"Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginning's End"


Well today's reaches the last day of the Fall '06 semester, the end of MCOMM 72 and the end to this blog. ( *gasps* I'm still debating whether I should keep this or not) This class was interesting to say the least and of course useful. I did not know what to except at first and assumed it'll be the same old typical class filled with the never ending power point lectures. I was wrong. Sure, we had power point lectures, but at least it was engaging enough to create intellectual discussions instead of students talking notes like a mad man. What about these nifty blogs. I won't lie, at first the idea of the blog was not my cup at tea and at times during the semester I would question the point of it, but that has all changed. Now, I know more than a thing or two about HTML, shared my opinions to the whole wide web, threaten with a lawsuit case, and most importantly I am more aware of the media. Take for example my December 6 post about Bank of America. Before taking this class, I probably would have brushed it off this news and wouldn't care for it. Now, I find myself questioning like is it right for people to post videos on YouTube without their consent? Perhaps it might ruin bank's reputation. Should YouTube be charged with libel or should the person who posted the video of Bank of America should?

I am a Political Science major with a minor in Public Relations still deciding what I really want to do with it, but that's another story. Anyways, so before talking this class I wasn't really was interested or concerned about media. That's all changed after this course. Now, I find it important and perhaps even vital that people should know what's going out there not because to be aware, but to further educate yourself by researching and analyzing. Hey, isn't this what college is all? Educating yourself and voicing your opinions out. That's what I took out of this class, finding my voice and being able to share it not only the to professor, class, but the world itself.

Well, enough of that, so what kind of media consumer did I turn out to be at the end of all this. Well a more concern consumer. I actually really care about what's going on in the world, and I guess it makes me feel a little bit more intellectual I suppose. Furthermore, I am definitely more of a media consumer than the beginning of this semester.

Anyways, reading other student's blog in this class, many are doing their "Thank yous." Instead of doing my Thank yous to certain people, I would like to thank the following television show, blog, website, music and movie. Thanks for making me a media whore this semester.

Nip/Tuck


Thanks for the great season! I really enjoyed all episodes filled with violence, sex, drugs and drama!

PerezHilton.com


Thank you for keeping me updated with celebrities and their crazy lives. I really needed to know that Britney Spears was not wearing underwear when she got out of her car.

Damien Marley


Your music is an inspiration. Thank you for being so talented and lyrically gifted. Your songs got be through this crazy semester.

Facebook
Thank you for being the new MySpace. Special thanks for making me currently addicted to your web site.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan


Thanks for the laughs, I never knew a reporter from Kazakhstan could be so damn entertaining.

Bank of America = U2 "One?"

According to the New York Times, the two companies that recently merged together (MBNA & Bank of America) decided to celebrate their new deal with a song. Ethan Chandler, a regular Joe who works for banking center manager sang a song about Bank of America which found to be lyrically similar to U2's song "One." The video of this performance was soon later posted online. Many in the online world started to see the so called distinct similarities between the two songs. Thus far, Universal Music Publishing and along with lawyers are pressing charges for the B of A song's breaking allegedly breaking copyright laws. Although some say the video was a marketing ploy, but Ms. Weinberger denies the allegations and said it was "absolutely not" a marketing strategy.

I decided to take a look at the lyrics of B of A and U2's One and found one verse similar

B of A
It is even better
Now that we’re the same
Two great companies come together
Now, MBNA is B of A

U2's One
Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you now?
You got someone to blame

Well oh well, it does seem pretty damn close.

Ethan Chandler should have given U2 some credit and said I'm doing my own version of the U2 One song. At least it wouldn't look like he was "stealing" it. I really don't think Ethan Chandler did anything wrong nor do I think it was a Bank of America publicity stunt. You see so many videos posted up online especially on YouTube of people doing their own version of song or changing up some artist's song , yet they don't seem to get slam with violations of copy right laws. Probably because these big companies and lawyers don't want to waste their time and energy and won't get any profit in doing so!

Now looking at this situation through the eyes of the music companies and artisits, I can see why they are angry 1) Someone's artisitic work is being stolen and used without permission2) Bank of America could pontential gain some publicity or revenue for the song/video

Bank of America is huge corporation and to me, the only reason they're even being filed with copyright lawsuit is because they have money and Universal Music Publicity is simply looking for them to cough up some extra "cash money."

Cough Medicine, the new drug?

Yesterday, I went to Target to purchase a bottle of Robitussin. To my surprise, I was asked by the cashier for my year of birth and identification before purchasing. I gladly gave the cashier my id, but was utterly confused. Why would I need to carded to purchase a bottle of cough medicine? I decided to ask the cashier and was informed that minors are not allowed to purchase cough medicine containing Dextromethorphan because many underage people are abusing it to get "high."

This issue has been around for some quite time dating back all the way to the 1950s. So why is it such a big deal now? Well its a huge concern due to that fact that its being used more and more especially young teens in middle school. According to the U.S. poison control centers, it logged nearly 4,000 calls related to abuse of cough medicine a year. Here's an example of one of the 4,000 who decided to take the chance of abusing it and of course posting it on YouTube. He's definitely hardcore especially because he's talking shots of Robitussin



Minors can't purchase cough medicine? Yes that's right. Currently, certain stores such as Walmart and Target have outlawed selling cough medicine to minors. Such states include, Georgia, New York, and Ohio.

I think this is an important issue and I definitely support stores such as Target and Walmart to prohibit the selling to minors. California has already outlawed selling spray paint, etching fluid, glue and dietary supplements containing ephedrine to minors and is cough medicine next? Maybe. If it is, will it really end the drug problem? Nope, because any person can open their parent's medicine cabinet and find some cough medicine. Hey, at least by banning it, we can help the situation.

