Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Free Essays on Daughter Of Amcoma

Welcome to a world where knowing politics is survival and the best atFeist has joined with Janny Wurts to render a tale from the other side of the Rift War, the Tsurani Empire of Kelewan. Feist's and Wurts's new series takes the reader on a ride through the Empire, while the war with Midkemia takes a distant yet poignant back seat. As the story opens, Mara, the daughter of Lord Sezu of House Acoma, is vowing her honor and future to the Order of Lashima, Goddess of the Inner Light. Lord Sezu and his son and heir, Lanokota, have fallen in the battle with Midkemia. Brought down by the treachery and betrayal of a rival house, Minwanabi and the Lord Jingu, the House Acoma's fate descends upon Mara mere moments before she is sworn into the Order. Grieved and stunned by the deaths, she is whisked away to become Lady of House Acoma, a rarity in the history of the Empire. As her barge thrusts through the waterways of Kentosani toward her home, Mara is beset with thoughts of vengeance, pain, fear, anger, and confusion as she struggles to deal with the deaths of her admired father and adored brother and her new duties as Lady of House Acoma. The Acoma garrison has been weakened because hundreds of her father's soldiers followed him into battle and were cut down by the Midkemian barbarians in that distant land. Though wealthy, the House Acoma is in grave danger of being destroyed by a further thrust of Lord Jingu of the Minwanabi as he plays the time-honored Game of the Council. Realizing she is naive in the Game of the Council, where low houses can be made mighty and mighty houses ascend to the Emperorship or end in ruin, Mara must quickly gain experience if her family name is to survive. The empire Mara and her family have lived in for so long is full of political maneuvering, blood feuds, assassins, and wily merchants, beggars and grey warriors. House Acoma is one of the oldest families of the Empire and, with the recent events, ... Free Essays on Daughter Of Amcoma Free Essays on Daughter Of Amcoma Welcome to a world where knowing politics is survival and the best atFeist has joined with Janny Wurts to render a tale from the other side of the Rift War, the Tsurani Empire of Kelewan. Feist's and Wurts's new series takes the reader on a ride through the Empire, while the war with Midkemia takes a distant yet poignant back seat. As the story opens, Mara, the daughter of Lord Sezu of House Acoma, is vowing her honor and future to the Order of Lashima, Goddess of the Inner Light. Lord Sezu and his son and heir, Lanokota, have fallen in the battle with Midkemia. Brought down by the treachery and betrayal of a rival house, Minwanabi and the Lord Jingu, the House Acoma's fate descends upon Mara mere moments before she is sworn into the Order. Grieved and stunned by the deaths, she is whisked away to become Lady of House Acoma, a rarity in the history of the Empire. As her barge thrusts through the waterways of Kentosani toward her home, Mara is beset with thoughts of vengeance, pain, fear, anger, and confusion as she struggles to deal with the deaths of her admired father and adored brother and her new duties as Lady of House Acoma. The Acoma garrison has been weakened because hundreds of her father's soldiers followed him into battle and were cut down by the Midkemian barbarians in that distant land. Though wealthy, the House Acoma is in grave danger of being destroyed by a further thrust of Lord Jingu of the Minwanabi as he plays the time-honored Game of the Council. Realizing she is naive in the Game of the Council, where low houses can be made mighty and mighty houses ascend to the Emperorship or end in ruin, Mara must quickly gain experience if her family name is to survive. The empire Mara and her family have lived in for so long is full of political maneuvering, blood feuds, assassins, and wily merchants, beggars and grey warriors. House Acoma is one of the oldest families of the Empire and, with the recent events, ...

