CRS 231-The affects of the recession on home fashions and apparel

The effects of the recession that we are in have been devastating for millions of families in America. We have recently seen the decline of major corporations, the increase in grocery and gas prices, and the foreclosure of homes. Personally, my family had to cut back on vacations, eating out, and shopping. The housing crisis today has also affected home fashions in a big way.
It’s no secret that retailers have been drastically affected by today’s economy. Disposable income that people accumulated often would be spent on apparel or home fashions. The money that was once there simply is not anymore. Americans are more focused on putting gas in their cars and making ends met. It is unsettling to hear this because as a fashion merchandising student who is graduating in a year, I often wonder if there are going to be any jobs out there for me, will this recession still be impacting retailers nationwide? I believe that the only major retailer that has had any growth in sales is Wal-Mart. People that use to shop at department stores or Target are now looking for lower prices at Wal-Mart. Moreover, the housing crisis has placed a major role in this recession. If people aren’t able to afford mortgages then they certainly can’t afford home fashions. Pier 1 is an example of a home fashions retailer that has taken a major hit.
I personally can’t think of the last time I went shopping and I used to shop monthly for items to put in my apartment or apparel. For the sake of these retailers and maybe a future job for myself, I hope these retailers can stay afloat in such a hard time.

RCS 362-Positive PR campaign for Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan is a household name now-a-days. People young and old are familiar with the celebrity and her latest chaos. As a kid Lindsay was known as a talented child actress. As she has grown older Lindsay Lohan has gotten a lot of bad publicity. From rehab to relapse to getting taken out of movies and TV shows, she has become known more as a lost and confused young woman rather than an actress. As a celebrity it is important to have the attention of the public, whether it is good or bad. However, in my opinion, I tend to see stars that have positive publicity succeed more in their personal and professional life.
If I was in charge of creating a positive PR campaign for Lindsay Lohan I would start by trying to change the public’s current view of the young woman. I believe that before anyone can start seeing Lindsay as a talented actress again, they have to feel confident that she is succeeding in her personal life. If you think about great actors and actresses one similarity they all have in common is that they usually stay out of the public eye, they work hard to keep their personal lives private. Considering that Lindsay Lohan appears in tabloid magazines almost weekly, keeping everything from the press would be extremely difficult. I would start with a press release stating that Lindsay has been able to stay sober and is currently single. Lindsay seems to be in controversial relationships quite frequently so taking her love life out of the picture might be very effective. I would recommended that Ms. Lohan volunteer somewhere in the community so the public would be able to see that she is trying to turn her life around and is now giving back. Additionally, Lindsay would need to stay away from bars and nightclubs, places that the paparazzi tend to attain the most damaging photos. Celebrities that have a “happy” and close family life usually are depicted in a positive manner. I would recommend that Lindsay hang out with her younger siblings more often, letting the public see that she is teaching her younger brother and sister right from wrong based on her past mistakes. Cutting ties with all her party going friends and making new friends that already have positive publicity would also be a part of the campaign. Lastly, Lindsay would slowly star in more movies and TV shows with wholesome characters and plots.
The most important part of this campaign is that the public see Lindsay as turning her life around. The damage she has done to her reputation can, over time, be fixed if she were to change her behavior, or at least the behavior that the public sees. If Lindsay was seen in a more positive light then movie and TV viewers would be able to focus more on the fact that she is talented and capable actress rather than just another troubled, rich celebrity.

