Well, I wanna thanks all my four team members, I am so glad that I had such a wonderful team. Sure everyone has different backgrounds and skills, and disagreement were sometimes arisen, the two key things I found really important are understanding and communicating.

The company we have been chosen is Whole Foods Market. Assignment 1 asked for macro and micro environmental analyses for the company. It was the one we spend a lot of time on researching and discussing. Fortunately, it was worth dong research, not only for assignment 1, but also helped our next two assignments. From my point of view, I believe that assignment one was definitely the most crucial one, it was the fundamental of this whole project.

The coolest but also hardest assignment was assignment 3. The reasons why it was cool? Cause it was funny and relaxing during the time we were making the video, and recording was much interesting than in-class presentation. The hard thing were, we didnt really know how to make a video and what we gonna make, and learned to “get along” with those equipments we borrowed. However,  it turned out alright.

Everyone in our team contributed for this project, and tried really hard to do the best.

Angel is sooo thoughtful and friendly, she always came up with lots of ideas and solutions during our meetings. Also, she was the one who edited our final video. Sean is capable  and understanding, He did the most of the editing cause he is super good at writing. Vincent is  always energetic and sincere, his french accent is awesome! Ells is dependable and careful, he are willing to contribute extra works, and he always booked room for our meeting.

Thanks for my team, comm 296, also the most enthusiastic instructor in the world, Tamer !! We really appreciate all the awesome experience your brought to us !  

Unlike other food or beverage company, Coca cola has been combining their product Diet Coke with fashionistas for past few years .

Recently, Diet Cola signed Marc Jacobs as creative director, for designing a limited edition collection of bottles and cans.

watch?v=Ygd0AaibxEs

Marc Jacobs, a famous American fashion designerhead designer for Marc Jacobs, as well as Marc by Marc Jacobs, also creative director for Louis Vuitton.

Clearly, it is not the first collaboration between Diet Coke and fashion industry.

The collection above was designed by Jean Paul Gaultier.

This is designed by Karl Lagerfeld, head designer from Chanel.

Well, what’s the point to develop a collaborated relationship between Diet Coke and fashion industry.

Personally, I think Coca Cola is trying to building a reputation of Diet Coke, and emphasize the idea of diet by geting fashion industry involved.  The society now has a kind of value that “skinny is  fashion”, just take a look those slim models on fashion shows.

Alright, as a girl who love collecting and trying tons of skincare products, also have been loving and self learning Abode Photoshop for more than 7 years, Wendy‘s post title just hit me.

Wendy’s argued how Photoshop is overusing in beauty industry, and she also provided a famous from DOVE company of “Evolution“, showed how a prefect appealing make-up advertising poster was created by using photoshop skills. The original model just looks totally different in the poster after a photoshop evolution.

Well, it is true and openly that beauty companies using photoshop to built a flawless image to consumers , however, what I found interesting in her post is about how those prefect and unreal images of models destroying girls’ confidences. The original article from The Globe And  Mail pointed out that ,”However, researchers also found that skewed beauty images cause female consumers to experience a negative effect on their body image and possibly promote eating disorders”.

Nowadays, more and more teen girls are having idea of keeping debt, also the percentage of teen girls who anorexia nervosa is increasing and enlarging. In my opinion, those unreal advertisements have been delivered a wrong definition of how beauty looks like to the society, and they definitely murdered girls confidences. The fact is nobody looks like that perfect naturally, so dont be misleading by those images, make up and high heels sure are girls’ good friends somehow, but not photoshop in real life! keep your head held high and be yourself!

H&M(Hennes & Mauritz AB), one of the most successful clothing retailers, is famous for its quick-fashion value. Compared to ZARA, these two companies  are both offering the most updated fashion at a price as low as  possible. 

As for me, I prefer ZARA more than H&M even though H&M is slightly cheaper, the problem is because ZARA got a better quality, and I was wondering, how come H&M can compete with ZARA when they share almost same value and price level. Then one thing hit me.

“This is Helen Hunt, a famous female actress, was wearing H&M dress on Oscars Red Carpet”, blogger Christine Birkner pointed it out.People wonder that why a former winner of Oscars Academy Award adapted herself to a cheap fashion brand while Anne Hathaway showed up in pink Prada, and Jennifer Lawrence with Christian Dior?

Well of course if was not because of economic recession that Hunt could only afford H&M, wearing H&M is her designed action to show her supports of environmental friendly and sustainable lifestyle. The truth is, this dress was designed by H&M for Hunt, to highlight the partnership between H&M and an American environmental non-profit  organization.

