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I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.

– The Lorax (Dr. Seuss) 

This movie made $70 million this weekend, despite it not doing so well with RottenTomatoes critics (they rated it 57%, and yes! I do take rotten tomato ratings seriously!) A movie voiced by Danny DeVito, Betty White, Zac Efron and Taylor Swift just to name a few sounds like any other Hollywood 3-D animation movie right? After watching the trailer, you could tell immediately that this movie is not as shallow as it seems.

An adaptation of a classic Dr. Seuss tale, this movie sounds to me, like a lesson for kids to notice the deteriorating effects happening around them and dare I say it, promoting sustainability? Lorax was written in 1971, so I doubt Dr. Seuss had any hidden agenda in mind as he wrote about a world without trees; after all, he was the man responsible for something as senseless as green eggs and ham. Apparently conservatives have already been complaining and accusing Lorax, the movie,for trying to brainwash children into green living. Just by watching the trailer, I would assume that their accusations are correct — perhaps this movie is trying to motivate kids to appreciate their environment and preserve the world, but to be honest, I don’t see how this is bad thing. As time goes by, limited resources will only be used up more and quicker, and younger generations should learn this reality and learn that they have the ability to do something about it.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it seems very cute — a movie that young kids enjoy. After all, we all know the ending to this one; Zac Efron ends up saving the world and gets the girl!  Has anyone seen it or heard reviews about it?

I was recently browsing among some marketing blogs when i came across Patricia Wu’s blog from sec 102. To see the commercial which I’ll be referring to, go here! https://blogs.ubc.ca/pattie91/

To Patty, Pizza Hut’s TV commercial where they display skinny Asian girls dancing around randomly while they eat pizza from pizza hut is suggesting that one would still be fit even if they eat fattening foods. However, I think the marketing geniuses in Japan created this commercial for nothing more than pure entertainment, and attention. In a crowded business center like Japan, where robotic dolls can be married to human beings, and where anime was created, it’s apparent that their value of beauty is unrealistic and unachievable to most women.I’d like to compare this pizza hut commercial to Old Spice’s commercial with the ‘man your man could be’. Random, cheesy, unrealistic, humorous, unique. Theres words are what these two commercials are built up of, and these are what has made these two ads still relevant in society. Apparently in today’s society, you need to be random to be thought of as new material, it gets people thinking, it gets people talking.

So, I instead of seeing it as a suggestion or a persuasion by Pizza Hut that fatty foods could still produce fit bodies, I see it as a completely random, sexualized commercial which gets people talking about it. In the long run, this marketing strategy is not in an advantage at all. There is no creative component to it, any company can use sexuality in their marketing campaigns, Pizza Hut would have to actually promote their value instead. In actuality, what does Pizza Hut have over its competitors? Hot girls dancing around in their restaraunts? That wouldn’t make sense now would it.

Ahhhh, winter, the holidays, christmas.. my (and i assume a lot of other people’s) favorite time of year. Even the grumpiest person couldn’t resist the traditional Christmas songs, the most delicious holiday aromas or the masses of joyous people prancing around in a good mood.

Another perk of the holidays comes in the shape of paper cups. Let’s look at Starbucks and Tim Hortons as an example. Starbuck’s 3 Holiday Drinks. Every year, they market their 3 drinks like there’s no tomorrow, banners, posters etc and they send out weekly newsletters / ads to their current customer list. Just this weekend, Starbucks held a “buy-1-holiday-drink-get-1-free” even (from friday to sunday, 2pm – 5pm only), and people flocked to their local Starbucks (let’s be honest, it’s never a long treck, there’s a Starbucks on every corner); to try the holiday beverage. But, could somebody please tell me what’s so special about these 3 drinks in particular? They are nothing but a regular cup of joe, but with a lot of “holiday-themed” syrup, whipped cream on top, oh ya and some sprinkles of cinnamon or spice. The package it comes in is also one of its main selling points. Now I’m quoting one of my friends when I heard her say,”Oooooo, a red holiday cup! It’s not the usual plain white paper cup!”

Starbucks marketing strategy is proven to work. The holidays brings about a lot of marketing campaigns for sure. I think if there was a time to splurge on yourself or your loved ones, it would be during the holidays, when people’s opinion of the value of thei money changes. People are willing to buy a around $4 cup of holiday-flavored drink when they wouldn’t usually have during another time of year. By promoting their bright red cups which shows illustrations of silouettes of classic winter time scenes, and snow, Starbucks is selling the mood, the holiday cheer to people in the form of cups of coffee.

