TOW #18- Pepsi Advertisement

For this TOW, I have decided to do a Pepsi advertisement that I have seen many times before, but have never looked deeply into.  This advertisement has the obvious purpose of expressing how Pepsi is better than its competitor, Coke. Although it cant obviously be seen, the red bottle represents Coke with its famous red can and white wave on it. This was made so that the audience, who are soda drinkers, are more inclined to choose Pepsi over Coke. The author, Pepsi, expressed this message in a number of way that worked great.

One of the most obvious features of this advertisement is the background. It is blue like the Pepsi can. I don’t really know what the name of this deceive is, but I believe it is effective. By having the background blue, it adds emphasis on the other can, the Coke one. It perhaps makes it stand out and seem like and outsider as though to make it seem unappealing.

The other most prominent device is the personification of the straw in the drinks. The advertisement clearly juxtaposes both can to one another. Everything is the same about them. The angle, the water drips, the top. The only difference is the straws that go into them. The Coke straw seems to be putting up a struggle, as though it doesn’t want to go into the can. The Pepsi straw on the other hand is in without a fight. This personification of the two straws is meant to show that it doesn’t want to go into the Pepsi, which makes it seem unappealing to the audience looking at it.

This advertisement is simple and doesn’t have a lot going on. But I believe that it is super effective. Pepsi’s advertisement team clearly knows what they are doing and I am sure that this advertisement has made them some money.

TOW #17- Is Humanity Getting Better? by Leif Wenar

      In a time where racism seems like the worlds biggest problem, hate being everywhere, and rich ruling over the poor, it is sometimes important to take a step back and appreciate what we do have. “Is Humanity Getting Better?” by Leif Wenar, a writer for the New York Times, shows us what we should really appreciate. Ever since the turn of the century humanity has gotten better. Wars have lessen, death by disease has lessened, starvation has lessoned. All of these are great feats that humanity has achieved over time and they are under appreciated. That’s exactly what Leif Wenar’s purpose is: to express to people who complain about the way people have turned out that there is a lot of good in society and also that we need to grow and learn as a people more quickly or everything is going to catch up with us.

            One of the greatest ways the author helps to express this opinion is by little narratives throughout the article. When describing the death from the plague in London, Wenar writes, “Now spared from their predators, the rats spread the affliction even more fiercely. The medical advice from London’s College of Physicians — to press a hen hard on the swellings until the hen died — did not slow the disease. In the end, the Plague of 1665 is thought to have killed almost 20 percent of London’s population” (Wenar 1). These narratives not only include facts and statistics in order to appeal to logos, they also use imagery and depiction in order to appeal to pathos as well. This excellent use of narrative throughout the article enhances the readers experience and helps them to understand and connect to the point being made.

            This article brings up a lot of good points about the future and the direction we are heading. It was a very good piece.

IRB intro #3

      For my book this MP I've decided to read Unbroken. I was recommended this book by a friend and fortunately I've only seen the end of the movie, so I can read it then finally watch the whole thing. Looking forward to this book.

Tow #16- A Deadly Wandering pt. 2

I have finished my second book this year, A Deadly Wandering by Matt Richtel. I have to say that I really did enjoy it. For anyone that is a science lover, this book is perfect for you. It combines a true story with loads of scientific studies to make a great book that is fun to read. Based off the story of Reggie Shaw, this book discusses the consequences of distracted driving. Reggie was a 22-year-old living in Utah who was texting and driving. He swerved into the other lane and hit 2 scientists commuting to work. At first Reggie denied texting and driving but after some evidence against him, Reggie came clean. Problem was this happened in 2006, before states passed laws on texting and driving. The judge ultimately found Reggie guilty of homicide but only served in jail for several weeks because of the law. Now Reggie is a public speaker who talks about the impact texting and driving had on his life. The purpose of this book wasn’t to discuss texting and driving though, the idea was to show how technology is getting ahead of us. The speed of technology doubles every 2 years and along with this humans have an addiction to having everything under their own control, so trying to get a control on technology has become a major time consumer and distraction. This book was written for all audiences as it pertains to all drivers.

One of the greatest things Ritchel does in his novel is appeal to logos. One of my favorite quotes from the book was, “He repeated that the texting driver faces a six fold crash risk, whereas a driver talking on the phone faced a four-times increase in likelihood of a crash, which he said was roughly equivalent to someone who is legally drunk. A drunk driver and a person on a phone were equally likely to crash, whereas “we’re seeing the risk factor for accidents when someone is texting exceeds the level when people are legally drunk.” (Ritchel). I just found this statistic crazy and it expressed all the research that can be found in this awesome book.

TOW #14- Thanks to El Niño, Thirsty California Is Suddenly All Wet by Mike McPhate

         

       This particular article caught by attention because California’s drought has been a problem for my father. He works for IKEA as a project manager, so he is in charge of building stores across the country. As of now his project is in Burbank, California which is affected by this drought as much as the rest of the state is. So when reading this article, good news was brought to my attention. According to Mike McPhate, an editor for the New York Times, California has been hit by a major drought for the past 4 years causing a world of problems. Luckily, thanks to El Nino, a warming in the Pacific Ocean that affects the rest of the world, California is getting some water back. Starting last Sunday, California has been met with many major storms bringing above average rainfall to the whole state. Over the next week, the whole state is suppose to get over an inch of rain and there is suppose to be over a foot of snow in the mountains which is essential for the state. Brought with all this are flooding and very rough ocean currents, but according to quotes from the article, the people of California are just happy to have the weather somewhat reverse the effects of the drought.

            McPhate’s purpose in writing this article is to not only inform the nation of this good news, but to also give the people some hope. One of the best strategies that McPhate uses to express this is the way he delivers facts. Its not really something I notice a lot, but McPhate tends to express his facts in his own words; so no direct quotes are used that often. As seen in the quote, “Parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains could get more than a foot of snow, enlarging snowpack that plays a major role in meeting the state’s water needs as it melts in the spring” McPhates delivery allows him to express facts in a way that isn’t boring and lets him make his article flow well. This expression of facts really allows his purpose to be expressed well.

TOW #13- ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Shatters Box Office Records by BROOKS BARNES

         

            Everyone was anticipating the new Star Wars movie this weekend and it seems as though people were  really really really anticipating it. As Brooke Barnes, a journalist for the New York Times who writes about Hollywood news, puts it, the movie took the people by storm and broke some records along the way. After Disney’s opening weekend for “Star Wars; The Force Awakens,” there was a rough estimate of $517 million in ticket sales worldwide. Its first three days earned $238 million in sales which, in respect to how much the movie “Avatar,” the highest grossing movie of all time, made in the first couple days ($85 million), this seems like a gigantic figure. Star Wars fans have been anticipating this film for a while and that truly showed this weekend.

            Besides talking about the movie this weekend, Barnes had another purpose of showing his audience the direction that he believes most movies are going it. Barnes believes that the real money in movies is coming from restarting or continuing franchises. This weekend was the example of the continuation of Star Wars, but later there will be more of the Avengers, Indiana Jones, and X-Men.

            One of the greatest components of this article that made it great was the wit and informality that can be seen. When describing the role movies are moving to, Barnes writes, “plan to battle back: Death Star-size movies that can capture the public’s imagination in ways reminiscent of the earliest years of blockbusterdom, before the hyperfragmentation of pop culture” (Barnes 1). This quote exemplifies his wit and humor, along with his informal jargon. These characteristics make the article seem more like a conversation making it all the more enjoyable to read. So when the audience, who is suppose to be the general public, reads this, it will appeal to all of them.