Peer Response to Esperanza's Celebrity Endorsement

For this weeks peer response, I read Esperanza’s blog in which she addresses the numerous celebrity endorsements for the product Proactiv. First, she does a great job off the bat in explaining what Proactiv is and why it is so widely advertised. Proactiv is an acne medication that is appealing to many girls of a variety of ages. Because of this, they use celebrities such as pop music stars and actresses to endorse their product. These are some of the most well known beautiful woman in the world so the point is for girls to believe that they are flawed, too and that this medication helped clear up there skin.

Esperanza does a great job as a critic, as she states that she is skeptical about how much truth is involved in the advertisement, as there are new endorsers almost every other month. Because of this, she feels as if the celebrities are just endorsing simply because of the money and that there must be very good pay for each commercial. She also does a good job pointing to how these celebrities have no real expertise in this area of medicine.

Lastly, the best thing Esperanza does is relate an outside article to her post because the article holds statistics that shows how the more an audience likes a celebrity, the higher there chances of purchasing a product of which they endorse. This, she claims is why it is easy to see why Proactiv hires so many celebrities.

Comparing Articles: The Debate Over the College Football System

For this week’s blog, I am comparing two articles: one in favor of a college football playoff system, and one against it.

In this first article, while arguing for the playoff system, the author speaks of the fan interest and the lucrative opportunity involved in an expansion of the season. He also refers to the Commissioners of the BCS and how their stubbornness’s and reluctance to conform and progress it is what is holding back this operation. His best argument is in relation to the college basketball system. There is always room for the underdog to succeed, whereas in football a small conference school could go undefeated and miss out on a bowl game. A favorable playoff system would eliminate this situation all together.

On the other hand, in this article, the author explains the flaws in an argument for the college playoff system. First and foremost, he argues that this would extend the season. An extension of the season would result in more student athletes missing school; something that everyone can agree is not the best solution. Another argument he makes refers to something that is called “Mission Creep”. Mission creep is when an idea in itself is strong, but when it’s put into action and slightly tweaked here and there the outcome is far from the original idea and is usually flawed. He also adds than in order to fill out playoff seats, tickets will be given to corporate sponsors, which will in turn take away from the atmosphere that a typical college football game possesses.

The most convincing article to me was the first one, yet I’ll admit I’m fairly biased. The second article though did give me insight on subjects I did not put into consideration. The fact that students would be missing classes is a big fallacy and I hope that if there’s is a playoff system there would be away around that. Personally, I feel that if everyone involved could work together and fault free college football playoff system can, and will be established.

Hey, even Obama is in favor of it!

"Preparing a Meal"

My friend is a big fan of eating sushi, so I thought it would be nice if I were able to make her some spicy tuna rolls. The thing is, it turned out to be more complicated than I had presumed. First, I had to plan the meal. The ingredients that I was going to need were 2 cups of sushi rice, 2-3 nori sheets (otherwise known as seaweed) 150 grams of Tuna Filet and some spicy mayonnaise to add the flavor. I had to go to several food markets, as they all did not carry the specific ingredients. For the spicy mayonnaise, I borrowed some from a sushi chef on State Street. I also needed a bamboo sushi roll mat, which proved to be very useful.

To begin my preparation I began by cutting the tuna in to various pieces approximately three centimeters thick and fifteen centimeters long. As I did that, I also began to cook the rice which. When it was ready, I drained it in my friends rice cooker and added four cups of water. To improve the texture, I let the rice drain for a half hour in the refrigerator. I then removed it and gently stirred it for a few minutes until it looked good.

I then began a process that is not as easy as it seems. I laid out the bamboo mat and placed a piece of seaweed over it. On top of the seaweed, I spread out a thin layer of the rice. Next I placed the tuna over the rice and added some of the chef’s special sauce. I then rolled up the sushi, which took several tries, but eventually worked. I cut it into 12 pieces and my meal was ready for consumption. Overall, I was pretty impressed by my work.

Polan claims that there “are a flood of damaging innovations such as low fat processed food”. I agree with Polan, but unfortunately, as a society grows progressions will happen and I believe that this was inevitable no matter what the circumstances. The meal that I created used all natural ingredients so I believe that if you are looking to eat healthy, you will be able to do so, you just have to watch what you’re eating and be knowledgeable of outside claims.