So even though I sound slightly skeptical of Starbucks marketing efforts in promoting a cup of coffee with no special tangible value to it, I have fallen victim to their target of holiday-loving market group. Goodbye for now, as I go and pay a little over $5 for a nice hot cup of Eggnog Latte (aka. a trillion calories)

so in one of my recent posts, I was talking about american airlines providing free wifi for their passengers. now, Google Chrome has partnered up with Virgin America, Delta and AirTran to offer free Gogo wifi!

it’s important to know that this offer is for a limited time only though! Google is making this their annual holiday offer (since they offered free wifi in airports in 09; to find out more, visit this blog i came across: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-holidays-from-google-chrome-free.html

………………………………………….

ok.. so as I was typing up this blog post, I came across another piece of interesting news! In-flight wifi may actually be cancelled due to security concerns! cell phone parts can be used to make explosive devices, and what would be used to detonate the device you may ask?

wifi connections.

although the chances of airlines cutting in-flight wifi is unlikely, follow this link to find out more: http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2010/11/03/03gigaom-will-terrorists-take-our-in-flight-wi-fi-77417.html?ref=technology

What comes to mind when you hear the name Martha Stewart? Baking? Cookies? Jail? Stock trading?

Even though Stewart got into such a mess in 2004 for insider trading, went to prison and was supposed to lose her perfect-domesitic-housewife-handywoman persona, she left prison with even more popularity, and frankly, became a more well-known household name. Right after being released from prison in 05, Martha Stewart Living was announced and went on air. Sears began to sell her products (yes, thats a huge deal for middle aged housewives!!), and got her own daytime show The Martha Stewart Show, and even got her very own version of The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.

I found this case (any many others involving celebrities gaining popularity after prison) fascinating. Marketing is all about selling what’s good, and only the good. To sell a positive brand, a positive image, a marketing team should display something that consumers aspire to become to earn their business. How do celebrities like Martha Stewart, Kate Moss (whose career only grew stronger, and gave Kate an edgier, sexier persona after pictures of her snorting cocaine were posted in magazines for all to see in 2005) and more, win the public’s admiration after what they’ve done? Perhaps the marketing team is building upon the celebrities ‘being human’. Maybe celebrity scandals only show that they make mistakes too, which makes them more relatable. But I still find it strange how someone like Martha could still earn the respect of her fans, and still have a growing empire despite her past scandals. Believe it or not, there’s a new app out (for the iPad) called Martha Stewart Makes Cookies which goes for $8. Sure, this may not sound as exciting for me and probably, you, but to a lot of desperate housewives out there, this app is a great steal!

to end this post on a brighter, funnier note though. I’m a huge Conan O’brien fan, so here’s a really funny clip of Conan and Martha. Enjoy!

i hate airplane rides: the bad food, the extremely confined space that im stuck in for a couple hours, the smelly washrooms.. the list goes on and on, but the worst part about a plane ride is the boredom. a flight from vancouver to toronto may only be 3 -4hours, but time can go by at snail speed when you’re stuck in a cramped seat probably next to an overweight guy who decided to take your arm rest as well.

on the other hand, i know that time can fly by when you’re having fu—, actually, time goes by when you’re on the computer. the good part is that it doesn’t even matter what you’re doing on the internet and hours and hours can go by; you’d be lying if you said you’ve never had one of those days where you say “oh, let me just check out my facebook newsfeed before i start my homework”, but one thing leads to the next and it’s already 12am and you never started your homework yet.

it’s just that you barely see people on their laptops when sitting in economy class because internet is expensive! only wealthy business sitting in first class can afford it, UNTIL NOW!

southwest airlines is introducing inflight wifi for any electronic device at only $5!! although southwest airlines only have 32 planes ready for cheap internet connection so far, they’re preparing another 28 by the end of the year.southwest airlines in one of the largest carriers in the United States and by announcing their cheap wifi features, they have their competitive advantage, although who knows when other airlines will catch up with them in terms of this technology.

 

so what are your thoughts? would you pay $5 to enjoy internet access on a short flight?

