, especially when someone unknown acquires all of your information.  We all need to be especially careful when using our names, addresses, credit cards, etc online.  Also, I now understand Google a little better - even the "more relevant" searches could only be high up because of negative popularity.  Watch out for the scammers!!

"Like"

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=147272

Facebook and Twitter are huge in today's world.  Personally, I check my facebook multiple times a day and have notifications sent directly to my phone.  According to this article, Facebook has over 500 million users and Twitter is growing to close to 200 million.  Companies are taking advantage of all of these free opportunities to connect with people.  They can make a page and have fans "like" them and give them chances to comment on posts.  The user feedback is incredible.  In this article Oreo was used as an example.  They posted questions such as "Ever try dunking an Oreo cookie with a fork or anything else?" which received 8,200 likes and 2,300 comments and "Pick a flavor, any flavor! If you could create a new Oreo cream flavor, what would it be?" which received 7,100 likes, 12,500 comments.  All of these people engaging in your product for free!  The likes aren't too beneficial, but when consumers comment and become involved with the product, that's where the money is.  Facebook is important in many lives and the things/products on pages have an impact on many.

World AIDS Day

I love to see celebrities using their fame for the better.  As soon as Wednesday, a bunch of celebrities will be lost to the social media world.  They will be signing off of their Twitter and Facebook accounts for World AIDS Day and won't return until $1 million has been raised.  This idea was started by Alicia Keys for her charity, Keep A Child Alive.  Included in this project are Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Seacrest, Kim and Khloe Kardashian, Usher and a few more.  http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/media/e3i34a063bb249a3cf2bd315f944e8b1283 says that Lady Gaga alone has 7.2 million Twitter followers - there's bound to be a movement!  All the celebrity deprived out there will be bound to help the cause so they can stalk their favorite stars.  The thing that I think is interesting is that technology has come so far that all the donations can be accepted through text messages and bar-code technology.  No need to send in a check.  Save on postage and just shoot out a text.  Can the celebrities make it without any form of social media?  For this good of a cause they should.

Cartoons vs. Jesus

Last year in my psychology class we watched a study about children and their ability to identify pictures of people.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the video, so I hope that my description will be sufficient.  Basically, a group of elementary age children were shown pictures of famous historical figures and pictures of cartoon characters for restaurants/products.  Almost every single child knew who Ronald McDonald was.  Many knew characters such as Tony the Tiger and the Trix bunny.  Only a handful of the older children could identify famous presidents such as George Washington.  The most surprising (and the part that made my jaw drop) was that when a picture of Jesus was presented to the children, not a single child was able to identify him.

Children are bombarded with advertisements all day every day.  When they watch their favorite TV shows, companies reel them in.  Commercials with silly cartoons dominate children's channels.  Why?  Because kids will remember these characters and base all of their wants on the best advertised product - the one that intrigues them the most.
I find it sad that children almost idolize places such as McDonald's all because they cater to children and are fun.  In the kindergarten class where I tutor, almost all the children have written multiple short stories about McDonald's.  If only we could have the success of Mickey D's and get more important things to stick in our youth's minds.  Maybe then children would be able to identify more presidents than restaurant cartoons.

Holiday Ads

http://adage.com/article?article_id=147348

This article helps to show just how much things are changing.  Print ads used to be huge!  And I remember going through the newspaper on Thanksgiving looking for the best sales.  This year, my mom didn't even touch a newspaper.  She went straight to her computer and looked up all the sales online.  TV and internet are beginning to overcome print ads.  According to the article, "Most CMOs -- 42% -- said they allocate most of their holiday budget to print ads, down from 64% a year ago."  That's a 22% difference in only one year.  If companies keep decreasing their holiday print ad budget at this rate, print will be dead very soon.  The article goes on to say, "And 27% said they'd be investing the bulk of their budget in online ads, including social-networking sites. That's up from just 18% last year."  Online and especially social-networking advertisements are growing at an extremely fast rate compared to all other forms of advertising.  The internet hasn't been around for very long and already over one-fourth of companies are spending the majority of their budget here.  The world is changing - digital is in, print is going out.

Most Talented Gorilla!

