SPE 370 Blog #5

                

               There is a constant struggle between the everyday American and obesity. Everyone is looking for the new quick and easy way to shed their extra pounds and there are thousands of companies that earn millions off of the people looking for that quick fix. Slim fast is arguable the most famous weight loss plan. The slim fast product is perceived as helping people lose weight fast and easily, while also tasting good. This advertisement epitomizes those very aspects of weight loss to lure people into buying their product.  

                To start off, this advertisement follows the rule of thirds or the golden mean which causes the advertisement to be proportionate and easy to look at. The advertisement allows the eyes to focus on the cake and the scene taking place on the cake because the background is slightly faded out. The question is placed under the cake so the viewer is not distracted from the cake because the background of where the question is placed is also slightly faded out. The white color of the letters allows the brain to associate the phrase with a wedding because brides usually wear white dresses, which also means this advertisement is geared towards females. The white lettering also allows the eyes to easily transition from looking at the white cake to the question. The same goes for the placement of the slim fast product because it is made to be vivid and clear on a faded out background.

                In terms of the gestalt principles, this advertisement allows the viewer to feel a number of ways. A wedding is considered by many people to be one of the most important days of their lives and everything needs to be perfect. The cake in this advertisement shows that because of how intricate the flowers are on the side and how smooth the icing on the top is. The imperfection is shown by the bride falling through the marvelous cake and creating a disaster on something that was supposed to be perfect, such as a wedding day. This slim fast advertisement also uses principles of metonymy by using the bride falling through the cake. The bride falling represents the embarrassment of being overweight in a wedding dress while the skinnier male is still on top of the cake and unable to save the overweight bride. Embarrassment is something that cannot be shown through one image; rather it has to be implied.  This advertisement does a very sneaky thing by making it seem as though they are only marketing toward women who are getting married. However many women not getting married will see this advertisement and think that it works for women who need a very fast solution before their quickly approaching wedding day. When women think this they will believe that slim fast is the go to plan for losing quick weight, especially if summer is approaching.

                Overall this slim fast advertisement is very sneaky and effective. Slim fast preys people who either need to lose weight or may be slightly self-conscious. This advertisement can also cause someone to become self-conscious and make them feel as if the only solution is the slim fast drinks.   

SPE 210 Blog # 3 Evidence Assessment

                There are definitely multiple ways of viewing the argument of whether or not employers should be allowed to use social media sites during the interview process or on their current employees. Some believe that it should be allowed, while others believe it should not. Then, some people believe it should be used during the interview process only, while others think it is ok to use the social sites on current employees or once someone is employed. This is clearly a very controversial topic because of the huge effect it has on people and their jobs during these hard economic times

                A major case concerning employers using social media was brought up in Maryland in 2011. A man was going for a job with the Department of Corrections of Maryland and was forced to give up his facebook password. When he did, the interviewer checked his facebook and the man was ultimately not hired for the job (Madrigal, 2011).

                Concerning the standpoint from the employers, the use of social media sites has helped them avoid hiring problematic people. In a New York Times article, there were over two thousand managers and human resource workers questioned and it turned out than thirty five percent of employers did not offer a job to a potential candidate because of content on their social media site. This helped employers in this case because it allowed the employers to dig beneath the surface and see what kind of person they were really hiring, not just the person who showed up for the interview (Wortham, 2009).

                In an article in the Washington Post, employers argue that checking social media sites of potential employees or those who are already employed is no different than doing a drug test. There may be a completely different life for someone outside of the workplace that can ultimately damage their job. Employers will see a nice clean cut person show up for the interview, then find things on their social media pages such as displays of weapons, sexually explicit photos, racist remarks, and references to drug use (Bell, 2011).

                On the contrary, an article in the Chicago Tribune that featured state rep La Shawn Ford argued that checking the social media sites or forcing someone to turn their password over is a violation of someone’s right to privacy. The state rep completely agreed as well. People are fearful that they will get fired over private information or something that was a harmless inside joke between friends that may be viewed differently by an employer (Rueff, 2012).

                Lastly, another article in the New York Times gave examples of employers who avoided very problematic people that were being considered for hire. One employer talked about how he discovered one potential employee was found searching for oxycontin on craig’s list, and another woman who posted naked photos of herself. There was another employer who gave the example of someone who he was considering for the job, then saw pictures of the potential employee with guns standing in front of illegal marijuana plants.

                Whether or not employers should be allowed to check social media sites is clearly a controversial topic that affects everyone. It will affect the way everyone goes for a job one day, or maybe a child whose parents cannot get a job because of what is on their social media sites. In other words this topic can affect an entire family, not just one person.

SPE - 370 Twitter Logo

There has been a continuing rise of the craziness and popularity of a new social media site where people find new ways of complaining to a large amount of people at once, this social media site is of course, twitter. The company itself focuses on connecting almost everyone at one time, even to major celebrities. Twitter’s company serves as a simplified facebook and allows people to be more connected on a personal level through status. Companies and celebrities use twitter to advertise for free and easily to a large number of people, the idea of twitter is simply genius.

