Geico has many well known ad campaigns and it all started from the eye catching green gecko. Personally I never knew what they gecko was trying to advertise in his commercials but all I knew it was a funny little green gecko with a British accent and it caught my attention. When it comes to advertising, one campaign can't last forever so new ideas and icons need to be exposed. GEICO is a prime example of different types of campaigns and expanding beyond old boundaries.

Its hard to not know who the famous bright GEICO Gecko is. He works for one of the largest private passanger auto insurer in the USA. He plays with beautiful women, gets rides on bikes, in cars, even in his own van. He is a nation icon and seen all over GEICO advertisement's, but isn't it getting old? GEICO has made other ad campaigns such as the caveman, the stack of money and the pothole.

The caveman campaign to me is the best out of them all. It is funny and relates to modern days. The premise of the commercial in that GEICO advertises that using their website is so easy that a caveman can do it. It is a slogan that offends several caveman, who not only still exist in modern society but live as urban bachelors. If you think about it, making an interesting auto insurance advertisement is most definitely challenging but the caveman has been successful. The commercial is brought up when I'm hanging out with my friends because of how funny it is. Not that I have to worry about auto insurance yet but when it comes time I will think of the funny caveman and I will look into GEICO. Im sure that I'm not the only one that feels like this about these commercials.

The most recent GIECO commercial is the the talking pothole. I actually think its pretty funny, and gets the point across about the benefits of having GIECO emergency road service. And the southern voice, perfect. I give props to GEICO for coming out with a campaign I might actually enjoy watching.

This one we all remember. The stack of money with googly eyes, and that song. Still being used, but not the newest campaign. I have to admit, this stack of money did not raise my interest one bit when they first started airing this campaign. But after about 2-3 commercials I liked it. And the song is stuck in my head.

Collegiate Athlete's on Facebook

"You never know who may be looking!". These were the blustering words that came out of our coach's mouth. I have never in my life have seen our head BC men's soccer coach, Ed Kelly, so serious before he gave us a reinforcing lecture about Facebook. During pre-season, our soccer team had a mandatory meeting with the head Athletic Director at Boston College about the dangers of Facebook.

Facebook users create a profile page that shows their friends and networks information about themselves. The choice to include a network means that everyone within that network can view your profile. The profile typically includes information about themselves, status, friends, photos, notes, groups and wall posts.

Most college athletes don't understand that they are in the public eye more than an average student and what they post on their Facebook's could come back to hurt them. Our athletic director basically preached to us at the meeting that anything that can be written or visually understood could be taken the wrong way and be shown in a negative light. He told us that albums posted that display our pictures at last weekend's party or a message that discriminates against other people or even personal moods such as status's could be a fatal blow to our careers. He also said that we have to be cautious not only for our own appearance and for the reputation of our school, but we have to be aware of the repercussions of having fans and what they may do as a result of athletes having a Facebook page. At the meeting, He brought up the incident that happened at USC and wanted us to learn from there mistake so that it would never happen to us.

It all began with a team nickname in a racially diverse USC football team. One of the black coaches dubbed the team's white players "White Nation". Clay Matthews, one of the white players, then took this nickname to Facebook and created a new group. Matthew's group was intended for his fellow white football players as an inside joke, however he posted a picture of a black baby in handcuffs and a reference to its potential crime. The group description also joked about the Aryan Brotherhood. Another USC student came across the group and was bothered by the racist overtones of the group so she created a group called "Clay Matthews Expresses Anti-Black Sentiment". As more poeple learned of the group, it became a public relations nightmare. One potential student mentioned in the student newspaper that he has doubts about attending USC after hearing about the controversy. Matthew's in the end apologized explaining it was an innocent joke about the football team.

Although it was in innocent joke on Facebook for the football players it got out and was a huge controversy. That is why our athletic director was so sincere in the meeting and told us to to be very careful of what we are posting on our Facebook's. From that day on I think twice before I post something on my profile.

For more on the USC controversy click here.

Funny Obama

Following up on my last post, I found this funny video of Barack Obama brushing his shoulders off to Jay-Z's song "Dirt Off Your Shoulders". At a campaign appearance he was acknowledging that he's taken some hits from his opponent and some mighty hits so he brushes the metaphorical dirt off his shoulders in the form of Sen. Hillary Clinton's many charges against him.

If nothing else, it shows that Obama has his antenna up, that he's attuned to the culture around him, especially the youth culture. He's in touch. That counts for a lot for his appeal and it counts a lot for his followers.

History

As the role of the media has increased greatly over the last century, so has the importance of Presidential media strategies. Like we saw in the Kennedy and Nixon battle for presidency. It was said that during the presidential debate Nixon was nursing an injured leg and looked tense and uncomfortable while Kennedy looked eased and relaxed. Nixon also was not wearing make-up unlike Kennedy and in the end Kennedy was victorious. From then on to modern days the appearance on television began to play a dominant role in national politics.

In the last election Obama was superior in the appearance department compared to McCain. But not only did Obama look sharp on television, he also had influential artists making hit songs supporting him. Having arguable the best rapper in the world write a hit single promoting his campaign was tremendous in gaining voters. It seems like now whoever wins the media whether it the appearance on television, political television stations and in the music industry, wins the election.

This is a video called "History" by Jay-Z

In this video, Jay-Z obviously endorses Barack Obama. Jay-Z has said that this song was made solely for Obama and its clear that he is promoting a message. In the song he preaches that Obama has made history since he is the first black president that ran and won a presidential election. He promotes this message that you can look into a child's eyes and tell him that they could be president one day. Its not an easy thing but it can happen and Obama is clear cut evidence. The song also shows the progression we have made throughout history. At one point a black person couldn't drink from the same water fountain that a white person would drink from and now we have a black president running the country.

