I read Tom's blog post about Ozzy Osbourne's endorsement of "i can't Believe it's not butter" butter substitute. Tom has a nice reference picture of Ozzy just in case anyone doesn't know who the so called, "prince of darkness" is. Tom talks about the rather strange paring of Ozzy with this rather harmless butter substitute. He notes that it would be more fitting if Ozzy were to endorse something tough, crude, or even related to music. In the blog, Tom provides a link to one of the rather funny commercials for the butter spread. Tom also provides a link for an article commenting on the many different commercials Ozzy did for the buttery product.
I really liked Tom's choice of celebrity endorsement. It was funny, and certainly surprising. However, I do not think Ozzy has any credibility when it comes to promoting this butter substitute. Besides his personal opinion, he has no real credentials that would make his participation in the commercials valid. Despite all that, I think the company did a good job in marketing their product by having such a random commercial that still captured the attention of their audience.
Below is a link to Tom's Blog.
Tom's Celebrity Endorsement
Monday, March 22, 2010
Post 3: Compare two online articles
My controversial topic is based on the current legal drinking age in the United States. While many people believe that the legal drinking age should be 18, currently only individuals 21 years of age or older are allowed to consume alcoholic beverages.
The first article I found in favor of lowering the legal drinking age argues that if, at 18 years of age, you are responsible enough to vote, serve on jury duty, and possibly be drafted, then they should also be able to drink. The article also argued that if the legal drinking age were lowered, colleges would be able to take a more proactive approach when monitoring students alcohol intake. Instead colleges just tell students to not drink, which is far less effective. The article's last arguement is that if individuals under the age of 21 are not legally allowed to drink but desire to do so, they will seek out places to drink where they will be unseen. Without any monitoring this can lead to alcohol related injuries or even death.
Lower the Legal Drinking Age
The second article I found, in favor of the current drinking age, argued that Lowering the drinking age increases both youth binge drinking and intoxication. The article compared both Europe and the United States, and noted that Europe had far greater cases of binge drinking among their teens. On a biological level, the article stated that, "New brain science shows that alcohol negatively impacts the maturing brain and learning. The American Medical Association states that brain growth doesn't end until around age 20." So, allowing individuals who are 18 years old to drink would damage their developing brains.
Keep Drinking age at 21
I think that the first article is more convincing because it was very straightforward in delivering its facts. It also remained relatively short, which helped to keep my interest. My opinion after reading these two articles has not changed, because the more convincing article of the two agreed with my initial opinion.
The first article I found in favor of lowering the legal drinking age argues that if, at 18 years of age, you are responsible enough to vote, serve on jury duty, and possibly be drafted, then they should also be able to drink. The article also argued that if the legal drinking age were lowered, colleges would be able to take a more proactive approach when monitoring students alcohol intake. Instead colleges just tell students to not drink, which is far less effective. The article's last arguement is that if individuals under the age of 21 are not legally allowed to drink but desire to do so, they will seek out places to drink where they will be unseen. Without any monitoring this can lead to alcohol related injuries or even death.
Lower the Legal Drinking Age
The second article I found, in favor of the current drinking age, argued that Lowering the drinking age increases both youth binge drinking and intoxication. The article compared both Europe and the United States, and noted that Europe had far greater cases of binge drinking among their teens. On a biological level, the article stated that, "New brain science shows that alcohol negatively impacts the maturing brain and learning. The American Medical Association states that brain growth doesn't end until around age 20." So, allowing individuals who are 18 years old to drink would damage their developing brains.
Keep Drinking age at 21
I think that the first article is more convincing because it was very straightforward in delivering its facts. It also remained relatively short, which helped to keep my interest. My opinion after reading these two articles has not changed, because the more convincing article of the two agreed with my initial opinion.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Demonstration Speech
My demonstration speech taught the class how to wax a snowboard. The fact that we all live here in wisconsin (at least for part of the year) I thought it would be a relevant topic for anyone who has, or was considering trying out a fun new winter sport. I wrote my speech well in advance, and made sure to have clearly organized steps. I did my best to relay as much information as I could in the time given, and I made sure my speech wouldn't be too confusing.
As far as the physical presentation went, I think that I need to improve the most in that area. I had no trouble being enthusiastic, considering that snowboarding is something I am very passionate about. However, I do think I need to work on slowing down my speech and speaking clearly. Because my presentation was something I was so familiar with, I had no problem making eye contact with the class. It was hard to judge my body language when reviewing my speech because I spent most of my time going through the motions on how to wax a board, however I did think that the motions were very useful in my demonstration.
