McDonalds is a very large corporation that can be found
worldwide. They are known for their famous burgers and fries, but despite their
tastiness, they can cause some serious health issues. A man named Morgan
Spurlock decided to put his health at risk to prove that McDonalds encourages
poor nutrition and made a documentary titles “Supersize Me”. He went on a 30
day “diet” of eating McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At the end of
his documentary he ended up gaining 25 pounds, suffered severe liver dysfunction and developed symptoms
of depression. How did McDonalds take all of this? “The company has called the
documentary “a super-sized distortion of the quality, choice and variety
available at McDonald’s.” It says the film is not about McDonald’s but about
Spurlock’s decision to act irresponsibly by eating 5,000 calories a day — “a
gimmick to make a film.” “McDonald’s added entree
salads with great success last year and has been moving to provide more fruit,
vegetable and yogurt options with its Happy Meals.” The documentary definitely
affected the fast food chain negatively. The sales decreased by $42 million in
the US alone and two overweight girls from New York tried to sue the company as
well. McDonalds used this negativity to put into a positive change; They changed their environment
of their restaurants and painted their walls bright colors to attract the
customers, they started giving safer and better toys to children, they’ve taken
away some fatty foods or replaced them with healthy alternatives, and they also
stopped selling super size portion in most of their restaurants. To promote a
healthy lifestyle, the installed play grounds for children to play in and they
also got involved in local communities and arrange games competitions in
schools for children.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Week 3 EOC: Rolling Stones Magazine
Rolling Stones
Magazine was created in American and is a magazine devoted to music, politics
and pop culture. There is an issue published every 2 weeks. A man named Jann
Wenner, who is still currently the editor and publisher, found the magazine in
San Francisco in 1967. Wenner borrowed $7500 from his family and future wife.
The first magazine appeared on November 9th 1967 and had John Lennon
on the cover. It only sold 5,000 copies of the 40,000 that were printed. By the
1990’s the magazine was more popular than ever. It featured famous musicians,
and news articles that thousands and thousands read each week. The company
built relationships with the younger generations, the magazine spoke about
culture. The magazine is known for being wild and unpredictable. “The magazine is known for its creative and
thought-provoking writers. A journalist's role at the Rolling Stone
differs widely from what is expected of a journalist at a daily newspaper.” Over
the years, the magazine has featured thousands of well-known artists on the
covers and has created a brand that speaks to the younger generation. It’s geared
towards the students, but also features well written articles by famous
journalists. The magazine has also created lots of controversy and bad
publicity. “Rolling Stone is not remotely the same magazine today, but some of the
influence of its glory days remains.” The magazine is so truthful that
people don’t want to read it or even pick it up. Their brand is real world
entertainment magazine. They have a very strong editorial voice. “After years of declining
readership, the magazine experienced a major resurgence of interest and
relevance with the work of two young journalists in the late 2000s: Michael
Hastings and Matt Taibbi.” The company has recently been the center of a
controversy, but they plan on selling more and more magazines.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Week 2 EOC: John Varvatos
John Varvatos is a well know
fashion brand that is able to execute high fashion with a “Rock & Roll”
twist. He designs flawless menswear and accessories such as sunglasses, shoes,
and fragrances. He is an innovator of fashion. “We’re in an industry that’s a cross between innovation
and copycats, and there are a lot of people who just do versions of versions of
versions. But everybody here today needs to think about being an innovator, not
a follower. You don’t want to be a wannabe. You want to be an about-to-be. You
want to be a leader”. He runs many campaigns and benefits to help a
certain cause. He also has a tremendous amount of recognition from celebrities
and fashion icons. He has a successful website and e-commerce and participates
in various runway shows. He is a designer that continuously grows. “We have a lot of great stuff
going on. We’re opening a number of new stores in the next couple of months.