Now if you think about it and ask yourself how many people admire and look up to Jay-Z, the answer is most of the country and some internationally. This song is basically an advertisement for Obama and his campaign. Many people are going to listen to his song and feel more comfortable supporting Obama since arguable the best rapper is preaching good things of him. Blacks in America can relate to Obama and the fact that Jay-Z has such strong feelings for him motivates blacks to register and vote for Obama. So basically Jay-Z has influenced American black communities to be ambitious, to support the Barack Obama's campaign and vote for him. Not only does Jay-Z influence the black community but also the young adults whether there black or white. Croteau & Hoyens believe that "forms of music attract and audience precisely because they promote politically charged, controversial or alternative views. Such music is especially significant because it tends to be much more meaningful to people who listen to it. (Croteau & Hoyens p.256)

Barack Obama's appearance in the media was phenomenal. His face on shirts with progress written on them were worn by everyone from rock stars to adults to young teenagers. The media played a huge role in his campaign and the results show for it.

pseudo-events "Real Madrid"

The day Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid is equivalent to a new president's inauguration in the soccer world. This past summer the worlds best soccer player completed a world record transfer from Manchester United to spanish giants Real Madrid. He will be making 180,000 euros a week. Imagine that! It was a day to remember in Spain. Girls love him for his looks and guys want to be in his boots. Anyway Cristiano Ronaldo was greeted in the Bernabeu in front of a 80,000 die hard fans. No other soccer player has brought in that many people into one stadium to see the unveiling of a new Real Madrid player. I could call this a pseudo event for the fact that it was a planned event to unveil Cristiano in his new jersey and to address his new fans. Ronaldo was presented with a roaring crowd snapping photos like the kickoff on Superbowl. He walked out of the famous tunnel and made his way around the stadium so that everyone in the stadium got a good look of him. After soaking in the crowds admiration he spoke about the upcoming season. How he is mentally focused and physically prepared. Following the speech, they gave him a soccer ball to play around with. This was nothing but an opportunity to take pictures of the best player in the world wearing a Real Madrid jersey playing with a soccer ball. The club set up this event so that people all over the world can see what kind of club Real Madrid is and the players they have. It was shown all over the world in every country. It was an event that people did not want to miss. Once is a life time thing. It was the hotspot for journalists and news reporters. It made the front page of most papers in Europe. I feel that was one of the main purposes of the event. It was for the sole purpose of media publicity. The best player in the world being unveiled.

So on my way down to North Carolina this weekend I was listening to my Itunes on the plane and in the back of my mind I was thinking what I would write in my blog for this week. I had writers block, had no idea what to write about. However I was listening to some Eminem music and I was paying close attention to his lyrics in the song "Sing for the Moment". I've always known that he constantly was in some kind of controversy with his music. So at one part of the song he says "It's all political, if my music is literal and I'm a criminal, How the f*** can i raise a little girl?" Thats when a light bulb popped in my head. I thought about what he says in this line and how it reenforces what the video we watched had to say about the music business. Ever since Eminem has been in the music business he has sold millions of records rapping about real life situations that catch society's ear. Eminem's music videos and lyrics may seem insulting or shocking but that is how he has sold so many records. Now in the quote he states how the music business is all political. It shows how as long as he is selling records and making money for the company he is doing his job. Just like in the video we watched, they tried to make a point that it comes down to how many records you sell, no matter how you do it!! In Eminem's case he sells records by controversial topics and hatred. Now the second part of the line is "if my music is literal and I'm a criminal, How the f*** can I raise a little girl". Here he basically saying that he is not what his lyrics come out to be. He is trying to say that in real life he is not a criminal and not what these critics have been making him out as this crazy in the head person. He is actually a loving father that can take care of his daughter. However this is the way Eminem has sold records!! So what I've learned about the video we watched this past week, was that these huge business companies that own these artist just care about how many records are being sold instead of the quality and talent these artist do have. Just sell singles, no matter how you do it. It seems like a cut throat business instead of something to enjoy.

Heigl and husband adopt baby girl

Since last week we have been discussing in class about daily heros and how we as a society follow up on the news, I found this one article that fits our topic. I was checking the yahoo news as I do everyday and I came about this article in headline news. Heigl and husband adopt a Korean baby girl. Heigl is currently on one of the most watched TV shows, Greys Anatomy and her husband is a singer. They are thrilled to have adapted a child since they have been planning on doing it sooner or later. This is a clear example how the rich and famous are portrayed in the USA. The media covers basically every single minute of there lives. It seems like they have no privacy in their lives. Its not like she has done a bad thing by adopting a Korean girl but I'm sure they would have liked not the whole world knowing about it. However if they didnt want it private, the media would have made a story out of it anyway. We can also take another perspective on this topic. This could be an aspiration for more people to adopt other children that need loving parents in there life. They have opened doors for other newly married couples to adopt children in need. I find it interesting that the media have followed up on the adoption and sprayed it to society so that it would ring a bell in some people. On the contrary it also could be a bad thing by taking a kid out of there country and erasing there heritage. Being adopted at a young age could deny them there roots and culture. Taking kids from there country and converting them into living this American Dream is very controversial. Kids should be educated in the culture department and know where and what they are made of. Heigl is only trying to do the best for this girl and her intentions are nothing but positive. Anyway it shows how the media can create a picture about stars and we as a society look up to these pictures and admire or hate them. Imagine she did something bad. The media would jump straight on it and her image would be ruined. So the media can control images for these heros that we look up to in this country.

To follow up on the adoption click here.