The Closing Your Event Should Include

Since I am wanting to pursue a career that is geared towards some sort of event planning activity, I wanted to find an interesting article that relates to this topic. So, I searched this and found an article that includes vital information in which I can take with me in my future. The article was titled, "How to Choose the Right After Dinner Entertainment For Your Event". When I first saw this title, I thought hmm why would the after dinner entertainment matter? But as I continued to read, I realized the importance of wowing you attendees with a final hoorah after their tummies are full and happy. You want to leave a lasting impression that will have people only speaking good things about your event for the weeks and even years to come, not the bad aspects. And as we all know, the closing of any book, movie, speech, etc., is the one aspect that sticks in the minds of the audience because it is the most recent part to them. Throughout this blog I will explain how incorporating magic and illusion shows, cirque performances, dance shows, the latest technology, live music, and after dinner speakers can be effective ways of closing your events based on the theme you are trying to accomplish.

I will be begin by explaining how magic and illusion shows can be effective for certain events. These shows offer intriguing and exciting after dinner entertainment due to the universal appeal magic has on individuals. As magic has reached new heights in the last few years due to the growth of technology, it has become more popular and attention grabbing. Magic can now be completely customized with the incorporation of digital and physical tactics that will leave the audience with memories from the event that they truly cannot forget. I, personally, find magic shows very interesting, even though I do not necessarily believe in magic. I believe this goes to show that ,possibly, many others may view magic the same way I do, but find it to be a fun scenario to watch that truly captures their attention. 

The next after dinner suggestion mentioned was the cirque performance. I am not exactly sure how I feel about including this is your event, unless your event has some sort of theme geared towards this. But cirque performances do offer extraordinary moves, music, aerial routines, and high energy for your audience to be encompassed by. Before implementing this performance, you would have to, of course, have the room to host it, which is something to keep in mind. 

Dance shows are one of the ideas I favor due to the high impact entertainment it offers. I feel that dancing grasps the audience better than any other performance extinguishes due to the insane amount of preparation these dancers have put into their routine and the pure talent they have to show off. Not only can you cater a dance show to your specific event theme, but you can also fit dance shows into any sort of venue. This is an overall winner to me. 

As far as using the latest technology as an after dinner event goes, I believe it can be done well if the right technology is used. There are many types of technology you can use varying from hologram shows or video mapping. These impressive and high versatile types of technology extinguish a presentation that can leave the audience speechless with a lasting impression. Again, you would have to conduct the research needed to choose which type of technology you would like to leave your audience in awe. 

Only a couple more to examine, I promise, hang tight! 

Live music, such as a live party band, DJ, or live musicians, are always a "go to" event conducted after dinner, in my opinion. And do not get me wrong, I believe music is effective in many ways, but I also think it can be overused. In order to incorporate this, you would have to deeply analyze the demographic qualities your audience expresses so you know the exact music to play. But everyone likes to jam out and let loose every once in a while! 

Lastly, the after dinner speakers. My first thought: "BORING", but I cannot be that quick to judge. These speakers do a heck of a job at what they do, and they can definitely reengage the audience's attention after dinner. They can be tailored towards the event you are hosting extremely easily, which is a huge perk. These speakers also offer uplifting, motivating, and enlightening facts and opinions that inspire the audience and make them comfortable in the environment they are in.

With all of this said, the one important fact about closing your event to keep in mind is: Finding the perfect fit that reaches the audience you intend on hosting effectively. Do your research and you will be more prepared than ever to leave your audience happy with your event!  

CoverGirl's Beauty Boy Controversy

I recently saw a CoverGirl commercial that featured a male wearing their makeup. On top of viewing this commercial, I also read an article explaining the impact this male, James Charles, exposes to the public. Before I move on, I want to warn you that I will be examining the two sides of this controversy. As everyone knows, we all have our own opinions and that is how the World functions! If we did not have these personal opinions, the World would be a dull and boring place. Anyways, back on track with this CoverGirl ad. When I was first exposed to this ad, the one of many thoughts that I had was, "Oh boy, there is going to be a mix of emotions when people first see this ad." I feel that this advertisement, in general, is one that can be extremely touchy where people tend to have strong opinions because it cane easily be related to the transgender situation. I personally believe that this ad has nothing to do with supporting the transgender community. Instead, I feel that this ad's purpose is trying to show everyone that you can be whoever you want. And if you want to wear makeup as a male, go for it! There should be nothing holding you back, and this male does a fantastic job at expressing his unique characteristics with CoverGirl's makeup.

Here is a picture of James Charles, CoverGirl's "Beauty Boy":

The article I read told a story about two specific words: "hate" and "courage". With these two words in mind, the article went on to state how hate is the most dangerous four letter word the World has ever known, which is why they wanted to focus more on the word "courage" while explaining a story. The story went on to state how you should put yourself in the shoes of a young man that realized he was gay and told his parents. And after a few years, you start playing with makeup and realize that these cosmetics make you feel better about yourself. You then develop a Youtube channel by the age of 17, and CoverGirl has decided to name you the first ever cover boy. This story then goes on by saying how there will be haters of this new movement, but Charles does not let any hateful comments affect his character. This story can be an inspiration to anyone in some way, no matter what your views may hold. There was one specific phrase in the Allure article that truly caught my eye. Here it is, "There was a wall. He tore it down. There was a trail. He blazed one. There was a group of people. And he just gave them a role model." I believe that this statement is powerful, uplifting, and most importantly, impactful. This trail to success can be used in any situation you find yourself coming across, whether it is in work or school. You tear the wall down that is blocking you from succeeding and you allow yourself to develop a trail that will lead you to the goal you are hoping to achieve and because of this, many people will look up to you. This is just another impactful story that people seem to be critical about, but do not understand they have probably accomplished a similar story in different terms obviously. 

