For my case study we examined and took apart the pieces of Disney’s Share you ears campaign. The campaign all started with the partnership of Disney and make a wish, and the ultimate goal of this was to address children illness and try to help find solutions for that. Disney also tries to help Make a Wish kids grant wishes and over time they have helped hundreds of thousands of kid fulfill their dreams of going to Disney world.

When Disney surpassed the mark of granting 100,000m wishes for children, they launched the #shareyourears campaign. For every social media post that put on the hashtag “ShareYourEars,” Disney made a promise to donate five dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Anyone that wanted to support a noble cause could simply take a picture with their Mickey Mouse ears and upload it to social media. No monetary donation or charity event was necessary, making this an effortless way for people to help. All people from around the country and around the world enjoyed partaking in this idea, because it was simple, easy, and fun. All you had to do was post a picture and Disney was donating five dollars to a really good cause. They donated 1 million dollars and then when they got to that mark they donated another million dollars to Make-a-Wish. 

Disney put in a lot of effort to push out this campaign to all Disney goers. In the parks they had creative walls that I will picture below when you could go up against the wall and take a picture with the ears above your head. They also brought this idea over to the famous Disney cruise lines, with certain areas in and around the cruise ships to take a picture behind an icon part of the ship and post it onto social media while using the hashtag. Another part of this campaign that Disney really did well on was the free advertising and marketing. Just by putting out this hashtag, each time someone posts a picture promoting a Disneys idea, Disney is gaining publicity from it and really good press. This press and buzz from the media was very good for Disney and they also brought the idea over to broadway for the Disney shows. In the playbill on broadway from certain shows like Aladdin, Frozen, Lion King, etc. They would insert a piece that showed the #Shareyourears and that put out the campaign even more for people to see. Also by running this campaign, Disney made even more money from the people in the parks and on the Disney cruise ships that were in the stores purchasing the ears. The overall marketing behind this project is extremely good, but also makes you questions the morals and ethics behind Disney. Could Disney have possibly donated more money? The amount of money they make outweighs the amount they donated by a lot, and a lot of people had questions about the campaign.

Disneys ability to have a good relationship with Make-a-wish is very important for Disney. There are even some very heartwarming stories that come out of the relationship. There were multiple instance where young children with severe illnesses and disabilities were given the chance to grant their wish at the Disneys parks. Each story has a unique touch to it and it can be heartbreaking at time, but also it makes you feel good that people care, and that people are trying to help children that are very sick make the most of their lives, and really experience something amazing. Disney wanted to help people out and in this campaign they most definitely did some part of helping out children battling illnesses.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRkWJD9Q/?k=1

Thursday Thought

If you click on the link above you will be directed to a video on TikTok regarding Nicholas Cruz, who was school shooter in Florida. The TikTok talks about the last part of the sentencing trail and wether he will receive life in prison or death by lethal injection. I feel as if this TikTok perfectly represents the term that we learned, social currency. Social currency is anything that we see or learn about on social media that we can use in an interpersonal conversation. I thought that this was a prime example.

I am certain that this is a perfect example of social currency, because earlier in the week my girlfriend and I were talking about how we have seen this on the news and how crazy everything is. This type of TikTok can spark lots of different conversations, and even questions that it might raise to people. One thing that this question raised to me was about gun control in the US, and if someone of this age should be able to own and have a gun of this caliber. Also, being a student who was once in high school and now in college, it raises the question that maybe there needs to be more security in schools throughout the entire US. There are so many different things a person who watches this video can take away from it and bring this into conversation. It is all about gaining the knowledge from this news clip and taking it into an everyday conversation with someone you know or ultimately anyone.

Ultimately, I learned that even after just watching TikTok’s or being on social media, there is so much social currency out there that can be useful. We can gain so much knowledge from it and it is a very useful thing.

After being in State College for a few weeks now, I have had the opportunity to really adventure the campus and the downtown. I have eaten food at many different places that people have told me to try and I have even discovered some really good places on my own. There is one specific restaurant that I think is a hidden gem, and not many people talk about it. You will find out soon what that restaurant is.