This article relates to Polan’s claims as the author speaks about different ways for food to become more low fat. The author’s work is proof of Polan’s thesis that there is an American public acceptance of his “flood of damaging innovations” as the author has various suggestions about decreasing the

Peer Response to Austin's Celebrity Endorsement

For this weeks response I read Austin’s blog regarding Tiger’s Gatorade endorsement. I actually remember when his own line of Gatorade came out and I was rather appealed. To me though, the flavors were a little bit off and after the first few tries I stuck to my usual consumption of the regular yellow Gatorade. Still, I saw countless amounts of my friends drinking Gatorade Tiger or whatever it was called. This was a great relationship as it made both Tiger money and resulted in many Gatorade with Tigers name on it.

Austin did a good job explaining the endorsement deal and also clarifying how his deal was now dropped in light of his sex scandal and marital affairs. I find it funny how Gatorade was willing to throw so much money into an investment with Tiger and how when one thing goes wrong they quickly drop him. Also, it is interesting how Nike stuck by his side, as they had no real other choice as there entire golfing line is based off of Tiger Woods.

After reading Austin’s blog and addressing the situation, it is quite clear that celebrity endorsements are all about image; ands when that image falls so does your endorsement.

Peer Response to Jessica's Blog

For this weeks peer response I read Jessica’s blog in which she spoke about preparing a meal and responded to Michael Polan’s “In Defense of Food”. She did a good job not only explaining what she made and how she made it, but why she made it and the nutritional benefits. Jessica made a casserole and described how she mixed together the vegetables with the eggs and the meat. A great point that she added is how the process started in her head as she had to decide what to eat before she could put any sort of plan into action. She expanded as to say the cooking gave her free time to indulge in other activities such as writing her blog. Jessica made many good points about eating as she quoted Polan and denied her animalistic tendencies when it comes to eating food. Furthermore, she does an excellent job deciphering Polan’s passage and making logical sense of his points and ideas.

What Jessica does best is after analyzing Polan’s arguments she refutes some of his points and applies an article she read to support her point. She compares the human relationship with food to the human relationship with life itself. All in all, she brings this all together in explaining how her meal will be both tasteful and healthy. I feel as if Jessica did a great job in relating her meal to Polan’s chapter and an even better job incorporating her article to support her details. Additionally, I enjoy the poll on the bottom of her blog!

Self Evaluation Speech

After preparing and delivering my speech, I feel as if the relevance of my topic was one of my strong suits. I believe that all students could have learned from my all nighter tricks, as it is not uncommon for students to have piled up work in college, especially for freshman who are still adjusting to the college lifestyle. After watching the video I think that I did a suitable job explaining and clarifying each step of my process along with creating certain mnemonics.

While watching the video, I think I presented some sort of energy and my volume hopefully reached the entire audience. I am somewhat inexperienced when it comes to giving speeches and I believe that I could have used more eye contact and stayed more in place. Physically, there was not much to demonstrate because of my topic choice.

I believe that my visual aids were effective because although I was not showing how to use the visual aid they served as a good supplement to the information that I was providing.

If I could do this again I may not have used the same topic. Instead, I would have chosen something where I was doing more of an action such as showing how to tie a tie. Considering my choice, I would not have any significant changes. A power point may have helped, but I believe I was fine without it.

In general, I was satisfied with my performance, but given a second chance I would have done more to make it more fun, appealing, and would have chosen a topic that the class could have interacted with.

Here is the link to my video

Analysis of a Celebrity Endorsement

For this weeks blog I will be reviewing a celebrity endorsement of my least favorite NFL player, Tom Brady. He had just shot a commercial for Earth Hour, as he asks people to turn their lights for 1 hour on March 27^th at 8:30 pm. I do not feel as if Tom Brady is an effective choice or an appropriate endorser for this type of advertisement.

First of all, he is a football player and unless he does other efforts for global warming that I don’t know about it seems odd that he has taken this stance. In my honest opinion, I don’t believe he truly cares about this subject, but I am sure he is making lots of money from somebody. Also, there is no visual aid in this commercial, just Tom Brady in his kitchen, an idea that is very plain, dull, and ineffective. Since March 27^th is only two days away it will be not be long until we find out if this campaign will be successful. For me at least, this simple plea did not spark enough interest for me to turn my lights off on this coming Saturday night.

This article defends my opinion as it pokes fun at Brady and is feeble attempt at endorsing this product. It also takes a hit to Brady’s mediocre play over the past two seasons and states how its almost funny that a topic so unrelated to the “manly” sport of football can be endorsed by no one other than a football player. For me personally, an advertisement is most efficient when I can actually relate to it or if I believe that the endorser actually uses the product and it is not just some front or money making operation.