                The twitter bird is actually named Larry the Bird after the great Boston Celtics basketball player, Larry Bird. The lettering next to the bird is spelled in all lower case and bubble type letters. Both the letters and bird are a light blue shade of color. Since twitter only allows short messages sent at a time or “tweets”, the bird implies the old saying of “a little birdie told me”. In other words it is like a little blue bird is flying around the internet tweeting to the user what someone else said. This allows people to feel in the loop of things. Twitter is a relaxed and easy way of communication which is implied through the light blue coloring. Light blue gives off a relaxed and fun emotion to the eye, as well as the lack of capital letters. Capital letters would make twitter more loud and uncomfortable, and since twitter is a site to share personal information, they want to users to feel as comfortable as possible when creating tweets. The rounding of the letters also gives off a sense of comfort and relaxation along with smoothness. The bottom of each “t” is exaggerated to allow one’s eyes to easily flow to the bird, and the stomach of the bird is also rounded in the same style and direction. The bird’s “wing” is up and back to show that it is flying and has its beak open to tweet away as it is flying.

                The use of design, color, and image of the twitter logo has made twitter arguably the most famous thing in the world today. More people know about twitter than any actor, athlete, or celebrity. Twitter allows this by the innocent, fun, and relaxing atmosphere their logo promotes whenever and wherever it is seen.

SPE 210 Blog#2 Issue Identification

The invisible children have become one of the biggest overnight controversies in the world. Many may not know the horrors of what the invisible children actually are. In the last forty eight hours, through a thirty minute you tube video the world has been exposed to Joseph Kony and his terror on the children of Uganda. Kony has used religious manipulation on poverty stricken children to join his Army, the Lord’s Resistance Army, and kill their family members and force young girls into sex slavery. A group of humanitarians started a group called Invisible Children, led by Jason Russell used their film making abilities and the heart breaking story of one Ugandan child to call upon the efforts of the world to pull together for the arrest of Joseph Kony through this thirty minute you tube video. They call on everyone to donate money to their nonprofit organization and make Kony famous, not for his killings but for his arrest. The group is asking everyone on April twentieth to cover every major city in hundreds of thousands. The group of humanitarians has framed their case in public as a cry for help, using personal stories from Ugandan children and having these children travel with them and tell their stories publically, along with posting their stories on you tube. They say they are a nonprofit organization and send all the donated money to the efforts of the Uganda military in support of arresting Joseph Kony. They make the public feel as if you are a bad person for not understanding the conflict through the testimonies of the children and almost emotionally force donations. The major argument they make for this movement is by comparing this situation to the holocaust and claiming that the difference in this modern day holocaust is that everyone can now know about this through the internet. The Invisible Children group has been targeting big name celebrities to put public pressure on politicians to take action.

            The invisible Children group makes a very compelling effort for a very compelling cause, however not everyone feels this way about the current war in Uganda. Many believe that Invisible Children is a fraudulent group trying to scam money out of U.S. citizens. They question where the money is going and the actual intentions of the Uganda military. Many people believe the Uganda military performs acts on their people just as violent as Joseph Kony and his child Army. It has been pointed in opposing arguments that the U.S. has attempted to arrest Kony before, and it led to Kony creating even more violent and widespread attacks on churches during events like Christmas Eve. Concerning the money issue, people question the nonprofit side considering the leaders of Invisible Children made close to Ninety thousand dollars last year. The people who have been arguing against the Invisible Children group have been using feedback to explain to people why they should not donate money to this cause when they are asked to by giving factual evidence about things such as money.

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/history-of-the-war

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

http://www.vice.com/read/should-i-donate-money-to-kony-2012-or-not

SPE - 370 Font Types

                “You are party let! Hey what’s going on tonight? Any good parties? If anyone would know, it’s you. Your reputation as a diehard partier is legend, and you won’ let anything stop you from having a good time”.

                I would have typed that in the actual font, but my apologies because my Microsoft Word does not have the party let font. Now do I completely agree with everything that was said about my personality from this font test? Somewhat, but not really. I definitely like to party and have a good time, but in moderation. I like to consider my life a party because I have a good time, but not in the sense the quiz was implying as in drinking and stuff like that. For example during the week I get all my work done between school and football without drinking or partying of that sort. However football for me is what I love to do and I have a fun time with my major so how can I not consider everyday a party if I’m completely enjoying myself?

                The party let font can be used as the representation for the description for a couple of different reasons. The way the font looks makes the brain think of a party or a free spirit. For example, none of the lines in the font come to a sharp point, rather the lines all curve. The curving lines make it easy on the eye’s which lets the brain think of free flowing, smooth, and calm things. This idea can relate to the music exercise that we did in class. If the lines are pointy and jagged, the brain relates the font with aggressive or angry ideas. There are extra lines added to each letter which implies that this font is flowing away from the norm and creating its own rules. Also the letters are not all at the same height, for example when the word “is” is typed, the “I” is slightly higher than the “s”. This again goes along with the idea that this font plays by its own rules. Everything about this font screams party or a fun time.