No Thanks USA - You Can Keep Black Friday...

Today is Black Friday! [and then followed by Cyber Monday]

For those of you who don't know what this is here is a little history lesson according to www.blackfriday.com ...

The term “Black Friday” was coined in the 1960s to mark the kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. “Black” refers to stores moving from the “red” to the “black,” back when accounting records were kept by hand, and red ink indicated a loss, and black a profit. Ever since the start of the modern Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been known as the unofficial start to a bustling holiday shopping season.

 So then retailers started to take hold of this shopping opportunity and started to offer big discounts to entice shoppers to buy more.  Black Friday is this really long day of shopping with big deals and discounts to be had, often with people waiting in line ups over night just to get a great price on lots of different items.

Over the past few years or so though, things have become a little crazy!  With stores offering big discounts, people's 'wants' become big 'needs' that many would do almost anything to fulfill.  Look on youtube, and search Black Friday Disasters ...  here are just a few examples.

This used to be just an American tradition, coming on the heels of Thanksgiving, followed by Cyber Monday.  Now, it is making its way across the border, becoming more widely spread here in the Canadian stores.  I understand wanting a good deal when going out shopping - but are we ready to have the craziness hit our stores like in the videos above?  I am certain that isn't the case everywhere - but even one instance of that kind of hazing really is inappropriate.

This kind of consumerism [consumer, someone who purchases and uses a product or service and ism, an organized way of thinking] is scary.  During a time of the year when we should be thinking more of others rather than ourselves, what does this say about today's society?  

However, there is a movement fighting back.  An organization called Giving Tuesday.  Here in Canada this organization is saying:

It is a new Canadian movement for giving and volunteering, taking place each year after Cyber Monday. The “Opening day of the giving season,” it is a day where charities, companies and individuals join together to share commitments, rally for favourite causes and think about others.

They are encouraging to take a day to do for others.  Donate, volunteer, and if you can't do either of those - take the time to brighten someone's day!

So take a few minutes to think upon the following, and then respond on your blog.

- do you think that we buy more things that we really need each day?
- why do we, as a culture, feel compelled to buy things we don't need for survival?
- do you think commercials and advertisements make us feel we need things when we really don't?
- why do you think our culture and media encourages us to buy things constantly?  Is this a good, bad or neutral thing? why?

Brilliant Advertising

So a while back I received another 'funny' email from one of my friends, the kind of friend that forwards every email - and you swear you've seen certain 'jokes' a million times!  Anyone, this one time this email caught my eye...

Colgate has created a very ingenious advertising campaign to promote their dental floss, but before I explain to you the main detail of these images, I will let you appreciate them quietly...

Alright, now that you had time to quietly observe the images, in the first one you will now notice that she has one finger too many in her hand, in the second one a phantom arm is floating there, and in the third one the man has only one ear...
The campaign attained its purpose, because it proved that food that remains on your teeth draw more attention than any physical defect...

What a great ad campaign!  Effective, simple, eye-catching, you name it - I like it!  So that got me thinking, there are tons of different ad campaigns out there.  Some are fantastic, and others not-so-much.

For your next blog you are going to select an ad campaign that you feel is 'one of the best!'  Explain your reasonings behind your choice.  What makes this a great ad?  and why?  Research effective ad campaigns and make comparisons to the one you chose.

Social Media - Part 2!

Ok Ok I know - social media is often a hot topic here in the communications area!  Heck - many of us are checking it on a minute by minute basis!

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and more!  There are many good sides to social media - and of course there are a few dark sides that lurk in the shadows.

Watch the following video, read the blog post and respond to the hosts' question at the end.

"does it creep you out that a stranger can get this information about ya, or no big deal?"

Write a blog post discussing how you feel about social media. How much are you willing to share with others, and at what expense - if any?  What are some of the 'good' sides to social media and what are some of the 'bad' sides?  How much do you really share?