Another key statement brought up in this article explained, "If you judge someone for the powders and creams they put on their face, if you are governed by bigotry, if you are driven by intolerance, if you are threatened by differences, if you are scared by anyone who doesn't look like you, we will not give you a microphone." This is a statement that gets to the point by using the powerful words to explain how being different should not be judged in any way. Differences are actually encouraged and promote self expression. So, if a man wants to wear eyeliner or foundation, there should be not be any sort of hate expressed to him directly or indirectly. We should all focus on building each other up instead of pulling each other down with the different forms of hate that can be easily expressed. 

Overall, I believe CoverGirl's "beauty boy" is an eye opening movement that people can look up to in different ways, and not jump to conclusions so quickly. 

Upland Brewing Company Releases Brand New Look and Campaign for their Sour Ales

Upland Brewing Company, like all other competing brewing companies, must have the packaging and advertising needed on their bottles to set their customer's taste buds on fire. This is the first step in developing the "buzz" your company needs in order to grow. Upland Brewing Company has recently released a totally new packaging and ad campaign for their Sour Ales, which are suppose to be wild, tart, and acidic. This means that the packaging and advertisement of these ales has to display these specific features also. I will touch on my opinions of how this company executed the new developments including the art, layout, and meaning I believe they are portraying throughout this blog.

I will first let you take a peak at what the new packaging looks like, which is the picture below:

I believe the design on these bottles is clear and not over bearing for the eyes to view. It utilizes the colors in the best way possible by adhering to the description of the certain ale. For example, the blackberry includes a mix of purple, pink, and blue. I feel that this is trying to explain that the blackberry flavor extinguishes vibrant flavor with a tart aspect behind it also. From what I can see, it looks like these bottles also include a piece of artwork on each one. Whether it is flower petals, a horse, or a rock it looks to be. These are what I see, but you may see something differnt of course, as each of us vary. The artist that designed this new packaging is from Minneapolis, and his name is Michael Cina. President of Upland Brewing company, Doug Dayhoff stated, "Michael Cina's style depicts a beautiful blend of science and art, each resulting in a stunning visual experience. And it emphatically communicates the level of not only craft, but artistry, present in every bottle." This explains why my initial reaction of the images on the bottle consisted of nature like things. 

Now, I will let you take a look at the advertising they developed for these certain products below:

I'm sorry for the limited visibility in this ad, there was no other picture that I could find unfortunately. But hopefully you receive the overall view and point it is trying to show.  

Anyways, this ad campaign surrounds around the new brand concept, "Blended works of art". This brand concept was inspired by details of the sours brewing process, and the importance of careful blending of different batches to create a complex, yet balanced flavor profile, as the article I read recently explained it as. The sour ales from Upland Brewing company are made with wild yeast and have gradually become an increasingly popular choice for craft drinkers, which I assume is why they wanted to create a new package design and advertising campaign.Upland partnered with Young & Laramore to create this new brand concept and ad campaign. I thought the new brand concept was thought out and well developed because it truly displays this "Blended works of art" on it's package design, which was the ultimate goal. 

Overall, I believe Upland Brewing Company did a fantastic job with the new marketing aspects they put towards their company. They hit the sensory, emotional, and informational appeals on all of their ale bottles and now have a defined brand concept that the consumers can look towards while enjoying their sour ale. I believe Upland will be receiving uplifting comments and opinions about their new packaging design and ad campaign because of the creativity that was released and expressed. We all know, creativity is needed for every little thing we do in life, whether someone knows it or not. And when you can capture this creativity and release it outwards, you will find yourself succeeding greatly and only improving, which I think Upland Brewing Company is going to experience. 

Twitter Battles Online Abuse

I recently read an article on Forbes site stating, "Jack Dorsey Says Twitter Has Made Progress Battling Online Abuse". For those of you who do not know, Jack Dorsey is widely known as a Co-founder of Twitter and the founder and CEO of Square, I had to look this information up myself when I first saw his name. Now, we all know Twitter is a social media medium that can be used for posting quick 140 character rants, but since there is a word limitation this small, the language can be derogatory and uncalled for. Many of us enjoy the short and sweet reading aspect that Twitter has to offer, but when this short reading aspect becomes not so sweet, it can turn into cyber bullying and online abuse, which Jack Dorsey thinks Twitter has progressively gotten better at preventing. The introduction of new tools to the users of Twitter is the key component to preventing online abuse, which I will be addressing in this post. Below is a picture of Jack Dorsey:

Before I address the nitty gritty details behind this article, I want you to read this quote I found rather thought provoking about Twitter, "Because Twitter happens in public and in real-time, we've had some challenges keeping up with and curbing abusive conduct. We took a step back to reset and take a new approach, find and focus on the most critical needs and rapidly improve." I have many questions regarding this quote and the timing of this new tools being implemented by Twitter and it has to do with.........the election. First of all, this article was published November 16th, so during the midst of election emotions. Anyone can predict that political conversations, especially through social media, can be extremely intense. This is where my first question comes into play, wouldn't you think Twitter would have taken the election and the feelings it triggers into account well before the election process began? The debates should have been a good indicator for the online abuse that was displayed. After these debates took place, I would scroll through my twitter feed, just for the heck of it, and I cannot even estimate the amount of absurd words used when people went back and forth in a conversation regarding their feelings about the debate. The conversation was not civil in any way, and if these new tools were introduced well before, this online abuse and bullying could have been prevented much earlier. Anyways, I will stop ranting and go onto the description of these tools.

