Weekly Analysis #5 The Forensic Formula

The television show CSI has inspired an entire new generation of one-hour murder/mystery television shows, as after it first appeared back in 2000, there were many more shows with the same exact formula that followed soon after. There is now a CSI Miami, CSI NY, Cold Case and Bones are just a few of the copycat shows that followed in the footsteps of the original CSI. People have long seemed curious as to how murders were able to be solved, these shows, while not real, do provide a realistic depiction of how detectives are able to solve a seemingly, unsolvable case.
I decided to write about the formulas that go along with every crime scene investigation show, whether it is fictional or non-fictional, they all seem to have the same outcome in the end. I really do not watch the fictional shows nearly as much as the non-fictional shows, such as; Forensic Files and Snapped, however, it seems to be pretty clear that they operate with pretty much the same concept. That of the criminal would not have been able to get away with their crime, had it not been for the benefits of forensic science and the genius detectives that were able to solve the case.
The formula is; starting out with the actual horrific crime, detectives investigate the crime scene, they round up the potential suspects for questioning, one of which always seems to be a bit odd and does not have a solid alibi for their whereabouts the time that the crime was committed, however, they do not have any concrete evidence against him/her, the case usually at that point goes cold as they run out of leads and potential suspects. But wait a minute, here come the forensic detectives with a new shred of evidence barely visible to the naked eye; however, given to a forensic scientist, and running all of the necessary tests on this micro-fiber, they are able to determine that one of the suspects could be tied to being at the scene of the murder around the time when it was committed.
These shows usually end up in the perpetrator confessing to the crime when they are presented with the forensic evidence or if it does go to trial that little shred of evidence is referred to as the smoking gun that solved the case. Everyone that was involved with the case at this point, at least on the non-fictional shows, praises the ability of forensic science and how without it, they would have never have been able to solve the case. I always think of the old Scooby Doo episodes when I was a kid, at the end of every episode, when they would catch the criminal, they would rip off his mask, everyone would gasp at who it was, and the criminal would say, “And I would have gotten away with it too, if it hadn’t been for you meddling kids!” I really do enjoy these shows and do not mean to appear that I am trivializing them, I think that it is great that there is such a thing as forensic science that helps to catch murderers and criminals, I just always find it comical that almost every episode follows the exact same formula.

Weekly Analysis #4 Athletes and Trouble with the Law

Many people idolize professional athletes, their fame, fortune, lifestyle, and sense of invincibility; all contribute to the public’s idolization of these figures. Unfortunately, these same characteristics often lead to trouble for young athletes who obtain all of this power and fame at such an early age. Many athletes often find themselves on the wrong side of the law due to carrying concealed weapons, drug possession, getting into fights, dog fighting, steroids, and in some cases, even being accused of rape.

These same athletes should have some sense of a moral obligation to realize that people, especially children, look up to them as heroes. It seems as though a week cannot go by without the public having to hear about another athlete that find themselves in some sort of trouble. Over the past few years, we have seen some very famous athletes that have been in legal predicaments, including; Kobe Bryant (accused of rape, however; charges were dropped), Barry Bonds (numerous steroid accusations and now has a federal perjury charge pending against him), Adam “Pac-Man” Jones (been involved in numerous incidents, including; playing a role in a night club bouncer being shot and paralyzed), and Michael Vick (currently serving prison time for his role in a dog-fighting ring). The biggest problem seems to be the gun-toting athletes. Luke Scott, a pitcher for the Houston Astros, “estimates that as many as 20 percent of Major League Baseball players carry concealed weapons, and more than 50 percent own some type of gun. A bodyguard for NBA players, estimates that close to 60 percent of basketball players carry a gun and Jabar Gaffney, a wide receiver for the New England Patriots, thinks that 90 percent of NFL players have firearms. (Berko, Delsohn, Rovegno, 2006) These are only a few examples of “so-called” heroes and the problems that they represent in our society.

This is definitely not to say that all athletes are bad people and that some of them are not deserving of the heroic status, however; the media seems to focus much more on the negative than the positive, after all, negativity sells newspapers and gets ratings. You will very seldom hear about athletes like Warrick Dunn, a running back for the Atlanta Falcons, who every year purchases a brand new home for an underprivileged single mother in the Atlanta region. Dunn is truly a hero for everyone to look up to and admire.

Athletes, whether they want to be or not, are role models and serve as heroes to many people. They can play a significant role in the psyche of a child, we can only hope and wish that they start to realize the seriousness and consequences that their actions carry.