After many trips downtown for food, I have tried a variety of different restaurants. Starting with El Jefe’s Taqueria. I have been to El Jefe’s a few times now and I enjoy it each time I go, and I have even tried multiple different things on the menu. The first and second times that I went I got a burrito and both times it was very good, but the next few times I went I got a burrito bowl and that is my favorite thing on the menu. I put all sorts of different toppings in my bowl and it is absolutely delicious. Also, one time I went my friend got nachos with queso on top, and their queso is amazing. The next place I love is D.P Dough, they have really good calzones and there are lots of different flavors to choose from. My favorite is just a regular cheese calzone and I dip it in marinara sauce. Another really good place that I have visited is canyon pizza. To be completely honest, this was not that good. It was pretty poor quality pizza and wasn’t extremely hot after it was heated up, I had a leftover slice and it tasted better than when I got it in the shop. Another restaurant I went to was Chipotle, I’ve had Chipotle many times before and it never disappoints. It was a very good meal.

Finally, the last place that I have visited so far was Local Whiskey. I have only good things to say about this restaurant because the whole experience was really good. Everything from the service to the food was amazing, it was overall a 10/1o dining experience. I ordered the chicken sandwich and I though it was delicious and would highly recommend people to go to Local Whiskey if you ever need a bite.

I am super excited to try many more new places in State College and I am ready to keep adventuring.

My Friend Tom Woloshyn wearing Titleist golf hat

Student walking to class wearing Class of 2022 High School hat

Female Penn State worker wearing Penn State work hat

UPS driver after delivery wearing UPS hat

The reason why I decided to choose a diverse group of hats for my project is because I personally love wearing hats. I have a very wide variety of hats and when this project was introduced to me, I instantly though about doing hats. In a sense, hats being worn can mean a lot of things including: having to wear them for work, wearing a hat because you like the way it looks, wearing it represent something that you stand for, blocking the sun out of ur face, or simply just because you’re having a bad hair day. Hats can be very diverse and diversity in the society we live in today is something that I value very deeply. In my own words, diversity is  the mix and acceptance of backgrounds or differences that a group or culture might have.

The first photograph that I took was of my friend Tom and we were walking to class. This picture shows him wearing his Titleist golf hat with a nice Penn State Nittany lion logo on the side of it. That photo shows diversity because first it is a mix of both the Titleist brand and the Penn State logo, also it is navy blue. Out of all the people I saw on campus he was the only one with that hat. The next photo is a student who I did not know as he was walking to class with a hat that had his high schools logo on it and the class of 2022 stamped on the back. This shows diversity because he is wearing a hat that was from his high school and it is a high grey shaded hat. Next, I took a picture of a female Penn State worker as she was on her break, she was wearing a Penn State work hat. This hat shows diversity because that is only given to workers at Penn State and the design on it might be kind of rare, it also shows she works for Penn State. Finally, I took a photo of a UPS delivery worker wearing his hat that was stamped UPS. This hat might tell us that he works for UPS and the diversity of the hat stands out because of the brown color of the hat and the fact that it represents the company that he works for.

There are many other photos that I couldn’t include in my blog, but the amount of diversity within State College really amazed me. I saw many different types of hats and each hat represents something different to someone and that is special. Before I took the pictures of each person, I explained that them that I was doing a project on diversity within our community and each person seemed to love that idea. This moved me in a way, and one day I hope our society can realize that people and things might be different, but that doesn’t mean there is any reason to exclude anyone.

The photo I decided to use for my recreation is an iconic photograph of Kobe Bryant after he won the 2001 NBA Finals. I would like to give a little background to why I chose this picture and what it means.

I have had a poster of this picture in my room since 4th grade and I pretty much look at it every time I wake up at home, because it looks right at me. Someone might ask… Why does Kobe look so sad even right after winning an NBA championship? Kobe looked so sad because right before this photo he had a falling out with both of his parents because of his decision to marry a Latina women. It shows how much it affected him and could possibly be one of the reasons why Kobe was so motivated and wanted to win.