The handful of new tools introduced consist of a "mute" tool, direct report of hateful activity tool, and the refresher program for Twitter's support team. The "mute" tool does its job by allowing users to turn notifications off for specific conversations and tweets that contain any racial slurs or profanity the user does not want to be subjected to. I truly think this a great addition because I know I become annoyed very easily whenever I am subjected to hateful comments and posts because there is nothing I can really do to help this problem. So muting these types of posts is the best way for people to avoid being consumed by the hate. The next tool, the direct report of harassment tool, makes it much easier for Twitter's users to report hateful activity that targets people on the basis of their race, ethnicity, and so on. They have incorporated a faster process of viewing these reports and addressing them in a timely manner. I personally think this should have been addressed when Twitter developed the system for reporting harassment because these incidents are becoming more and more of a problem that social media sites have to keep up with and address as soon as they can. Lastly, Twitter's introduction of the refresher program for their support staff focuses on online abuse. Twitter has re-trained these employees on the company's policies, which included sessions about the cultural and historical context of abuse. Having this refresher program can lead to the success and progress Twitter needs to supply its employees in order to combat online abuse. I think this program is an excellent implementation and should continually be used.

Overall, I do believe Twitter could have focused on the online abuse problem far earlier, but the new tools they have introduced are going to be influential. I think Twitter will find climb to new heights and receive positive feedback from the many users of their social media site due to these new tools. But, time will only tell us how these tools truly effect Twitter and its tweets!

Santa Forgets: Christmas Alzheimer's Ad

This specific ad about Santa having Alzheimer's really grasped my attention and interest because I have personally dealt with this terrible disease. My grandpa has had Alzheimer's for at least 10 years now and he is actually doing okay for how bad this disease can truly be affect people. He never says my name, but whenever my mom brings my name to his attention, he automatically can distinguish who I am. He also has a tough time when recalling short term memory situations. For example we would ask him what he had for dinner 5 minutes after he ate it and he could not tell us. But when someone asks him about something that happened in his past, he knows exactly what to say and answers the question accurately. This disease affects many people and I do not think people realize the varying devastating effects it has on a person and their family unless they are actually put in this type of position. I also feel as though people do not exactly understand that this disease can be examined with the money for the research to be conducted and possibly cured if this extreme research can be done. So this ad did a great job at promoting awareness of this research and Alzheimer's disease by emotionally tugging at the heart strings and releasing a message of hope. Here is the ad itself:

In this Alzheimer Research ad, as you can see, there is a little girl that experiences the magic of Christmas being stripped away from her because Santa is living with the effects of dementia and can no longer bring presents to the houses of the children all across the World on Christmas Eve. Once Freya, the little girl, was told Santa had this disease, she made it her mission to to travel to the North Pole and comfort Santa by offering her support and collaborates with Santa's elves who are the researchers. At the end of this short ad is where the details of the Alzheimer's Research comes in, which is the perfect ending to a heartbreaking and heartwarming story. It really leaves the audience with a certain mood of wanting to help this research program.

The best saying in this ad by Freya was, "If Santa has a disease, research can find a way to fix it". This quote expresses the uplifting effect research can have on this certain disease if it can be conducted. Hilary Evans, Chief Executive of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "Santa Forgot is a poignant and powerful reminder that dementia doesn't discriminate. We have to be provocative about dementia, to help fight misconception and fatalism around the condition and to demonstrate that pioneering research holds the answers. Santa is an important cultural figure, but the idea that he too could be affected drives home the point that dementia can strike those most special in our lives." This quote is extremely important to keep in mind because the Dementia disease does not care who you are, it can set anyone back at anytime. And this terrifying disease does not necessarily have to be heredity either. If there is research that can be done to prevent this disease from happening, it will save many lives and enhance many families so the life long memories can continue to be made for the people.

I feel that using Santa as the receiver of this disease was the best figure to use because he has such a tremendous influence on the children of the World, and this ad can explain to the children what dementia can do to the most influential people in our lives. It will make them want to take charge in spreading awareness of this research because they do not want anyone else having to deal with this like Santa did. Overall, it was an ad campaign that was a success in my eyes. The Alzheimer's Research UK did a fantastic job at balancing sadness and gratitude throughout this whole ad. I feel that this ad will inspire many to notice that we, as people, are the start of the research process that can transform the future of this disease.

Social Media Encourages Voters

With election day coming to a close on Tuesday, the social media outlets really stepped their game up in promoting everyone to partake in voting. Many of the biggest names of social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Periscope became extremely creative in promoting Election Day 2016. Facebook did a great job at supplying their users with the election information needed to go into voting with confidence. On the other hand, Snapchat and Periscope added filters of its own that display different logos, sayings, and pictures of the candidates.

Let's address Facebook's features of the election first. I remember scrolling through my Facebook feed, many weeks in advance to the 2016 Election Day, and finding information on how to get registered to vote and how to vote early by having random election pop ups that relate to these categories. As a voter who was not registered yet, I found this extremely helpful in going through the steps needed to be eligible to vote, and it was also a reminder to actually complete the voting registration necessities before the actual voting day. Once I clicked on the pop up regarding voting registration, I was directed to a site that explained everything I had to bring to my voting place and provided the forms I could fill and print out online beforehand, which made my wait for registering and voting early more bearable. In the article, they titled Facebook's interaction with the election as, "Facebook transforms into election information hub". They went on to bring up many other features Facebook provided that include many banners floating above your timeline, hashtags, live videos, aggregated news coverage, and trending information. As far as Facebook's in depth information on the election, they exceeded any social media sites promotion of this event. According to prdaily.com, "Facebook has been working to get users registered to vote and informed about their ballot throughout the election season. Its voter registration push helped more than 2 million people become registered voters, and launched a full voter guide that helps users learn about the candidates, their positions, and even down-ballot propositions and local politicians." As I said before, this feature available to the many Facebook users is a great tool to get people involved and educated on the voting process. Facebook truly transformed the meaning of voting in my opinion.

