Beer! Beer! Beer! Value?

Value is sometimes added to an ad to give the product a better name to consumer, such as this Corona beer commercial. Many of Corona's commercial gives the impression to just relax and have an ice cold beer.

The ad's setting is usually associated with tropical islands and sandy beaches. Does buying a Corona really come with sandy beaches, or give us a time to relax? In a way yes it does because some of the ad shown above also shows that having Corona gets you away from the work environment and put you in paradise.

This is adding value to the product. Even though we don't necessarily get vacation time or a chance to relax that often, seeing the ad present an image to consumer that drinking Corona does allow us some time to relax and be on vacation.

Other times, commercials like Heineken also present the idea that having a it's beer also satisfy the male desire to have their own dream to come true, in this hilarious commercial. We can see that adding value to a product can really sell its image.

Advertising it's everywhere...

LINK TO AD

This website from American Express gives its users a chance to purchase products, trips, and gift cards for incredible prices. As an American Express card user myself, I found this ad for the XBox360 for a great price of $149.00 Elite bundle package deal. Retail price for this would cost around $300+. Talking about the website itself, I would say that it attracts almost anyone that is interested in getting great deals, but as for the Xbox360 ad, I would say that its audience is between 18-40, mostly male I would presume. It would appeal to people that have an American Express card with no specific education level or income level.

As for as psycho-graphic characteristics, I would say it would appeal to people that want a bargain and have extra money to spend.

The ad itself portrays a process of finding the product for a specific customer that are interested in video games but as far as the XBox360 itself, I think it the "X" has the meaning of "extreme" and it relates to the "box" which would make some people to think that the device itself is an extreme gaming machine.

I believe this ad is extremely effective for the fact that it has a limited quantity and for a great price. It address the demographic and psycho-graphic qualities that it set out to achieve.

And finally, this ad caught my attention for the fact that it hasn't been release to sell yet, having consumers anticipating on its opening date to buy. It also has a price that can't be beat and would make anyone come back to this site for more deals to come.

PR Strategy: Edison Chen Sex Scandal

Chen appeared in the 2002 hit Hong Kong police thriller, "Infernal Affairs," and in the 2006 horror movie, "The Grudge 2." He also had a cameo in the Hollywood blockbuster, "The Dark Knight," released last year.




Public relations, also known PR, has been around for hundreds of years. Its technique and strategy played an important role in many of history's greatest events. Its profession is to improve how their clients are viewed by the public. No matter if its for companies or celebrities mishaps, it's goal is to establish and promote a favorable relationship with the public.

Ivy Lee, the father of modern public relations industry, was the first public adviser to change how PR really be run. Before PR advisers tried to conceal, fool or avoid the mishap situation to the public, but Lee had a different perspective that he brought. He suggested that the goal of public relations was no longer to fool the public, but believes that businesses should alight themselves with the public's interest rather than insisting that the public interest align itself with the business.

Take for example an incident in 2008: Edison Chen, an international Hong Kong celebrity that had sent his computer for repair along with nude pictures of him and many other famous HK celebrities that was illegally uploaded onto the internet by the computer technicians.

Article from Hollywoodgrind.com

"The scandal started after pictures were taken from Edison Chen’s laptop by a technician that was repairing it. There were a total of approximately 1,300 pictures. The naughty pictures included Bobo Chan Man, Cecilia Cheung Pak Chi, Edison Chen, Gillian Chung, Gillian Chung Yun-Tung, Joey Yung, Yu Chiu, Vincy Yeung, Cecilia Cheung, Yumiko Cheng, Mandy Chen, BoBo Chen, Rachel Ngan, Candice Chan, Jolin Tsai, Maggie Q, and some say even Japanese star Chiaki Kuriyama, and possibly more. On 2-23 we found out there are three more female celebrities that are now involved."

After days and weeks of the photo's release, Chen went into hiding from the public for awhile but then gave a statement admitting that the photos were real and that it was him who took it. Chen decided he would retire from the entertainment industry because of it and would do community service to make up for the scandal. Chen did use Ivy Lee's PR technique by not avoiding the situation and admit his mistake to the public. He also suggested to his fans to learn from his mistakes of taking pictures and hope they would forgive him.

Recently, Chen had been offer to star in a Hollywood movie after two years of service to the public according to Theinsider.com.

From my opinion, I think that Chen did the right thing to not avoid the incident too long. He admitted his mistakes and even suggested the public should learn from it. This types of incidents often occur in Hollywood and the story usually gets old after awhile, but a story that involves multiple International celebrity like this is hard to forgive and forget to most people.

Blog 9: Twitter

In today's world, social media such as Twitter and Facebook are taking society by storm. It gives the public the opportunity to express there thoughts and feelings on any given subject. Like many new innovations, everything has its good and bad. Sites like Twitter and Facebook have greatly affected people to become there own journalist, and depending on how individuals use it this technology will ultimately determines the outcome of it being good or bad.