For this picture, I went into the bathroom in my dorm and had my roommate take a bunch of different photos from different angles. I also messed with the exposure on the camera to try to relatively match the lighting of the original photo with Kobe. I also added the knee tape and right hand pinky tape to match what Kobe was wearing. You can not see the jersey, because it is blocked by my NBA Finals trophy constructed of a basketball and a bottle of Pantene shampoo, but the jersey is a Kobe Bryant jersey from when he played in the McDonalds All-American game in high school. I attempted to make the darkness of the jacket he had on by putting on a sweatshirt underneath my jersey. Also, the different angles of the photo were very important to match up with the shower and how I wasn’t directly looking at the camera. I also used my computer to edit the brightness and composure to get it as close as possible to the real picture.

Well here goes another blog post about the Library.

On Thursday instead of going to our regular classroom in the Willard building, we went to the Library for a mini tour. We met on the stairs outside on the back of the library and we took an awesome picture, along with a video of our class doing the “WE ARE, PENN STATE,” chant. That part was really fun. We proceeded to go inside as we were accompanied by one of the librarians who is a part of the communications and business section for the library.

We got in the elevators and made our way up to one of the upper floors and we went into a computer lab room. We got a presentation on how to use the Penn State library website and how it can help us to do research by accessing databases. She also showed us how to use our resources in the library for when we will need to check out a book, magazine, or anything. One feature on the website was that there was a little pop up on the screen and you can chat with a librarian if you are to ever need help with anything. She explained that everyone in there is very good at their jobs, and that they love to help out the students.

After she talked for a bit, we each logged onto computers and actually got to do some of this stuff she was showing us, on our own. I went into a database and found articles that were very good, and that I am going to be using for my mini case study. I learned how to navigate the website on my own, and I learned how to navigate through different databases.

All in all, it was a very successful and helpful time that I had in the library. I felt as if I learned a lot of helpful things that I can definitely incorporate in my next 4 years at Penn State.

After completing another week at Penn State, I’ve come to realize that I spent a lot of time in the library. The library at Penn State is one of my new favorite places on campus. It is the BEST place to go and study, and just get away from everyone and everything.

The first time I went into the library I was extremely overwhelmed. I walked in the big front door and went up the elevator and to be honest completely honest I was absolutely lost. There are so many different rooms and it is sort of hard to figure out where different stuff is. I found myself is a gigantic room with no one in it besides me and one other person, the room was completely quiet and I was so focused on my work. I went into the library because I had to write an essay for my English class. As time went on and I kept writing my paper, I was so into it that I actually lost track of time. The only thing that reminded me of what time it was, was the announcement that comes over the loud speaker to remind you that it is closing in 15 minutes. I finished up and left feeling really good about my essay.

The next day I went into the library to study for my exam. I wondered around for a little bit until I found the perfect spot for studying. The room had high ceilings and there were probably 20 book shelves in the room. In the room, it almost seemed like they had on some sort of white noise or just very loud sound that was coming from the AC vent and it completely drained out any noise. Not that there was any noise to begin with but it was very relaxing in a way, and helped me stay focused. I studied for hours trying to learn all of the materials in order for me to succeed. I enjoyed being in there because I was focused and I felt as if I understood all the materials for the exam.

The very next day, I was back in the same exact spot doing my homework. The spot that I have gone to every day in the library is truly awesome. Being in the library helps me stay focused and I know for the next four years here at Penn State, I will be in that very spot all the time either doing work or studying.

Sports Illustrated vs SLAM

The two magazines that I chose are Sports Illustrated and SLAM. In the Sports Illustrated issue for July 2022, it covers all the different sports including the NBA, MLB, golf, soccer, etc. While the SLAM magazine from December 1996 only covers college basketball and the NBA. Sports Illustrated covers stories on any type of sports, for example there is an article about Kelly Slater who is a professional surfer. SLAM is strictly basketball and the stories that they cover seem to be a lot shorter than the Sports Illustrated magazine and they don’t include as much detail. It is detectable that there is a decent amount of slant in the Sports Illustrated magazine while there isn’t as much in the SLAM magazine. Sports Illustrated seems to be slanted towards athletes being in favor of them in different stories by mostly being biased in their favor. There is a story about NBA players and them swearing on national television and the article seems to be having their backs by including evidence from people around the sport that says it has no negative impact on people. The SLAM magazine mostly just includes stories in the sport of basketball in both the NBA and college.

