Monday, March 26, 2012

Changes

Who's version of "Changes" is cooler:

Tupac's

 or

Bowie's?

Please note the following changes to the Consumer Behavior schedule for the next few weeks:

(W) March 28:  Start Beckham

(M) April 2: Finish movie and discuss
(W) April 4:  Case 2

(M) April 9: Individual and family decision making wikis (chapters 8 & 11)
(W) April 11:  Watch Babies

(M) April 16: Finish any decision making wikis. Consumers & culture wikis (chapter 15)

****

Regarding changes to the grading policy of this class, you have 2 options:

1)  No change from the syllabus -- submit all assignments, and have your grade taken as a percentage of points out of a possible 250.

2)  Drop your lowest grade (book review or case study), and have your final grade taken as a percentage of points out of a possible 230.


Friday, March 23, 2012

Case 2, Q 1

 Hi everyone,

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything!

Here's the first (take-home) question for Case 2.  I strongly advise you to familiarize yourselves with the information from the Solomon book before we watch the movie next week -- it'll really help you know what to look for / take notes on when we're watching it.

Please let me know if you need more explanation to help you answer it.

Good luck, and have fun!
Graham

***
In Bend it Like Beckham, Jess is shown being a member of two subcultures -- Indian Britons and female soccer players.    
*Using substantial information from your textbook to support your answer*, identify and discuss defining elements of these subcultures  (e.g., diet, religion, clothing/fashion, romance, family structure, career/education expectations, leisure activities, household décor, etc.). 

Then, *using substantial information from your textbook to support your answer*, discuss how the members of these subcultures (not just Jess) use consumption to help create identities for themselves and express their personalities and lifestyle preferences.

Finally, please note whether you think these portrayals are stereotypes, and justify your opinion, *using substantial information from your textbook to support your answer*.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

The good ol' days


I first came across this cola ad (actually, a parody of '50s advertising created by The City Desk) while taking a stroll through a feature called "Ads We Will Never See Again."  Even though it's really well done, the ad immediately set off my, uh, "satire detector"  because it's just a little too over the top.

Other ads in the series are real, however.  I actually own have a larger version of this PEP ad: 


It was a gift, naturally, from my first husband.  You can stop by my office and see it for yourselves, if you'd like!

Back to selling sugar to kids, this one is real, from 1971...


... as is this one, a shout-out to Bozemanites if there ever was one!


Image sources:
Photos 1, 2 & 4 from http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/photo-galleries/2012/02/01/ads-we-will-never-see-again/photo-86020/
Photo 3 from http://www.ed4wb.org/?p=169