As living substantially now is becoming a stunning social trends, and existing everywhere around. H&M company takes this trends as a business opportunity, not only to build their reputation, but also increase their sales in another ways:” Through the program, at all H&M stores, customers can exchange used garments for 15%-off coupons for H&M merchandise”. What customers gonna do with H&M coupons? Buy more H&M clothing!

As a matter of fact, this not the first sustainability initiatives H&M did. In 2011, H&M launched a “Conscious Collection”, which claimed to use organic cotton and materials to bring people’s conscious about environment.

Botton line, H&M really did a great job for catching the trend about living substantially, and it actually contributed a lot to H&M’s sale revenue.

http://www.marketingpower2.com/mpblog/2013/03/04/hm-goes-green-on-oscars-red-carpet/

http://www.ecouterre.com/hm-launches-conscious-eco-fashion-collection-for-earth-month/

Feb 14 is the sweetest day for couples or those who wants to express their love to someone, and the tradition about showing love through buying gifts to their lover also incents consumption.

As we notice, tons of themed ads are just starting pop out at the beginning of February, restaurants, shopping mall, jewelry store at etc. They launched the Valentines’ special offers to attract couples.

awwwe, It is sweet, however, how about those who without lover or maybe just break up? Valentine’s day doesn’t means romantic to them at all, may be a torture in stead. Well, for those who are looking for a way to tell the world how jerk their ex are and move on, there are 2 website, “NeverLikedItAnyway and ExBoyfriendJewelry, sellers are encouraged not only to get rid of gifts from their ex-lovers, but also to explain what went wrong with the relationship”, at there you can resell your old gift from your ex and must share the story about this relationship. Furthermore, engagement rings are extremely popular. There are some websites for reselling wedding dresses and wedding packages, from those who just call off a wedding.

As “being single” have certainly became a trend, brilliant marketers are capturing this into a business opportunity, they offer trips for newly singles to Las Vegas with a sale events of post-breakup gifts that belong to ex. In addition, many restaurants know that there are group of potential consumers who just hate Valentine’s day, guess what, they are offering an Anti-Valentine’s special dinner：”Jerked Chicken”, “desserts like Broken Heart Pudding” and “Back Stabber Skewers” now are on the menu.

How to Celebrate Anti-Valentine’s Day

As consumers care more about their health and appearance, companies of dietary supplements make a huge success in the market. There are lots of different kinds of dietary supplements for different uses. For example, Vitamins and minerals, which are two basic supporters for our body to work well. Protein powder helps muscle grow fast and strengthen immunity. Also, a slightly new kind of supplements is extremely popular among females because they are antioxidative. Too many types and brands in the market, they all claim that your body needs these dietary supplements to be more healthier and younger looking. However, are you really need them, or you may just wasted your money.

“A recent review published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition found that with a very few exceptions, dietary supplements offer no benefits to well-nourished adults eating a Western diet and may in some cases actually be harmful.” as opposite of the companies of dietary supplements promised that bring you a better body condition, the report actually pointed out that the “another effect” those nutrition pills may cause. And this is not the first time that dietary supplements are being notices as a danger. In August 2012, “The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use Reumofan dietary supplements, after receiving reports of bleeding, stroke and death among people taking the pills.” Surprisely, in December 2012, after FDA twice warned consumer about using Reumofan dietary supplements, “some distributors have deliberately put a new label and a new name, WOW, on bottles of Reumofan Plus to deceptively sell remaining supplies,” This dangerous drug are STILL FOR SALE with the new name and the same medicinal ingredients.

Buy why there are so many problems with dietary supplements? Are they supposed to be regulated and verified before reach the market? The answer is NO. “Unlike drugs, dietary supplements are classified as foods and are exempt from the regulations applicable to drugs which must be proven to be both safe and effective.” Unfortunately, consumers automatically believe there must be a certain regulation over supplements to ensure its safety and efficacy. So it seems like some dietary supplement company got a few ethics problems here, they exaggerate about the benefits of supplements, didn’t take consumers’ safety seriously, and should have declared the risks or side-effect it may bring.

So here is some tip, don’t be misleaded by the fancy advertisements, before you choose your dietary supplements, ask your doctor first whether you need them or not, and choose a trusted brand. Take your body seriously, remember, health is a top priority of everything

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/12/wow-this-dangerous-dietary-supplement-is-still-for-sale/

http://brandilawblog.com/2013/01/14/dietary-supplements-helpful-or-harmful/

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