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Islamic subject 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Islamic subject 1 - Essay Example His views were echoed in many American newspapers which had substantial circulation (Aslan, 2005). After the US attack of September 11, the media was not left behind in spreading this mentality of the clash of monotheisms. Ann Coulter who was a renowned popular columnist wrote articles of hate against the Muslim religion. She proposed that western states should attack Muslim states, assassinate their leaders and convert them into Christian faith. The idea is well manifested by the rhetoric driving the war on terrorism. Most western countries described the scenario as a war between the good and the evils. Christianity was touted as a good religion whereas Islam was referred as the evil one. Evidence that illustrates that this mentality was propagated by the Western powers was the inhumane treatment of Muslim prisoners of war. In Afghanistan, they were made to eat pork and drink beer which is against Muslim religion (Aslan, 2005). I think Reza Aslan’s comparison of clash of monotheisms with protestant reformation in history is not valid. The historical differences between the transformation of Christian and expansion of Muslim are so diverse to be able to compare the two. Also, the western world’s perception of Muslim as an inferior religion is misguided (Aslan,

Friday, November 1, 2019

(Part of a Business Project ) -Market Analysis- On a Product- Essay

(Part of a Business Project ) -Market Analysis- On a Product- - Essay Example Just as organic foods are becoming more and more popular this market analysis will show a direction of market growth for organic toys for mothers and children. ITS toys will be safe for toddlers to put in their mouths and the dyes and paints, made from organic materials that are childproof. Poisoning of from our toys will not be an issue from our company. This will get rid of the problem of consist recalls done other toy manufactures. The supply of our toys will come from vendors that use only the organic brand of paints and dyes. Our company needs to describe our organization that is totally customer oriented. We want our customers to know they are coming into a store that is child friendly and mom friendly. We do not want to describe our customer orientation in terms of whether it views customer relationships as long or short term. Customers will buy the benefits our toys and products provide to the customers every day. A checklist will be at our service counter and we will ask eve ry customer to fill one out when leaving the store. (1). Are we easy to do business with? Are we easy to contact? Is our information we provide fast and courteous. Are we easy to order from? Do we make reasonable promises? (2). Do we keep our promises? On product performance to, do we deliver. Did you get good service from our staff? Do you feel our staff members were helpful? (3). Do we meet the standards we set? When you asked specific questions were they answered? How was the general tone in the store? (4). Are we responsive? Do we listen? Do we follow up? Do we ask "Why not and why"? Do we treat customers as individual companies and individual people? (5). Do we work together? Do we share blame? Do we share information? Do we make joint decision? Do we provide satisfaction? (Shapiro, 13) 1. Market Segmentation for individuals and businesses Individuals: this segment is people buying a single product for their child or someone that they know. The demographics for this segment are a household income of >$50,000, have high aspirations for their children in terms of education and development and want to get started as soon as possible. Generally, they have at least an undergraduate degree with 41% of the segment having a graduate degree. Businesses: this group is buying the toys for children who are the business' clients. These organizations typically are either day care based, or school based such as nursery school or pre- school. The number of children that they care for generally ranges from seven to 25. 2. Growth rates for toys The United Stated census bureau took a wide range of products including toys and stated they increased 2.6% over the previous year. In May of 2010, LEGO came to Boston for a competition regarding there long and successful toy history. The Danish toy company LEGO sailed through the recession. The company that makes those brightly colored snap-together plastic bricks announced its profits last year jumped more than 60 percent. LEGO's success is all the more remarkable when you consider that just a few years ago, the toy company was falling apart (David, 112). II. Target Market Market segmentation is an intuitively appealing process and it makes a great deal of sense to try to find different segments of the market that are more interested in our toy product or to develop products for other segments. Given the myriad ways of segmenting markets, the task of determining which segments