Snapchat also did a great job at expressing the election by including filters that supported each candidate and the results as the votes came in through the night. I know I am guilty for using the filters to send to my friends more than once because they are just too tempting not to become involved with! Here is an example of one of the filters featured:

As you can see, the filters are extremely personalized and meant to fit the entire screen so its visible to everyone it is sent to. This sending to other people then encourages them to do the same thing and partake in a variety of filters. It was a snapchat trend that could not be ended and people will be always looking forward to! Both of the campaigns could not promote these filters without a cost though, as expected. Periscope also displayed their filters that were aimed at giving their users something fun that are available in iOS only. It is more playful than snapchat by adjusting the effects. Here is an example of Periscope's election fun:

So as you can see from these examples, social media is a tool used in every aspect of life an has overtaken the digital world. This is scary, yet okay at the same time with the specific information it provides. The scary part of this is the fact that people use social media as something to attack others on, which is absolutely not okay. Now that the election is over and Donald Trump is our President, there have been posts all over social media that are uncalled for. I cannot even go on my Facebook page without seeing posts that degrade Trump supporters. This is not a time to go against each other, it is a time to stay united because our country will need it these next 4 years.

PR Pros React to the Outrage of Starbucks' New Cups

I recently read an article about the new Starbucks' cups and how they are either a hit or miss to people, but what product out there isn't? There is absolutely no possible way to please everyone because we all have our own opinions in life. Besides that point, which I will get to later, this article explains the concept behind the "unity" cups that Starbucks incorporated into their stores. The cups display a mosaic of more than a hundred people drawn out in a continuous stroke created by artist Shogo Ota. The customers that were outraged by these cups threatened to boycott the chain via social media because it is apparently "over-the-top political correctness" to them. There have to be many more complaints that go towards these cups, but another one was how Starbucks did not include any Christmas imagery. On the other hand, last year, Starbucks found themselves in a bad spot when they debuted their red holiday cup without Christmas images. In my opinion, people focus too much of their time and energy trying to fix every little thing that is wrong to them in this World, like a Starbucks cup. Instead, we should focus on the good in our lives, and work on embracing this good  in order to develop a sense of happiness that we can carry with us through life. As PR and Marketing Pros say, in the article, "Get a life and grow the cup up." I love this quote because it's the truth! Do not let one small thing or change rock your World, it's not worth it!

Here is a picture of the new cup:

Now onto more of the politics behind this cup and the timing of this cup being established pre election. We all know that this election has been nothing but a whirlwind of emotions. And I believe we are all ready for a break, especially from those annoying political advertisements that make you not want to watch TV. Anyways, onto the point. Whether you are for the cup or against it, it does display a sense of calmness, in my opinion, because it holds a sense of unity of the American people by setting our political differences aside and understanding that we are all humans. Yes, we are all taking on this life we are given in our own way, but yet, we are always connected with the same simple aspect that we are humans. So well you take that first sip of pure joy from this cup, whether it is a mocha or straight black coffee, embrace the unity of the people and put aside the politics. This is how I truly examine this cup to display. I really do understand both sides of the story so I have tried to combine all of the sides into one explanation that we all can relate to.

As far as what the PR's in this article state, I believe they are right on with explaining this controversy. Jason Mollica released a tweet stating, "It's beyond comical that people get upset over #Starbucks cups. Get a grip. Don't like the cup? Here's a hint..don't. buy. it #PR This statement actually made me laugh because it is so accurate! We have no control over what gets released or developed in the World of Starbucks, so if you don't like the new cup development, you definitely have a choice not to buy it. Simple as that! You are only drinking your sweet cup of goodness out of the darn cup, don't let the outside affect you. Starbucks chairman and CEO also released a blog post that stated, "The green cup and the design represent the connections Starbucks has as a community with its partners (employees) and customers. During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other." This also represents the fact that Starbucks is not trying to express political correctness, nor should they. Instead, they are simply spreading the joy of treating everyone in life well. Because we all need that joy in our lives to make the World go round.

Overall, Starbucks new cup is generating more and more opinions each day as it is starting to become recognized. People will say what they want to say about them and live it at that. Don't go into boycotting against Starbucks or filing a law suit due to the cups not fulfilling your needs, that's just not right to me. I am sure there will be more to come of this debate, and the cups may have to potential to be taken off the market. But who knows, time will only tell in this case.

JBL Launching a Global Campaign for All-New Portable Waterproof Speakers

JBL has created an invention that replaces the "classic" portable speaker that everyone enjoys. Their all new portable speaker is now made for the water with their waterproof edition. Many people want to embrace the fun moments in their life with good friends and great music, even while playing in the water at the beach. I know I'm not the only one who is afraid to bring a portable speaker near any water due to the chance of it becoming wet, which in turn, can ruin it. And why would we want to spend the big bucks on a portable speaker that may not work due to getting splashed on while we're simply wanting to have fun? With that said, I believe this waterproof speaker is an invention I would call: genius.

JBL developed a Global Campaign, along with its talented agency Doner, that keep you wanting more. They have introduced the public to commercials that are well done and extremely valuable, in my opinion. The first commercial I watched was one that I thought was informative but also funny at the same time. There was a male and a female in the water at a beach listening to music on their JBL waterproof speaker. As the male placed the speaker in the water every time, fish would jump out of the water behind them. I feel that this is trying to demonstrate the aspect of how amazing this speaker is and how big of a step up it is from their competitors by having the waterproof edition. Not any speaker can make the fish want to jump out of the water and dance along to the tunes! 