References
Berko, S., Delsohn, S., & Rovegno, L. (2006) Athletes and guns. ESPN Outside the lines. Retrieved November 30th, 2007, from http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=2691043

Assignment 1-3 Article Analysis: Tricksters and the Marketing of Breakfast Cereals

Article Analysis: Tricksters and the Marketing of Breakfast Cereals

The article that I chose to write about is “Tricksters and the Marketing of Breakfast Cereals”, written by Thomas Green. In this article, Green delves into the idea that major food distributors use the unique “trickster” marketing technique in order to pander to children and sometimes their parents. He asks the question of why this seems to almost be the exclusive technique used in the marketing of breakfast cereals and wonders if these techniques could have originated from sort of underlying religious theme of morality and purity from the nineteenth century. Prepared breakfast foods originated in the late nineteenth century at which time many Americans’ diets consisted of mainly large quantities of meat, with little consumption of fruit, vegetables, or fiber. Non-meat foods in this period were considered of inferior nutritional value. The mass consumption of meat often led to a vast array of digestive complaints.
Green writes about Sylvester Graham, a man who was one of the most important figures in the history of breakfast cereal and whose legacy still resonates today with “Graham” crackers. He was emphatic with the idea that dietary reform would lead to moral purity and goodness. He argued that eating raw fruits and vegetables combined with a limited meat and water intake, along with a strong emphasis on cereal products made with whole grains, would provide an instant cure of the world’s social and digestive problems. He published numerous pamphlets that influenced some of the major businessmen of that time, including, but not limited to, J.H. Kellogg, who credited Graham with being instrumental in the health-food movement. Kellogg, in 1895, along with help from his brother and a lawyer, invented the first ready to eat right out of the box cereal, “Granose.” C.W. Post continued with the association between breakfast foods and moral goodness. Post introduced the cereal brands, Grapenuts and Post Toasties, which he marketed side-by-side and promoted as the building blocks of a complete, healthy lifestyle. Post included a pamphlet within every box of Grapenuts, called, “The Road to Wellville”, which gave birth to an entirely new culture of eating habits and changed the way that Americans would eat forever.
This movement of associating the words, “sacred” and “healthy” is still evident in today’s society, as many people seem to accept without question that breakfast foods are somehow healthier for you than other foods that are eaten throughout the rest of the day. The entire notion of breakfast food advertising in the nineteenth century seemed to center around deep-seated mythic images of health and happiness.
Starting in the last half of the twentieth century, advertisers started using cartoon characters or tricksters to market their cereal brands. There seem to be different circumstances that encompass these marketing techniques. The first being that of overwhelming desire and enthusiasm to obtain the unattainable, such as; the Trix Rabbit, he seems to be willing to do anything to score a bowl of Trix, however, his attempts always seem to fall by the wayside because Trix are not for rabbits, “Trix are for kids”. Another example that Green writes about is to be able to turn the trick on the trickster, such as; the Lucky Charms leprechaun, who uses his magical abilities to protect his marshmallows and cereal from the children that are chasing after it. Inevitably, something always goes awry with his scheme(s) and the cereal falls into the waiting hands of the children. Life and Kix cereal break the taboo that certain “healthy” cereals are only for adults. In the Life commercials, they would show some kids sitting around a table not wanting to eat their parent’s cereal, so they made a kid named Mikey eat it, (“Hey Mikey, he likes it!), this seemingly places and end to the belief that so-called healthy cereals were only made for adults. The final example is the hero trickster, Tony the Tiger is one of these tricksters. These characters provide the cereal as a gift to children rather than trying to steal it from them with some kooky scheme. In the Frosted Flakes advertisements there were always children who did not fit in due to a lack of popularity or athleticism. Once Tony the Tiger showed up on the scene and provided a bowl of cereal, the kids seem to pull a 180 degree turn around and are now able to accomplish what previously seemed impossible.
Finally, breakfast cereals market to the youth of the world by offering prizes inside of their boxes of cereal. We can all probably remember when we were kids, not really caring if we liked the cereal or not, we would simply pick out the cereal that had the best prize inside.
Thomas Green wrote a very interesting and intriguing article here, which was very in-depth and provided a plethora of information and quite a few thought provoking ideas. I am pretty sure that there will not be anyone that reads this article that has ever contemplated anything about breakfast cereals and their variety of advertising campaigns.
I really do not believe that there is any difference between breakfast cereal marketing techniques and the techniques that fast-food chains, department stores, or toy stores implement. They are all simply trying to find an edge in a constantly changing consumer market. They are trying to get us to buy their products and since we live in such of a competitive marketing society, we better get used to trying to be persuaded or tricked.


References
Green, T. (2007, February). Tricksters and the marketing of breakfast cereals.
The Journal of Popular Culture, 40, 49-68

Weekly Analysis #3

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a rite of season that has happened annually since it began in 1924. Every year, a parade is held in Manhattan that celebrates the Thanksgiving holiday and the fact that Christmas is quickly approaching. More than 2.5 million people line the streets of Manhattan and another 44 million people tune in to watch the extravaganza on NBC. This festive event includes, balloons, floats, celebrities, bands and clowns in what many people may consider to be the most spectacular celebration in the world. There has only been one interruption in the parade’s storied history from 1942-1944, Macy’s actually donated their balloons to the war effort, as their rubber was a rare and much-needed resource. When the parade resumed in 1945, it was bigger and better than ever, it was televised for the first time and this is the year that they began the parade route that is still used today.
Macy’s parade is probably most recognized for their huge helium-filled balloons of different cartoon and comic book characters. The first balloon in the parade’s history was Mickey Mouse in 1934. The 1950s and 1960s saw some of the most popular balloons of all time be introduced, including; Superman, Kermit the Frog, and Snoopy. Personally, as a child, I can remember being so excited to wake up on Thanksgiving morning, smelling all of the great food that my mother was preparing and watching the Macy’s parade with my family before the football games came on. I also knew that this meant that Christmas was right around the corner and that it was time to start making up for being a bad kid all year so that Santa Claus would not forget about me. This parade is really the ultimate pop icon for the holiday season, kicking off what many people consider to be, the most wonderful time of the year.