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Synthisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Synthisis - Essay Example Facebook makes a person or a student happy and helps them go through life challenges. It also helps freshmen to adapt faster to their new stage in life, as explained in â€Å"Facebook and first year college students†. In spite of the criticisms against social websites, these sites help many people such as students in dealing with stressful situations and life challenges through constant communication between peers who pass advisory information. In Konnikova’s article, she talks about how everyone who joins Facebook sought not to be sad or depressed, but becomes inflected after a while. She quotes, â€Å"the more people used Facebook in the time between the two texts, the less happy they felt—and the more their overall satisfaction declined from the beginning of the study until its end. The data, he argues, shows that Facebook was making them unhappy.†(Ethan Kross). I do not agree with her, the problem is that it becomes an obsession or an addiction to check Facebook more and more to see what people have written on their walls and keep track on a crush or a loved one. I do not believe this form of unhappiness can be attributed to the social media website but from the individual self who gets too close to a website that has no feelings or affection. In the article about college students, Facebook helps first year college students overcome the major change in their lives. â€Å"An estimated 17 million Americans attend college each year, of whom, approximately 3.5 million are first-year students† (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008). It also helps them to overcome challenges and depression when facing the changes and moving away from home. This is mainly achieved through reading memorable messages, or seeing a picture that will keep them going forward and help them in focusing in their educational goals. Personally, I can relate to this point in that social media helped me to get in touch with peers and professors. Furthermore, it

Monday, October 28, 2019

A Cultural Comparison - Romanian vs. Canada Essay Example for Free

A Cultural Comparison Romanian vs. Canada Essay Authored by Cristina Hurà © 2 November, 2012 International Communication Supervised by Professor Jeanine Deen Word Count: 2440 Abstract The paper discusses the comparison between the Canadian national values displayed by Rogers Communications and Romanian national values displayed by COSMOTE Romania through their commercial advertising and how they do so. The research findings use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to classify the behavioural differences amongst Canadians and Romanians and thereafter identify the variations in cultures and values. Furthermore, Hofstede’s country scores determine what kind of cultural differences exist among both countries while examining the individualism- collectivism (IC) dimension, the masculinity-femininity dimension (MF) and uncertainty avoidance (UA). Keywords: Canada, Romania, Cultural Dimensions, Hofstede, individualism- collectivism (IC), masculinityfemininity (M F), uncertainty avoidance (UA), national values. Introduction To begin, the cultural dimensions used throughout this research consist of three out of five dimensions created by Hofstede being the individualism- collectivism (I-C) dimension, the masculinity-femininity dimensions (M F), and uncertainty avoidance (UA). They are compared in COSMOTE Romania’s and Rogers Communications’ TV commercials. Both COSMOTE Romania and Rogers are wireless communication networks providers. To understand COSMOTE Romania and Rogers’ underlying principles, that are also connected to their consumers national values, their slogans can be identified as â€Å"our world is you† (COSMOTE Romania) and â€Å"your most reliable network† (Rogers). The first comparison deals with individualism displayed in the Canadian commercial and the collectivist/familial aspect displayed in the Romanian commercial. In addition, the MAS index is used. The Romanian commercial demonstrates â€Å"femininity† in the sense that two men are caring for each other and COSMOTE Romania takes pride in being able to connect these two, or people in general, because in Romanian dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life. The Canadian commercial demonstrates a high standard of performance, and this is why Rogers Wireless sells â€Å"as your most reliable network.† In the commercial(s) the actors are usually presented in a business setting, where two men are being compared. One has a phone that runs off a Rogers network and he is very efficient with all his business matters, while the other is inefficient because he doesn’t have a Rogers phone and never has service, or applications that contribute to his work performance. Furthermore, to compare the uncertainty aspect, the Canadian UAS index is very low, meaning that they are more willing to accept new changes, such as new wireless networks or mobile phones in this case. COSMOTE Romania may offer new phones and new services, however, their message doesn’t focus on new technology, it focuses on making it easier to maintain traditional aspects of society, such as interpersonal relationships and familial bonds. The message is clear that they help connect people, and their slogan directly translated â€Å"our world is you† also demonstrates the caring/feminine aspect of Romanian culture. Hofstede’s Country Scores Literature Review The primary source of information used throughout, is Hofstede’s book, Cultures and Orgagnizations : Software of the Mind. It is important to understand his cultural dimensions and define them in order to comprehend the basis of this research. The first dimension is individualism vs collectivism. Cultures that display individualistic characteristics are thought to be independent and only take care of themselves and their immediate families. This defines the â€Å"I† culture. On the contrary, collectivist cultures work together and take care of one another, while their identity pertains to the â€Å"we† culture. The