Asian America Unabridged

What is Asian American? According to Wikipedia it is people from East Asia, Southeast Asia an South Asia countries.

Being Asian American, (Filipino Descedent) it is rare to see many of us in the media spotlight. When I was younger, I found it difficult to be able to relate to any movie stars or models in adveristments, simply because, speaking in a culturally sense, they were not like me. Although there have been great improvements, still in my opinion there are a lack of Asians in the industry. But why? Is America not ready to see an Asian American mainstream television show? Yes, there may be not as much Asians in our country, lets say for example compared to Whites or Hispanics, but isn't the media suppose to reach out to everyone? Shouldn't viewers be able to see another side of Asians besides playing the typical roles such as ninjas or a taxi drivers? For those who feel left out, I might have the answer for you, let me introduce you to Hyphen.



This magazine is a local nonprofit magazine in San Francisco. According to Hypen, it is "a magazine about Asian America for the culturally and politically savvy." It touches various topics such as politics, art, health, and music. Unlike mainstream magazine publications, not only does it recognize mainstream Asians, but also the "underground" side of Asian Americans. The target audience is definitely Asian Americans ages 18-30, but in my opinion the magazine is so versatile that anyone can read and enjoy it. If not, at least it'll give you some insight into Asian Americans.

In that note, I'll end this post with a quote from the Hyphen website, which I feel when I was first introduced to this magazine.

"Because when we scanned the newsstand, we couldn't find ourselves. Now we can."

Nobody's Perfect

Society is all about appearance. We are constantly judged based on how we present ourselves to others, - our looks, clothes, hair, etc. This is predominately evident especially in the media. If y0u flip through fashion magazines, watch television shows, or movies the celebrities or models in it have the so called "it" factor. This "it" fact usually consists of his/her beauty and most importantly their physique. What message are we really sending out? To be beautiful, you must be a size 0 or have the perfect face, nose, or breasts? How far would you go to achieve this? According to Plastic Surgery.net more than 10.2 million people in the United States had cosmetic plastic surgery in 2005. This was an 11% increase from 2004. The media, especially television are one of the factors for the high rate.

Does anyone remember the Fox show, The Swan? That show offered so called "ugly ducklings" a chance to fulfill their dream - to become beautiful. Each girl went undergone plastic surgery. Each girl experienced physically and mental transformation over a three month period. Lastly, a beauty contest was held for all the contestants where one was ultimately crown "The Ultimate Swan." Wow, how sick. Oh yeah what about MTV's short lived show, I Want A Famous Face where young people went through various makeovers and achieved their goals of looking like their favorite celebrity. Geez, whatever happen to individuality?

Let's take a look at the two twins on the show who received plastic surgery to look more like Brad Pitt I Want A Famous Face. Did anyone see that episode? I liked how everyone hated the twins new look! Haha!


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I'm definitely not saying plastic surgery is wrong. If it makes you happy do whatever you want. My only concern is the media presenting shows such as The Swan and I Want A Famous Face sending out a message to viewers that plastic surgery is the answer to your all problems and that it'll give total satisfaction with your appearance. This can influence many people especially viewers with low self esteem. These shows are depicting plastic surgery as the easy way out to be good looking or beautiful. The message being sent out is by physically changing yourself, it will give you a chance to gain acceptance, fame, happiness, but in reality, it won't. So please FOX do me a favor and not create a The Swan 3.

Attention: Non Blogger Betas

For anyone who had regular Blogger you can now finally switch over to Blogger Beta! Finally, it was only a matter of time. I must say, it would helped out a great deal if it was available in the beginning of the semester. Oh well, at least some Html. All you Non Blogger Betas make the switch! You won't regret it

(Product) Red



The Gaps's Public Relation employee paid a visit at SJSU during my PR 99 class today. Her presentation consisted of one thing, which was to promote and educate students Gap's Product Red. Product Red was founded by U2's lead singer, Bono. According to the guest speaker, Bono approach Gap at their headquarters in San Francisco during U2's stay in the Bay Area last year. Bono's objective was to simply team up with a clothing company (Gap) have the actual clothes made in Africa and sell it, gain profit for South Africa citizens to help the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Gap is not the only company participating. American Express, Apple, Converse, Motorola, as well as Georgio Armani are helping out with the cause. Out of the 6 companies contributing, Gap is providing the most by giving 50% of their net profit.

Product Red has been a huge success as far as advertising. When the red line come out this October, the Gap bought one full page in the New York Times with a Red advertisement. There were also various pieces that discussed the red line in magazines, newspapers and television news. Bono promoted Product Red to various media, but the most memorable was his visit on the Oprah show. Now, we all know Oprah has lots of power, which is to me is really scary, but thats a whole different topic. Back to Bono on the Oprah show, Oprah and him went to an actual Gap store in Los Angeles, where Bono spent informing and promoting the red cause. The aftermath of the show was amazing. Many people bought the product, thus causing Gap shows to sell out many of their items. No worries though, Product Red is a 5 year project, so Gap will definitely release more products in the years to come.

As far as a marketing point of view IF I was a marketing consultant for Gap, I think the campaign is great because 1) We are helping those in a need 2) Gap is making a great reputation therefore increasing their sells. (Hey I should know, I bought one of the shirts)

I truly believe Product Red will change promotion strategies for the face of marketing and advertising simply because they are gaining a name, profit, while helping the less fortunate.