Tuesday, October 30, 2012
California Baby Print Ad
Below is an executive summary designed for an advertising class assignment:
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To
convince or enlighten families and mothers about the benefits/quality of
organic, sustainably grown/produced products for their babies and for the whole
family. Gentle enough for babies first bath, and pure enough to reduce acne in
adults, California Baby needs to get this knowledge about their products out to
people in metropolitan/suburban areas all across the country and Canada. We will specifically use cute babies in the
picture (because cute/baby is always a successful combinations) but we will
also place a customer review in quotes
on every ad. This will do two things: 1st- Create a strong
brand image (trustworthy, responsible, valuable) and 2nd- encourage customer
engagement with the California Baby brand by promoting the online review of
California Baby products with the promise that each ad will use a direct
customer quote from their written review.
The target
audience is women, in their 20’s to 60’s who have children or care for small
children or have sensitive skin themselves. These women want the best for their
babies, are environmentally concerned/involved, and are also open to trendy
eco-friendly products. These are the type of women who will spend the $12.95
for shampoo for their baby. Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, Katie Homes and
Courtney Cox are all fans of the brand, which has earned cult status in
trendier Asian countries. Though this is a celebrity endorsed product—we are
trying to grow nationally and want to focus on the quality of our product vs.
the sensationalism of celebrity.
The campaign will
only be in print. In magazines (with high gloss photos) and on billboards and
other outdoor surfaces (bus and train stops, etc.). Doing this will let the
consumer experience the ad on their
time—and absorb it completely.
Thought Piece on Ethics
I recently wrote a
rhetorical analysis of an apologia from Rod Blagojevich after his was found
guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison on corruption charges. While
researching and reading quotes from Blagojevich, I began to formulate what
constitutes ethical communications to me. Below are a couple standards I hold
myself accountable to in any communication, whether personal, professional, or
any other situation.
I believe all
persons should always try to be respectful and trustworthy in all communications.
If a person does not feel respected, there is already a barrier in the line of
communication. If the communicator is not trustworthy, they will never be
credible or believable. I also always try to be friendly and welcoming at all
times. Sometimes a situation may not call for outright friendliness. When this
is not possible, I still maintain patience and respectfulness. Another respect
issue that accompanies many miscommunications is learning how to listen.
Listening is key to understanding, and to be an ethical and effective
communicator, one must be able to listen and think before reacting.
I also always try
to be as direct and sincere as possible, and appreciate the same. When faced
with allegations or a potential misunderstanding, miscommunication, or outright
mistake, I apologize directly and honestly and own-up to any direct actions and
responsibility. I have also learned to try to avoid using apologia strategies
in rhetoric, as this is always misinterpreted as not genuine, and is usually
not a sincere apology.
I am confident
there are other areas of ethical communication that I have overlooked. But
without Googling “define ethical communication” these are the best answers I
came up with on my own.
A Story of Love and Citizenship
Marisela Portes holds her right
hand over her heart as she says the pledge of allegiance. This is the first
time she has made this pledge as a United States citizen.
This
special ceremony is more sacred for Portes, 64, than for many. Portes’ father,
Emilio Portes Gil, was the 41st President of Mexico. Because of this
Portes has great pride and patriotism toward her home country.
“My
Father, Emilio Portes Gil, was president of Mexico from 1928 to 1930,” Portes
said.
“I am very
fortunate that he was president during a time before Mexican presidents were
thought as corrupt.”
But just like in a
movie Portes fell in love, in 1963, when she was only 15-years-old to an
18-year-old American exchange student named Gary Manes.
Everyone
in Mexico City knew the president’s daughters first kiss and first boyfriend
was an American man. Just like any tragic love story, Portes and Manes were
forced to end their romance at the end of his study abroad program. Manes
returned home to Hugoton, Kan., and Portes went to Paris, France, to study.
Portes
later returned to Mexico at the age of 20 to be married to a family friend. She
went on to have two children, one son and one daughter, and now has five
grandchildren.
Portes
and her first husband separated and she reunited with her old friends from
childhood. She reminisced to her friends about the days when she and Manes, 67,
were together, and wondered what could have been. It became a story everyone
close to her knew well.
One
day, Portes got a letter from an old friend in the mail. It was Gary Manes.
After
43 years and a whole lifetime Manes wrote to Portes telling her he had retired,
never married and was looking to reconnect with her.
Portes never
though this moment would come. She immediately wrote back to Manes and invited
him to come visit her in Mexico City.
Manes flew out to
Mexico and shortly after that he returned to his home in Muskogee, Okla., and
invited Portes to come visit him for his birthday.
Portes met him in
Muskogee where he took her out to a lovely dinner, introduced her to his
friends and they discussed the future. Manes and Portes decided they wanted to
get married and enjoy their retirement together. They each spoke to lawyers in
Mexico City and Muskogee and decided it would be easier to marry in Muskogee
instead of Mexico City.
