Global Media News

The Artist, Best Picture or Best Tribute?

Last Sunday, America watched French director Michel Hazanavicius of The Artist take home the Oscar for Best Picture. Rightfully so, this silent film deserved all of the recognition it received, but there is a question that lies next to this film winning this prestigious award. Did The Artist win Best Picture simply because its the first of its kind in ages?

Without any disrespect to The Artist, this question should be asked. The idea of a silent film seems rather heartwarming, as it brings you back to a classical era, which may be why it is loved by so many Americans. From the Huffington Post Karen Lawrence, a president at Sarah Lawrence college respects this film with an understanding of its purpose.

"What may seem like nostalgia or anachronism in a film made in 2011 is actually a timely parable of the disruptive effects of technology facing art and education today. The movie is at once homage to the expressive power and beauty of silent filmmaking and an exploration of both the anxieties and opportunities created in the face of technological change."

What Karen Lawrence is saying, is that maybe in the case of The Artist, less is more.  She feels that there is a certain beauty to a film that uses no dialogue as apposed to a movie like Transformers that is full of technological advancements.  Along with Karen Lawrence, viewers that sat in the audience The Artist reviewed the movie, and felt a bit of nostalgia as well.

In opposition to Karen Lawrence, blogger Cory Giger feels as if The Artist less of a "best picture" and more of a "gimmick," due to its lack of originality. "The Academy obviously felt moved by a unique film that brought attention to Hollywood's largely forgotten silent era." Gieger expressed. The Academy should have put is sentimentality aside, however, and viewed "The Artist" for what it really is: A gimmick with too many flaws to be called "Best Picture."

Although there is a question of whether The Artist should have received the award for Best Picture at the Academy awards, there is no question that is pays respects with a tribute to all silent films of the past.

New Online Dating Sites, Not So Online?

To your average person, the most commonly known online dating sites are ones like e-harmony or match.com, but little do many people know, there are new types of dating networks that have a bit more interaction.  These new start-up sites mesh the use of the internet with hip social settings such as singles parties and meet and greet gatherings.  

A network like Me So Far, based out of Chicago, gathers singles together in a face to face social setting.  At these gatherings every interested single presents a six minute power-point or monologue about what they have done, and where they have been.  Afterwords the singles are able to mingle and discuss more about themselves.  But is this type of interaction more affective than the traditional dating sites?

 

In an article from The New York Times, journalist, Stephanie Rosenbloom explains the hype of this type of dating opposed to the "old school" online dating services.  

"After all, while the Web does broaden the dating pool, it has also disappointed scores of people (a fact that does not surprise social psychologists who recently reported that dating site algorithms are hardly scientific.) Sitting home at night scrolling through online profiles can sometimes feel like the 21st-century equivalent of sitting in a bar alone, hoping to score."

Now this doesn't mean that the internet is completely useless here.  Although there is a desire for an in person introduction with your potential mate, founders of these new networks make sure there is a middle ground between the internet and face to face interaction.

Tawkify, another dating network, gathers singles for a short period of time on the internet , then transfers to phone calls.  The applicants submit pictures and answer ten questions about themselves on the site, and then are interviewed over the phone by a team of matchmakers.  After a week the single is then coupled up with another applicant and they are set up on an over the phone date.

So are these new networks on the rise to becoming the next sensation in dating? Or will our traditional online dating sites keep doing what their doing? Or maybe just maybe more people will meet the really old fashioned way.

 

Are PETA Ads Too Risque?

PETA, the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals are an American based organization, whose primary concern is to fight for the welfare of all animals, but in doing so, sometimes spark up some controversy.  While their underlying concern is saving animals, some believe that all PETA's ads do is promote sex and violence.  

