After reading my fellow classmate Jessi Hilton’s blog, “We Are Winter” I have developed a few opinions that agree and differ from his point of view. During the Olympics, there were a few commercials using the slogan “We Are Winter”. This slogan emphasized that Canadians were proud to be from a country that has cold weather and that this weather brought power to the Canadian Olympic athletes. 

I agree with Jessi’s statement that Canadians should be happy with any medal received, no matter what the event is. Winning an Olympic medal requires extreme determination and hard work; thus, being able to win any medal is a large accomplishment.

This being said, I disagree with his statement, “if Canadians won several gold medals in other events but did not capture a gold in men’s or women’s ice hockey that the Olympics would be seen as a fail.” Canadians will be happy and proud of their fellow athletes, no matter in which event a gold medal is received.  Every individual has their own preferences of sports, thus, making a conclusion that Canadians love Hockey more than another sport is extremely bias and not true. Furthermore, each gold medal received is equal in significance because each sport is equally challenging and difficult. Thus, it is unfair for people to consider one sport being inferior to another just because of personal preferences.

Link to Jessi’s blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jessihilton/2014/02/23/we-are-winter/

Hershey is a company that produces many different types of products, such as chocolate bars, baking chipits and even ice cream. However, the reason the company is successful today is because they’ve learned to not over expand their line of products, and that consumer tastes differ in varying countries.

It is crucial that companies don’t over expand their line of products because if customers don’t respond to the new products, this could be a potential loss for the company. For example, when Hershey expanded their line of the original ‘Oh Henry’ chocolate bar to ‘Oh Henry Fudge’ customers didn’t like the product as much as the original so Hershey had to eventually discontinue the product. It is important to expand on products that will be popular and that customers will purchase. By conducting more research and providing surveys for customers before introducing a new product, Hershey could discover whether they should expand on a specific product. A large amount of money is spent on launching a new product, such as research and development, marketing, advertising, necessary equipment, and raw materials.

Customizing your products to a specific culture is extremely important because the products that are successful in the US may not be successful in Canada. For example, Almond joy is a Hershey chocolate bar that has been established and successful for many years in the US. This product was brought into Canada because the company thought the success of a product in one country would be equivalent in another. After a few months, the product wasn’t selling and Hershey had to discontinue it. A lot of money was spent on advertising and marketing this product, however the problem wasn’t with the marketing itself but with consumer tastes. Almond Joy wasn’t successful in Canada because it didn’t appeal to the tastes of Canadians.

Sources:

http://www.hersheycanada.com/ohhenry/en/products.html

A few years ago coconut water entered the market, and since then has grown exceptionally. There are many reasons individuals have discovered coconut water, however one that is extremely important is due to social media, such as instagram, facebook and advertisements. Since actresses and models drink coconut water and state how healthy and tasty the beverage is through social media, this has triggered many individuals to start purchasing the product as well. Individuals buy coconut water because of all the positive statements given by models and actresses, but also because of reference groups. If an individual looks up to a certain model and has seen that this model drinks the product, the individual may be tempted to purchase the product so that they feel more comparable and similar.

For example, Vita Coco is a company in the coconut water market and they paid Rihanna to be the face of their brand in 2011. As a result the companies’ sales revenue increased, as Stevenson states, “2009 sales volume of $20 million, 2010 sales of $40 million, and expected 2011 sales of $100 million. Competitors boast similar growth rates.” This statement proves that the coconut water market has grown throughout the years.

Furthermore, even professional athletes have substituted sports drinks, such as Gatorade for coconut water because of all the natural nutrients. Like Gatorade, coconut water contains all five essential electrolytes, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, and calcium. However, the main difference between the two products is that coconut water is natural and there aren’t any added sugars. Therefore, drinking coconut water is a healthy and natural choice for all individuals.

Sources:

https://www.digitalrunning.com/1520/coconut-water-electrolyte-replacement/

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/branded/2011/11/coconut_water_why_is_it_suddenly_so_popular_.html

The Coca-Cola commercial played during the 2014 Super Bowl sparked controversy because people accused the company as being racist. The commercial features the patriotic song “America the Beautiful” sung in eight languages. It also shows people of different ethnicities.

Conservative critic Glen Beck made negative remarks as he stated, “Every leader of the European union that tried multiculturalism is now warning America and the rest of the world that tried multiculturalism doesn’t work, you have to assimilate.”  He argued that Coca-Cola wants to sell a ‘divided America’.  This being said, Coca-Cola is a brand of cultural inclusiveness so we can conclude that Beck misunderstood the message they were trying to portray through their commercial.

Coca-Cola is known worldwide so typical marketing tools used by smaller companies won’t be as effective for them. This includes hiring top actors to market their product. Coca-Cola’s new marketing strategy is to show their customers they believe in equality and accept all types of races.

The individuals that think Coca-Cola’s commercial is racist are either biased towards their own religion or are extremely politically inclined. Therefore, the controversy from this commercial is good marketing for the company. After watching the commercial individuals will realize that Coca-Cola is only trying to send one message across to its viewers; that they embrace multiculturalism.

Link to Coca-Cola’s Super Bowl Commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrvcnbSoz-c

Source:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/coca-cola-super-bowl-ad-angers-conservatives-article-1.1600849

Ethics, in definition states the rules of behaviour based on ideas about what is morally good and bad. In The Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort was a stockbroker that had a dream of becoming successful and rich. Although his practice of stock brokerage was unethical, he someone managed to persuade his viewers that he was stealing money from individuals for good reason. For instance, he indicated several times throughout the film that he was helping his friends make millions of dollars and build a career for themselves. This was definitely false justification because in the end Belfort stole millions from individuals through illegal practice.

In The Wolf of Wall Street ethics are beside the point, as Winter says because “If you can end up with a mansion and a Ferrari, it doesn’t matter how you got there,” he says. Nobody really asks, ‘How did you get all this stuff?’ “. Additionally, as Lacey states, these unethical conducts occurred a lot in the business world and as a result, “led to the Wall Street crash of 2008”. Therefore, in order to solve this issue the government needs to get involved by inspecting corporation’s financial statements and overall practices so that a similar stock market crash doesn’t occur again.

Link to a video regarding the ethics of The Wolf of Wall Street:

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

Sources:

– http://www.sfgate.com/movies/industrybuzz/article/The-Wolf-of-Wall-Street-writer-fascinated-with-5094313.php

– http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday-guide/holiday-survival-guide/the-wolf-of-wall-street-scorseses-shamelessly-good-celebration-of-bad-conduct/article16084214/