second dimension of masculinity – femininity refers to cultures that can associate and value achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success (masculine) vs. cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. In a feminist culture, citizens look out for one another and aim to achieve consensus. The final dimension that is used to examine the commercial advertisements is uncertainty avoidance. This dimension compares those cultures that are uncomfortable with the uncertainty and such as unforeseeable results relating to business concepts, for instance. Countries with strong UAI aim to control the future instead of allowing it to happen and maintain rigid attitudes. In comparison, countries with a weak UAI score are more relaxed and will allow for a life without strict plans and control. (Hofstede, 2010) A Romanian professor, Nicolae Bibu, from West University Timisoara also identifies Romanian culture characteristics as being collective and feminist with high uncertainty avoidance, which supports Hofstede’s country scores. He writes a piece named Convergences of the Romanian societal culture with European culture clusters in the process of European integration. The role of intercultural teams management in increasing European cohesion and analyzes Romanian culture as an Eastern European (EE) country as he finds that most EE countries have similar societal values. He states that â€Å"EE cluster’s societal values is characterized by much more performance, future oriented, humane, lower level of power differentiation, a higher level of structure (uncertainty avoidance), and a higher level of gender egalitarianism. The profile of Romanian societal values is quite similar to EE scores.† (Bibu, 2008) Canadian culture, being highly individualistic with low uncertainty avoidance is supported by three authors Scott J. Vitell Saviour L. Nwachukwu James H. Barnes as they write their piece The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making: An Application of Hofstedes Typology. 3 This paper deals with the way different cultures approach ethical business practices and their notions of what is ethical, depending on their national values as described by Hofstede. The authors compare individualistic cultures with low uncertainty avoidance and use Canada and the US to compare them to Japan, having opposing values. Their research describes the way business practitioners behave when making ethical decisions. Canadian business practitioners consider themselves to be primary stakeholders whereas; the Japanese would consider other employees and stakeholders to be more important. (Vitell; Nwachukwu; Barnes, 1993) This highlights the differences between cultures high and individualism and those who are high on collectivism. Romania would be in line with the Japanese culture on this score. This research paper supports the findings while comparing Romanian and Canadian commercials as it defines similar behaviours in business practitioners than in the messages portrayed in the commercials being analyzed. Thus, the examples the authors offer demonstrate and explain how the different behaviours reflect national values. Method Primary Research To determine whether or not Hofstede’s country scores based on individualism- collectivism (IC), masculinity-femininity (MF) and uncertainty avoidance (UA), participant observation was used in a natural setting, with a narrative recording. Thereafter, the findings have been applied to determine if it would be logical for the Romanian commercial to display collectivist, feminist aspects of society with a high level of uncertainty avoidance and if it would also be logical for the Canadian commercial to display individualist and masculine aspects of society with a low level of uncertainty. Having visited Romania several times and more recently, I observed the way people interacted with one another and drew conclusions regarding their mindset that would reflect their cultural values. Three age groups were observed: 20-30, 45-55, 75-85. For Canada, the knowledge gained from growing up in the country is used and the same age groups are kept into consideration. Secondary Research COSMOTE Romania offers information on their vision, stance and philosophy which is found on their website. This was used to identify their purpose and relate it to the ways COSMOTE projects themselves through their commercials. Rogers Wireless also offers plenty of information on their corporate website which was used to compare the same internal message that they project to the public. In addition, Hofstede’s country scores and cultural dimensions and the additional sources that offer patterns of behaviour with opposing cultural dimensions are used to support the validity of commercial messaging intending to relate to cultural values (see literature review). Results Cultural values are most obvious in older age groups. However, depending on familial values and personality, some may be carried down to the younger generations as it has been apparent. Spending a weekend in Brasov, Romania, a group of three males, aged 21-30 were observed in their interactions with their girlfriends and amongst each other. All three males will be named X, Y and Z for this narrative recording. X and Y are childhood friends, where as Z is a recent acquaintance. All three males displayed caring qualities for each other even with the new acquaintance. They look out for one another in the sense that they offer all their belongings without any question. The same goes for the females, 1, 2 and 3. 