Guest Lecture: Elyse Mullis

I am getting ready to enter into my second semester as a junior at UNCG. I remember when I was a freshman and everyone told me that the next four years would fly by. I wasn’t very convinced after hearing that so many times but now I know what everyone was talking about. The past two and a half years are now a blur to me. As years have gone by, I have adopted more responsibility and learned a tremendous amount about myself. As my senior year quickly approaches the main thing on my mind now is where I am going to get a job when I graduate. Where do I even start? After hearing Elyse Mullis speak in class today I feel more comfortable that there is something out there for me and building a career isn’t as impossible as it seems right now. Elyse just recently graduated and already has a job that she seems happy and confident in. The best part of her speaking today was being able to relate what I learned in my CARS courses to what she does on a day to day basis at work.
Elyse attained an internship at the Greensboro coliseum right out of college and shortly after was offered a job at Westminster Fibers. This really shows the importance of getting an internship while in college and building relationships with people. The concept of networking is essential to us as college students. Elyse stressed this idea and explained how she went about networking with people she knew, for example, her college roommate. She also talked about how she really had to prove herself during her internship and show that she was dedicated to whatever task was assigned her and that she could do it well. Additionally, it was comforting to hear that she is still learning new things and that you don’t have to be perfect right from the start. Elyse has a job now that would be a dream job for me. Graphic design work and putting together ads for designers is something that I am really interested in. It was exciting to be able to see an example of a strike-off first hand and hear her talk about color chips and lab dips. These are some topics that I have learned about just this semester. I enjoyed seeing pictures of the Westminster Fibers Booth at the International Quilt Market because, again, we have recently learned about booths at apparel marts. I don’t know how to sew and that certainly has never been my forte, however, I liked how she took fabric from work and made them into things that she uses in her personal life, like handbags and aprons. The most surprising thing that I heard today was that she has created a blog for Westminster Fibers, and how important they seem to be in the work force. Blogging has been something that I have done for school for a couple years now but I never imagined that it could be an idea that I carry on into my career. I wasn’t aware that blogging is such a big deal outside of the realm of college students.
I enjoyed listening to Elyse Mullis speak but more importantly the feeling that I got from hearing about her experience in finding a job was what I took with me today. Sometimes it is hard to image what life out of college is going to be like and it was so nice to see someone who has made that transition and has done it successfully.

RCS 362-Sex appeal in advertising, too much or just right?

After much thought about what I wanted to blog about this week I figured I would write about something that a few people in our class seem to have strong opinions on: sex appeal in advertising and how that affects women in particular. Considering that we just covered this topic I’m sure that many of us are more sensitive to the commercials we see and what message appeal they utilize.
The Axe commercials have created a lot of hype recently, it seems that the company is able to quickly turn out new scents and products and advertise them in creative/interesting ways. There is a new ad on TV about the chocolate-scented Axe spray, depicting a man that has turned into a human size piece of chocolate and women want to literally take a bite out of him, even lick his face. This is only one example of the commercials created by Axe that clearly uses sex appeal to gain viewers attention. Obviously, this commercial is not targeted to young females but to young men anywhere from their early teens to mid-thirties. I’ve listened to a couple of my peers talk about how they think that this kind of commercial portrays women in a negative way, as if we are only meant to sexy. I tend to go back and forth on my opinion whether I believe this kind of ad campaign is in bad taste or not. Would I feel differently if I worked for a company that produced ads like that or would I want to work for them in the first place? I know many males my age that use Axe and I personally think that the body spray and wash smells great, however, there may be a way of advertising the product in a classier style. Additionally, there was a commercial that we watched in class that was advertising a beer that had been placed on the lower part of a woman’s back, moving back and forth, and multiple hands where reaching for the beer from the back and front of the woman. Again, this ad wasn’t targeted for young women and there is no doubt in my mind that it was effective for male viewers. I’ve been paying more attentions to the ads I see and I don’t see many that portray men in an outright negative manner. I hear frequently about commercials getting pulled from the air due to inappropriate material, whether it is for language, sex, etc. It makes me wonder how the commercials above are much different except for the fact that maybe they do it in a more subtle way. Sex appeal is one of the four core message appeals and seems to be an effective way of reaching targeted market segments, but where do we draw the line? Is there justification in offending one particular gender solely because a company is able to increase sales? This also ties in with the topic concerning ethics in advertising.
My purpose for choosing this topic was to see how many women are actually offended by advertisements like this and if so, do you think it perpetuates the idea that females are only good for one thing. On the contrary, I know girls that have no feelings towards the subject at all, and find the commercials funny. I don’t think there is one right way to feel about it but just a matter of opinion. It will be interesting to see as years go on if we start to pull away from such sexual ads or if they only get more provocative. It would be nice to hear some people’s opinions if this topic has any sort of significance to you.

