Author: lilybarnaby

Yes or No is an Absolut: Alcohol’s Campaign for Consent

On By lilybarnabyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment
Retrieved from: mediapost.com

While sexual consent and alcohol are not a commonly co-branded duo, Absolut hit the internet with a new #SexResponsibly campaign. Confronting the stereotype of alcohol’s effect in sexual assault and misconduct, Absolut released a series of ads within the campaign. One of the most notable was “Buying someone a drink doesn’t buy you a Yes.” which is a smart play for the company.

The article reviewed statistics of the interplay between alcohol and sexual assault, citing it as the “most common drug” involved in over half of all recorded cases of sexual assault. Absolut furthers their mission by committing to donate $1 to RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual-violence organization, every time that the campaign is shared.

While we have seen countless alcoholic beverage companies confront the issue of driving under the influence with messages like “Drive responsibly”, this is one of the first to confront sexual assault. It will be interesting to see the public reaction to this bold campaign.

Source: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/347124/absoluts-sexresponsibly-campaign-is-bold-given.html

Super Bowl: Scores, Fumbles, and A Whole Lot of Misses

On By lilybarnabyIn TelevisionLeave a comment
Retrieved from: sportingnews.com

The article “Super Bowl commercials: Who scored and who fumbled on the ad industry’s biggest stage” by CNN’s Brian Lowry reviewed the best, worst, and most lackluster commercials of the 2020 Super Bowl. With an estimated $5.6 Billion in advertising dollars spent, the bar, and viewer expectations were set very high. A majority of the ads were playful, comedic, and even satirical.

Among the winners were John Legend and Chrissy Teigen’s Genesis commercial, Bill Murray’s “Groundhog Day” parody for Jeep, and Jason Momoa’s Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loan. All of these commercials played on the usage of high profile and widely-loved celebrities as well this year’s comedic trend.

Among those commercials who left short were the Planter’s commercial, which featured the death of the beloved mascot as well as Michelob Ultra’s commercial starring Jimmy Fallon and John Cena. Critics overwhelmingly found these to be cheesy, ill-executed, or in the case of Planters, confusing.

There was also a list of “Notable and Not Bad, But…” which seemed to rival the winners and losers in length. In summary, it seems that despite the 5.6 Billion dollars invested into these highly coveted advertisement slots, many companies failed to make their mark in the way that others have in previous years. In the context of media consumption, the Super Bowl provides an unusually large audience as well as high level competition. Regardless if the content or quality of these ads, it is safe to say most everyone will be tuning in again next year.

Mind Reading Technology: No Longer So Futuristic

On By lilybarnabyIn TechnologyLeave a comment
Source: roadtovr.com

In the CNBC article, “Mind-reading technology lets you control tech with your brain — and it actually works” by Julia Boorstin, Boorstin discusses the recent developments in mind-controlled technologies, ranging from video games to TV, to prosthetics. This category of companies is known as “Brain-Computer Interface”. These products use sensors attached to the scalp to interpret brain signals into specific actions.

One of the major players in this industry is Next Mind. The CEO, Sid Kouider explains “Your vision is in your brain, and we analyze your vision in your brain and we can know what you want to act upon and then we can modify that to basically create a command.” The author of the article sampled the technology herself and was able to use the sensors to select specific keys on a TV, functionally replacing a TV remote. She could also manipulate the settings such as channel and volume. While this may sound like science fiction, the industry is projected to make over $1.5 billion this year alone. This technology has wide-reaching applications, from entertainment to medicine and prosthetics. Another company, BrainCo, has been masterminding a wearable prosthetic which will retail for $10,000-$15,000, almost half of the current prosthetics on the market. What makes this even more revolutionary, the system operates on muscle signals, which can be learned over time to increase functionality and dexterity.

While much of this technology is not yet available to consumers, companies like Next Mind are offering developer kits in hopes that others companies will be inspired to create extensions and applications to better the technology.

Article Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/10/ces-2020-mind-reading-technology-lets-you-control-gadgets-and-games.html

How Social Media is Changing the Way We Eat

On By lilybarnabyIn Social Media1 Comment
Celebrity Chef Heston Blumenthal from Independent.co.uk

In the Independent article, Heston Blumenthal Criticizes People who Take Photos of their Food Before Eating It by Sarah Young, Blumenthal, a celebrity chef and owner of the Michelin-star rated Fat Duck restaurant shares his views on social media in the dining realm. He believes that our constant use of social media, including our tendency to photograph our food prior to enjoying it, is taking us farther from the present moment, and true enjoyment. A 2014 study conducted by BYU Marriott School of Management found that over-exposure to images of food can affect satiation. According to Professor Joseph Redden of the Independent, “If we spend too much time repeatedly viewing such foods, our paper suggests this can lead to pre-satiation. That is, you’re already a bit tired of the food before you even start eating it.” Blumenthal also makes an interesting point, saying that due to the societal preoccupation with social media, in many ways sight has become more important in a dining experience than taste or smell. This is an important issue as social media is an ever present force in the lives of many, and is evidently even having neurological impacts on our enjoyment of certain experiences, such as dining. Traditionally, dining out was meant to be a luxurious experience, all about experience of the venue, the smells, and the taste of professionally prepared food. When even our food becomes digitized, it raises the question, do we even need to leave our homes to experience restaurant level satiety and enjoyment?

Link:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/heston-blumenthal-food-photos-social-media-trend-restaurant-a9282631.html