Does anyone get it?  What does a drum-playing gorilla have to do with chocolate?
It doesn't matter.  This kind of an ad grabs your attention and most of all makes you laugh.  Who cares that it has nothing to do with the product.  Just like Jelly Helm's saying, "It's not about what it's about."  Gorillas and chocolate have nothing in common, but that's not the point.  The point is that this clip is enjoyable, it made you pay attention.  Some enjoyed it so much they decided to share with others (like me posting on here) and that's what gets the product's name around.  Sometimes edgy and ridiculous really works.  I can't tell if this works, but I can say I truly enjoyed it!

Family Time

Tis the season.  It's that time again for gorging yourself on food, listening to Christmas music, and most of all spending time with family.  I never realized until this year just how much I treasure being able to see my family come together.  Before, I always took for granted the times my little family would gather and talk about old times.  I thought that it was boring and embarrassing.  Now, I wish it was a little longer.  I feel out of touch with them.  I don't know what is going on in their lives anymore.  These people are my family yet I feel as though I hardly know them.  Why people complain about getting together with loved ones is a bit of a mystery to me right now.  I miss those I only see a few times a year.  I guess all that it took was a little time of separation from all that I know to realize just how much I love and miss it all.  My family isn't all that I've missed.  Also included in this is my friends, my dogs, my house, my town, my old job, my neighborhood - the list goes on and on.  I am thankful for this time of year and for the love that brings family and friends together.

The Situation Promoting Safe Sex?

You have got to be kidding me.  Candie's Foundation?  Really?  Honestly, I can hardly think of two worse people to talk about abstinence.  Bristol, YOU HAD A KID! And Mike, now that's just a joke right?  He probably has more STDs than I have hairs on my head!  And this foundation picked these two, I mean these two, to promote safe sex?  Bristol Palin got into "a situation" and now doesn't want to be the hot mess.  Especially since her mom decided to be on some HGTV reality show showing the life of the Palins in there wild Alaskan home.  Talk about terrible acting on her part as well.  She doesn't stand still for a second, swaying back and forth and playing with her hands.  Also, what in the world is she doing in that flapper-rockette outfit?  Enough about that mess.  Now for The Situation.  Ok, I do love me some Jersey Shore, but I watch it because it is ridiculous.  All they do is go to clubs and hook up!  Oh and of course GTL (gym, tan, laundry for those who aren't fans).  There is not one consideration for safe sex in any of those episodes.  He is ALWAYS looking for the next hot thing to get in bed with.
And the worst worst worst part: WABAM! Magnums.
This video just makes me sick.  The message is extremely important to get across, but choose better people to promote it.  The Situation? Really?

Stop Smoking

Click here to view all package designs: http://adweek.blogs.com

Recently the FDA has been given permission to regulate tobacco products under a new law.  The hot debate now: cigarette packaging designs.  The FDA has released 36 warning labels for the cartons and is asking the public for feedback.  By June the top 9 designs will be used for the packages going out in October.  Finally, a gruesome, yet gravely truthful portrayal of the effects of cigarette smoking.  Only three of the 36 labels are positive and suggest that quitting now reduces serious health risk.  Sure this is a scare tactic (that hopefully works!) but a lot is the same old negative phrases that have been used since smoking was found to be harmful.  Although these phrases have been used repeatedly, now they (along with morbid images) will be shoved in front of all smokers who look at their cigarette package.

One thing that boggles my mind every time I think about it is how many people are STILL smoking.  Every time I walk through campus I am surprised at the number of students lighting up.  I don't know one person that hasn't heard of the risks of tobacco products.  The scientific evidence is clear so why risk your life on something so easy to avoid?  And not only your life, but everyone else around you that you breathe that disgusting, smokey breath on.  I realize that some people are addicted.  My question to them: why did you start in the first place?  Smoking is deadly.  If you want the risk of lung, mouth, and throat cancer along with yellow fingernails and teeth, and smelly breath, hair, and clothes, then by all means smoke.  But don't say you haven't been warned.

Sharing is Caring

Tis the season for giving.  But why do we only have one season for it?  Shouldn't it be a year-long concern?  Holidays are the one time a year when people are in the giving spirit.  Sure it's ok to only give presents to your friends and family once every 365 days, but what about the needy?  They need help all year, not just once while they are on many people's minds.