Here is the first ad: 

The new campaign JBL is launching is located in Europe and the US via broadcast, digital, and social media. There are two different waterproof speakers they are introducing, one is called the Charge 3, and the other is called the Clip 2. The Charge 3 offers the ability for the speaker to last 30 minutes underwater and plays tunes up to 20 hours on a single charge. The Clip 2, on the other hand, has a built-in carabiner clip and a battery that can last up to 8 hours. I believe this campaign is trying to target the people who want to be adventurous and live life to the fullest by bringing the beats with them wherever they decide to explore next.

The next ad this article featured was brilliant. They had a couple hosting a pool party, and when the cops heard this, they arrived, but everyone was underwater with their JBL waterproof speaker. This demonstrates that the party can go on underwater even when the cops show up to your door! I found this ad to be extremely funny and entertaining! Here is the last ad I viewed: 

The slogan for this campaign is called, "the wetter, the better", which I believe perfectly fits with their overall goal of promoting the advantages of their speakers being waterproof. I can tell you this campaign has definitely made me think twice about replacing my current portable speaker. I am the type of person who needs music as a motivator and who enjoys the entertainment it offers when in social situations. When I was invited to a pool party, I was asked to bring my speaker along. I really did not want to bring it due to the fact that I knew there was going to be water involved, and sure enough, the speaker was sitting on the table close to the water so we could hear it, and someone accidentally knocked it in. I quickly grabbed it out within 3 seconds, but ever since that incident, it has a fuzzy sound to it when it plays my music. Very irritating to me! 

Overall, I think JBL will find success with these 2, all new waterproof speakers. Not only because they are waterproof, but because they offer advantages like being underwater for 30 minutes, so you know if an accident happens where it gets dropped in the water, you don't have to worry. As the Marcomm news article says, "the brand's first-ever IPX7 rated waterproof portable speakers ensure a worry-free listening experience, no matter where the music takes you. Even underwater."

Red Bull Debuts The Marketing Store's Creation of Shout/out

Red Bull reaches yet another height in displaying its new advertising tool known as Shout/out. Shout/out is a disruptive social media tool that was created by The Marketing Store, and aims at reclaiming social media feeds for the users. With this new tool, the public can quickly be informed of information the advertiser wants to get out in the high speed reading technique. The words quickly flash across the screen with one word after another consistently being displayed. Shout/out also wants this tool to be utilized at live events, such as Red Bull's Music Academy UK Tour, so people can quickly grasp the information on social media instead of being delayed with reading Twitter's post that have a 140-word character limit. I believe this disruptive tool can be beneficial to the people, and has done a fantastic job at adjusting to the ever-changing World of technology by providing this new tool.

In my opinion, this Shout/out tool has developed something that could replace the "normal" way of communicating at live events such as debates, award shows, etc., because people who are not able to tune into these events may be at work or school, and want a quick glance at what is happening. Well, they can partake in this glance by accessing Shout/out instead of reading the millions of tweets of their Twitter feed for information. Not only is Shout/out a fun way for fans, as well as athletes and artists to express their experience live from an event, but it allows the people digging for information to cut through the clutter and save their precious time.

Red Bull has placed this tool on their website which allows the users to customize the posts they are viewing with imagery before they share it online. Chris Tyas, head of digital at The Marketing Store said, "The need to express yourself and be heard is a key part of what makes us human. However, the full power and emotion of the written word is slowly being diluted as Facebook and Twitter specifically engineer their platforms to capitalize on promoted content, and in doing so reduce the impact of organic content. The Marketing Store and Red Bull decided to take a stand and reclaim social feeds for the consumers. We're pleased to have worked with Red Bull to create this world first, to help people express themselves better, get noticed, and give heir words wings." I have to fully agree with this statement because I agree that the social media engines most of us currently use, like Facebook, have inaccurate information of stories, events, politics, etc. If we were given the opportunity to access Shout/out, we would actually be excited to view the content, instead of viewing content that we've seen a million times before on Facebook. I also agree with the key point Tyas brought up about expressing yourself, and how being heard is a key part of human nature. When you can express yourself through something as simple as a word, you feel empowered, like you have gotten across what you needed to in order to move on in life. This is exactly what Shout/out is about, it allows for a strong word that you are thinking about at an event to be displayed for everyone to see.

Overall, I think The Marketing Store really out shined their competitors by developing Shout/out, and I would not be surprised if we see more companies, rather than just Red Bull, be involved with utilizing this new social media tool. Companies can have a leg up on social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which has not happened in a long time. So many people rely on these social media sites to inform them about an event's details, but when they can have something flashing words that express the events details across the screen and be done reading in seconds, who would't want Shout/ out to become a tool available to everyone?

Flipboard Storyboard: A New Storytelling Platform for Brands

A new creative addition to advertising grasps the attention of many, this new addition is called Flipboard Storyboard. This new storyboard allows its readers to scroll through a carousel of articles, images, videos, .gifs, and audio. The main reason for developing this storyboard is for promoting companies and brands so they can give a powerful message to the people. This storyboard grants the readers to take control of browsing through the message by having a feature that lets them swipe right or left to follow a full story. But little do the readers know, the advertisers can take advantage of the them by developing a storyboard geared towards their interests and experiences. When the advertisers do this, they are attracting many potential customers, and keeping the customers they currently have by continuing to express their interests through pictures, words, etc. The secret to manipulating their readers is the Interest Graph technology that is combined with Flipboard, which is capable of targeting campaigns to readers based on their interest, and then go on to display their brand content in a way that has never been done. I found Flipboard to be something that I would absolutely love!

