Think Twice Before Choosing "Cable" over DirecTV

Our blog is about a DirecTV commercial taken from YouTube. The advertisement's attempt is to persuade the viewer to realize the negatives of having Cable. This all seems pretty simple, until you actually watch the video. When DirecTV attempts to connect the undesirability of Cable to an undesirable child, the situation gets out of hand. DirecTV shows this child growing up and living what is considered an improper lifestyle. As the video comes to a conclusion, it shows this now grown adult giving birth to a baby which has the same characteristics as the child developed in the beginning from Cable. Saying "Don't have a grandson with a dog collar", referring to the grandson of the person who originally purchased Cable, the video ends telling the consumer to "Get rid of cable" and buy DirecTV. The use of the term dog collar refers to the apparel on the child, but it certainly isn't an actual dog collar.

We've taken different interpretations out of this video. Could DirecTV merely be joking around with its depiction of what an undesirable human being is? Or does it legitimately believe that this connection is understandable? From the viewer standpoint, how do you view DirecTV's depiction of the child and the language used?

Click Here to Watch the Video

By: Adam, Andrew, and Melissa (Group 6)

Talk To Your Daughter, Before The Beauty Industry Does

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty emphasizes the constant pressures that women encounter on a day to day basis. Dove launched this campaign in 2004 globally to challenge beauty standards. Their goal was to transform beauty from a source of anxiety to confidence. This commercial, "Beauty Pressures", provoked debate about todays beauty standards. "Beauty Pressures" begins with the camera zoomed in on an innocent little girl. The scene switches of snapshots of skinny, half naked models promoting clothing and diet products. The scene progresses towards dieting, working out, and plastic surgery. When viewing this commercial, we recommend watching it more then once to fully capture the message. Do you think it is even possible to prevent todays beauty industry from influencing the youth?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I

Mariah Scott, Jessica Salazar, Brandon Rouhier, Ali Roudebush

Body Image Not Always a Drag on Women’s Well-Being

This article, presented by Deakin University, explores the idea that women don’t always have a negative view on their body image. Dr. Chung of Deakin University is researching the idea that those women who have positive outlooks on their body image lead a positive lifestyle and are more optimistic about their life choices. Chung explains that this positive mind-state is brought upon by women leading healthy lifestyles and the attaining their goals. Dr. Chung has found that women’s emotional outlook is more affected by their physical health rather than appearance. She has also found that 1/3 of the studied women were affected positively by their body image, 1/3 were affected negatively, and 1/3 were neutral. However, do you agree with her theory with all of today’s social media and advertisements pushing an unrealistic body image upon Americans?

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-body-image-women-wellbeing.html

Does the Glee Cast Look Too Old to Play High School Students?

"Theater geeks", "jocks", "bullies", and "players"; teenagers are well aware of these common high school stereotypes today. Popular media like the TV series "Glee" takes much of the credit for spreading these social aspects, usually through means of clothing style and physical appearance. Although many assume high school students to have a youthful image, actors playing these students are almost always significantly older than their character's age. Can viewers notice these differences? Or has the younger population become so accustomed to this casting trend that an older look is the new norm? What physical qualities fit your stereotype of the traditional high school student?

Check out the link to learn more:

http://www.wetpaint.com/glee/articles/does-the-glee-cast-look-too-old-to-play-high-school-students--tell-us

Nikhil Gopalani, Nic Jones, Sarah Keller, Bryan Kirkpatrick

Plastic Surgery: This Year's Hot Christmas Gift?

This year Tina didn’t ask for anything simple from her sister for Christmas, instead she asked for plastic surgery. Many people in today’s society are choosing to go under the knife to look younger and rejuvenated. One reason Tina asked for this for Christmas is due to her recent breakup from him boyfriend. She wants to make sure she looks young in order to catch the eye of a new guy. Does her recent break up make you feel bad for her and allow you to justify her decision? Another reason the video states for her decision for Botox is in order to live up to high life, elite, standards of Orange County, California. Plastic Surgery popularity has been growing in recent years and is becoming a common practice in modern Society. Pay attention to the shift in music throughout the video. Notice how it is scratched out in the beginning when plastic surgery is introduced and at the end the music seems uplifting and modern.
All you need to do is watch the video. You do not have the read the article that follows.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/plastic-surgery-years-hot-christmas-gift/story?id=15189440

Ashley Forsythe, Ryan Gallof, Julie Golding, Tyler Duffy

Make Over Your Inner Eating Monologue

Often times, when someone is stressed or upset, they turn to food to get their mind off of things. Many people believe they ought to reward themselves with food when they are down. This can lead to prioritizing snacks over staying in shape. Long term, this can result in poor health and negatively affect the body. This article, taken from Fitness Magazine asks people to take another look at their snack habits, and change their mindset from "I had a bad day - I deserve this!" to "I deserve comfort, not calories."

Check it out


Group members: Betsy Csaszar, Kurt Brezovec, Michael Bohm

Sample by Krista: I can't get no satisfaction

I selected an article from Wetpaint.com (an entertainment news site) that a friend of mine posted to Facebook through the Washington Post Social Reader. It is centered on the recent weight loss of Nicole Polizzi (Snooki) from Jersey Shore. Snooki is known on the Jersey Shore as being the heaviest girl and was frequently lambasted in online and television entertainment media and by her castmates for her weight. Now that she has reached her goal of 98 pounds, she is being criticized for losing too much weight. This article implies that the praise she has been receiving for her weight loss has encouraged her to go to unhealthy extremes.

Read the article linked below and use one of the Blog Project approaches from the assignment sheet to rhetorically analyze this short article.

Link to article!