The Salvation Army bell ringers are only out during Christmas ringing their bells and giving warm wishings of well-being.  This is the only time of year that most of us even remember them.
One type of heart-wrenching commercial that does try to reach out and help those in need is one that everyone is familiar with: the cute little old man holding the starved African child.  He walks you through their village showing all the poor children without clothes or food.  Then, he looks directly into the camera, directly into your soul and says something like "10 cents can feed this child for a week."  That's when you start adding up in your head just how many weeks a child could have been fed if you hadn't bought that shirt the other day....  If moments like this can't get us to give then what can?
When I was younger, I participated in a fundraising program for starving children in Africa called 30 Hour Famine.  In return for the money I raised, I went 30 hours straight without food (which included no sleep since I was with my friends).  It made an impact on my life then, but I don't even think about it now.  We need to stop putting ourselves first and help out those who really have no opportunities.  It should be our duty to help, and not just during Christmas.

Weeee!!

I know that this commercial has been a while, but it still gives me the giggles every time I see it.  Geico started an entire campaign with this serious man asking the viewer silly questions such as "Does the little piggy cry wee, wee, wee all the way home?"  It's cute and grabs attention, and all for car insurance.  Geico has been successful in creating their image.  People always know who that adorable, Australian gecko belongs to.  Now they are using more taking animals.  This campaign has created a bit of publicity for Geico.  I don't know if it has helped their sales, but their commercials do stick in your mind.

What would you do?

If you are driving along an empty road at night in the middle of nowhere and came to a stop light, would you stop and wait for the light to change?  When no one is around to catch you, do you follow the rules of the road or any rules for that matter?  Personally, I know that I still do.  I don't know if it is because I have been taught to always follow rules no matter what or because my luck doesn't always back me up if I do something wrong, but I feel that even though no one is watching, it is still breaking an enforced law.  My guilty conscience would nag at me for weeks.  Just because I don't get caught doesn't mean it is ok to do something.  It is the same concept as telling a murderer that it's ok if you kill someone as long as you don't get caught.  Rules are in place for a reason.  So, what would you do?

Vamanos!

Why does learning a new language come so easy for some, yet others may never master it?  I for one have taken Spanish for 6 and a half years and can't speak a lick.  I do improve when I am focused and try to speak it outside of class as well, but as soon as I stop, I tend to forget.  Research has shown that people who are bilingual, trilingual, etc. have a more active portion of their brain.  Are they born with a more advanced part of their brain or have they shaped it?  I'd love to research more on this topic - one day when I have extra time.  Currently though, I firmly believe that the best and fastest way to completely learn a language is to immerse yourself in it.  I would need to live in a Spanish-speaking environment for an extended amount of time.  If a person is forced to communicate with a different language, they are bound to learn and retain it.  Maybe one day this opportunity will present itself to me.  Til then however, I will just keep trying my best in my beginning Espanol courses.

Hardcore Has a New Look

This Honda Odyssey commercial had me laughing so hard I just had to blog about it.  Getting people to buy mini-vans has got to be one of the most challenging jobs.  The only people that end up buying them are big families that just need the space.  With Honda though, they show a middle-aged man attracted to a "hardcore" van.  As funny as it is, is it a plausible commercial?  Is some scruffy, 30-something, single guy really gonna see a flash of a black sex panther when he sees this van?  Probably not.  But Honda is trying something new and entertaining.  They are breaking from the normal car commercials and creating entertainment.  That's what sticks.  Their target market most likely won't change, but maybe it will make those new dads that want to be a sexy bachelor again be a little bit more OK with driving a mini-van.  Good luck Honda!

When I grow up I wanna be...

I work in the enrollment department of my school - basically I just file and put together packets for all my school's potential students.  It always reminds me of the days when I was applying to colleges.  Quite honestly, I wish I would have done a better job on my applications.  I remember how stressed I got at writing the endless entrance essays and how I just wished it was over already!  But when I really think about it, applying for a college is quite possibly the biggest decision of your life.  College is where you get your education which leads to your career.  How awesome a first job you score all depends on how good of a school you attend.  College is also where you meet some of your life-long friends.  It's where you start really growing into who you will be the rest of your life.  Decisions that you make in college affect your entire future.  How's all that laying on an 18 year-old high school senior's mind?

