The American Dream Essays - Marketing, Advertising,

The American Dream The American dream. It consists of a family, house, cars, and other luxury items. How did it become the American dream? Why do we feel so compelled to pursue it? The reason is because we, the American public, have been convinced through advertising to acquire it. It is a very powerful way of persuasion. Advertising affects us so powerfully that it sometimes sets our views of society for us. We constantly absorb images of families, houses, and cars through commercials and magazine ads. It persuades us so strongly to the point that it can alter our social consciousness. Alter it to the point that we feel that the American dream is no longer a luxury, it has become a necessity. Today there is almost no way to escape advertisements. The radio, television, and magazine ads make sure of that. The more we view these advertisements, the more we are persuaded toward the American dream. With a television in almost every household and magazines an arm=s length away, advertisers basically have us on our knees. We must digest advertisers= views so frequently that you would think it was necessary to sustain life. Advertising=s main goal is to persuade. They want us to see the American way through their eyes. They tell us what to eat, drink, wear, drive, and think. Advertisers start this form of brainwashing on us at a very early age. They lay the groundwork of ideals early on because it is easy to persuade a child. Now, with the two income family, children are left to interpret not only advertisements but television programming as well without supervision. Children are forced to make their own evaluations and most of the time they go along with the views of what they see. How many times do children want something because they saw it on television? With the unending viewing of shows and advertisements who could blame them. By age twenty, Americans have viewed an estimated half a million commercials. Now that is a major amount of influencing on a young person. This is exactly what advertisers hope to accomplish with young people. They want them to associate advertisements to purchasing. ! It starts out with toys and leads to the American dream. One day they want a matchbox car and a few years later they want a real Porsche. Do not all boys want a fancy car? Do not most girls dream of living in a big house? Is this a coincidence or a carefully thought out scheme by advertisers? Now, how is it exactly that advertisers get us to want the American dream. They do this by channeling into one of our most basic instincts, emotions. Along with emotions, advertisers want to make you feel three other things: connection, imagination, and desire. A connection between the product and a feeling is important. They also want you to imagine yourself in the experience with the merchandise. A strong desire for the product is another effect that the advertiser=s want you to feel. Take for instance any food commercial. They connect the food to a feeling which is hunger. They want you to imagine yourself eating the product. This produces a strong desire for the food. Advertisers hope that this will produce a sale. The stronger the feeling for these topics, the more likely you are to trust and believe that you need them. These feelings are supposed to affect you at a subconscious level. They are not exactly leveling with you. But would you buy something from someone if you! knew they were deceiving you. Why is it that most of us want a family? Well, for the past thirty years we have seen countless families in commercials. Advertisers usually show these families as fun-loving and happy. The message they send out is that a family is healthy. That having a family equals happiness. All of which spell the American dream. If you do not have a family, you are not a complete person and that is not American. Is this not evident through societies silent discouragement of single parents? Do we not think that there is something wrong with someone if they are not married by the age of thirty-five? Advertisers use this

Project Management Theories Essays

Project Management Theories Essays Project Management Theories Essay Project Management Theories Essay Assessment 2: Pre-Course Assignment (20%) Carry out a comprehensive literature review on the software development methodologies (for eg: Rapid Application Development, Object-Oriented Software Development etc) adopted by organizations emphasizing on the following for each method addressed: * What are the main characteristics of the method? * What are the main constraints of the method? * What are the advantages and drawbacks of the method? * When is this method more suitable to use? This is an individual assignment. All reference materials used must be properly acknowledged. Use Harvard referencing method. Assessment 3: Main Assignment (20%) Select an organization of your choice. * Describe the nature of the organization and the nature of the industry to which it belongs to. * Identify the major competitors and the competitive forces affecting the organization. Describe any environmental opportunities or threats to the chosen company that can be considered as significant or likely to be significant over the next few years. * Identify key business, functional or standalone strategies formulated by the chosen company to face the changing environmental conditions. How are these strategies matched with the strengths and weaknesses of the company? * Critically examine the Information systems/strategic IS used, development alternatives used, the purpose of use and analyze the benefits achieved and drawbacks of these information systems. Explain how each of these systems supports the overall business goals of the organization. * Describe the nature of the relationship between the IT division and the other divisions of the organization. Explain problem, change and recovery management processes adopted by the IT division. If the organization does not posses such processes, you may make suitable suggestions as part of your recommendations) * Explain the types of controls used by the IT division in order to protect the IT assets of the organization. * Explain briefly how IT costs are recovered and charge back mechanisms used by the IT division. * Based on you findings make suitable recommendations to improve the Information Systems and the IT division that would enable the organization to emerge as a market leader.

Journalist Martha Rountree Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journalist Martha Rountree - Research Paper Example â€Å"At a time when the female's presence in television production was routinely dismissed as unfeminine, Martha proved that there is not only a niche for the female broadcaster; there is also potential for quality in any commentary regardless of gender†(Martha). Even though, Martha had no college degree, she mesmerized the anchor and journalist profession with her immense abilities and talents. This paper briefly analyses her life and contributions. At the age of sixteen, Martha’s father died which put her in major troubles in finding enough money for the completion of her education. She accepted a job in Columbia Record newspaper, mainly to find enough money for her education. However, she could not finish her college studies because of financial reasons. Since she started her career in a newspaper, she decided to continue her career in journalism and worked for many prominent publications like The Tampa Tribune in Tampa, Florida. In 1938, she resigned from Tampa tri bune and moved to New York City and started her career as a freelance writer. Along with her freelance writing career, she started a production company with the help of her sister which produced singing commercials and transcribed programs in 1944. Martha and her sister Ann succeeded in producing many unique programs which caught the attention of the public at that time. The interviews of women celebrities conducted by Martha and her sister gained much publicity and popularity in America during this period. Her first marriage was to Albert N. Williams, Jr. in 1941 which lasted around seven years and ended in 1948. She had no children in this affair. â€Å"Ms. Rountree married Oliver M. Presbrey in 1952. Mr. Presbrey, an advertising executive, died in 1988† (Files). She had two daughters in this affair. Rountree created a new radio show, called The American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press, on June 24, 1945. However, Meet the Press program which she started on NBC television n etwork, on November 6, 1947 is believed to be her master piece even now. Rountree developed her own ideas and implemented it successfully in this programs which resulted in huge popularity of this program. The major idea of this program was to have public figures respond to irritating questions without prior preparation. People enjoyed the agony and confusion of the celebrities in dealing with the unexpected questions of Martha, very much. Currently meet the press is the longest running television programs in the history of television. It is in the 57th year, at present. President Kennedy once referred to "Meet the Press" as the "fifty-first state," and since the Kennedy presidency, every man who has occupied the Oval Office has appeared on "Meet the Press" during his career. Every Sunday morning for 57 years strong, in times of peace or war, "Meet the Press" is welcomed into the homes of Americans to analyze, discuss and review the news of the week -- and to look ahead to the week to come -- with world-renowned guests (Martha). Foreign policy was the major theme discussed in the meet the press programs while interviewing political celebrities. Some of the prominent world leaders interviewed on this program are; Fidel Castro, Francois Mitterrand, Indira Gandhi, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Ferdinand Marcos, Jean Monnet, Mikhail Gorbachev, Anwar el-Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, King Hussein of Jordan, Hamid Karzai, Pervez Musharraf, King Abdullah of