References
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade website. History section. Retrieved November 23, 2007, from http://www.macys.com/campaign/parade/parade.jsp

15 Minutes of Shame

In this day and age, almost everyone seems to want to be in the spotlight in any way that they can. That is why You-Tube and other “15 seconds of fame” websites are so vastly popular right now in our web-based society. Everything and anything that you do in a public forum could potentially end up being found on a You-Tube type of website.
Anyone from the highest celebrity status to any normal Joe Schmoe could find themselves on one of these websites whether they approve of it or not. With people constantly trying to find something embarrassing to snap a picture of with their cell phone cameras, you have to seemingly be always conscious of what you are doing. I have even found a clip of myself caught at an embarrassing moment singing at a wedding on You-Tube, not knowing that my nephew was filming me.
These sort of funny 30 to 60 second clips are pretty harmless and usually, somewhat funny; however, these websites have came under some scrutiny for violating copyright infringement laws. They often publish clips of television shows and movies on their websites that I believe is morally and ethically wrong. Television shows and movies are a form of artistic expression and posting these clips without authorized permission is against the law; however, they seem to be getting away with it without any consequence.
As long as people keep doing stupid things, being fame-seeking hounds, and technology keeps getting better and better, none of us are immune to finding ourselves on You-Tube, quite possibly, we do not really care.

My Icons

Howard Stern, Kurt Cobain, and Jack Nicholson are the three contemporary icons that I have chosen to write about. Howard Stern is a radio icon, while controversial in many ways and perceived to be chauvinistic and disgusting to many people, I believe him to be a very sentimental, kind person at heart. Kurt Cobain and Nirvana transcended an entire generation of young impressionable teens in the late 80's and early 90's. He will forever be the lasting image of the grunge era of music. Jack Nicholson's career has spanned over four decades; I believe that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone that did not recognize him, whether it is in a new movie or courtside at a Los Angeles Laker's game.
I chose these three men as my icons because I believe that they represent many different genres of people and I think that everyone knows who they are and what they represent as individuals.
I wake up every morning and listen to Howard Stern; his show helps me to get through my daily work. His witty humor and unique views on all things pop culture spanning from his thoughts on the latest television shows, to his interesting political views. I was in high school when Kurt Cobain and Nirvana busted onto the music scene. I was like many other kids that were my age that was yearning for something different and Seattle's grunge music scene provided just that outlet. Cobain's influence in modern music can still be heard to this day. Jack Nicholson has always been my favorite actor; he has played some of my favorite roles, roles that will be forever famous. He always seems to carry himself with a certain amount of arrogance that I would normally not like very much; however, he seems to be able to get away with it because he seems so cool. Even though he is getting older, he still seems to appeal to younger generations.

Stop Dogging Me

I am a lover of animals and that is why the recent story about Ellen DeGeneres and the entire dog scandal I found very interesting. This is a textbook example of how the mainstream media can take a story and blow it entirely out of proportion. There are between 8 to 12 million homeless animals that enter into rescue shelters in the United States every year (Tresniowski, Jordan, Clark, 2007), and yet this one dog that was adopted by a celebrity and “re-homed” to another family managed to create more of a stir than those staggering numbers.
This is very much pop culture right now as you are not able to turn on any late-night talk shows without Jay Leno, David Letterman, or one of the other late-night hosts either talking about it or cracking a joke about it. I can see both sides of this argument.
From Ellen’s side, I can see how she feels as though she did not do anything inappropriate. She adopted a dog as she has many times before; she makes it no secret that she is a devout animal lover. She claimed that after almost two weeks of professional obedience training, the dog simply could not get along with her other animals. She then decided to give the dog to her hairdresser and the hairdresser’s family to whom I am sure she thought would give the dog a great life.
From the animal adoption agency’s side I also understand how they reacted as they have rules in place for everyone. These rules are in place for a reason and should not be any different for a celebrity than they would be for the public. They feel as though Ellen deceived them and that if you or I could not get away with it, then neither should anyone else, regardless of their status or fame.

Honestly, my opinion about the entire situation is that with so many homeless animals in our country every year who would love to have a nice warm home to live in, I really do not see the problem with Ellen giving the dog to another family as long as the adoption agency went through the same process with them that they would to begin with. I feel as though there are much more important issues currently going on in the world around us than one dog and who’s family it is living with; however, I understand that people are passionate about animals, (i.e. Michael Vick situation) I myself, one of them, and I know that this is a very spirited debate filled to the brim with popular culture. That is why I believe that this would be a suitable topic for a class discussion. I ultimately wish that every animal would have a warm and loving home.

Tresniowski, A., Jordan, J., Clark, C. (2007, November). A dog gone shame.
People, 68(19), 77-80