There are some noticeable racial differences between SLAM and the mainstream, Sports Illustrated. The most noticeable difference just by the articles itself is that basically every article in the SLAM magazine includes or is about a black person in the sport of basketball. Sports Illustrated contains articles about all different races and even the color and vibe of the magazine pertains to be white and more vibrant. The advertisements in the magazines are extremely different and that is instantly recognizable. The advertisements are different because they focus on the different racial groups and advertise completely different things. In the SLAM magazine, they have an advertisement of a hair product for black men and in the ad, you can even tell that the language that is used is very different from the mainstream magazine. Whereas in the mainstream magazine, there is an ad from the company, Yeti, that makes coolers and insulated cups. They have an advertisement with a white father and his blonde-haired white daughter, while they are both on the beach carrying surfboards on the beach. The two magazines just have a completely different demographic and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and they make it very clear. There are even a few ads for rappers and each ad in the magazine has black people in them, while Sports Illustrated has very few people of color in their ads and most of the ads are focused on a white audience. Another example is how the mainstream has ads about Toyota trucks and expensive watches, while SLAM has lots of ads for basketball sneakers. The text font is different because in the mainstream magazine the font is very simple, but in SLAM the font is must more exquisite and old school, which isn’t surprising since the magazine was issued in 1996. They don’t really share any commonalities regarding advertisements, which is surprising to me.

The headings are also quite different and even the language used throughout both magazines is noticeably different. I noticed that as I was reading the SLAM magazine, I was much more interested in it than reading Sports Illustrated because of the terminology that is used throughout. In order to become a better overall person in society, you must learn how to adapt and understand diverse cultures. I continued to read the SLAM magazine and felt that I was learning more about black people in the NBA, college, and juco. Different people told different stories and I feel that more people in our society need to change and really get an understanding of what others deal with daily. The SLAM magazine uses several types of slang than Sports Illustrated does, and it makes it more interesting to read, because the stories contain more information and make me want to keep reading. 

When you look at the media kits next to each other they are extremely different. The price for a full-page advertisement in Sports Illustrated will cost you around $100,000, but for a full page in the SLAM magazine it will only cost about $10,000. This is a significant difference, because that shows the popularity that Sports Illustrated gets over SLAM. The significant differences that really stick out between the two magazines is that the ads in the SLAM magazine pretty much only pertain to a black audience, while you can argue that in the Sports Illustrated issue most of the ads can go either way. There is an advertisement for a subscription service that gives people expert advice about investing, and different ways to manage your money. Aside from the ad differences, the content has similarities and differences. Sports Illustrated having all kinds of sports included in the magazine is very important cause that allows for a lot more content and keeps readers more interested. This also means that the mainstream magazine collects a much bigger audience because there is more information and stories for people to read. While SLAM only has information and stories about basketball. These differences exist for a reason, and that reason is that each magazine is for a certain audience. SLAM is focused on people who enjoy reading about basketball, and basketball only. 

Personally, I enjoyed reading the magazine that was not targeted towards me, because it is always good to read and learn new things. Reading a magazine targeted towards people from a different race or culture helps me understand it more and ultimately makes me a more understanding person in our society.

https://www.zinio.com/reader/readsvg/538798/Cover

https://digital.emagazines.com/slam/19961201/index.html?t=70e4e147-4782-4807-b35b-5a918cc258aa&utm_content=preview&utm_campaign=tl_slam&utm_source=EG&utm_medium=EG#p1

Okay so let’s begin. When I first arrived on campus it was extremely overwhelming but also exciting at the same time. I arrived on Sunday morning around 12 and moved all my stuff with my parents and met my summer roommate for the first time which was super cool.  On Sunday, I had orientation all day which was very boring and tiring. I came back to my dorm and sleep asleep very good the first night which was surprising. The next day we had orientation in the morning which was also boring, but we finally got to pick our classes for the fall and I am feeling super confident about my schedule. Later that night we went out and meet a bunch of new friends. Also I got a glimpse of dining hall food and it wasn’t completely terrible. I felt like I was already adapting to the campus a bit and meeting new people was really cool. Also I went the gym in the IM building for the first time because I wanted to start to get into a routine of working out.