Peer Response: Pat Brady

For this weeks peer response, I read Pat’s blog about In Defense of Food and believe he did a really good job. Pat understood the points that Polan was trying to make, but he also stated how its not realistic for everybody, and that its also a little bit absurd to completely disregard the advice from a nutritionist. Pat clearly states the points that he agrees with and those that he doesn’t. Although not avid of Polan’s work, he shows that Polan made a good point in that eating an orange would be more beneficial than merely taking a pill for vitamin C.

We are both in the same boat in that when one is looking for “a tasty treat”, they cannot simply follow Polan’s guidelines. I also agree with his statement that his book would be helpful for those who are trying to obtain a healthy lifestyle, just not for everybody.

Pat’s article was successful in defending Polan’s article. The main purpose of the article is to show that by taking supplements for Vitamin C and E, you will not necessarily reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease. This is in concordance with Polan’s articles because Polan is a firm believer in getting your nutrients from “real” foods, and not artificial substances.

All in all, I believe that Pat did an excellent job in responding to Michael Polan’s article, In Defense of Food, and I look forward to continue following his blog.

"Real" vs. "Fake" Food

One of my favorite foods is the classic American hamburger. But despite the taste, some of the hamburger meat I eat does not qualify as “real” food. At home, my mom would buy and cook organic, whole hamburger meat. The burgers tasted good, and had no additive substances. It smells fresh and it looks like a typical hamburger that you’d see on a commercial or on a billboard.

In comparison, a hamburger from McDonalds is more processed and not what you would call “real”. The fake burger is very salty and has unhealthy additives that enhance it tastes. The salty burger is very good in taste, just not very good for you. It has a stronger smell that anyone who has ate fast food can attest to. Once you finish eating the fake meat, you will soon feel it in your digestive system.

The fake meat does not provide essential vitamins or nutrients, and is nowhere near nutritionally equivalent to its “real” counterpart. It is said that some burgers contain a small percentage of horse meat.

Personally, I switched over to the fake version mostly due to financial costs. As a college student, my pockets are not very deep, and I generally have to eat what I can afford. Additionally, if I’m looking for a burger at 2AM, I usually have to settle with fast food. In the future, particularly when I return home, and have my mother cooking my food, I will gladly eat the “real” meat. The overall quality of real food greatly affects my health and it also makes me feel better on a standard day to day basis.

In Jeff Zurlinden’s article, he speaks of the dangers of fast food. While looking at the fast food process, it is clearly stated that by eating “fake” meat, you are putting yourself at potential risk.

In Defense of Food

In the opening pages of his novel, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Michael Polan presents strong arguments regarding the health of humans based on the food that they eat. Polan states that the American society is straying away from the food from which they used to eat (organic, whole) and are beginning to consume an insurmountable amount of processed and almost “fake food”. He explains that much of the real food we grew up consuming is now being replaced by artificial substitutes that will prove to be detrimental to our health.
Throughout the first chapter, Polan refers to the term Nutrionism. He says Nutrionism is merely a trend in which scientists and food makers try to take out unhealthy products such as cholesterol and saturated fat, and replace them with polyunsaturated fats and vitamins. As soon as we find out some artificial substances are actually not beneficial to us, they are quickly substituted by another.
Personally, I feel that the best point that Polan made was the more food either holds advertisements on the labels or holds claims about its ingredients are the foods we should stay away from. Real food does not need to claim that it’s low in fat because it is what it is, and not artificially processed to lower the fat. Polan's argument is strongly defended in this article as it shows the danger of many of the foods in our own kitchen. Before America’s obsession with dieting and low fat diets, the majority of people were healthy in just eating actually food. Now we have more unhealthy people then ever and yet we still wonder why in countries such as France in which the majority of people don’t carry low fat diets are healthier than us.

Cheap Healthy Good

This is another blog I am following more related to the subject material on cheap and easy ways to eat healthy.

New York Rangers Blog

One of the blogs I have been following is the New York Rangers blog! Great way to stay updated on news about my favorite hockey team.

Sophomore Sensations Step Up In Leuer's Absence

The Kohl Center was scorching Tuesday night as the crowd continued to erupt after each Badger basket. After trailing 1-0, # 16 Wisconsin never lost another lead to #5 ranked Michigan St as the Badgers triumphed to a 67-49 victory. With the absence of big man Jon Leuer due to injury, the Badgers put out a smaller lineup highlighted by the spectacular play of Sophmore Jordan Taylor who scored 17 points in the win.