"Plain will never be the same."

Over the past few months, I've been testing the waters with Greek Yogurt. My older sister, who recently realized she can not tolerate artificial sweeteners, and had to trade in her standard yogurts for something more natural, turned me on to the idea. Plus, since I am usually out and about for hours at a time, the idea of having a protein loaded option was appealing. While the health benefits were obviously appealing, I was still hesitant about the taste. Especially the plain variety that she was pushing. What a huge switch from my regular selection of flavored dairy treats that I was used to. She encouraged me to try it, and dress it up with fruit, honey, nuts and make it my own. And to be honest it was truly "Plain Extraordinary" as the advertisement boasts. It really is amazing that something without "flavor" can be so flavorful. It's almost like the little black dress of foods. It's perfect, timeless and makes you feel good--and when the occasion calls for it you can dress it up or dress it down with any of your favorite accessories.

In my opinion, Fage hits this yogurt spot on! It is far from plain but truly extraordinary!

The Value of School Pride

Sometimes I cannot help wonder what the real motivation or incentives are behind increasing Marquette's tuition every year. This blog does not have anything to do with an advertisement per say, however, how many of us...myself included receive email after email encouraging us to "come to the basketball post season bbq and WIN A FREE IPad!" or "participate in the contest to name the new Johnston Hall student lounge and WIN A FREE IPad, if your suggestion is chosen!" Take this email that I received just 10 minutes ago...

From Intercollegiate Athletics:
Free Pizza, IPad Giveaway at Tennis this Weekend....

Where is all this money for IPad's coming from?? and more specifically, why does Marquette feel as though they have to bribe us with material possessions and food to show our school pride. WE ARE MARQUETTE, should mean that none of that is required. Right? Personally, as a soon to be graduate, I believe that I would show more school pride for my school if I got a great education, not because I won a free IPad. Doing so, would include being able to afford tuition, which I am lucky to have gotten without helps from the government. But not all kids are as fortunate as I have been. What message is Marquette sending out there?

Also, why can't they give out free tuition as easy as they do IPads? Students need to make a half court shot (something professional athletes can't even make) to win free tuition at Basketball games, but I could go watch a tennis match this weekend and possibly get an IPad for free. I mean when you add them all up (all the free IPads), that the sum is probably a pretty good chunk of a semesters worth of tuition. Is it really worth it

I dont know...
It is just something that really gets me mad sometimes....I mean I doubt someone is donating all of this money just for free giveaways. What about scholarships? Books? and again keeping tuition down.

It really gets one thinking...

New Reebok EasyTone "Shake It" Ad - Available at Lifestyle Sports

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXxZhhRq470

Sorry....I got distracted....what is this commercial about again??

Oh yeah...the latest athletic shoe 'innovation' to hit the mainstream market and media: Reebok's EasyTone shoe. The edgy commercial promises 'a better butt' as well as more toned calves and thighs. At around $100 a pair, you have to ask yourself: will these shoes buy me a better butt? Or is it just a whole lotta hype?

I vote a whole lotta hype. Every shoe company is coming out with these "toning shoes." But like all new technology, it wont be long before something better comes along and these shoes are soon out of style, or a waste of money. Just a matter of time before they leave you saying "I wish I hadn't acted so quickly and instead waited for the absolute best." The same can be said for cell phone owners who, for example, bought the IPhone 3 and before you know it...three months later...the IPhone 4 comes out, and with even more outstanding features.

All in all....this commercial leaves men speechless and women jealous. It's that simple.

We Are Marquette? or We Are White?

In this post, I would like to address and interesting discussion that we had in my sociology class the other day:

As a senior here at Marquette, I am required to take a senior capstone class. Being a sociology major, this capstone class involved doing a qualitative research study and writing a thesis paper on the topic of our choice. We have been working on them all semester and are currently in the process of presenting our information, findings, etc. One particular student in my class, who is African American, is studying diversity at Marquette...her interviews are mainly with minority students, rather than white. More specifically, she is asking what the phrase "we are Marquette," means to these students.

I thought it was very interesting that almost all of her students mentioned how they came to Marquette thinking that it was a rather diverse campus, but were shocked when they got here and realized it was predominately white. Particularly, the students she interviewed were members of the EOP Program and did summer school, with only other minorities. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into because all of the white students didn't "descend" until the beginning of the regular school year.

The reason why I think this is an important topic, worthy of a blog, is because each of the students were mislead by Marquette's advertising, specifically the pamphlets and website photos that they received. All featured students from a variety of cultures. For example, if you look at the current Marquette homepage image, or any for that matter, it always features at least one black student, or sometimes one white, one black, and one of another race (perhaps Indian), all smiling and co-existing without any discrimination. However, as we know, this is not always the case on campus

overall, the theme of this blog post is false advertisement on behalf of Marquette, in order to get more diverse students. I mean it's great that we have many diverse cultures BUT they are still outnumbered, and on the inside...looking out.

Something to think about...

Fantasy? or Reality? Part 2

The advertisement on the right, promoting Skyy brand vodka, is another ad that I found to perpetuate negative stereotypes of women as well as male dominance over the submissive woman. One will note that there are two main characters, a man and a woman. The woman is lying on her back while her male counterpart is standing, his legs on the ground and above the woman’s waistline. The man is in his full suit, formally dressed while the female on the ground woman half naked. On initial review, it appears that the man is in full confidence with all the freedom at his disposal whereas the woman is breathing at the man’s mercy. There seems to be no human interference that could prevent the man from hurting the woman. The upright and attentive position the man stands at indicates that he may have not consumed alcohol but could have perhaps forced it down the woman’s throat. From this angle the advertisement portrays women as sex objects easily moved people who do not stand by their principles. It is my belief that this image also makes women appear as persons who easily get carried away by simple things such as alcohol. This notion of drunken females being “easy” is common among college males and most likely one of the leading reasons why rapes and sexual assaults on college campuses increase with each year.
In contrast to the two advertisements I've written about in this two part post, I found it interesting to learn that Dolce and Gabbana were criticized for printing the following image, an image that from first glance seems to empower women:



Within the media, women and their circumstances have rarely been portrayed at an equal proportion as their male counterparts. In fact, print, video and electronic advertisements have at several occasions brought to the public a notion that women are a weaker sex. Therefore, I found it rather interesting that the same company, who once displayed such a graphic image of female weakness (such as the one above) could at the same time display an image of female empowerment. In other words, display an image where men are put in a submissive position rather than women. However, this ad was too good to be true.

According to Stefano Gabbana, “Since these images have offended someone, we want to stress that we wanted to represent a strong and dominatrix woman, as is today’s woman. It’s the vision of a dream more than reality, where the whip symbolizes women’s power and where the naked models refer to a classic beauty inspired by Michelangelo.” He continues by saying, “We wanted to place this artistic reference above everyday reality, but there was no intent to be vulgar or offend anyone’s human dignity” (Codi Carsten Blog Post). I think it is important to point out that within these two quotes Stefano Gabbana refers to the image as “a vision of a dream more than reality.” In other words, he acknowledges that strong and independent women are rarely seen within today’s media, but wanted to make his company seem as though they support such an image, when in reality they don’t. Objectifying men is “above everyday reality,” but objectifying women is no big deal