Heading Home

It was a gorgeous day in Oxford today.  Sunny AND dry.  Unfortunately, it was the day that most of us had to head to the airport. Hope you will keep some of the posts coming.  Here are some parting shots for you.

Since we talked about it in class, thought I would pass along ESPN's list of the Top 10 Athletes of the 20th Century:

1. Michael Jordan
2. Babe Ruth
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Jim Brown
5. Wayne Gretzky
6. Jesse Owens
7. Jim Thorpe
8. Willie Mays
9. Jack Nicklaus
10. Babe Didrikson


http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/athletes.html

You will note that Babe Didrikson was the only female.  Check out her bio and perhaps you will see why she earned a place on this list.  It is particularly impressive since she died young and in the mid-1950s.

United Blingdom

It seems like a lot of people on here are starting to get irked about Britain's cheesy obsession with Team GB. But we can't blame them! Hosting the Olympics and racking up medals (after a slow start) is reason enough to get a little overboard with their excitement. Ask yourself, when you have a chance to represent USA in some sort of match, event, or even the 4th, let's get real, how tacky do you get? Pretty tacky to where it's almost an embarrassment. But you don't care because you're proud to show of your citizenship and pride for the greatest country on the planet! Back to Britain, it surely is cheesy and cute the way they're excited for their winning team. It seems that every commentator would rather focus on that than the scandal that could have just happened in the sport they're working - like gymnastics. I think I see the excitement more in the newspapers though. During these past two weeks, the only headline/photo I've seen on every front page is winning results/athletes from the day before - or even HOURS before. Yesterday, a friend was reading one of these papers, and it was interesting because it didn't have an athlete on the front - it was just numerous gold medals with the cheesiest line of all: "United Blingdom." Yeah, I guess we can make our own judgements on that one. Congrats Team GB, thanks for a great Olympics and GO TEAM USA!

Olympics Experience

I attended the bronze medal women's soccer match in Coventry this afternoon. This is the closest I will ever get to "going to" the Olympics since I have negative athletic ability. It was definitely a fantastic experience to see other women who do have talent representing their countries and playing to win them a medal. And they sure were playing to win; my blood pressure was spiking each time one of the teams almost scored a goal and came so close, but not close enough.

The experience was great besides just the game. The Olympics staff members and volunteers were extremely nice, and were helpful and friendly at the rail station. There were people everywhere at the stadium directing fans and contributing to a sense of safety and control despite it being in something of a secluded spot in the middle of the day.

Going to the game meant a lot to me--the 1996 Olympics happened before I lived in Georgia, so this was a truly special experience for me. It's not something I ever thought I would get to do, but I am so glad I had the opportunity. I haven't been able to watch the Olympics coverage much, so I am glad I got to experience it in person!

Has anyone who remembers the Atlanta Olympics gone to the London Olympics and had any similar (or different) experiences? Do you think the venue contributes to the experience, or that the Games are mostly the same no matter where they're held?

All Good Things Must Come To an End...Or Do They?

Saying I'm a procrastinator is an understatement. So it's no surprise that I've waited until the last day to compose my final blog post. But whereas I normally put things off because I'm a tad lazy, this time it's different-- I waited until the last minute because I just don't think I want to acknowledge the fact that our time here at Oxford has come to an end.

I knew I would have a wonderful experience here; I knew I would learn a lot and enjoy the subject matter. But I think I underestimated the impact that our Grady class would have on me.

Before taking this class, my experience in Grady was mostly confined to PR and news writing classes. I found other majors such as advertising and broadcast journalism interesting, but I didn't know much about them. Being in this class allowed me to understand the perspectives of students with different majors and let me learn more about them. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's experiences with their career pursuits and what attracted them to their major. What was especially remarkable was that this class showed me how interconnected our professions are-- whether you're in PR, advertising, photojournalism, magazines, the theories of mass communication still affect your lives. Our careers are all influenced by the mass media and the growing age of social media. Even if you aren't in Grady or aren't majoring in the field of communications, what we learned in class was still relevant to our lives and really changed the way I'll look at the mass media. I'll be more aware of advertisements, how news stories are framed, whether or not ads and commercials perpetuate negative stereotypes or break them, and other issues such as these. I think, if nothing else, this is what we were supposed to have taken away from this class-- to be more cognizant of the world around us and understand how the media affects us and how we can adapt to it. We can all take what we've learned and apply it to each of our professions, and I can tell by seeing my peers' final presentations that this will definitely be the result.