On Tuesday, I had a completely free day, but I still wanted to be productive. I went to the gym again, this time with my roommate and we worked out for about an hour. After the gym we went and got lunch together at the dining hall. One obstacle that I had to overcome was feeling a little homesick. But, I called my parents and talked to them and I also talked to some of my friends and my girlfriend back home. That night we went out again and we meeting more new people, which is way more fun than I thought because there are so many other freshman that are in the same boat as me. We are all trying to make new friends.

Finally, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday rolled around and I was honestly so excited to start classes. I made a promise to myself that I would stay on top of my work the whole entire summer. The first few days of class were very good, but still a little overwhelming because the jump from high school to college is very big. It was kinda hard the first few days just because it was weird. I still made sure to stay on top of all my readings and made sure to get any work done that was assigned to me. Each night I made sure I got a good night sleep because I want to start getting into a routine for classes and for each day. On Friday after classes my dad drove up from home and brought me back to our shore house in Ocean City, NJ for the long weekend.

Overall, my first week at Penn State was a huge success and I am so excited for the rest of the summer. I was definitely nervous at first, but Penn State has already exceeded my expectations of how I thought it was going to be. I am proud to say I am ready to conquer anything that comes in my way at Penn State and I am super excited!

This particular print ad was based off of a commercial that has been circulating on television, produced by Gatorade. The ad is promoting the newest line of drinks that Gatorade has released. The new drink is called Gatorade Fit and the drink is special because it has no added sugar and it is a healthier option then regular gatorade drinks. The purpose of the ad is to promote the new line of drinks and how it is healthy real hydration drink that anyone can drink no matter what sports or activities you do. This ad was was mostly seen in commercials and in magazines during the NBA playoffs and the Stanley Cup playoffs. Putting this ad out in a time when two major sporting event playoffs are going on, shows that Gatorade wants this product. They have faith in the product and want to people to drink it cause it is a very healthy way of hydrating. On the face, is US Olympic gold medalist, Sydney McLaughlin. This shows us that if athletes of her level are drinking Gatorade Fit, then is it definitely a good option.

With the ad being released during the NBA playoffs and Stanley Cup playoffs, the target audience is any people who participate in athletic activities or just simply need to hydrate more. It appeals to any and all athletes, because staying healthy and hydrated is something that many people focus on nowadays. Being an athlete or a person who exercises knows what it means to stay healthy and Sydney McLaughlin is a great example, because she is extremely fit and people strive to be like her one day or be in the shape that she is in. The implicit message is that it is a healthy option for hydration and you will become a more real athlete.

This ad has an ethical appeal as it uses Sydney McLaughlin, a well-know runner, to be the face of the ad. She represents everything you would want in an ad for a healthy, hydrating drink because of her accomplishments all over the world as a runner. They also include an emotional appeal by the way they use “HEALTHY REAL HYDRATION”, if people see this ad they might be drawn in by those words in light blue, bold font. The ad gives off extremely good vibes for anyone that sees it, because it uses light colors which are very appealing and connecting. But, viewers or readers get connected to that and might want to try the product when they see the word, “HEALTHY.” Also in the bottom right corner of the ad it says, “All G.” This is also an emotional appeal because that is a campaign that gatorade has, which represents, “no matter who you are or how you sweat” the product is still right for anyone. A Logical appeal is also used because they are making it evident that a well known athlete drinks these, so it must be good a good option for hydration.

In this ad, while trying to promote their new Gatorade Fit also is promoting the idea or being healthy and to exercise. Sydney is stretching in the ad, like she is about to exercise or go on a run. This ad has more meaning than just a drink, they are influencing a better, more healthy, more active society. It is an ad while also an encouragement for people to practice healthy habits and you might be a more successful person. As it says the word “REAL”, it explains how the drink contains real ingredients while also wanting people to be real with themselves and be healthy humans.

The use of ethical, emotional, and logical appeals is part of the reason why this a successful ad. The audience of the ad, which is any athlete or person who participates in athletic activities, can connect because it uses a known athlete and it is a very popular brand. The ultimate goal is to promote healthier more fit and hydrated athletes, this goal will be accomplished if people drink Gatorade Fit to achieve that.