Blog 7: The Manly Pantyhose Endorsement

Some of the most popular endorsements we see today are those involving athletes or famous people. An athletic endorsement consists of a company paying an athlete to use and/or advertise a product. For the endorsement to be official the athlete must actually use the brand of product opposed to other brands in real life.

An old athletic endorsement which I found quite disturbing and contradicting to the rules of an athletic endorsement was a pantyhose advertisement by Joe Namath. He was an accomplished NFL quarterback from the 1960's and 1970's and never really fit the picture to the endorsment. The advertisement is quite comical and is almost unrealistic because Joe Namath didn't ever actually use the pantyhose on a regular day to day basis. The advertisement began filming from the bottom of a pair of legs. They appear to be the legs of a women with pantyhose and as the camera keeps moving up wards you begin to realize that it is actually the legs of Joe Namath. The idea of the advertisement is to show that if the pantyhose can make Joe Namath's legs look good, then the pantyhose will be able to make any woman legs look excellent.

Clearly Joe Namath is not an appropriate endorser for the product of pantyhose. The product is developed for the opposing sex, and as the endorser Joe would never actually be using the product himself. Although the commercial is funny and clearly grabs the attention of the viewer it doesn't seem that it would get to the the products direct audience of women.

Blog 6: Ban Public Smoking

The issue of government controlled smoking bans has become a largely discussed controversy. An article from msnbc, written by the associated press, reviews the importance of smoking bans, and gives numerous reasons on why the bans should be put into action. Currently only seventeen out of fifty states in the United States have smoking restrictions and more states are looking to join in on these new laws. The laws are proven to decrease the negatives affects of second hand smoking and keep a large amount of the non-smoking public satisfied, but what about the smokers' opinions?

It's not a new surprise that smokers are against the government smoking bans. Many smokers feel the bans are a violation of freedom and civil rights. Thomas Lambert writes with an opposing view on the smoking bans in his article "The Case Against Smoking Bans." He discusses many reasons on why the bans are unreasonable. It can drive away smoking customers from businesses and can bring upon larger complications. He feels that the alternative route to solving the controversy is provide a laissez-faire option. He states, "a laissez-faire policy that would permit private business owners to tailor their own smoking policies according to the demands of their patrons is most likely to maximize social welfare by providing an optimal allocation of both smoking and smoke-free establishments." I feel that this would be the greatest way to satisfy the wants of all members of society, smokers or non-smokers. After all, who really owns the air?

Previously to reading the two articles above I was completely in favor of smoking bans, but after reading Lambert's article I feel that my opinions are drifting towards the side which opposes the government smoking ban. Besides the health reasons supporting the bans, I felt that there was much more evidence to support the side opposing the smoking bans, and I agree with Lambert's alternatives to solving the controversy.

Class Blog Review: post 5

The article which I chose to analyze was the "Availability of fresh food, exercise linked to healthy living." It tells about a small, poverty stricken town in Minnesota and how a new supermarket was brought to the area. The people and children who were malnourished could finally have a place to get good, healthy foods. Some places in Minnesota have also been trying to get small farmer markets organized to provide a more healthy variety of fresh foods. The article generally states that if a person lives in a healthy surrounding with healthy options available then that person will be healthy. It also works the other way too; a person in a poor, unhealthy environment will most likely be an unhealthy person. I agree with the article and the idea that "When it comes right down to it, a city is like a human being -- to be healthy, all its parts have to work together" (Hemphill 2009). The city also states that more exercise facilities need to be available to the public. What if exercise was available to the public for free? This could surely make a society more healthy. I found an article that shows that free exercise will work. It provides an example of a brazilian city that gave free exercise, and it discusses the great success's and outcomes of this idea. This could easily be implemented into american societies and could solve the problem of a lack in exercise. I agree with both of the articles and feel that by changing and adding simple things to a society can make it more healthy. So in the end, if the city has healthy food and exercise available then it will be a healthy city.

Debunking Health Claims

The product that I chose, which producers make questionable health claims about, is the McDonalds Premium Salad. If you know anything about McDonalds then you may know that they are constantly coming up with new ways to fend themselves from being considered the most unhealthy food on the market. A few years back McDonalds introduced their line of "healthy" Premium Salads. They claim that eating their salads is healthy and nutritious while still being a fast alternative for eating.

Many people feel that they are becoming more healthy by eating the premium salad in place of the traditional burger or infamous Big Mac. It is the exact mentality that McDonalds was trying to get its consumers to fall for. Unfortunately for McDonalds, the experts think otherwise. The "healthy" premium salad is actually equally bad or worse for you than a Big Mac. An article about food myths states that the "Big Mac has 540calories and 1,040mg of salt; one premium southwest salad with crispy chicken and dressing has 530calories and 1,260mg of salt. The Mac is healthier." The nutritional value can be see all over online and even on the nutrition charts in McDonalds restaurants. Experts say that the salads are not very nutritional, so why do people still eat them with the hope to be leading a healthier diet? In the article "Undressing the McDonald's Salad" a simple answer to this question is given. The answer is that most people really don't know what are in the salads. If most people don't know what they are eating than most people won't know what is healthy and what isn't.

Overall the McDonalds premium salad is a phony. It is not, at all, more healthy for a person than the other items on the menu. In my own opinion I will never be eat the premium salad. I would rather get the same low nutritional value from a burger opposed to a "phony" salad. If you are looking for something healthy to eat then go to your local grocery store and get some real lettuce; make your own salad.

How To Make Ice Cream In a Bag

After reviewing my demonstration speech I learned that I have a lot of things to improve upon. I gave my speech on "how to make homemade ice cream." I feel that my speech was done pretty well but that it could have used a bit more organization.

To start my speech I introduced myself and gave a fast review of the content of which I would be covering. I introduced the five steps in which I would be making the ice cream. After watching the video I feel that there were a few things that I needed to do differently. I should have taken a bit more time in explaining the steps with my actual visual aids (the ingredients). As I began to make the ice cream I feel that I had taken too much time with no talking while I was mixing/pouring ingredients. I should have had more of my steps pre-mixed/made. It would have allowed me to focus more on the audience. The last thing that I would have tried to do differently was involving the three helpers to make the extra amount of ice cream. If I did the speech again I would eliminate having others helping in front of the class. I feel that it took away from the speech. It was loud and took a bit longer then I had prepared for. Next time I would just pre-make the ice cream on my own. After making the ice cream I handed it out to be tested by my audience. I then concluded by repeating the original five steps on how to make the ice cream.

In the end, I feel that my speech was a success. I feel that I had good poise and stood up in front with relatively good body language. I never really stalled to much in the speech and always continued on. The pace seemed good and my volume was consistent throughout the speech, I felt that the audience seemed engaged with the speech and that it served great relevance to them. Anyone can make ice cream and it is easy to do in the comfort of a dorm...that is why I did this speech for my audience. I also thought the speech was effective. The ice cream turned out quite tasty and the audience enjoyed it.