This probably won't be my last post, because I think this blog has been a fantastic way for us to not only document our journeys, but to view the progress that we've made-- so I'll keep composing to show how much this class has really affected me. I know it's a bittersweet ending, because Oxford has stolen most of our hearts and it's very sad to leave, but I can't wait to get back to Athens and continue to experience more of what UGA and Grady have to offer me.

Britain's Gold Rush

This year's Olympics stands as a milestone for Team GB. They currently rank third overall and hold an impressive 22 gold medals. Considering that less than 20 years ago, they only won 1 gold medal in the Atlanta Olympics, Team GB has come a long way. Newspaper front covers have reflected a growing sense of pride and patriotism, particularly after the past weekend's "Super Saturday" when Britain celebrated its greatest single Olympic day in over a century. I suppose I have been lucky enough to pull for a country that has continued to dominate the Olympic stage (or podium) and have therefore been slightly desensitized towards our collection of medals. I constantly update the medal count; sometimes after only 3 hours of not checking, we will have collected multiple gold, silver, and bronze medals. It's hard to image America not being ranked in the top 3 most decorated countries, nevertheless bringing home medals in the single digits.
For Britain, I think the excitement of hosting the Olympics on their own turf and other recent international attentions (the jubilee and the royal wedding) has definitely given the country the boost that it needed.

American Wives Versus Army Wives

American Wives (called Army Wives in the USA)

I'm sure many of you are familiar with the show Army Wives. While I was in France this past weekend, I recognized the characters from it in a teaser on French TV. I was at first surprised to see that they broadcast the show in France, but I got over that initial shock pretty quickly when I saw how they were broadcasting it. Instead of calling it Army Wives, it is simply labeled American Wives. I found this to be quite troubling. I don't know if a lot of French people watch the show, but given that it's centered solely around Army wives and the dramatized struggles they go through, I take issue with simply calling it American Wives. The Army represents a fairly small segment of our population when considered in the context of the variety of other women who are married and living in the States. What do you think is the reasoning behind the title of this show in France? Can you think of any other examples either in our culture or in another culture where a television show is re-branded and ends up incorrectly depicting an entire population?

NBC is greater than BBC. At Least When it Comes to Sports Coverage.

I hate watching the Olympics in Great Britain. Some obvious reasons exist for this spite, particularly the fact that I am American and am less interested in British athletes than American athletes. This reason, however, can't really be justified because, hey, we're in Great Britain. They should be following their athletes. The reason I hate watching Olympic sports in Great Britain is because don't know how to cover sports.

America is so good at covering sports. We do it all the time. Fall to Winter to Spring to Summer. You'd be hard pressed to turn on a television in America and not be able to surf to a sports program. This constant sports coverage certainly translates to coverage of the most hectic and largest sporting event in the world: the Olympics. In Great Britain, the BBC edit instant replays with slow motion zoom in cuts of high fives. In America, NBC actually shows the play that merited the instant replay in the first place. BBC showcases British swimmers finishing last. BBC misses the emotional impact of the Olympics as well. I haven't even heard that iconic Olympic jingle that always sends chills down my spine of excitement.

NBC does backstories of athletes. BBC does exposes of their boring Equestrian bronze medalists. I know I'm biased. But watching the Olympics here in Oxford has been increasingly frustrating. Thats something I would have never expected. But it makes a lot of sense. America is just better at sports coverage and editing. As far as I'm concerned, its that simple.  