I think Flipboard is going to start becoming a pretty popular aspect to advertising as it grows and becomes recognized. Because what company would not want to promote their brands to reach the specific audience that are looking to gain, and be have an extremely creative display to show them? It's a brilliant idea! In the article I read, it said that Sephora has taken advantage of Flipboard. They partnered with them, specifically for their holiday campaign, with their slogan saying, "Tis the Season, Love is the Reasons, Let Beauty Together". The article stated that Sephora could "engage holiday shoppers across all of their devices without compromising the brand storytelling". This is a huge step that Sephora took to really outshine their competition. Because everyone is constantly looking for that new technological advancement, especially around the holiday season when consumers are more likely to engage in advertisements so they can find what they need easily. And with Flipboard, these consumers can simply use their mobile device while they're shopping, or before, to scan what a brand entails by a quick slideshow, instead of having to go to the website and click on many different tabs in order to find exactly what you are looking for. Daniel Daynes, global digital director of Mindshare Luxury stated, "Flipboard's design-led platform and full screen ads are powerful tools for Mindshare's luxury clients. They allow them to tell deeper stories, engage target consumers, and reach new audiences. The ease and elegance of Storyboard combines the best of display advertising and native storytelling. It allows our brands to share their stories as an integral part of the content experience on Flipboard. We look forward to our continued collaboration and innovation with the team at Flipboard." I am completely convinced by this quote that Flipboard does absolute wonders for brands due to the fact that it creates such a wonderful array of information that is placed through whatever medium the company wants. 

Flipboard reminds me of the Snapchat stories that you can scroll through by the swipe of a finger. And from who I have talked to at work, school, and in general, they love the accessibility and quickness that the Snapchat stories allow. If you are bored with one of the pictures, you can keep swiping to get to the picture you enjoy looking at, and I feel that this is what Flipboard is trying to employ in its storyboards. If consumers are bored with one aspect on their storyboard, they have the option to swipe to the next slide. And we all know, as consumers, we love options because each of us has our own different, unique preferences. 

Overall, I think Flipboard is going to make its mark, and really take charge in the advertising field as the years go on. This is because of the fact that it supplies such engaging content that the company gets to develop to grasp their target audience. There are many of us that rely on advertising to really describe the product/brand we are looking for, and to have an actual storyboard describing what the product/brand is through media features makes the product ten times more fun to explore! 

Pepsi Fights Back Against Claims it Misled Naked Juice Consumers

We all want the nutrient dense drink that says it has a full serving of fruit and vegetables because this makes us feel satisfied knowing we can check this aspect off in our diet for the day. Naked Juice is supposedly known for containing these servings of fruit and vegetables in one of their bottles, but recently, there was a lawsuit filed against Pepsi Company's popular Naked Juice drink. The lawsuit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest claims that Pepsi fill these products with "cheap, nutrient-poor apple juice" and other fillers. They also addressed the misleading label that says, "No sugar added". And brings up a fact that their is more sugar in the Naked Juice drinks than their are in some of Pepsi cola drinks. I am a person who is extremely interested in health and fitness, and I find this alarming, as I'm sure many other people do also.

My dad was a district manager for gas stations, and he would always bring home free samples of the new drink, snack, food, etc. I remember when he brought home a bottle of Naked Juice, it was the Mighty Mango flavor I believe. He told me, "You've got to try this juice smoothie thing, it has a full serving of fruit too, and I know you love your fruit and smoothies." I never thought there could be such thing as a drink that provided a full serving of fruit or vegetables for the day so I was super excited to try it! And once I had that first sip of mango goodness, my taste buds literally sparked with excitement! I was obsessed with Naked Juice for probably a few weeks, and once I actually looked pass the front of the bottle, and read the nutrient facts, I was absolutely shocked by what I saw. I did not understand how a supposed "healthy" drink could have such a great amount of sugar. Yes, I understand that fruit and vegetables have their own natural sugar, but almost 50 plus grams worth?? Thats more than a pint of some ice cream if you think about it! And I noticed changes in my body as I drank 3 of these juice smoothies a week for 3 weeks also. I gained a pound a week it seemed like, which really did not happen to me before I started to drink these. I, obviously, had no clue it was possibly Naked Juice causing this weight gain because it's suppose to be a healthy drink, but now that I am not the only one who has questioned this drink, I am starting to believe it was Naked Juice's fault.

I believe this lawsuit was a good thing to file. And in the article it said that the lawsuit also claimed that Pepsi fails to disclose that Naked Juice is "not a low-calorie food" as the Food and Drug Administrations says. Pepsi comes back fighting this lawsuit with saying what they always say, "Any sugar present in Naked Juice products comes from the fruits and/or vegetables contained within and the sugar content is clearly reflected on label for all consumers to see. Every bottle of Naked Juice clearly identifies the fruit and vegetables that are within. The lawsuit wants Pepsi to change the way it markets their product, and calls for damages to be paid to the people who purchased Naked products. I feel that this conclusion and solution that the lawsuit wants to see form Pepsi Company is acceptable for the company to display, in respect to their customers. Now, there has to be actual experiments, or something of that nature, conducted to know exactly what ingredients and fillers go into every Naked Juice bottle, but I do believe that they definitely need to change their marketing strategy, and/or ingredients if they are truly false advertising to the public. With all of this said, I will not be a current, or future consumer of any sort of Naked Juice products.

The Pro-Clinton Google Search Conspiracy

We all have our different views and opinions when it comes to politics, of course. But when it comes to a search engine that millions of people access every day that displays political information that may be biased towards favoring one candidate over the other, this is crossing the line in my opinion. I recently read an article explaining how back in June, a news channel SourceFed created a Youtube video stating that Google was manipulating auto-complete suggestions in its search bar to promote favorable searches relating to Hillary Clinton. Google found this criticism of their website and had to release a statement that explained the policy of suppressing offensive auto-complete suggestions in relation to a person's name. The article went on to state that this controversy didn't end here because Robert Epstein, a Psychologist, conducted his own study on this issue, and the results were released to the public. Epstein, and his team, used proxy servers to minimize bias, and looked at Google auto-suggestions in responses to hundreds of election-related search terms. He came to the conclusion that SourceFed was right because he found it hard to get the Google search bar to portray any negative searches related to Hillary Clinton. Epstein then went on to say, "Bing and Yahoo, on the other hand, often show a number of negative suggestions in response to the same search terms." 