 

An article from the New York Daily News, brings a PETA video to surface, and asks if it is violently inappropriate or not.  The video was broadcasted this past Valentines Day, and it displays a half naked woman in a neck-brace because of her dangerous vegan boyfriend.  While trying to promote proper veganism, some believe that this video seemed a little too violent for the public eye, and may promote violence towards women.  Michael Learmonth, the digital editor at Advertising Age, explained that PETA was going for a shock value, it may been taken too far. "I don't think portraying women as beat up physically is a good idea, even in jest." this PETA video may or may not promote violence towards women, I am sure that they got their point across about proper veganism. 

Along with violent ads, PETA is also infamous for making scandalous advertisements.  To many people, the PETA ads that use sex, graphic images, and exploitation are rather offensive and inappropriate.  An article from the Business Insider gives us The 15 Most Offensive PETA Advertisements, that use women happily flaunting their own skin.

While many people do not take the PETA advertisements as promoting a cause, there are people who are advocates for the welfare of animals. These people know that the root of every advertisement, be it a little risky is only trying to promote fairness for all animals and should be respected like any other cause.

PETA has no problem speaking out about why their advertisements are a little risky at times.  Which is why they dedicated a page on their website answering the question, Why does PETA us controversial tactics?   Answering this question PETA states,

"We will do extraordinary things to get the word out about animal cruelty because we have learned from experience that the media, sadly, do not consider the terrible facts about animal suffering alone interesting enough to cover. It is sometimes necessary to shake people up in order to initiate discussion, debate, questioning of the status quo, and, of course, action."

Facebook's Billion Dollar Baby

Social Media giant, Facebook announced that it will buy Instagram for a billion dollars.Instagram is the new hip photo sharing app that has taken the mobile web markets by storm. Instagram now has over 30 million users.

"On Tuesday, a message from the Instagram Twitter account said that the app had hit the #1 spot on Apple’s App Store for the first time ever. And in the week since it hit Google’s app marketplace, the Android version of Instagram has logged an impressive 5 million downloads."

According to an article written by Hayley Tsukayama for The Washington Post. The importance of this purchase is highly debateable. Some think Facebook made this purchase to prevent Apple from buying instagram. Others believe Zuckerberg made the puirchase to acquire the 30 million users.

To others, it's the biggest sign yet of a growing Web bubble. If this is true it will mark the second major internet bubble.

The first was the dot-com bubble, also referred to as the Internet bubble and the Information Technology Bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000. The period was marked by the founding (and, in many cases, spectacular failure) of a group of new Internet-based companies commonly referred to as dot-coms. Companies were seeing their stock prices shoot up if they simply added an "e-" prefix to their name and/or a ".com" to the end, which one author called "prefix investing". A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics such as P/E ratio in favor of confidence in technological advancements. The collapse of the bubble took place during 2000-2001.

It's about time this web bubble bursts. Nothing that springs up overnight has any real value.

 but "Facebook doesn't need users, community, or a startup that's not yet profitable, no matter how hip it is," says Molly Wood in her blog for CNET News. According to Ms. Wood Facebook already has atleast "850 million" users of it's own. So Facebook is certainly not hurting to gain new users. It is believed that at this point Facebook's growth potential is slowing, however it is expected that Facebook will gain another 100 million users globally in the near future.

Pakistan to Put Up Censorship Wall

For those living in Pakistan, censorship of the media is something known all too well. Whether it be tv, radio, journalism, or the internet nothing can get past the government's censors.  The Pakistani government has placed laws against any material they find blasphemous or sexual.

 Back in September of 2008, Zafar Abbas, the Resident Newspaper editor for Islamabad, talks about why there is a need for censorship of the different medias in Pakistan:

Zafar Abbas on Censorship

Just as Abbas said, the issue of what can and cannot be put out to the public by news papers and television stations is still a debatable issue in Pakistan.  Yet, they want to call themselves a free country which for many, I would believe, is very contradictory.  This issue they are trying so hard to fix, will cause an uproar by itself. 

While Pakistan is less restricted than other Asian and Middle Eastern countries when it comes to web access, in recent news, their government has proposed to block many internet websites.  According to the New York Times, the Pakistan government is following China's lead with their own "Great Firewall".  They are requesting that internet providers block access to certain websites with an automatic filtering system.