PR On Every Level

Our last weekend trip was spent in Barcelona, and although the city was unbelievably beautiful, we hit a few snafus. The biggest came when one of the members in our group lost her tourist bus ticket while we were off the bus. When we "hopped on" again, we tried to explain to the situation to the ticket woman. Even though our “lost-ticket” friend showed the ticket woman her book of discounts and map that they hand to you, and we all showed her our tickets that we all bought together, she still would not let her ride without buying another ticket. She did show us the rulebook however, which explicitly states that without a ticket, you cannot ride. I guess that is fair enough. But what really bothered us was that the bus driver turned around and spoke to the ticket woman in Spanish. Little did he know a member of our group speaks fluent Spanish. He made comments like "Someone needs to tell them that if you lose your movie ticket they do not let you back in the movie" and after we opted to buy another ticket, he said, "oh look how calm they are now". It was really rude and offensive. Just because we're American doesn't mean we are ignorant. And if you're in the business where tourists are your main source of income, maybe you should hold back on your offensive comments and appreciate that we traveled so far to visit you're beautiful city. This goes to show that there is PR at every level, even with tourist relations.

After this experience, I wrote the bus company quite the scathing review on trip advisor. It might be one review out of millions, but it is still a warning to the public. Due to “Barcelona Bus Turistic’s” bad PR, they had some bad PR handed back to them. 

Always on Sale

Having a sale is an easy way for an advertiser to catch the attention of prospective buyers. Here in Oxford, it seems like every store or restaurant is in a constant state of discount. While this may be a result of the many tourists who frequent Oxford streets in the daytime, it does lead me to think about why stores would be constantly selling items as part of a sale. The rise of the online marketplace certainly has something to do with this, but discounts can be seen everywhere.

One restaurant on George Street actually offers half off of pizza at all times. Why wouldn't the restaurant just have lower prices instead of constantly being discounted? It seems like a marketing ploy to just always be giving the customer a "good" deal.  Is it unethical of an establishment to promote an item as on sale if the price is consistently the same?

Laws In Ireland

A few weeks ago I went to Dublin on a weekend getaway with some friends.  In our efforts to do as many things as we could in a short amount of time, we went two places that really got me thinking.  The first was a little street market where people were selling their crafts.  I came upon a table where two Irish women were selling the jewelry they had made.  I wanted to purchase my Mom a bracelet, so I asked what kinds of materials the bracelets were made out of.  I always do this in the United States to make sure I do not purchase any jewelry containing Nickel or Lead.  The woman said they were made out of silver and not to worry because it was illegal in Ireland to make jewelry containing harmful or irritating metals such as Nickel or Lead.  This struck me because I could not believe there was actually a law in place for something so small.  Later on, for dinner, my friends and I attended a nice little restaurant across from the theater we were attending.  In an effort to have "American" food, I ordered a Burger.  I asked for it to be cooked medium well and the server replied, "You don't have to tell us how you want it cooked because it is illegal in Ireland to serve meat undercooked.”  Here I was again, shocked at the second small law I had learned about that day.  These laws did not anger me; I actually thought they were great.  They really showed how the government in Ireland wants to protect their people.  I think the United States should adopt more laws like this.  Maybe then the problems people have in the U.S. would lessen just a little bit.  Do you think the United States would ever allow laws like this to be created or does it infringe too much on our Democratic ideals?  How do you think the media would respond to creation of such laws in the United States?

There is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

The phrase is common—there is no such thing as a free lunch. A free lunch might not exist, but apparently there is such a thing as free dinner and unlimited drinks, if you have a Visa Chase card that is. Last Thursday night I was in London. The guys I went to visit had heard about a VIP lounge for Visa Chase Card holders. One Visa Chase card provided entry for the holder and five guests. One of the boys I was with is a Visa Chase card holder so we all walked toward Trafalgar Square to the hotel hosting the lounge. Inside this VIP lounge, one had access to wifi, multiple TV screens airing the Olympics, an open bar and a gourmet style dinner. We all kept asking each other, “what is the catch?” But there was no catch! What surprised me the most was the fact that this was not a one night deal. This VIP lounge was open July 27 to August 12. In other words, it was open for the entire duration of the 2012 London Olympics. On their website Visa says, “Join us at Visa's VIP Lounge, exclusively for Visa Chase cardmembers. It's your private retreat during the London 2012 Olympic Games.” Visa suggests that this VIP lounge is set up as an appreciation for their customers, but this lounge serves another purpose as well. By allowing the cardholder to bring five guests, Visa is ensuring that people outside of their current clientele are exposed to Visa in a very positive light. Attending this VIP lounge definitely made me want to be a Visa Chase cardmember! However, Visa is spending A LOT of money to sustain this VIP lounge. Seventeen days of free food and unlimited drinks for a couple hundred people a night is worth a very large sum of money. By hosting this type of reception during the Olympics, Visa is able to promote their product very positively to a global audience; however, I would be curious to know if this positive advertising offsets the extreme cost incurred over the course of those seventeen days. 