This is a ton of information thrown out in one article, so I am going to do my best at addressing what I think about it, and try to keep my political opinions to the side because it is important to have an open mind when it comes to politics. To start, I find it alarming that Epstein and his team accessed other search engines, Bing and Yahoo, to type Hillary Clinton's name into, and found many negative suggestions towards her. But when they tried to perform the same task on Google, they found nothing to portray any negative searches related to Clinton. Yes, Google is much more popular than Bing or Yahoo, but this does not mean they can take advantage of this popularity on the people that are accessing their website for information. I feel that they should not be able to literally go into their website and take advantage of others by displaying only the political information they want to display. In this case, making no negative suggestions of Clinton come about when people search her name in their search bar. I also understand that Google is a place where people can access the information they want to access, so if they want to find out the negative news about Hillary Clinton, they could simply type this into Google and find many different websites that will give this information to them. This is an article that my opinion can go either way. I am more on the side of believing that Google is taking advantage of their users by displaying a bias towards favoring Clinton, but I understand that it is, ultimately, the users choice on what they want to search. 

As far as my concluding statement goes, in my opinion, no big company that is well known all over the World should incorporate any sort of political pitch, suggestion or bias when it comes to accessing their website, unless it is specifically meant for politics. I am a believer in keeping my political views and opinions quiet when communicating with anyone else because I do not want them to act differently towards me because of this. And this is something that Google may want to keep in mind, and possibly act upon so they do not have any confrontations related to this topic again. As any other company should keep in mind too so they, also, do not have to come out with a statement to address something like this, and have the chance of hindering their public reputation.

Steve Clevenger's Suspension Due To Twitter Posts

The shooting of a black man by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina sparked strong emotions from people across the US, as every other shooting does. This then, of course, led to protests taking place in this city by the well known group, Black Lives Matter. Everyone is entitled to have their own opinions when it comes to this group, but posting your feelings on social media right after the unfortunate event takes place is not the most intelligent idea. Especially when you are a MLB player that people look up to. I understand that people want others to know how they feel about these events that keep happening, but you should take the time to thoroughly write your opinion in a respectful manner. You should not start posting on social media in the heat of the moment when you first hear the news. This action just fuels the fire, and can lead people into developing negative thoughts about you. This is exactly what Steve Clevenger embarked in. 

Steve Clevenger is a backup catcher for the Seattle Mariners, and is now, suspended without pay for the rest of the season due to the tweets he posted about Black Lives Matter. One of the posts read, "BLM is pathetic one again! Obama you are pathetic once again! Everyone involved should be locked behind bars like animals!" I do believe that Black Lives Matter has gone way too far with their protests, especially when they shut down 35W in Minneapolis. This not only puts them in danger, but everyone else involved. Throwing materials at police officers, preventing people from going anywhere, and being a complete disturbance to society is not how protests should be done. If they want to protest and spread their feelings, they should do so in a peaceful way. 

Anyways, back to the point of addressing Clevenger's Twitter posts. Like I said before, he should have thought what he was going to post about thoroughly. I thought the posts were rude, uncalled for, and unknowledgeable, to say the least. On the other hand, I do not think the General Manager of the Seattle Mariners should have come to a conclusion of suspending him the day he found out about these tweets. In my opinion, he should have reviewed the tweets, developed a message to state to the public when he noticed the tweets, and then proceed to suspend him within a couple days once he has grasped the whole story of Clevenger. 

As far as the suspension for the season without any pay goes, I believe this was slightly acceptable. Clevenger should be suspended for the season for the tweets he displayed to the public because he has to understand that this type of behavior will not be tolerated, and is not acceptable. But, the no pay aspect for the rest of the season is the one thing I am still unsure about. Yes, he did wrong by stating his opinion in an offensive way, but can people not get a second chance to redeem themselves, and reflect on the mess they put themselves in? The salary is something he has earned and makes his living off of, and for twitter posts to completely demolish this salary, I do not know what to exactly think about it. He did, though, come back with an apology statement after the suspension stating, " I am sickened by the idea that anyone would think of me in racist terms. My tweets were reactionary to the events I saw on the news and worded beyond poorly at best and I can see how and why someone could read into my tweets far more deeply than how I actually feel." He added: "I just ask the public not judge me because of an ill worded tweet." He could have totally stated this to try and gain his reputation back, but I truly believe what he is saying is true. Because of the fact he has had the time to think about his wrong doings, and how these wrong doings affected his life. 

From this story, overall, I have noticed how social media truly can run our lives....whether it is positively or negatively. One tweet, or one Facebook post, could demolish your image in public, and prevent you from partaking in your job that you thrive on, and make a living from. With this said, I am, and alway have been, extremely careful of the posts I display on social media, especially when it comes to my political opinions because I know how deeply people can feel about politics. And I do not want to ruin my relationships with others because of these political opinions that I have. 

How Much Do You Trust the Celebrities and Social Media Stars You Follow?

I recently read an article that I found interesting and something I always find myself questioning. The article I read was titled, "How Much Do You Trust the Celebrities and Social Media Stars You Follow?" It explained how marketers see social media as an important tool in displaying their ads to reach a tricky type of audience, especially when there is a picture of a celebrity saying how great the product really is. The article used the example of the Kardashians posting pictures on social media of themselves with weight loss products they, supposedly, used to prove that these products worked for them, so they will work for you. But the viewers of these Kardashian sisters may have noticed a new addition to these types of posts. At the end of their post about these products there is the hashtag of, "#ad". This is new addition is due to the Federal Trade Commission having a problem with how these paid brand endorsements should be handled so people know these are strictly just ads. Although the Federal Trade Commission mentioned and encouraged these celebrity endorsers to place, "#ad" or "#sponsored", on their posts, there is no set rules or guidelines in place that anyone has to follow.