The project will cost no less than 10 million dollars and will wind up blocking nearly 50 million URL's

Many free speech activists are shocked, for one, that the government is so forthcoming about the plan and second, appalled that the government is going through with it.  Shahzad Ahmad, the director of Bytes for All Pakistan commented:  "They are already blocking a lot of Internet content, and now they are going for a massive system that can only limit and control political discourse... The government has nothing to do with what I choose to look at."  

Activists against censorship feel that the government is going backwards to when the General Pervez Musharraf ruled.  Chief executive Sana Saleem of Bolo Bhi a campaign group against restrictions on the Internet, says that the Pakistani government is trying too much to become like China, but what they fail to realize is that "China is an autocratic regime and we are a democracy.”  

As I said previously, while Pakistan likes to call themselves an independent and free nation, this occurring event shows to outsiders that they are just the opposite.  No free nation would need a national web blocker.  

AT&T's New Advertising Campaign: "Rethink Possible"

The phrase "It's what you do with what we do" will be heard and seen a lot more over the next few months as AT&T releases a new advertising campaign to move forward. The new advances are in both their technology as well as in remaking their own image. According to Stuart Elliot, a New York Times reporter, "the campaign includes commercials on television and online and a robust presence in social media like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs."

Through the use of all these social media websites, more consumers will see the advertisements because of the amount of people who regularly use the sites. Using different mediums might even bring in new customers who wouldn’t normally see the ads in the places where they’re regularly shown.

Elliot also discusses how AT&T is planning on reaching many people with the use of two phrases in particular. These slogans are "It's what you do with we do" and "Rethink possible." By using these two new phrases, it will signal to the general public that there is a new image that AT&T is portraying and it will allow customers to see the new technology that is being released. By telling consumers that there are new products and new innovations, it is possible that AT&T could reel in new customers because of the amount of people who want to keep their Smartphone  and other gadgets updated.

The senior vice president of brand marketing for AT&T, Esther Lee, stated "The real innovation that's happening is what people are doing, and how people are dealing, with technology, and the unique ways they use it to make their lives better." This means that the ad campaign is not really about the new phones, it’s about how people interact with their new phones, and how the phones allow them to connect with one another. Her statement  makes the new slogan "It's what you do with what we do" very relevant. Lee's summary of the mission statement proves that the company is realizing what, and how, people are using their products. These changes are being made so that the products can be marketed in this way. 

According to another New York Times article, AT&T is already "one of the five largest American advertisers," and will be advertising in all different mediums, and add on to previous ads in previous years. Because of the company’s popularity, it will be easy to reach out to many people because so many know about the company and are awaiting the next update from AT&T. This campaign isn't necessarily to sell a specific product, it's more about selling the image of the company as a whole. This is because of the different ways that the company is portraying itself in each of the different advertisements.

These ads will help the company to reach their target markets because the advertisements will be geared specifically to tell consumers what the company's aim is based on what is shown in each of the ads themselves. Hopefully this campaign will allow for more consumption, and in turn, greater profit and customer satisfaction. These advertisements can open a lot of doors for AT&T, it's just up to the marketing board to make a statement by the advertisements that are shown.

Don't Steal From Weird Al !

 

    Weird Al Yankovic, through his company Ear Booker Enterprises, is suing Sony Music Entertainment for five million dollars. One of the  reasons behind this lawsuit is that Sony Music made wrongful sales, which resulted in great under payments. Another reason for the suit is that the company was also paying Yankovic the price for downloads sales instead of the 50% that license sales are suppose to get. Additionally, claims have been made saying that Sony Music hasn't shared any money it received from lawsuit settlements cites such as Napster, Kazaa and Grokster.

    The lawsuit stated that Sony Music accepted a piece agreement with YouTube in exchange for providing the site with the company's advertisement. At that time, Sony Music was given a piece agreement  with Al.  Yankovic's "White & Nerdy" video was one of  the most popular vidoes on the site. The suit says, "a portion of Sony's equity share in YouTube is directly apportionable and allocable to "White and Nerdy," as well as other content created by Yankovic".