Personally, I’d pick an Audi hahaha, but if you’re like me, and you thought that Axe thing was pretty cool (and secretly hoping for Old Spice to come up with a come-back really soon), you’ll enjoy these (older) billboard ad wars as well!

The most infamous billboard ad war BMW vs. Audi

wow, chess has never been cooler!

@ the end of the day though, BMW found the ultimate punch in the gut by putting this humongous billboard right above Audi’s store in Hong Kong. (i could only imagine the amount of money they had to pay to get that done)

here’s one with Audi going against Mercedes-Benz

now here’s one that Buick put out to challenge Lexus, I don’t think Lexus has responded to their efforts.

Similarly, Starbucks, hasn’t answered to all of McDonald’s efforts at a billboard ad war:

It’s pretty easy to challenge Starbuck’s sky-high, totally unreasonable prices. But it seems like Starbucks won’t be doing anything about their crazy coffee prices anytime soon. And McDonalds will always be struggling to shake off its fast-food image as mainly a provider for fries, burgers, chicken (even though it’s not really chicken) mcnuggets.

so which car would you want to drive? let me know in the comments below!

for those of you who have been living under a rock, you must first watch this to understand this blog post: (trust me, it’s worth your 33 seconds)

He’s random eh? which is what a lot of people love about him. I mean, “I’m on a horse?” that has nothing to do with deodorant, or smelling good, or staying fresh throughout the day by using Old Spice. Without all the ever-so-distracting special effects, Old Spice’s motto: Smell like a man, man, just doesn’t do it for me. If I were a guy, it wouldn’t make me want to go out and buy this product. Nevertheless, he created a TON of buzz around the marketing sector, even Sesame Street has spoofed them, and you ccan now follow The Old Spice Guy on twitter: http://twitter.com/oldspice

but in today’s post, I want to focus on Axe, who has recently decided to go into a deodorant-marketing-war with them!

For men who’d rather be with a woman than on a horse. Canada’s #1 men’s deodorant.

I feel like Axe knows what their doing in a sense that they focus on their target market’s needs, instead of confusing them with random funny stuff. They emphasize that Old Spice doesn’t offer anything for them, but by using Axe, the product offers the consumer instant desire by women. Although Old Spice generates a lot of media attention around its ads, it’s only good for entertainment and fun, for real practicality and sustainability, Axe will last, because men will get sick of those Old Spice ads eventually.

Of course, Axe isn’t lacking in its creative marketing sector either. Way before the Old Spice guy came along, Axe’s TV ads have gained a formidable reputation of its own all around the world (some of the commercials have even been banned in some areas). check out this hilarious commercial back in 2008

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdK9zSl2cgE

Before I talk about crazy Sony controllers that can explode in the palm of your hand, I have to announce that Target will be selling Apple iPads soon! Yay!!! Wait…. what? Starting Oct. 3rd of this year, Target will sell Apple’s iPad, and I’m left asking myself “what’s the point?”

Target gives its Target credit card holders 5% off, but otherwise, the iPad is sold at the same price at the Apple store & Best Buy. So, what’s the big deal? Why are big companies vying for the rights to sell the iPad? Wouldn’t people who have always one, have already gotten one at the Apple store when it first came out? Would selling this product draw in new customers for Target? Target is known for its cheap prices, so will its thrifty customers splurge $500 on an enlarged iTouch?

here is where I found the info: http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/09/24/target_announces_it_will_sell_apples_ipad_starting_in_oct_3.html

On to fake Sony controllers:

Fake PS3 controllers are cheaper than its real counterparts but Sony released a statement claiming that they are able to ignite and explode! Either this is true, or Sony is realizing that they’re losing sales to these super-cheap controllers that look exactly like the real ones, so I wonder if customers will throw out their fakes and replace them with new expensive authentic Sony ones. In Ch. 5 of Marketing, there are risks that affect a consumer’s search process. Performance, financial and psychological. Although you can get a cheap controller, do you ignore the possibility of losing both your hands? Financially, do you take the risk of buying a abnormally functioning PS3 controller? Psychologically, how do you think people will perceive you if they realize your Sony controllers are fake?

For those of you who are now freaking out because you do own a set of these fake controllers, or bought it online or from and friend and may not even know if yours is real or not, here is a link to tell the difference between the real and the fake

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