My visual aids were the strongest aspect of my speech, because I had almost everything required to wax my board, including my snowboard which was a pain to bring to all of my classes. I thought I used my visual aids well and clearly showed the class how to wax a snowboard.
I liked my topic choice because it was something very familiar to me. It was a fun and easy topic to demonstrate to the class. I don't think I would add any other content to my speech if I could improve just one aspect, I most likely would choose to speak slowly and clearly so that the class could better understand me. Below is a link to my demonstration speech.
my demonstration speech
As far as the physical presentation went, I think that I need to improve the most in that area. I had no trouble being enthusiastic, considering that snowboarding is something I am very passionate about. However, I do think I need to work on slowing down my speech and speaking clearly. Because my presentation was something I was so familiar with, I had no problem making eye contact with the class. It was hard to judge my body language when reviewing my speech because I spent most of my time going through the motions on how to wax a board, however I did think that the motions were very useful in my demonstration.
My visual aids were the strongest aspect of my speech, because I had almost everything required to wax my board, including my snowboard which was a pain to bring to all of my classes. I thought I used my visual aids well and clearly showed the class how to wax a snowboard.
I liked my topic choice because it was something very familiar to me. It was a fun and easy topic to demonstrate to the class. I don't think I would add any other content to my speech if I could improve just one aspect, I most likely would choose to speak slowly and clearly so that the class could better understand me. Below is a link to my demonstration speech.
my demonstration speech
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Blog Peer Response 1
I chose Austin Spohn's blog about preparing a meal to write my first blog peer response on. The meal he chose to make was a simple pasta marinara with chicken and steamed green beans. He started with gathering the ingredients, and I like how he made references to specific types of pasta and even exact measurements. The specificity of it made it seem like a real recipe. He gave useful suggestions on how to marinate meat, and even his favorite type of marinade. Austin is sure to be specific with the timing in his recipe so that anyone could follow along at home. He continues to give step by step instructions on how to properly cook the pasta and steam the veggies. He even gives a description of what cooke chicken should look like for the many cooking rookies out there. I think austin did a great job of retelling his meal preparation. He included step-by-step instructions on how to cook his dish and even included a section about clean up at the end. Austin chose a very well rounded meal and connected what he made to Pollan's book nicely. Too bad I was hungry when i read this one..
Austin Spohn's Blog
Austin Spohn's Blog
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Post 2: Analysis of a Celebrity Endorsement
The celebrity endorsement I chose is a diet product called Quick Trim. It is endorsed by Kim and Khloe Kardashian and is all over the media. I have seen large ads for the product at the mall, with a giant picture of Kim Kardashian promoting the product. Quick Trim is a dieting plan that offers 48 hour super diets, 14 day diets, and even an 8 hour weight loss pill.
Here you can see Kim Kardashian promoting the diet plan, and a quote about how it worked for her.
On their website, Quick trim has a video of the Kardashian sisters (bathing suit clad) talking about how sexy and skinny they feel because of the Quick Trim diet. You can also see about ten pictures of the Kardashian sisters as well as order the product at the bottom of the page. As if their endorsement wasn't clear enough, the actual product has Kim Kardashian's face on it.
Quick Trim Website
In my opinion, the Kardashian sisters have no real reason to be endorsing this product. Neither sister is a nutritionist or dietician, and they have no medical license that would give them any credibility. However, I do think the endorsement will be successful. The growing popularity of the Kardashian sisters will give the diet product the right amount of publicity it needs to sell.
A diet and fitness website agrees with my skeptical views of whether or not the diet actually works. They argue that the weight lost through the diet will be regained after you stop taking the diet pills. you can find a link to that website below.
QuickTrim skeptics
Here you can see Kim Kardashian promoting the diet plan, and a quote about how it worked for her.
On their website, Quick trim has a video of the Kardashian sisters (bathing suit clad) talking about how sexy and skinny they feel because of the Quick Trim diet. You can also see about ten pictures of the Kardashian sisters as well as order the product at the bottom of the page. As if their endorsement wasn't clear enough, the actual product has Kim Kardashian's face on it.
Quick Trim Website
In my opinion, the Kardashian sisters have no real reason to be endorsing this product. Neither sister is a nutritionist or dietician, and they have no medical license that would give them any credibility. However, I do think the endorsement will be successful. The growing popularity of the Kardashian sisters will give the diet product the right amount of publicity it needs to sell.
A diet and fitness website agrees with my skeptical views of whether or not the diet actually works. They argue that the weight lost through the diet will be regained after you stop taking the diet pills. you can find a link to that website below.
QuickTrim skeptics
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