 

 The Inquisitr states that,  "Eminem won a case in federal Supreme Court and in March Sony settled a class action lawsuit for $8 million, that lawsuit was settled over similar terms". Similarly, the rapper sued his record label, Universal Music Group, "for the way royalties are calculated for digital music on whether they are considered a license or a sale." Richard Busch, who is a partner from the Nashville-based firm, is already known for winning cases against the Universal Music Group for treating downloads as a sale instead of a license and now the major has to pay Eminem's former production company, F.B.T. Productions, 50% of net fees from download sales.

 

 

 

Are You Being Watched??

 

     It's believed by many people that in order to keep their homes or workplaces secure, some kind of security device is needed.  However, in the technologically advanced world of today, many people are finding ways to hack into these security devices, specifically cameras, and spy on people in the privacy of their homes and workplaces.  So I pose this question: Who's Watching You??

    A blog called Console Cowboys brought to the attention of many that some models of a home security camera made by the company Trendnet can be hacked into.  The blog even went as far as to post instructions on how to access these devices.  All one has to do is get a code from the firmware of Trendnet, attach it to the IP address of any camera of that company and VIOLA!!!  You're watching your neighbor paint their toes tickle me pink. 

      Katie Notopoulos of The Verge received an email from Zak Wood, the director of Global Marketing for Trendnet, issuing this statement:

"We became aware of it when it was reported on a public forum, very recently. This is a major concern and we dedicated significant resources to fix this issue immediately."

     He also advises that Trendnet customers update their firmware over a secure, wired internet connection.

    Hacking into security cameras is starting to become a dangerous trend.  In the UK 1.85 million security cameras were put up to decrease the crime rate.  Andrea Petrou of TechEYE.net reports that a security expert, who is going unnamed, warns this new technology will become a new target.  He states that "although this isn't a new risk, we've seen this increase over the past few years as this technology becomes more of a tool to provide evidence and put people away."  Hackers will try to break the encryption of the cameras and get in to rid of any evidence if a crime were to occur.

    Knowing that an average person can do this, makes me wonder about the capabilities of an expert hacker.  They will eventually get tired of watching people on security cameras and want to take it to the next level. Possibly hacking into people's personal information or worse the government's.

New Way to Recruit Employees for the Advertising World

The American Association of Advertising Agencies, or Four A's, has launched a new way for young people to get involved in the advertising world. Stuart Elliot from the New York Times reported that the connection of job-seeker to company, was to become easier on March 28th, 2012, with the start-up of the new website called Open Advertising. Four A's revealed their new channel of information at "their annual Transformation conference"- Elliot.

According to a NYConvergence.com article, the website "is meant to address a survey last year that concluded that the industry's efforts to attract and maintain talented employees was not sufficient." This means that the website is intended to help recruit and keep people who will create effective advertisements. It was also stated that the website's features are directly intended for Four A's to be able to attract such people. 

On the website's homepage, the mission statement is clearly stated as this:

"The work advertising agencies do is changing, and the people we need to do it have diverse backgrounds and skill sets. OpenAdvertising is a place for people interested in a career in advertising to explore what we do and how we do it"-openadvertising.aaaa.org. 

According to the mission statement, there is a demand for advertising professionals and this website will help people who are interested in advertising to connect more with the world they wish to become a part of. It seems that this website is a beneficial step forward, not only for job searching, but also for Four A's itself. This is because potential job-seekers are allowed, and encouraged, to post opinions of what they think advertising should be. Four A's will be announcing this website's launch at a conference sometime in April.

 The conference that is to be held is a way for Four A's to connect with potential customers and to inform attendees about their advancement on the web. According to the Ad Age Digital Conference sign-up page, speakers will be talking about the new ways that social media networks are being used in advertising, and how other venues of entertainment and information are changing the way advertisements are created. Nancy Hill, president and chief executive of Four A's, stated:

"This is about bringing in a generation that's been content creators all their lives, and making advertising the preferred career choice for talent of all stripes."

