Response to Brad: Beiber!
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Author Archives: cdysart101
Response to Brad: Beiber!
Class Prompt: writing blogs
Writing blogs for 470 has been a pleasant experience. I liked how I was able to pick my own topics and run with it. I got to look at a wide variety of topics in the news & media, so that was extremely exciting!
I want to start a new more professional blog after this experience. I want to have a platform for my writing and a way to keep myself always growing as a writer. This will also mean I will keep in check with what is going on in the world. A blog is just like an op-ed. You can dissect current news by relaying in and layering your own thoughts and commentary. It is a good way to really understand how you form the opinions you hold. You can see them laid out in front of you. It is also just another great way to appreciate your first amendment rights in an everyday way, I know I take them for granted all too often.
Fox News calls Andi a slut. What else is new?
Andi Dorfman, the latest “Bachelorette” recently had a bit of dust up in the finale, when contestant Nick, asked her why she made love to him if they were not going to end up together. The clip was replayed on Fox News, and Five panelist had the audacity to call Dorfman a slut.
Bob Beckel was immediately taken to task by his female panelists who accused him of being a double standard for all of his own sexual exploits. Fox News is continually in the news for these kinds of offensive comments made on behalf of its personalities. They keep their audience of white old male conservatives and advertisers of Viagra happy, but are hurting themselves in the long run. This audience will dry up and die and who will be they left with? They need to get on the right side of history soon and stop allowing this kind of appalling behavior.
Colorado Brings Pot to the Fair
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Denver-celebrates-pot-at-the-county-fair-5663008.php
Colorado is a petri dish experiment for how legalized recreational marijuana can work out. So far, so good. Now the state fair’s are getting in on the action. The Denver County Fair is holding competitions similar to rose-medal competitions. It’s purely visual based and people are not allowed to consume pot on fairground property.
There is also joint rolling competitions, and awards for superior paraphernalia: bongs, clothes, household goods, etc.
Colorado has done an excellent job at keeping their image in a good place during this interesting transition. It is not trying to boggle things up, like Washington has, with extraneous laws and restrictions. It’s listened to the voice of the people and followed suit. This County Fair scenario shows marijuana, like liquor, has a place in events and can be administered safely and shrewdly. Hopefully, Washington can get on the same page of transparency and friendliness soon.
Apple rolling with the beat: Cuts 200+ positions.
In May of this year, Apple acquired through a 3 billion dollar price tag Beats headphones. The company was started by rapper Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine. The company had at the time of sale 700 employees. This will be trimmed down to about 500. Apple, when it acquired the company initially promised no jobs would be lost.
As it turns out, the majority of the positions will be where there is significant overlap. Apple will retain most of the creative personnel and eliminate more streamlined positions, i.e. human relations, payroll, assistants, etc. Apple has to deal with a lawsuit filed on behalf of Bose who feels Beat’s infringed on their copyright laws. Finally, Apple will have to do major conversion to adept existing Beat’s technology to make it compatible with their running operations.
Apple is huge, and like any enormous entity is going to want to get their hands on hot commodities. Beat’s is a hot one. But as company acquires others it opens the window to the possibilities of new PR crises. The singular vision of your company is no more, and now you have to find ways of keeping yourself afloat and managing many identities. Any flack Beats gets, will also fall on them.
In response to Keith Wald
I agree McDonalds is not quite as untouchable as they once were. Chipotle has really been increasing its profile as of late. They are advertising aggressively and pushing the health conscious angle to their advantage. In terms of how should McDonalds should respond will be interesting. They have tried diversifying their menu before with mixed results. People say the want healthier options and yet McDonalds claims the healthy options do not sell well. And to really change up their menu will require the chain to sacrifice some of their famous speed. To radically rethink McDonalds will be tough as they have so many locations. Chipotle is at an advantage because they are building their brand and business. What McDonalds could focus on is localizing its restaurants. Making them feel more community orientated could be some good pr for them.
Keith Urban crazy fans
EDM is usually associated with mayhem in the concert setting, but it seems country music isn’t immune either. On Saturday Urban’s Boston Concert entailed 22 goers being hospitalized and another 50 were in protective custody. It believed that alcohol was the major factor in such. Urban briefly acknowledged the incident on Twitter. Joint local medical and police forces each released statements. Finally, a representative from Live Nation also acknowledged the incident with well wishes.
It is a highly disturbing incident, but who is to blame? Logically one could point the finger at the attendees for not controlling themselves. Also the venue could be held responsible for not enforcing strict drinking measures and protocol. These drunk people are not only a threat to themselves, but children and youth at the show. Current measures are obviously not working as evidenced by this and the Avicii incident earlier in the summer. Hopefully something can be done about this. If not someone is going to die at one of these, and then they will have a real crisis on their hands.
Microsoft throws employees out the window
With a new CEO under its belt, Microsoft is looking to change up the game. The tech company, once considered untouchable, has struggled in recent history. It is seen as archaic and hard to use and ,frankly, unhip. So what to do? As mentioned the company is under new leadership: Satya Nadella. Nadella has been working diligently to distance himself from his predecessor Steve Ballmer. Ballmer had a poor reputation and was decisively ripped to shreds by Vanity Fair several years ago. Ballmer was notorious for killing off promising products, which Microsoft’s competitors were able to seize upon.
Nadella, with the acquisition of Nokia, is laying 10,000 employees. Originally most thought the layoffs would be centered on former Nokia employees during the absorption. But it is now confirmed 5,000+ will be from in-house. This is going to be the real first test of Nadella’s time at Microsoft. This is going to hamper the image of Microsoft in the community. How he will rationalize this will be interesting to see.
New Face of Jimmy Choo
Ambassadorship in fashion brand image is everything. In a digital visual era, a name to a face is a vital component. You would be hard pressed to find a fashion house without famous model, actress, socialite attached at the hip.
Jimmy Choo is famous for its stylish sleek and expensive high heels. The fashion house and the namesake himself are some of the most well known in luxury footwear. For the past year the brand has used Nicole Kidman as the centerpiece of its ad campaigns. Kidman appeared in ads for the designer and was seen wearing them on the red carpet. She even had a pair on when she was knocked down by a paparazzo last year during fashion week. Talk about loyalty.
In a business that changes constantly, Kidman is out and Catherine McNeil is the new face. The two ladies are Australian, and that’s where their similarities end. Most notably Kidman is 47 and McNeil is 25. McNeil comes to the brand with some baggage. She has a party reputation and is infamous for indecent exposure on Instagram. That being said, she is one of the top models in the world. To name a few, she has worked with Barney’s, Dolce and Gabbana, YSL, etc. Her widely tabloid reported romances means the brand must be moving into a new direction after skipping out on clean cut Kidman. It will be interesting to watch how this turns out.
Collin Dysart's Blog 