RCS 362-Message Appeal

There are four types of message appeals that advertisements tend to fall into. These are humor, appeals to fear, appeals to guilt, and sex appeal. The main goal of each of these message appeals are to enhance MOA, standing for motivation, opportunity, and ability. Advertisements play on all four of these in the hope to motivate audiences to take action. Now that I have become aware of this topic, as I turn on the TV or look through books and magazines I am able to pick out which advertisements are using which type of message appeal. Even though an ad uses message appeals does not guarantee that it will be effective.
I chose two advertisements that worked for me and two that didn't, meaning they effected either the way I felt about something or motivated me to want to change or adopt a certain action or they didn't effect me at all. The ads that worked for me were the commercial that we watched in class about miscarriages caused by smoking and the commercials about the importance of alarm systems in one's home. The first commercial addresses how many miscarriages will happen this year due to smoking cigarettes and really hits home for many women, many of whom see themselves becoming mothers one day. I never really thought that the anti-smoking advertisements were ever really effective because many that already smoke understand the dangers of smoking and choose to still do it. However, when you bring the idea of harming another person, much less an unborn child, peoples views begin to change. I know that if I was a pregnant mother that was still smoking and watched that commercial it would certainly appeal to guilt in the most extreme form, causing me to really think twice about what I was doing. I know we are all familiar with the commercials depicting someone breaking into a home, a symbol of safely and comfort for most of us. The commercial is advertising a home alarm system, however, I think it is especially effective because it plays on our sense of fear. I know that one of my biggest fears is a stranger breaking into my home and every time I see that commercial I think about installing an alarm system which would better equip me with a peace of mind.
Two advertisements that didn't seem to work for me were, of course, the Axe commercials and a paper ad that is in our textbook on page 285. Axe is somewhat of a new concept for most of us, coming about in just the past couple of years. Since then it seems that the company comes out with a new scent almost monthly and a taste less commercial to accompany it. The commercial about the new chocolate scent depicts a man literally turning into a piece of chocolate and every where he goes women are taking a bite out of him, whether it be his arm, butt or even licking his face. Obviously the message here is that if you wear this cologne, women will flock to you, however, I personally believe it is in bad taste and does not have any sex appeal. I don't wear cologne so I would clearly not be apart of the target audience for this commercial but I know that I wouldn't want my boyfriend or even guy friends to wear it. (Who wants to smell like chocolate anyway?) The ad that I saw in our textbook was promoting Brita water filters. The picture illustrates old, rusty pipes that water runs through and at the bottom of it we read, "Only Brita has a 2-stage filter. So even if there's sediment in your pipes, it won't get in you." My apartment was built in the 1930's so you would think this would be something that I would be interested in, but the reality is that it's not. Maybe it just isn't something that I care enough about and maybe I would feel differently if I had a family with kids that were drinking this water. Clearly this was meant to appeal to fear but in laymen's terms, it simply didn't do the trick.