Hill's statement speaks volumes of how hard the company is trying to get the next generation of workers interested in joining the advertising world. The website is connected with videos on YouTube, as well as accounts on Facebook.  On the homepage of Open Advertising, a person is able to log in with their Facebook usernames, and they are able to upload and comment on content displayed on the website. These comments will help Four A's to become more aware of what people expect advertising will do for them. 

Overall, this project surely will help the company in finding, and keeping, employees who will effectively get the job done. The website is also useful for job seekers because it allows them to get in touch with Four A's, and it allows them to show what they have to offer the company as a potential employee. This website is useful in more ways than one, and hopefully it will truly help Four A's in the future. 

The Oreo Cookie Turns 100 and Kraft Foods is Letting Customers Know

100 years is a long time especially when it comes to years of existence, which makes sense that Kraft Foods would be making a big deal of the lifespan of the Oreo cookie. March 6^th will mark the birth date of the cookie, and according to New York Times reporter, Stuart Elliot, Kraft has lots in store for its cookie-lovers.

Kraft Foods has several ways of informing consumers about this momentous birthday. There are many advertisements all over the place; the internet, in print, and in stores. The one advertisement that consumers will enjoy the most is the limited edition flavored Oreo, birthday cake. According to Elliot, all of these steps to make consumers more aware of the Oreo cookie, and its legacy, are helping to increase the target market for the cookies in general.

"The campaign is indicative of two trends reshaping consumer marketing. One, referred to on Madison Avenue as authenticity, involves responding to a growing interest among consumers seeking value in the provenance of brands as they search for products whose quality has been tested over time. The other trend involves efforts to present those heritage brands in updated ways to reassure consumers they can still meet contemporary needs."- Stuart Elliot 

In regard to Elliot's statement, customers want to consume products that they have always been familiar with; things they can rely on being the same. The advertising campaign for awareness of the cookies' 100 years is meant to update the Oreo's look, as well as its overall image. It's important for consumers to know that the brands and products they choose are up to date, and are reliable. That is exactly the aim of Kraft Foods in this instance.

 Not only is the Oreo cookie being advertised, but it’s also being introduced all over the world. According to a press release made by Kraft Foods, the cookie "is now available in more than 100 countries around the world." This makes the cookie more well-known and more widely consumed, which increases revenue for Kraft. This birthday is more than just the marking of the creation of a delicious cookie, it's the marking of new markets and growth, two things that any company could use. 

Kraft is trying to make sure that childhood is not lost any more than it already has been. Children these days do not experience their childhood as older generations did because of the increase in technology. Kraft’s goal is to make sure that the true meaning of childhood is preserved. In a press release made by the company in early March, it was stated by the Senior Director of Oreo Global, John Ghingo, that: 

“Despite this, the simple act of enjoying an OREO cookie and the ritual of twisting, licking, and dunking continues to speak to a universal, human truth: Inside all of us, whether grown-up or still growing, there’s a kid that deserves to be set free every once in a while.” 

According to Ghingo, childhood memories need to be maintained, and Kraft is planning to do this by means of the Oreo Birthday. Kraft is doing so by making more people around the world aware of the fact that childhood is forever. It is important that traditions, as simple as eating an Oreo cookie, stay intact for children to enjoy the years they have. Children aren't the only one's targeted here though. The company is trying to make anyone and everyone connect with their inner child, because Oreo is such a large part of childhood. Kraft has created sweepstakes that involve parent-child interaction, which will bring out the child and imagination of any parent.

The ways in which Kraft Foods has decided to reach out to the public, in order to reinvent themselves and to remind consumers about the goodness of the Oreo cookie, will surely have a great affect on consumption of the cookie. The new Birthday Cake flavor will most definitely grab consumers' attention, and will remind them of the days when all they had to worry about was how many cookies they took from the cookie jar. This campaign is sure to have the affects Kraft has intended.