Easily Distracted

I always manage to find a way to procrastinate. Right now for example, I am supposed to be working on projects to submit for Miami Ad School to apply for schooling there. Instead, I'm facebooking, writing in a blog that I haven't touched in I don't know how long and chatting on Gmail's IM with Courtney.

I'm not going to say I have ADD, but I find some sort of joy in starting something, leaving it for a half hour, coming back to do a little more work, then gone again for another half hour. Essh... I need to learn to focus a little more. Have I always been this scatter-brained? I want to say no, but I think it might be true.

I admire those kids in school who pick up the text book and read all of the assigned pages in one sitting. I can't sit still long enough or stay awake long enough for that. I guess it's just the way I was designed. Oh well, rant ending... I don't know what to say or why I even wrote this. I guess to get back on the blogging horse. Alright, I'm off. Later.

Quote of the Day

"Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling that it brings."

- It's so true. And it works wonders if you've been stung by a jellyfish too

The Porker Influenza

So I don't know if anyone else feels the same as me, but it seems like it has only been a week since I first heard about this "swine" flu that is plaguing our world and I can't stand how stupid people are being about it. It's just a flu with another name... what the hell is wrong with you people!! That's right, I called you "you people!" I oughta punch you in the mouth and force you to each some bacon!!!

The media is constantly shoving some BS down our throats about "SARS" this and "Bird flu" that. What happened to those? I never once met anyone that has had either disease or even knows someone that has had them. But all of the sudden they're here and the next minute they're gone. That's exactly what this "swine" flu crap is... just another scare to most likely cover up something bigger. Something that could change the world FOREVER!!!!

....I'm talking of course about the release of the new Muppet Film

"The Miss Piggy Flu --
Don't Mess With The Pig!"

I know you are all stunned by the revealing of this treacherous truth, but that is exactly what it is... THE TRUTH! When will America learn, no one likes Miss Piggy. We want the "Kermit Flu" or the "Animal Flu"... not some fat, bitchy, pink tramp complaining all of the time!

Open your eyes America, say no to the PIG FLU!!!! and yes to the FROG or RANDOM CHARACTER OTHER THAN MISS PIGGY FLU!!!!!

AAF NSAC Competition - What a load of poo!

So as most of you in the JMC department know, my amazing team and I competed in the big advertising competition last Friday. You might also know that it sucked ass! We placed 4th, which isn't exactly something you run home to show mom but you know what... I made closer friends because of it all and am damn proud of all the hard work we put into it. SO GOOD JOB TEAM!!!

As for Chico and Berkley beating us... Psshh... whatever. Good luck in Nationals hahahahahaha!! Boom!

Individual Blog #5

Recession Affecting Online Social Networking

I would not have guessed that the recently downed market would have such a major impact on online social networks like MySpace and Facebook. I know that these websites make their money off of the advertisements that are run on these sites, but I guess that is the trend for just about any industry. Businesses are advertising less to conserve money, which I have to say is not a smart move. You have to spend money to make money.

If a potential consumer doesn't know that your product or service exists how the hell are they going to know to buy what you have? Online advertising especially is valuable. The younger generation feeds off of the Internet and social networking sites. And typically, the cost to run ads online is significantly less than any other medium so only a few people clicking through to your site and buying your product will have a quick return on investment. Not only is it quick to turn your spent money into a profit it is also highly targeted so that you get your message to a very precise audience with less chance of reaching too broad of an audience.

This is exactly why I am so surprised to see that MySpace's advertising income has dropped 22.5% in 2008 and Facebook's 20.8%. These companies are expecting an increase in 2009, but I personally think that the companies that were not running ads should have focused more on creating effective ads not running fewer ads. Just my thoughts.

Individual Blog #4

Heartless Humor from Pepsi

I know that the younger generation isn't the easiest to reach these days. Sometimes you have to shock their imagination into paying attention. But Pepsi may have gone too far with their new Pepsi Max campaign. The big idea was to make the fact that Pepsi Max has only one calorie blatantly obvious to viewers of the ad, but to show a cartoon calorie committing acts of suicide, come on, that's just in bad taste. It isn't hard to understand that "one is the loneliest number" but during the midst of another depression with the market down as it is and being the holiday season, the suicide rates increase in America. Did they forget about doing their homework on these things? I seriously doubt it.

Bad publicity is still publicity, but I don't think Pepsi is in need of its name being heard. The artwork is well done and arresting, but there are better ways of depicting a low calorie soda. Take a look at their ad below, because I guarantee you won't be seeing it in any publications for much longer.

Individual Blog #3

After perusing through AdAge.com, I came across an article about At&t's new strategy for reaching the younger generation online. Their basic premise for this is to create YouTube videos that they are hoping will skyrocket into success as a viral video. To accomplish that feat they have hired two of the top women bloggers of the Internet, Justine Ezarik and Karen Nguyen, to showcase their newest and latest phones. Needless to say I must not be their target audience because I have no clue who these women are.

The videos place these women into a random area in the U.S. where the two have to rely on the At&t phones that they are given to get them through assigned tasks. I personally think these videos are a lame attempt at keeping the attention of young viewers with a reality TV show theme that are already plaguing our society. At the bottom of the article I read a comment by John Kantor that brings up a great point, "No one watches Justine to hear what she says." Most viewers watch her because she is attractive, why should people care about what she has to say about the phones? My final thought on this idea is, At&t, you need to pull out of this advertising ploy immediately! It is going to flop.