The good that comes from sites like these is that it allows people to instantaneously post real time events for the world to know. It provides many different points of views on a particular subject and have the potential of many audiences participating in the matter. It could be use as eyewitness accounts worldwide without the editing of the mass media's involvement or government cover ups. Take for example the Iranian election from The New York Times. The article states that hundreds of thousands of demonstrators show defiance toward the presidential election in Tehran. With the help of Twitter and Facebook, Iranians twitted and posted eye witness accounts of what was really happening during the election. Although the government tried to censor these sites, there were still many other loopholes of getting the information out to the world to read. Sites like these makes it useful for journalist to get important information out to the public as fast as they could type it. However, these sites are not always good

As a matter of fact, incidents such as the supposed 'off the record' comment from President Barrack Obama's interview on ABC News and his thought about Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swifts acceptance award, was disseminated when he called him a 'jackass'. Posting something has many issues involved such as verification issues, rumors, misinformation especially during breaking news, government censorship, propaganda, fake accounts, bad intentions to slander and many more.

Some questions arise as to placing a limitation on journalism when using these sites, but I believe that these sites give good opportunities for journalist to share to the world the truth about the subject matter. However, the thing that it should be limited to is using this technology with the intentions of instigating a lie from the truth. I would recommend using the technique of judging a reliable website to a post by looking for an attribution, any authority support, what is the objectivity, and how current is it. Because these days, anyone can put anything online, it is up to the reader to be the journalist now in finding the truth of the matter.

Week 8: Blog

The Federal Communication Commission (FCC)

How to file a complaint if there is indecency on a radio or television broadcast:

1. Must provide information regarding the details of what was actually said or depicted during the broadcast.

The complainant may choose the format for providing the information, but it must be sufficiently detailed so that the FCC can determine the words or language used, or the images or scenes depicted during the broadcast and the context of those words, language, images, or scenes. Subject matter alone is not sufficient to determine whether material is obscene, indecent, or profane. For example, stating only that the objectionable programming “discussed sex” or had a “disgusting discussion of sex” is not sufficient. Moreover, the FCC must know the context when analyzing whether specific, isolated words or images are obscene, indecent, or profane. The FCC does not require complainants to provide tapes or transcripts in support of their complaints. Consequently, failure to provide a tape or transcript of a broadcast, in and of itself, will not lead to automatic dismissal or denial of a complaint. Nonetheless, a tape or transcript is helpful in processing a complaint and, if available, should be provided.

2. The date and time of the broadcast.

Under federal law, if the FCC assesses a monetary forfeiture against a broadcast station for violation of a rule, it must specify the date the violation occurred. Accordingly, it is important that complainants provide the date the material in question was broadcast. Indecent or profane speech that is broadcast between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is not actionable. Consequently, the FCC must know the time of day that the material was broadcast.

3. The call sign, channel, or frequency of the station involved.

To take enforcement action for the airing of prohibited material, the FCC must be able to identify the station that aired the material. By providing the call sign, channel, or frequency of the station, you will help us to quickly and efficiently process your complaint. The name of the program, DJ, personality, song, or film; network; and city and state where you heard or saw the program are also helpful.

Finally submission: On-line complaint form can be found at esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm. You can also file a complaint by e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov; calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice, 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th St., SW
Washington, DC 20554.


c) Example of an FCC charge filed on 03-15-2006 about a complaints against various television licensees concerning their December 31, 2004 broadcast of the program "Without A Trace"

The FCC fined CBS Television Network ("CBS") affiliated stations and CBS owned-and-operated stations in the total amount of $3,607,500 ($32,500 per station) for broadcasting indecent material in apparent violation of 18 U.S.C. S 1464 and section 73.3999 of the Commission's rules. On December 31, 2004, at 9:00 p.m. CBS program "Without a Trace" broadcast material graphically depicting teenage boys and girls participating in a sexual orgy.

d) I don't think that the FCC is doing enough penalize these network at a timely manner for them to learn their lesson. If we look at the date that was broadcast compare to the date that it was fine, it is almost two years apart. So if the FCC really wanted to show these networks a lesson than do it faster.

iReport CNN a New Trend in Reporting

iReport also known as I-Report launched in August 2, 2006 is CNN's new method that allow the public to interact with the media through public journalism.

It allows users to contribute videos and pictures of breaking news stories from there own home town or anywhere they are. Public journalism practice allows and encourage regular people to not just watch or listen to the news, but to become a part of it. It also created CNN's Fan Zone, where fans could post current pictures of their favorite team playing. This method of public journalism was prove to be greatly useful during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake which cause a large tsunami to devastated multiple shores lines. News journalist were unable to get to ground zero and images could not be capture except with the help of locals and tourist's cameras.

From then on, the need to have a site like iReport was created and inspired a chain of followers such as ABC's i-Caught, Fox's uReport, MSNBC's FirstPerson, and Broadcast Interactive's YouNews.

Movies

(a) The Dark Knight, I thought was one of the best action acting movie I have seen with a great story line.

(b) Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Rachel is thrown out the window and Batman dives out to save her, we never see Batman go back up to his flat to flood out the Joker and his gang. However, with his trusty grapple hook, he could have done so in short time, and, having just received a vicious beating, the Joker's thugs were likely eager to get out of there. Also, the cooling ducts on the side of Bruce Wayne's Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 are closed at the beginning of the scene, then open. They're motorized, but they take time to open and close. Also, when Batman beats The Joker in the holding cell, The Joker's hands change position as Batman pins him to the wall. When the camera faces The Joker, his hands are gripping Batman's arms from below, with the fingers pointing up. When the camera faces Batman, The Joker's hands are holding Batman's arms from above, with his fingers pointing down.


(c) I learn that sometimes scenes aren't shown doesn't mean events didn't take place. And it it took many different location setting to film a movie not just in Hollywood.