Also, I believe that seniors in high school need to be reminded that they still have a lot of learning and growing to do.  I know when I was told that I hated it.  Graduating high school seems like a big deal...until it's over.  There's so much left to life (and I know that there's a lot left to mine too!).  I feel that, coming from a public school system, schools need to emphasize life after high school a lot more.  They do make you take classes where you have to say what you want to be when you grow up, but how do you really know at 16 what you want to do?  I think that they should focus on growing and finding more out about oneself and one's beliefs.  By the time students graduate, they should have some direction, but what they really need is to understand themselves, their own needs and wants.  I realize that a lot of this may be wrong and maybe college only seems like the hugest thing in my life because I'm living it now (kind of like how high school felt really important).  We'll see!

Texting and Driving

Last week on my way to the library, I was shocked to see police blocking the road with flares.  There was obviously some type of accident, but there were no crashed cars in the area sectioned off.  I asked people about it walking in, yet everyone was just as confused as me.  Of course I was very curious as to what had happened on my campus.  Later, I realized that the accident had been one of the things that I am always worried will happen.  A car hit a pedestrian.  This link to the Daily Campus article explains it all: http://www.smudailycampus.com/news/student-struck-by-car-breaks-pelvis-1.1743035

A girl was hit a) because she didn't walk across the crosswalk and b) because the driver looked down to check her phone.  In all probability, the driver was texting and didn't see the girl walking across the street in the dark.  Now, I'm not saying that I'm innocent and never text while I drive, but I realize the dangers of it.  A girl was almost killed because of the drivers inattention to the road!  The other day one of my professors told the class that he read an article stating that texting is even worse than drunk driving.  What's wrong with us when we can't even take a break from our phones for ten minutes to drive?  We're putting our lives and the people around us at risk when we get behind the wheel.  Shouldn't we be a bit more careful?  Technology is a great thing, but their needs to be a limit.  Another thing: young people aren't the only culprits.  My mother is always texting on her phone, and when she is, you might as well be talking to a wall.  She is completely oblivious to the world around her.  I think that it is good that police are starting to crack down on texting and driving, especially with the "no phone usage around schools."  I can't imagine hitting someone all because I was texting something stupid to a friend.

Dogs Rule

Dogs vs. Cats

The big debate since....forever.  What are you?  A dog person or a cat person?  Obviously, I know what the answer to this question ought to be.  Dogs.  How can anyone choose a mean, scary, hairball coughing cat when they can have a fluffy, lovable, playful puppy?  They didn't come up with "mans best friend" over nothing.  Dogs are always happy to see you when you come home, they love to snuggle right up next to you, they love to play with you, and they are always just so darn adorable.  Cats on the other hand scratch up your skin, they require a litter box, they climb trees and get stuck, and they are just plain mean.  Who's always the bad guy in kid movies?  That's right - a cat.  Ever heard of a black cat?  What about the crazy cat lady?  So listen up cat people: you lose!  Dogs win.

I'm Nicole Hodges and I approve this message

http://adage.com/smallagency/post?article_id=146834

This article plainly says what we all are thinking: political ads are out of control!  Each politician uses ads that bash on their competition, harshly saying what he or she promised yet didn't follow through with or what terrible thing he or she voted for.  It's overwhelming.  Personally, being new to this whole voting thing, I want to hear what each candidate stands for and how they promise to help their community.  I don't care if someone voted 20 years ago for something contradictory to what they say now.  Tell me your beliefs and let me decide for myself who comes out on top.  The overwhelming amount of commercials that badmouth politicians really only turns me away from voting at all.  I agree with this article and think that if in the future we could see some positive ads that described why someone should gain my vote and not why I should vote against them, then people would be a lot more willing to a) watch the ads and b) VOTE!  And it's not just commercials that are taking over.  Billboards, radio spots, those darn little signs on every corner and in every yard, etc. Please politicians: I know you want to get your name out, but let's try a new route.  Maybe then political advertising won't get such a bad rep.