The Takeover of Twitter

Today while searching through recent tweets by everyone I follow, I found an article by SimplyZesty explaining Why Twitter Has Become the Best/Worst Thing for TV. Now usually I would have skipped right over the twitter post by Cohn & Wolfe, an advertising agency in the Austin area, but seeing how blog posts are necessary for this PR class, I am always looking for new and interesting thoughts. Although this article was nothing like what I thought it was going to be about.

It summarizes how Twitter's ability to negatively criticize TV shows is becoming terrible for the TV industry. People have the ability to tweet their thoughts about a show more quickly than the show itself can have people tweeting back to control the conversation and defend itself. Consequently, people see the tweets about how unsatisfying the show was and decide not to waste their precious time viewing it. Twitter's fast paced ability to include everyone in the conversation is both a bad and good thing. It also has revitalized shows that were once not as popular to become a prevalent topic in the new age of the Twitter World.

So what did I think the article was going to be about? Knowing myself and the ways I use twitter, I watch TV less than ever before. By following accounts like CNN, The Daily Texan, and Austin news stations I feel more informed than ever. I can constantly catch up on what is going on in the world and read the articles on the go. As for advertisements, I follow the brands I find important in my life and get more information from their tweets than I do in any of their commercials. So naturally, I was thinking the article would take the position that Twitter is taking over TV, but I guess the more I think about it TV will always be necessary and will forever be a largely used advertising outlet.

Fun Fact: Did you know Twitter/Social Media is the number one thing people are giving up for the lent season this year according to multiple sources? Seriously...It's taking over our lives.

Texas Turmoil

It's not hard to miss if you turn on any news station or happen to look at any news website. It is the top story on CNN, google news, BBC news and many more. The Supreme Court has just recently announced that they will be hosting the Fisher v. Texas Case in October 2012. And yes, Texas as in The University of Texas.

Abigail Fisher, a soon to be college graduate from LSU, is suing the University of Texas and their use of affirmative action which caused her to be denied from the University after applying. Abigail was near the top 10% cut off and displayed all of the necessary credentials to be a UT student, yet like many students each year, she was not accepted into the University. Although in 2003 Universities were told they were allowed to take race into account to ensure academic diversity which was supposed to be a ruling held for the next 25 years, the Supreme court has surprisingly decided to take on this case meaning Abigail must have quite the argument.

Personally, I have always felt that it was unfair for racial questions to be mentioned on an application of any sort. I don't think it should matter what race you are. If you have the credentials to be a student there then you should get in, regardless of the background you come from. I think out of schools in Texas, UT has the best chance of having a diversified student body due to the top 10% rule. The top students from every school in the state of Texas are given the opportunity to attend UT, including schools in lower income areas to high paying private schools.

What I find most interesting about this whole scenario is how The University of Texas is going to handle this publicly. UT is no doubt being put in a negative light here in the majority of the reports and it will be fascinating to see how they overcome this crisis. If it is proven that the university has in fact been taking race into a large account of the application process, it could  prove that we haven't made as much progress in the fight against racial discrimination as we thought we have over the years.

Overload of "Love"

Valentine’s Day is the world’s largest advertising and PR campaign ever known to mankind. It had to have been created by the card, candy and flower companies to thrive in the middle months between Christmas and Easter when their only form of income is birthdays and anniversaries. I know what you’re thinking…She is just bitter because she is single. Nope, I have a boyfriend and participated in the Valentine’s Day festivities just like every other girl. I mean as much as I think it is a pointless holiday, I’m not going to pass up delivered flowers and a nice dinner out no matter what day it is.

Personally, I think that every day should be a Valentine’s Day in a relationship, and that there shouldn’t be a day where men are forced to buy presents and flowers and “show their love” to the woman they should be showing their love to every year.

I really realized the obsession over Valentine’s Day the other day when I was watching TV and surfing the Internet. I saw more commercials, tweets, Facebook posts, pop-up ads, and sales all revolving around Valentine’s Day, than I remember seeing during the entire Christmas holiday. Let me remind you that the Christmas season is weeks long and Valentine’s Day is one single holiday, yet we still devote practically the entire time in between Christmas and February 14^th to the holiday.

Just found it interesting after taking several advertising and PR classes how much more I noticed the intensity of advertisements, TV shows, articles, and social media revolving around a holiday that we don’t even get school off for. Whatever the flower, candy and card companies did too make their Valentine’s Day campaign a success in the early years, I commend them. It was genius.

The Liking of Lin

Jeremy Lin, New York Knicks point guard, is making a statement to, well…pretty much everyone. You don’t have to be a sports fan to have heard his name dozens of times throughout the past month. Lin is not like many all-stars in the NBA. He did not attend a Division I school with a scholarship; he was undrafted and then traded multiple times, and has never received much of any attention. The disappointment and rejection Lin has faced over the past few years no longer matters now that he is a name recognized all over the world.

Two nights ago, I turned on the TV to find all three ESPN channels featuring Lin’s game winning three-pointer as well as several sports specials on news stations. I Looked at twitter, and his name was trending worldwide. Facebook newsfeeds were blowing up with the mention of Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks. His name has become an instant trend all across the country and the perfect publicity story for the NBA to spotlight.