1 and 2 are cousins and 3 is a recent acquaintance as well. Female 3 invited the new females 1 and 2 into her home with male Z instead of having them find a hotel to stay for a weekend. All members greet each other very closely by kissing each other on the cheek and the host will always have drinks or food to offer the guests. The guests always bring a gift to the host as sign of respect. A bizarre observation: the birthday girl pays for all her invitees. She is celebrating herself so she doesn’t see why others should pay for her if she wants to have the people she is closest with spend her birthday with her. This displays the collectivist aspect of Romanian culture. In addition, all grandparents consider it their duty to care for their grandchildren while grandparents will always be taken care of by their children even if it means taking them into their home until the end of their lives. Similar observations were made amongst the other age groups. Family and relationships are very important in Romania, and everyone is a team player. More obviously amongst the elders, order is very important. They appreciate certainty and do not take risks for the sake of living. Plans are important to be followed and decisions are made very ethically and logically. This is obvious in the way the elders interact with me, being one of a younger generation and even the advice they give about future plans and career paths. Romanian’s appreciate the relationships they have with their friends and family over material goods (a fast car, brand name items etc.) This is due to the fact that average salary in Romania is very low and thus, they try to appreciate what they already have instead of seeking material goods that are difficult to afford in the first place. Another factor that contributes to the high level of uncertainty avoidance is the communist regime that was led by Ceaucesc u until 1989. Those who lived in his time still maintain a rigid code of conduct. Ceaucescu’s regime ruled around the fact that the government must know everything about all citizens. There are no secrets so that no citizen could have any information to over through the government. In Canada, family isn’t always number one. There are many more families that are distant and don’t follow their day to day lives or check up on each other regularly than in Romania. People are risk takers. They seek instant gratification rather than carefully planning out what to do the next day, what to do with their lives in general, and what logical decision to take. Having European friends in Canada and Canadian ones as well, the differences in values are more obvious when visiting their homes. The atmosphere is different. They don’t have offerings for their guests, and the guest isn’t expected to bring an offering in return. Dinner is usually made separately from the parents or re st of the family. Everyone seems to be on their own in practice, which exemplifies the more individualist aspect of Canadian culture. Work will come before family, as has been observed. It seems like there is always competition, representing the masculine aspect of society. Material goods represent success. There are plenty of opportunities in Canada to achieve over average salaries. Due to the fact that people are individualistic and there are no expectations to care for those who are beyond their immediate families, they can focus on their business success which in turn gives them a competitive edge to be the best. This doesn’t necessarily start in school as has been observed among my friends, but when it’s time to enter the work place, money is very important. This of course also depends on personality and the family background or history. In Canada, â€Å"innovation† is a regularly used word when companies are describing their values. This again, represents the lower uncertainty avoidance as Canada’s cultural values don’t include a rigid structure and are more laid back. Thus, innovation is valued even though new ideas may or may not work risk is exciting. Conclusion By reflecting on what life in Canada is like, and by having analyzed the different interactions amongst people in Romania, it is safe to say that Hofstede’s country scores are indeed accurate. Romania is a collectivist, feminist society with a high level of uncertainty avoidance. Canada is an individualist, masculine society with a low level of uncertainty avoidance. The commercials display these findings by symbolizing values through behaviour. COSMOTE Romania’s commercial shows an elderly man, and a middle aged one both sitting on a bench. The elderly man see’s a butterfly and asks the man sitting next to him â€Å"what is that?† The man responds, â€Å"a butterfly.† The same question is asked three times before the middle aged man is frustrated. When the elderly man asks the middle aged one to read a passage from a book he shows him, the story unfolds. The middle aged man used to ask his father (the elder) over and over what that (the butterfly) is and his father would answer every time, without anger or frustration. This defines the care the father showed his young son, and how the now grown up son should treat his father. Here, the symbol of a feminist, collectivist society is obvious. The message at the end of the commercial is â€Å"we are offered so much time to talk, but we don’t find the time to listen† and COSMOTE’s network helps you find that time to listen. The Rogers commercial shows two business men having lunch, and one is anxious because he has to get back to work in time, as his cell phone doesn’t offer the same capabilities that the other man’s