Picture obtained from: http://www.nipahutgardens.com/cardchase.asp

Decent vs Spectacular

In Dublin this weekend I spotted this promotional ad for a new store. It really stuck out to me because in the upper left and right hand corner was a sign for "The Decent Cigar Emporium," the store right next door that was still open. The contrast between the "Spectacular New Shop" and "The Decent Cigar Emporium" made me laugh. Then it made me think why anyone would name their store as "decent." Possibly decent has a better connotation in Dublin than it does in America. I doubt that however, since the other store was called "spectacular." Perhaps the store is telling the truth, as Sue Unerman suggested. I cannot be sure as I did not go into the Cigar Emporium nor do I smoke cigars to know the difference between a decent and great cigar. This was just an interesting advertisement to me due to the juxtaposition of the contrasting adjectives.

A Typical Sunday in Oxford

This past Sunday, my roommate and I decided to go out for the famous "Sunday Lunch" at The Eagle and Child Pub. Just by chance, we happened to sit in a room where two other American guys were already eating. Once they heard our southern Georgia accents, they asked us where we were from, excited to meet some fellow Americans. After the small talk was finished, they informed us that they were in London for the month working for one of the largest and most successful advertising agencies in the States, DDB.

 Their job for these next few weeks is to go around London and find fun, creative ideas for their videos promoting McDonald's. McDonald's is a huge sponsor for the London Olympics, but they have to overcome the obstacle of selling an American business in a foreign country. Their challenge is to make videos that can relate to a wide range of people who may not already identify with Mcdonald's or America. Click the link below to watch three of the videos they have already made (my favorite is the second one with the guy in the purple shirt) and check back again for a new one being posted on August 8th. They've incorporated people of different nationalities, various olympic sports, and the love of McDonald's food all into one video, making them very successful as well as fun to watch!

http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd.html

Absolutely Curious...

My trip to Dublin, this weekend, served as a great source for fodder and blog content.  While waiting at a bus stop, this advertisement for Absolut vodka passed by, and I couldn’t help but notice it.  The ad reads:  “It all starts with an Absolut blank.” 

The advertisement is simple.  The limited use of color makes the patterned bottle stand out, and the starkness of the white background certainly popped against the overly vibrant yellow of the bus (compare this ad to the Coca Cola ad on the bus next to it, and the difference is clear).  The typeface is easily readable, in all caps, and the gray and white color combination allows the text to exist without taking away from the greater message—Absolut is a versatile drink (a blank canvas, if you will), and this provides endless possibilities for the drink and the situation in which it is consumed.  These seven words provide a powerful and somewhat uninhibited message, without the use of sexual content or violence.

The refreshing nature of this ad made me look twice, but do you think this ad is effective?

I’m sure much of this depends on the target audience.  Given the forum in which it is displayed (public transit in a prime tourist destination--Temple Bar), this ad may be meant for tourists, not the citizens of Dublin.  That would be my first guess, as the ad is relatively culture neutral (at least in comparison to the Jameson ad posted earlier), but what are your thoughts?  Who do you think the intended target audience is for this advertisement, and is it effective?

Olympic Rings

Of the countless Olympic-themed advertisements I've come across in London over the past 6 weeks, this may be my favorite. Despite its obvious creative brilliance, this European ad also addresses the very serious, (but American-taboo) topic of safe sex. During my time in London and Paris, I encountered numerous advertisements stressing the importance of condoms and other precautionary measures in terms of mediating the consequences of coitus. Now, I have mixed feelings about these ads and unfortunately the situation is really a catch 22. I do not think these blatant exhibitions on public streets are ideal for the eyes of the children that are likely to be strolling along. However, I do think Europe has the right idea in educating its people on the importance of being wary of sexual repercussions. Which do you think is more important-protection or education?