In 2007 Portes
returned to Muskogee to marry Hanes. With both their families present they said
their “I Dos.”
After five years
and two green cards, Portes finally became a United States citizen. Portes
closed her eyes and tears ran down her cheeks as she recited the pledge of
allegiance.
“I recited the
pledge of allegiance and closed my eyes and cried,” said Portes.
The officer who
watched her recite her oath also began crying. Portes said the officer told her
it was the most beautiful ceremony she had seen, and the Portes’ emotion had
moved her to tears.
Rod Blagojevich's Apology: Genuine or Fake?
Analysis of Apologia: Rod Blagojevich’s Courtroom Apology December
7, 2011
Introduction
Rod Blagojevich is a former congressman and was then Governor of Illinois
from 2003 until 2009, when he was impeached during his second term (Chicago Tribune, 2011). Blagojevich
was elected on a platform of ethics reform and anti-corruption in 2003. Rod
labeled the climate in Illinois as a “culture of corruption” and wanted to end
the cynicism among the majority of Illinoisans (Chicago Tribune, 2011). But beginning in June of 2004, a little more
than a year since Blagojevich had been elected, a number of state and federal
investigations into his administration began (Chicago Tribune, 2011). The
investigation began with “allegations of wrongdoing involving
state hiring, board appointments, contracting and fundraising that battered his
tenure” (Chicago Tribune, 2011).
While
at first Blagojevich himself was not directly in the investigative spotlight,
his top adviser and fundraiser, Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Stuart Levine, a GOP Chicagoan politico ,
were and had cut a deal to split profits from a state education pension fund (Chicago Tribune, 2011). Levine was the first to be wire tapped in
2004 and investigated and was indicted in May of 2005 on corruption charges.
Other state education leaders plead guilty that year to extortion scheme
charges and a “federal grand jury investigation into the alleged political
hiring practices of the Blagojevich administration” begins (Chicago Tribune, 2011). By 2006, the FBI was investigating charges
that over 300 jobs were awarded to applicants who applied through the ‘back
door’ or other roundabout and politically connected ways. This same year, Rezko
was indicted on “federal charges he sought millions of dollars in kickbacks and
campaign donations from firms seeking state business” and Blagojevich’s wife,
Patty, began to be investigated for a real estate scheme involving favoritism
and fraud (Chicago Tribune, 2011).
In
August of 2008 Blagojevich vetoed a state anti-corruption bill, saying it
wasn’t tough enough and that it needed to include more state lawmakers,
including himself. To add even more irony to the situation, a Rasmussen poll
done in December of 2008, showed that Blagojevich’s approval rating was at 7%,
the lowest in American history for a governor (Politico, 2008). Only four months later, the FBI
arrested “Blagojevich and his chief of staff at their homes on a broad array of
corruption charges, including asking for favors in exchange for his selection
of a replacement in the senate for President-elect Barack Obama” (Chicago Tribune, 2011). In 2009
Blagojevich was impeached, but it was not until December of 2011, after his
retrial, that he was found guilty of a variety of other corruption charges, and
sentenced to 14 years in prison. Throughout the seven years of scandal,
Blagojevich vehemently denied allegations and swore to fight them relentlessly.
In fact, during a courtroom motion the government reminds the jury that is was
Blagojevich who first brought the media attention to the investigations and
that the “defendant engaged in an unprecedented national media campaign … for
the purpose of influencing public opinion, and that campaign was bound to have
some impact, even if it was not the impact defendant had hoped for“ (Sweeney, 2011).
By
opposing the allegations and lying about his innocence for over six years, and
then finally apologizing the day of his sentencing, Blagojevich invalidates his
apology through the denial of all the charges in the first place. Additionally,
he uses a variety of apologia strategies in his final apology on December 7,
2011, to circumvent taking responsibility for his actions and apologizing
outright. This history of denial, and his ornery attitude and determination to
fight are two of the largest barriers for Blagojevich to overcome, once being
proven guilty. However, the fact that there were taped recordings proving his
guiltiness which were readily available to the public, and the fact that he was
already found guilty of multiple corruption charges, only contributed more to
the barrier of making a fool of himself through his poorly thought comments
prior to this apology. Blagojevich only has one small possible advantage, which
is that Illinoisans already viewed Chicago politics as corrupt, and therefor
may have been more desensitized since the same thing happened to their previous
governor. In the following analysis I will consider how Blagojevich used a
variety of apologia strategies in his final apology to the courtroom, judge,
and the people of Illinois.
Analysis
In
his apology on December 7, 2011, Blagojevich addresses many of the barriers he
is facing. He directly admits to the judge that he was out-of-hand and immature
and directly apologizes for his actions. Later on in the speech he continues to
make excuses for his actions, but at the beginning does apologize directly for
them. As far as the recordings go, he did not directly speak about the content,
but admitted he spoke poorly for a governor. And, though he had already been
found guilty, he said he agreed with the people for finding him as such. In his apologia, Blagojevich utilizes evasion
of responsibility, shifting the blame (and denial initially), transcendence,
corrective action, and mortification.