does. The man with the Rogers cell phone is able to do some work while he’s having lunch so he doesn’t have to rush back to his desk to finish his work. This demonstrates the masculine and individual aspect of society as one man is ahead of the other in his work, and it symbolizes a sort of competition. They don’t work together as they are looking out for individual needs. Also, the message Rogers carries across is a rise in technological innovations making it obvious that uncertainty avoidance in Canadian culture is low. Limitations to the research include the limited settings of interpersonal interaction in Romania and also, the fact that I was not able to visit Canada again, my observations were based on the general knowledge and experiences I had encountered in the past. There were not many publications or research available on Romanian and Canadian values and how they are represented in society or through marketing communications. However, due to the fact that I have been close to Romanian and Canadian culture, I was able to relate my findings in accordance to the messages and values displayed in both commercials and identify the accuracy in Hofstede’s country scores. Commercial Links COSMOTE Romania http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc-76rGfVBk Rogers Communications http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V15Cfnwo8Lsfeature=related Works Cited Bibu, N.(2000). Comparative Management. The cultural approach. Mirton Publishing House, Romania, pp.9-10. Accessible at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1156343 Mooij, M de (2009). Global Marketing and Advertising. Understanding Cultural Paradoxes. Sage publications. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J Minkov M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations : Softwares of the Mind . Published by McGraw-Hill. Pepenel, Madelaine; Voicu Ioana-Iulica.(2010). The Organisational Structure of Telecommunications Companies Case study: The OTE Group. Accessible at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1804512 Roper, Steven D. (1994). The Romanian revolution from a theoretical perspective. Communist and Post-Communist Studies.Volume 27, Issue 4, December 1994, Pages 401–410. Accessible at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0967067X94900043 Vitel l, Scott J.; Nwachukwu, Saviour L.; Barnes, James H. (1993). The Effects of Culture on Ethical Decision-Making:An Application of Hofstedes Typology. Journal of Business Ethics 12: 753—760. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Accessible at: http://wwwkrcmar.informatik.tumuenchen.de/lehre%5Clv_materialien.nsf/intern01/632C3F7767 61A11BC1257871005959C6/$FILE/Paper%2018.pdf Verluyten, Paul S. (2010) Intercultural Skills for International Business and International Relations: A Practical Introduction with Exercises. Published by: ACCO, Belgium. Samovar, Larry A; Porter, Richard E; McDaniel, Edwin R; Roy, Carolyn S. (2010). Communication Between Cultures, 8th edition, International edition. Published by: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Websites http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://www.rogers.com/web/Rogers.portal?_nfpb=true_pageLabel=about_landingcustomer_t ype=Residential http://www.cosmote.ro/en/WhoWeAre.aspx?style=stylesns=-10002cid=17218

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Bears :: essays research papers

Traveling in bear country can be quite thrilling. Coming face to face with a bear would be terrifying. Most bear attacks can be avoided, but there is always a chance of encountering a bear. Although nothing is one hundred percent guaranteed effective, here are a list of some tips that might prove to be useful in a bear encounter. Be Alert in Bear Country . Always have Bear Deterrent Pepper Spray in its holster ready for immediate use. Don\'t bury it in your pack. . Be alert where recent bear activity has been documented by park officials: Fish and Game, Forest Service, and other Public Service people. Some Common areas where bears like to roam are: avalanche chutes, stream beds, dense edge cover and, in late summer, berry patches. . Use extreme caution when traveling on trails at night or at either end of the day. . Be careful with food smells - never cook close to camp. Store all foods in plastic away from camp at night when camp is unattended. Store them at least 100 yards away from camp. Hang them at least 14 feet up a tree and hung 4 feet away from the trunk. . Watch for fresh bear scant or tracks on the trail or near possible camp sites. . If possible, make plenty of noise on the trail, especially on blind curves, in dense vegetation or areas with limited vision.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . Be aware of the wind - bears have an excellent sense of smell. If the wind is at your back, the chances are a bear will smell you and leave well before you reach it. If the wind is blowing in your face, the chances of an encounter will greatly increase. In high wind situations or along creeks and streams, a bear might not hear you coming or you might not hear it. . Dead animal carcass - If you come upon a dead animal carcass, immediately leave the area. Bears will often feed on a carcass for days and also stay in the area to protect their food. . Bear cubs - If you see a bear cub, chances are the mother is not far away. Female bears will fiercely defend the young, so it is best you leave the area and find a different path. . Keep dogs under control - dogs can lead an angry bear back to you. . Do not travel alone in bear country. Invite a friend.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Old Spice Ad Analysis