On a side note, I recently read an article that suggests this ad may not be for Londoners as much for their visiting foreign friends.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/sex-relationships/sex/london-2012-sex-mad-athletes-set-1144971

Interesting...It makes you wonder which of the games is really generating the most competition.

Opening Ceremonies Concert

This past weekend I was lucky enough to witness the opening ceremonies as a small, foreign speck in a massive crowd of UK folks.  I attended the BT London Live concert, which was the “official Opening Ceremonies concert” in London. In the middle of the concert, they paused to show the Opening Ceremonies live.  The amount of excitement that enveloped the crowd during the Opening Ceremony was remarkable.  As a tourist standing amongst them, I felt a little bit out of place; it was almost as if I was impeding on a moment of nationalism for the Londoners witnessing the event together.  Although I loved that the Opening Ceremonies played so much into Great Britain’s personal history, I also thought it was interesting that London decided to go with a show that was so specific to the nation itself.  When hosting an international event, I would have expected them to be a little more international in scope.  The route they chose wasn’t distasteful by any means, but I just would have never thought to take it in such a local direction.  It was very cleverly crafted, because while I laughed along with the jokes and was equally in awe at the ceremony itself, the “locals” seemed even more enthralled.  There were definitely some elements that I just didn’t get, but they did.  This was most true when it came to the music.  Most of the people at the concert could sing along with all the songs played during the Opening Ceremony, while I had never even heard of a lot of them. 

The whole time I was watching the ceremonies, I was pretty surprised at how much media played a role in the overarching theme of the Opening Ceremony.  The whole show was basically a showcase of some of the UK’s biggest icons and “claims to fame” of all time.  They had fun with elements of their own culture, like the royal family for example, as well as with UK pop culture icons such as David Beckham.  Witnessing the reactions from the crowd was unbeatable.  There was this one guy standing right behind me who had the best reactions!  The most hilarious moment was when the Queen showed up in the ceremony.  All he could say was “No way, no way! Ah that’s so cool!” over and over again. 

This is what made me think of the media’s role in cultivating that deep sense of nationalism that was clear in the reactions of all the locals surrounding me.  

Health Food, there is lots of it

To advertise a food product or to even have it on the shelf in the supermarket, I have found there to be an extensive appeal to vegetarians.  It seems, that here in the United Kingdom they are more conscientious about staying true to what vegetarian food is, and have more of it then in the United States.  There is also typically more of a use of the calorie count on the products in comparison to the United States as well.  Even in McDonalds, the calorie counts for each and every product is shown, even if it is 645 calories.  In the United States, if one desires this type of labeling on their products that caters to vegans and vegetarians, and is explicit with labeling their calorie count; they oftentimes have to venture over to a health store supermarket.  The

Why is this labeling so much more prevalent in the United Kingdom? Are British people as a culture more health conscientious than Americans?  

Team GB

While the Olympics bring excitement and a sense of national pride to America, they did bring some controversy to Great Britain. Besides the fact that the Olympic games were being held in London, the issue of how Team Great Britain would compete was heavily argued about.

It seems that many British have the opinion that Team GB should be split up and athletes should compete for their respective lands (England, Scotland, or Wales) instead. In all FIFA soccer events these countries compete individually from each other, yet they play as one in the Olympics. Now this does bring Great Britain more recognition, since their medal count is much higher, but is it worth it for these countries to give up their pride and heritage for more acclaim?

Southern or British?

The longer I have been in England and the more British people I have met, the more I have realized them saying what in America people would consider "southern" words and phrases.  For example, I have heard many British people say "reckon", which in America is used primarily by very Southern people.
While walking around looking for somewhere to eat with my friend I saw a sign outside a restaurant called Zizzis that said "ZIZZIS IN THE HOUSE, YALL".  Seeing that, I wasn't sure if the restaurant was making fun of Americans or if it was ever used ove here.
At a pub a few nights ago, I was speaking with some newly acquired British friends and the word y'all slipped from my mouth.  They started busting out laughing saying how "cute" it was to hear someone say y'all.  This lead me to realize the sign outside of Zizzis had to mean something else.  It is just very interesting that although both countries speak English, how different it really can be.