Blagojevich’s use of making his good
intentions known only served as a way to evade responsibility for his actions.
If having good intentions qualifies as a blame shifter, Blagojevich has plenty
of these. In his apology Blagojevich says, “I honestly believe, let me withdraw
that…I-I never set out to break the law. I never set out to cross the line” (Lara, 2011). Blagojevich wants to make sure everyone
knows, even in his final media hour, that his intentions were pure of heart. He
continues in his apology to say “it was always my intention, back in 2008, to
try to see if I could do those things on the right side of the line. I thought
they were permissible and I was mistaken and a jury convicted me” (Lara, 2011).
The most interesting this about this statement is that he is not apologizing
for what the jury convicted him of. Instead, he insists he tried to do things
legally in 2008. This brings up many questions of Blagojevich’s ethos, since
court documents had proven that Blagojevich was involved in wrongdoings since
at least 2006, and most likely aware of there being done as early as 2003.
While reporters who heard the apology said it was an unusually meek tone for
the usually boisterous governor to use, the sentence still shows his true
character, and that if he could not do things “on the right side of the line,”
he would continue his plan regardless of where his actions may fall ethically
and legally. It could also be argued that Blagojevich’s reference to his
amateur boxing career could be considered a tool of provocation. When he says
“I’m accustomed to fighting back, and I did, and it was inappropriate,” he
indirectly blames his actions (lashing out and vowing to fight), on his
experience as a boxer, and argued that it was in his nature (Lara, 2011).
While the boxing reference could be
provocation, it could also be likened closely to flat-out denial. “I have a
tendency sometimes to speak before I think,” is Blagojevich’s first statement
to the judge in his apology (Lara, 2011).
At this point, he begins to not shift the blame on others, but to shift the
blame onto a poor personality trait of his own that is part of his nature. Him
likening his behavior to his attitude as a boxer is also a way to shift the
blame, or deny direct guilt. He does
eventually admit his wrongdoing, but not until he has already shifted to cause
of his actions to his defensive nature.
Blagojevich’s
“good intentions” also got him into trouble because he tried to use them to
minimize the severity of the allegations against him. Blagojevich’s apologia
also used the mortification strategy. He responded through aggression due to
shame and humiliation. Denial and a commitment to fight are typical behaviors
of mortification. Blagojevich also adds insult to injury because at this time,
over 84% of Illinois voters said he should resign prior to being found guilty. (Rasmussen Reports, 2011).
Conclusion
Since
this apology, Blagojevich has been sentenced to 14 years in prison and is
currently serving that time. His predecessor is also still in prison as well.
Though Blagojevich spent a tremendous amount of energy and time working to
clear his name, his undeniable guilt could not be avoided. While he said he was
sorry, he never profusely apologized for breaking the law. In fact, his “sorry”
only served to make the reader think he was sorry for being caught.
Blagojevich’s advantage was so
small, and based on a general desensitization to corruption, that he was not
able to effectively overcome the overwhelming amount of barriers in this
situation. Since he lacked evidence, he relied solely on his pathos and ethos,
which were not well thought-out or credible.
Blagojevich could have taken this
opportunity to confess his wrongdoing opening, and to sincerely and deeply
apologize for breaking the law repeatedly and being unethical. Instead, he
continued to use the same strategies and practices that he was familiar with.
Works Cited
Chicago
Tribune. (2011, May 31). Blagojevich Impeached: Timeline of the Blagojevich
investigation. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-investigation-timeline-1208,0,2680294.story
Lara,
B. I. (2011, December 7). Transcript of remarks by Rod Blagojevich and
Judge James Zagel at sentencing. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from Chicago
Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-blago-zagel-transcript-sentencing-20111209-pdf,0,663171.htmlpage
Pew
Research Center For The People And The Press. (2008, December 18). Blagojevich
Arrest Grabs Public Attention. Retrieved October 10, 2012, from Pew
Research:
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1060/blagojevich-arrest-grabs-public-attention
Politico.
(2008, December 11). Blagojevich's Approval Rating at 7 Percent.
Retrieved October 16, 2012, from Politico:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/1208/Blagojevichs_approval_rating_at_7_percent.html
Project
For Excellence In Journalism. (2008, December 16). Blagojevich Framed as
Obama's First Crisis. Retrieved October 2010, 2012, from Pew Research
Center: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1056/blagojevich-framed-as-obamas-first-crisis
Rasmussen
Reports. (2011, December 11). 84% of Illinois Voters Say Blagojevich Should
Resign. Retrieved October 15, 2012, from Rasmussen Reports:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/december_2008/84_of_illinois_voters_say_blagojevich_should_resign
Sweeney,
A. (2011, August 23). Blagojevich prosecutors deny allegations of bias.
Retrieved October 10, 2012, from Chicago Tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-blagojevich-prosecutors-deny-allegations-of-bias-20110823,0,2667746.story
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