He’s a young guy player who hasn’t had anything handed to him. He’s had to work hard for the position he is in now and didn’t give up. He knew the dream he wanted to achieve and did not let anything get in his way. It’s the story that everyone wants to hear about the person everyone can’t help but root for.

He is constantly in the news, with new stories being published about him by the hour. David Letterman even featured him through his “Top 10 Worst Jeremy Lin Puns.” I’m not sure the New York Knicks or the NBA could ask for much better publicity right now, especially after the negative attitudes towards players in the lockout. Who doesn’t want to be the one everyone is talking about when you don't have to pay for it or prompt people to care about it? This is just the beginning of the Lin craze and I, along with the rest of basketball fans, am excited to see what other excitement he brings to the table.

The Komen Crisis

It wasn't long after our in-class debate on the reasoning for Susan G. Komen's pulling of funding from Planned Parenthood, that the entire issue took a turn for the worst. On Friday, the Komen foundation released a statement saying they had decided they were no longer going to pull funding and that Planned Parenthood could reapply for funding from their foundation. Not long after that, Komen's Vice President for Public Policy, Karen Handel, resigned on Tuesday. This issue of why they pulled their funding has blown up to be one of the biggest controversies and crises that I can remember taking place in a while.

It is amazing to me that a foundation like Susan G. Komen wouldn't be more prepared in an issue that they knew would be controversial on several levels. It involves political views, religious rights, as well as ethics. It baffles me that a company would not even be able to have one, clear reason for why they made the decision they did but instead continued to speak to the public with conflicting stories and viewpoints. It makes you wonder how on the fly of a decision this was and if much thought and research went in to how this decision could affect their future.

Komen should have been well aware that not a dollar of their funding went to supporting abortions and should advertise this when ever faced with the controversial subject of Planned Parenthood being supportive of abortions. Planned Parenthood is an organization that saves several lives each year through breast examinations and mammograms. This is the type of information the Komen foundation should have been releasing when stating that they would be financially supporting Planned Parenthood.

This issue over the past week has made me realize as a hopeful, public relations professional, that support and research are key. Several companies could easily look at this controversy later on in history and realize a better way to handle the situation before it develops into a crisis like this one has.

Super Bowl Gone Sexy

Growing up, the Super Bowl was always an annual event filled with good food, family and America’s sport, football. This year was no different for me except for the fact that none of my favorite NFL teams were participating in the big game, so this year I focused more on the commercials than the actual game itself. The Super Bowl has always been notorious for its highly anticipated commercial breaks that take place every two minutes of playing time. Unlike years before, I did not find the commercials to have the common theme of comedy, but instead many took a different philosophy to be successful, the idea of “sex sells.”

I, along with many others, was surprised with the number of risqué commercials that were shown during such a family-oriented football game. I grew up watching the Super Bowl every year from a young age and never remembered seeing sexual commercials. Maybe times have changed or children are just oblivious, but some of them we found just to be a little too much. 

There were three sexy commercials that stuck out to me throughout the course of the game. First Up, Adriana Lima’s advertisement for Teleflora.com. After a seductive 20-second intro she ends the commercial saying “Guys Valentine’s day is not that complicated. Give and you shall receive.” I mean I know we are all young adults and everything, but watching that with my parents right next to me would be extremely awkward

Next, David Beckham’s head to toe shot promoting H&M. This commercial took me off guard for a different reason. It was not directed towards the usual audience of men, but instead was selling sex to women who may have been watching the game

Finally, Go Daddy’s advertisement featuring Danica Patrick body painting a naked model with the Go Daddy symbol. While there were several other advertisements that followed this motif, it makes you wonder how did they all know comedy was out and sexy was in?

Mixing Business with Pleasure

Today we were given our clients for our PR 352 campaign project. While all clients available would have been excellent experience, I am one of the lucky few to have the opportunity to work with the distinguished cancer center in Houston, Texas, M.D. Anderson. Unlike the other clients, our team assignment is unknown as to what we will be doing, but the experience will be both a personal and academic one for me.           

 I think working for M.D. Anderson will be an interesting task. While it is a business and desires to draw in its target audience of cancer patients, it often is not a place people want to think about going to until they have to. M.D. Anderson is known all over the world as a top cancer research center with the leading physicians and surgeons in the country. When reaching out to target audiences I hope to be able to display to the public the incredible work that M.D. Anderson undertakes each day. Some of this work, I personally have had the opportunity to experience in my own family.

Sophomore year of high school, my mom lost vision and was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor two days later. While many Dallas doctors wanted to take drastic and life-threatening measures, the experienced doctors at M.D. Anderson took caution to research all options before making a final diagnosis and treatment decision. After visiting the center frequently for over 3 years, my mom is back to her normal, energetic self and ready to live life to the fullest.

You can imagine my excitement to work for a company that hit so close to home as I was growing up. With all the companies to choose from, I felt a passion for helping M.D. Anderson while gaining my own experience as an individual in the public relations field. I am honored to have the opportunity to not only work for a prestigious company but also give back to them a small amount of the many more years with my mom that they have given me.

 My Beautiful Mom and I Traveling to Celebrate