December 11, 2012 Comp I Advertisement Analysis Advertisements come in various shapes, sizes, and mediums, and as humans, we are constantly surrounded by them. Whether they are on TV, radio, or in a magazine, there is no way that we can escape them. They all have their target audience for whom the advertisers have specifically designed the ad. When a company produces a commercial, their main objective is to get their product to sell. This is a multibillion-dollar industry and the advertisers study all the ways that they can attract their audience’s attention.The producers of advertisements have many tactics and strategies they use when producing an ad to get consumers to buy their product. These include things such as rhetorical appeals, logical fallacies, and â€Å"the male gaze. † The function of marketing is to either increase the number of customers or increase the rate of use among current customers. The number of customers can be increased by converting customers from competing brands, developing loyalty to the brand among current customers, or expanding the total market for the product class. The more ads they make, the more they in turn have to make in order to get our attention, it’s led to a vicious circle of clutter† (PBS Frontline: The Persuaders). Advertising is a battle of which company can fill up the most empty wall space. Consequently, cities turn into a mass chaos of posters and billboards. Subway tunnels have now been turned into moving pictures, to produce almost a â€Å"commercial† if you will. The buses themselves have been turned into moving billboards. Nowadays the thirty-minute block for a television show is about 15 minutes worth of advertisements and 15 minutes of the actual show.Along with that, many people are actually being paid to be an advertisement, whether it be standing out in front of a building with a sign, or putting a company decal on their car. Advertisements, likewise, cannot be escaped. However, often advertisers have to be sure and not â€Å"over do† their advertisements, or else the audience in which they are trying to appeal to will become annoyed. Old Spice, a major company for men’s hygienic products, has created a line of men’s body wash that has a very appealing and humorous advertising campaign.These ads are designed not only to get their product noticed in the marketplace, but also to eclipse other lines of men’s body wash. The Old Spice commercials imply that by using their product, a man will be or become more similar to the Old Spice man, or in other words, the ultimate man. The Old Spice advertisements capture men by reaching out to the needs of women, giving the ideal image of what a man should be and how he should smell, and by creating a sexual theme that attracts attention. The bottles used for all Old Spice products have red incorporated within the design.This is because red is the color of attraction. That is why red always surrounds Valentine's day. Red can also signify power and strength. The Old Spice design tries to go with a classic, authentic look. It wants to appeal to a variety of ages. It has a very sophisticated look (Keitel). In our society, an extremely smart and effective way of selling a product designed for men is to appeal to women. Women have many opinions on commercials that deal with men’s products, and if they like the commercials, they will be more apt to either buy the product themselves or influence the men they know to buy it.Advertisers not only use sexual appeals to attract attention to their ads, but to position their brands as sexual and to suggest that sex-related benefits can ensue to the brand purchasers. In Old Spice’s current ad campaign, there are a series of commercials using different actors and sports stars that are very fit and good looking to highlight their body wash. In the ad they use ex-NFL wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa, promoting elements of masculinity, sex appeal, and humor.In the ad, Mustafa is coming out of a shower dressed only in a towel, saying in a deep voice, â€Å"Hello, ladies†, and then continuing to talk directly to women viewers, telling them to look alternately at him and then the man sitting next to them for the implied comparison in which no normal man would come out very well. The commercial then continues with rapidly shifting scenes that show Mustafa in romantic fantasy–? like settings designed to appeal to women. He is shirtless on a sailboat at sunset, then holding tickets to â€Å"that thing you love†.The tickets then turn into diamonds, and finally then ad ends with Mustafa sitting shirtless on a white stallion on a tropical beach. The commercial’s appeal to women relies not only on the attractiveness of the actor and the settings, but to the humor that is based on the idea that such a perfect man can exist at all. Conversely, not only do these commercials reach out to women, but also there are men in the target audience and there is a message for them as well. These ads present an ideal image of how a man should be and what he should smell like.By using a good looking, fit, man for this advertisement, it gives the product an image that men want. The logical fallacy, ad populum, is present in this commercial. This ad almost shouts out the ideas that if you use the product you can look, smell, and be exactly like the man you see on your television. The Old Spice man, Mustafa, does everything better than you do and will give your woman more than you can give her. You can smell