I have a problem with these celebrities posting their opinion and pictures about a certain product to draw their fans into buying it because I feel they, truly, do not even know how the product works. For example, if you were to ask them specific detailed questions such as, "How would this product work if I am gluten free?" In my opinion, when you are displaying a product to the entire public, you should know the exact details about the product because that is what the workers of the company you are promoting have to do. They work extremely hard to make a living by hard work and determination of encouraging people to buy their products, and answer any questions consumers may have. Sadly, these workers will never, in a lifetime, make the kind of money these celebrities make, obviously. The least the celebrities could do is invest research into the product they are promoting because they charge, on average, "$187,500 for a post on YouTube, $75,000 for a post on Instagram or Snapchat and $30,000 for a post on Twitter", as the article states.

Whatever the product consists of that these celebrities are posting, I do not believe I would be more likely to invest in buying the product. Even if it was, in fact, my favorite celebrity or athlete. When I am scrolling through my news feed on Instagram or Facebook, I usually bypass any sort of celebrity post that is promoting a product because I find this very annoying. I think this annoyance is triggered by how often they perform this act. I feel that the celebrities post a different picture with a product almost every day stating how great it is. These constant promotions get old easily, and a lot of times I actually unfollow them due to this. With that said, I am sure other people feel this same way, which means these celebs may actually be losing a good portion of their fans, instead of gaining their fans interest, by contributing in this ad dilemma!

Don't get me wrong, I do understand why people would totally be influenced by a celebrity promoting a product, and be more likely to buy it because of this celebrity. But promoting something is just another way for these celebs to earn an absurd amount of green dollar bills! The people that have a dedicated following of fans, such as the Kardashians, are blinded by the factor of somehow being like them when they purchase the product they are promoting. We, as consumers, should start looking beyond the surface of these advertisements, and understand why these celebrities are really partaking in promoting products. Some of these stars could care less about the audience they are generating, they just want to continue making the big amount of money by simply posing with a product, while all of us are trying to make a living by working hard and actually trying to earn a college degree!

"Finding Dory" Trailer Generates a Whirlwind of Emotions

From the people I have talked to, many automatically have a bad outlook on movie sequels. Well, I am here to take a look at one movie sequel that I find as enriching and done in a responsible, effective way. I am going to touch on why I believe the sequel to "Finding Nemo", which is called "Finding Dory" has a movie trailer that can change anyone's attitude towards a sequel not being as good as the original movie into the opposite.

I am a sucker for any type of children's movie that has a meaningful, yet funny, storyline to it, and  "Finding Nemo" did exactly this to me. This movie, at points, had me laugh until I would cry, especially with the sassy remarks Dory would make, I absolutely love her! One of the quotes that I have memorized was, "Wow. I wish I could speak whale." You would, of course, have to had watched the movie in order to understand the humor behind the things Dory says! Along with the laughter, "Finding Nemo" also brought out the emotional side of me, especially when Nemo was placed into the Dentist aquarium without his dad. I am an extremely emotional person, so I remember I was around 13 years old when this movie first came out, (yes an emotional and dramatic teenage age), I would literally cling on to whoever's arm was next to me when this part came on! Way dramatic, I know, but no worries, I'm over doing that now at the age of 19!!

I'm sure you're wondering, "Why does she keep going on and on about Finding Nemo when the title to her blog consists of the Finding Dory trailer?" Well, I touched on the feelings I experienced from watching "Finding Nemo" because I have not gotten a chance to watch the new "Finding Dory" movie yet, which I am super bummed about! But, this trailer of "Finding Dory" sparked a lot of the same emotions that "Finding Nemo" had on me. This ad campaign was one that I found extremely successful because it completed the job of reaching audiences of all ages by pulling at the heartstrings, but this campaign also balanced this emotion with a great amount of humor. And I feel that balance is key when you are trying to grasp the viewer's attention and making them want to watch your new movie. I find this to be true because, yes, it is a sequel, which many people are already "iffy" about, so you have to have a set plan for effectively balancing the different emotions in a trailer to draw people in to talking about this new movie. 

As for the specifics of the trailer, I have attached a link for you so you can enjoy watching it! I will, now, give my personal opinion of the different aspects used in this trailer that I noticed. In the beginning of the trailer it starts out with introducing Dory by having her scream, "Hello", multiple times to catch a couple of the character's attention because she is not visible, only heard. And once the other characters hear her, the trailer fully starts. I thought this was an attention getter that can grasp anyone's attention because when people cannot see things and only hear things, they want to know what in the world is going on. The trailer then goes into the emotional appeal of the people by having them notice that Dory does not know who or where her family is, but right after this dramatic scene takes place, the sound of happy music plays and the funny remarks and actions begin by all of the different characters. Throughout the trailer I noticed there are parts where the music plays loud, but when the characters are speaking, the music softens so the audience understands what they are saying. There is also a scene in the trailer when an octopus or something is trying to capture Dory and her friends, which can be scary for children, but this part only lasts a brief second, which I find as a good thing because you do not want to scare your audience away. This pattern of emotional and funny scenes continue to replay through the trailer also, which is what you need in order to accomplish the audiences needs of wanting balance, as I mentioned earlier. 

Overall, the "Finding Dory" trailer was a huge success in my book and fully grasped my attention to make me want to partake in watching this movie! And I encourage everyone to check this trailer out and see what you think of it too :)