CRS 231-Sweatshops

The issue of sweatshops is one that can be very controversial. Some believe that sweatshops in foreign countries that may practice inhuman working conditions at least provide the children and adults working there a livelihood. It is upsetting that people, especially children, are subjected to this kind of work, however, the big question is what else would these kids be doing if they weren’t working in a sweatshop? Would they be sold as sex slaves, or would their family be literally starving to death? This is the reality of children, men and women that live in countries that are homes to these sweatshops. It is hard for me to say if I am either pro-sweatshops or anti-sweatshops because although I believe that these places of work should no longer be allowed to remain running, I worry what would happen to the workers if we took away there only opportunity to feed their family, even if it may not be but just rice. Also, another question to consider is if there are enough people that really care about this problem to make a significant difference? Are Americans really willing to give up paying their extra low discount prices just so people they have no affiliation with won’t be subjected to such awful working conditions? One thing that I know I can take a definite stance on is that I find no valid reason for there to still be sweatshops in the United States and people to simply look over them only because it seems to be getting the job done for very little money and extremely quick .
The definition of sweatshops, as stated in our textbook is, “a company that violates labor, safety, and health, and/or worker compensation laws, or that has work environments that are unsafe, inhuman, or abusive without providing opportunities for workers to organize or negotiate better terms of work.” One example that I found online was about teenage girls in Honduras sewing clothes for Kathie Lee Gifford’s clothing line which is sold in Wal-Mart stores around the country. The girl’s ages ranged from 13 to 15 and usually worked from early morning to night, missing any opportunity to attend night school (National Labor Committee, www.nlcnet.org). When I heard about this incident I felt angry and sad for these girls, and it certainly altered my opinion of Kathy Lee Gifford regardless of whether or not she was aware of what was going on. I remember when I was 13 to 15; I was attending school and mostly hanging out with friends. If these teenage girls had an opportunity for a better life by finishing grammar school and they missed out because they were forced to work longer hours to accommodate rush orders for the Wal-Mart sold brand, then I find it absolutely ridiculous, no questions asked. However, a more of a positive note regarding this situation is that this was one of the cases of unsafe and abusive treatment of people that brought attention back to sweatshops, a topic usually forgotten by too many. Today, in class, someone asked is there anything we can do about this? I would have to say to that question that maybe there is nothing that as an individual we could do that would make a direct difference to sweatshops in these countries or even our own, however, we can make a conscious effort to remember the lesson here: to hold yourself and other people accountable for actions they take in all aspects of your life, if it be at school or work. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy shouldn’t be something that we adopt in life simply because it may be a little easier.

RCS 362-HP TouchSmart PC

I know everyone has seen the new HP TouchSmart PC commercial. The general public is almost numb to advertisements for computers or laptops but this one is different, this is the first time we are seeing a touch screen computer. It is no surprise that HP created one, considering that many of our cells phones and iPods are touch screen as well. This is currently my favorite ad on television and I have gone through the creative brief to find out what elements this commercial really has that makes it so like able.
The primary audience for this commercial is hard to determine due to the fact that it is advertising to a fairly wide target market. I would say that the audience for this commercial is men and women that are in their 20’s or 30’s and are young professionals. These are the kinds of people that always want to try the new restaurant or bar in their community and are interested in up and coming technological advances. One think that should be avoided when talking to this audience is giving too much information about how the computer works or what features it has, much of the audience already knows this and it would do nothing but bore them throughout the commercial. The reason why this advertisement works so well is because it is loud, catchy, and exciting which is what much of the audience is looking for, you could go even as far as saying that many of the people in the target market are thrill seekers. The objective of this campaign is to get the name out their, which has worked well considering I have heard a lot of buzz around this new touch screen personal computer. HP achieved this buzz simply by playing the "Do you want to touch?" chant throughout the commercial, not only is the song extremely relevant but it sticks in your mind, which is exactly what it is intended to do. Another objective is to show the audience how easy it is to use this computer, which is why the commercial shows someone maneuvering the PC with grace and ease. The message that HP is really trying to get across here is simplified in the ending quote, “Touch the future.” I think that was a great statement to leave the audience with because many of these people are curious about what’s coming next or planning for the future, so this quote makes this ad very relevant for them. This commercial definitely appeals to peoples emotions, however, the price for the PC is shown in the commercial at the very end and I think that gives a more rational reasons for people to “act” or buy this computer because they are able to see that it is fairly affordable for how technology advanced it is and how fun and exciting it is.