Month: October 2012

Gangnam Style is a new hit song by Psy, a 34 year old rapper from South Korea. Surprisingly,  municipal authorities allowed and helped Psy give a free concert outside city hall. The global sensation performed in front of 80,000 adoring fans, and performed his claim-to-fame song twice. The song is not only a hit in South Korea, but is also ranked 2nd in the US and the UK, and has over 400 million views on YouTube.

Ma Young-sam, the country’s ambassador, suggests that “as foreigners pay more attention to the singers, slowly they develop a liking for Korea… and if they like Korea, they will buy more Korean things.” He believes that the release of Gangnam Style will greatly help South Korea. He may be right. Everyone who hears the song can easily relate it back to Korea. The song has introduced the country to a whole new set of people who probably were never that aware of it. The hit song may turn out to be a great way to get worldly publicity.

I personally find it quite surprising that after working so hard to build up its reputation and worldly standing, South Korean officials willingly allowed their Country to be branded in this way. It says a lot when a strict country like South Korea lets a video like Gangnam Style out. It is clear that they think it has a lot of redeeming value. South Korea’s motives are understandable, but leave me with one burning question: how are people expected to take the country seriously after the release of Gangnam Style?

Source:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/asian-pacific-business/what-gangnam-style-is-doing-to-brand-south-korea/article4596798/

The iPhone 5 is out. Apple fans are so excited to go out and purchase the brand’s latest edition. The newest iPhone is said to have a bigger screen, higher resolution and updated software.

(Warning: this is not your average post about how great the iPhone 5 is)

Since the arrival of the new iPhone, there has been incessant talk about how great it is. This is not, however, what I’m going to talk about. I would prefer to focus on a different cell phone, one of the iPhone’s greatest threats: the Samsung Galaxy s3.

As I was flipping through some channels, an ad came on for the Samsung Galaxy s3. Their marketing tactics immediately caught my attention. In the ad, Samsung chooses to acknowledge the presence of the iPhone, but manages to present it as phone of the past, rather than the “latest and the greatest”. The commercial found a way to joke about different ‘new’ aspects of the iPhone 5 and show people that the construction of the new phone, when most features remained unchanged, was rather unnecessary. The way the Samsung portrays the Galaxy s3 makes the iPhone look a bit superfluous,  while simultaneously presenting their new phone to seem as if it’s the coolest product on the market. This commercial was really well done, and as your average consumer, I can say that it was quite effective. Samsung appealed to a younger generation and managed not only to promote their latest phone’s PoD’s, but also to make their company look much more favorable than Apple.

Photo Source:

http://accessandroid.com/droid-daily/4-reasons-why-apple-has-zero-chance-of-taking-down-android/

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American Circus that travels around putting on shows. The company markets themselves as being the “greatest show on earth”. Video evidence however, gives reason to believe else wise.

As I was perusing around various articles on PETA, I came across one concerning this particular circus. The article reveals that circus trainers were caught beating and abusing their performance animals. As a penalty for breaking the Animal Welfare Act, the company was given the largest fine in all of circus history: $270,000.

I was already aware that many circuses have been known to abuse their animals, so when I read about the fine statement, I was very pleased to hear that action is being taken to fight for the protection and proper treatment of animals. However, this good feeling was short lived. As I continued to read different articles, I found that even though one huge fine was given to the company, their behavior towards animals did not change. On September 27^th, 2012, the circus put on a show in Manchester, N.H. Video evidence shows that during a routine, one of the elephants, Luna, fails to perform a trick. When she does not cooperate she is hit multiple times with a bullhook, in her already-injured leg.

With further research, I noticed their many other accounts of animal mistreatment, and how they’ve been forced to pay a multitude of fines. One shocking incidence was back in 2004. While the circus was travelling from one venue another, the animals in the train cars started suffering from the intense Florida heat and from a lack of water. The problem became so severe that the 2 year old lion, Clyde, died in the car.¹

With all the serious offenses the circus has committed and with the many investigations and fines they have received, it begs the question : why is the company still allowed to perform today? And furthermore, why do so many people continue to pay money to watch these animals suffer?

Other Sources:

http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2011/11/28/ringling-slapped-with-largest-penalty-in-circus-history.aspx

¹  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48042-2004Aug7.html

http://raleighdurham.about.com/od/localeventsandfestivals/ig/Ringling-Brothers-Circus-Blue-/Asian-Elephant-Display-at-Ring.htm