like the â€Å"ultimate man†, or as the slogan used in the ads says, â€Å"Smell like a man†.The ad makes a man react emotionally and appeal directly to his masculinity, vanity, and even his insecurity in being able to impress, attract, and keep women happy. This ad also portrays the idea of â€Å"scopophilia†. Scopophila is known as the pleasure in lo oking; by this, women want to have a pleasure in looking at their man, and the only way that will happen is if he uses Old Spice. In addition to appealing to women’s tastes and a man’s emotional need to smell like a manly man and attract a woman, this commercial uses the old reliable advertising strategy – sex sells.A sexually themed commercial can appeal to both men and women, and is sure to attract attention. Men and women are often portrayed in a sexual manner in ads of products that have absolutely nothing to do with sex itself. However, the sexiness of the advertisement causes people to remember the ad, and thus the product. This sexiness in advertising is enhanced and affected by the physical attributes of the models, their movement or actions, their interactions if there is more than one model, and the special effects provided by the camera.The desired result is achieved, because of the sexual nature of the ad, a fit and good-looking man talking directly to women in a seductive voice and in a romantic location. People, both men and women, stop what they are doing and watch. Sex can make the beholder feel young again. Sex may also reassure men of their masculinity and women of their femininity. The sexual content of the commercial also does more than grab people’s attention, it helps them remember the ads.The Old Spice ads are successful because they make an impression on people and lead to discussions with other people who have seen them. The advertisers do have to be careful with the use of sex appeal in these ads. If the sexual content is overdone, it might not work as intended. They need to make sure that people are not so distracted by the sexual appeal of the ad that they do not remember what the ad was for in the first place. It does not do any good to create a sensual or sexual message when all they can remember is the image and not the brand name.Therefore, advertisers need to make sure the sexual/sensual image being used is connected in some way to the product or service being promoted. This will create a link between the two and make the viewer much more likely to remember the product or service being advertised. When making a sexual ad, producers must tailor the message to the people they are targeting, which includes understanding the audience’s feelings and beliefs on public sexuality. Women have a different viewpoint on the subject of sexual appeal in advertisements.The objectification of women in advertising campaigns has significant psychological implications. It socializes women to think of them in the manner in which they are depicted, and causes them to engage in self-objectification. When women view advertisements featuring thin female models, it causes them to think that their own bodies should also be thin, creates anxieties relating to their weight, appearance, body satisfaction, and creates a negative mood. Thus, their body image causes them to suffer emotionally and psych ologically.Bordo states in her essay, â€Å"Today, as many as one million men – and eight million women – have an eating disorder. † Perhaps, by buying the advertised items, the viewing audience of women believes they will instantly become taller, thinner, younger, and prettier. This is not the same psychological effect experienced by women who view ads with female models of average proportions, or with no female models at all. Objectification of women in advertisements and emphasis on the size of their breasts has created a society of cosmetically enhanced, large-breasted women.Their self-image is predicated on the media's portrayal of a desirable woman. In order to have high self-esteem, and see themselves as attractive and valued women, many females feel this enhancement is necessary. Most human consumption is a result of a drive to satisfy sensuous desires. Advertising uses sexual images to encourage this consumption. People become dissatisfied with their im perfect selves, and seek to become perfect by buying the sexually charged products. Sex is an easy way to get the attention of males and make a product seem desirable.Women are objectified, and men are swayed to purchase the product and as a reward, get the women. The women represented in these ads are all beautiful and physically well endowed. Men are stimulated by the immediate physical sexuality in the ads, whereas women seem to be more stimulated by the sexuality for the romantic aspect of it. Men want to get the women. Women want the sexuality for the promise of the future. There seems to be no question that the use of sexuality in advertising helps to sell a product.However, when sexuality is used, the concept is true that there is greater consumer interest in observing the ads. This increased consumer interest often leads to the purchase of the advertised product. Works Cited Bordo, Susan. â€Å"Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body†. Writing Analytically with Reading. 2n d ed. EDS. Rossenwasser, David and Jill Stephen. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 821-843. Print. Keitel, Victoria. â€Å"Old Spice Analysis. † Personal. PSU. n. d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012 Rushkoff, Douglas. â€Å"The Persuaders. † PBS Frontline. 9 Nov. 2004. Web. 11 Nov. 2012