We’re also working on our global expansion for 2014: We have three new stores
we’ll open overseas. It’s very exciting, because we’re growing the brand
globally now”. Since he is a member of the high fashion world there is a
lot of competition and it can be really cut throat. His brand isn’t has high
end as other designers such as Gucci or Louis Vuitton. In 2003 his company
Nautica was bought out. He tried to make a women’s line that was not
successful. He realized there was too much competition in women’s fashion. John
Varvatos has been going up ever since he launched is first collection in 2000,
and he has had vast amounts of opportunities he has taken hold of. He runs two campaigns;
Stuart House, which is a rape treatment center in Los Angeles that serves
children and families with no expectation to pay, and Start of Music Campaign,
which photographs famous rock musicians. He currently owns a part of VF Corp,
was awarded the CFDA Perry Ellis Award in 2000, in 2007 was awarded Designer of
The year by GQ Magazine, Opens Bowery NYC in 2008, which he says “It’s a tribute
to what CBGB meant to America and to the world,” says John. "But we're not
building a mausoleum. We're gonna have concerts. We're gonna build a living,
breathing rock 'n' roll store.” It is hard to determine threats when a designer
is upheld so high. I would say threats are designers that offer both men and
women’s lines and designers who are more notable and expensive than he is.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Week 1 EOC: How to make it in America
The show we watched today was very true to what entrepreneurs
experience while they try to get something up and running. I believe the things
they did right were having an idea to go off of and getting an actual product
to produce from. These are the fundamental necessities, but they were also
missing a lot. They didn’t have a plan, a name for their brand, who their
target market was, any sort of advertising, or any place to produce their
product. They failed to think critically about their idea, instead they ran
with the first idea that appeared in their head. People all around the nation
are tuned into fashion and its ever evolving ways. Sometimes it can be very
hard to get noticed or recognized in the fashion industry if you’re trying to
get your line out there. I believe that in order to make it big in the fashion
industry you must be patient and unique in your own way. Consumers want
something different than what every other store is selling. It is the responsibility
of the designer to make something appealing to everyone or a select crowd. “At
the heart of every brand is its audience. The consumer is no longer simply the
person buying the product or service, but a broad spectrum of ‘stakeholders’
who include customers through to employees to external agencies and local
communities.” (pg 27) To become successful you have to create an image for your
company, and even more so, a lifestyle.
Week 1 EOC: My Voice
My name is Marissa Brooks I’m 20 and I am a fashion enthusiast. I was born in Denver Colorado and moved to San Francisco when I was 5 and then moved to Las Vegas when I was 8. I’ve been in Vegas ever since. On my free time I like to spend time with my family, and friends, shop, watch movies, party, DIY (do it yourself), and blog. I live and breathe color, texture and clothing. Ever since I can remember I’ve always been interested in the arts. I’ve grown a passion for drawing and photography, but nothing compares to the way I feel about clothing. I don’t necessarily want to design clothes with my future, but I would love to style and eventually own my own boutique. I like taking control and being a leader and I feel like styling puts me in that place. People listen to my thoughts and it makes me feel powerful. I think that owning my own boutique would help me feel this way as well, since I like to be a leader and make important decisions. I know it’s a risk, but you can do anything you set your mind to and if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.Attending the art Institute was the first step in making my dreams come true and I’m more than thrilled that I made the decision to enroll myself in it. It may be very expensive but I know all my hard work will pay off in the long run. I’ve had my family doubt me before, and it made me feel like nothing, but I’ve realized that’s a motivator. I want to make my family proud, but more importantly I want to make myself proud. I’ve never really done anything big to show my worth, but I have a yearning in myself to become something more and push myself to the stars, even the galaxy. I’ve worked in retail before, and it’s something I’d love to continue for the rest of my life. All colors, textures, patterns and shoes intrigued me and helped give me my keen sense in style. I still flip through magazines without reading the words just to look at the pictures. I’m a very visual and hands on person. On my free time I like to create things, such as jewelry. I like to make rings out of wire headbands out of chains. I also make some of my own clothing. Why pay $80 or more for a high-waisted pair of shorts when I can go to Goodwill and make a pair for myself for $5? I have over 20 pairs of shorts I’ve made. I like to cut them, dye them, bleach them and stud them. I like to make them my own and many people have encouraged me to see them. Maybe I could be an entrepreneur on the side as well. I believe I am multitalented. I love to draw. Everyone strives to become successful in his or her lifetime; it’s the American Dream. I wouldn’t be anywhere without my family though. Their support helps strive me to put 100% into my actions and I know they’re always by my side. Passion is something you follow and I intent to follow my dreams and passions for the rest of my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)