Celebrity Philanthropy Corner: seeing (RED)

Miriam Perez’s article on celebrity philanthropy didn’t thoroughly shock me. It seems as if people, both famous and not, want the glory that comes with being a humanitarian without the actual sacrifice of their time and efforts. We’ve all done it. Just think back to last Thanksgiving when we see all the Second Harvest Food Bank Ads or even the Salvation Army Santas outside of every mall and department store, put a couple of coins in the bucket and continue walking with a feeling of shallow self gratification. Fortunately this article isn’t the first of its kind. Many of these companies have recently come under fire for their contradictory actions. I chose this particular image because it featured a child model and I found that to be particularly representative of a PR stunt used by the company. To me, both the image and the article highlighted what we discussed in class last week about becoming socially aware of the media that were constantly consuming.

Perez, Miriam. Celebrity philanthropy corner: seeing (RED). August 28,2010. Print.

Eboni =)

I had no idea what the “Think Before You Pink” article was about before reading. I enjoyed it because it showed the process of how one organization inspired other people to evolve and help a suffering cause. In the case of the article, it was the pink ribbon symbolizing breast cancer awareness. Only five percent of the 1.8 billion dollar budget was used for prevention. Then well-known people decided to help the cause by selling products that would help the cancer organization as a whole with their studies, research, prevention tips, and funding. And as in everything in society today, there are opposing views to this movement. In the eyes of some, all of the fundraising was a distraction to the women that were ill and there were still plenty women dying each year. It was a question of corporate benevolence. These famous people were making millions of dollars for the products they were selling. Breast Cancer was secondary to the profit these companies were making. Cancer organizations seen it as these companies cared, thank you, but we need active solutions. To compare, I chose the evolution of technology or to be more specific cell phones. In our world today, many different cell phones have been created and are used. There are also many various servers. Each service provider feeds off each other trying to manufacture the most appealing phone. Throughout time, cell phones have changed. In my opinion, the purpose they were created for has changed as well. There really isn’t face-to-face communication as much as it was back in the days. People send their feelings and emotions via text. Sometimes not gaining the same response they would have if they were directly communicating with each other. In the case of making people aware of breast cancer, manufacturers such as Avon and Estee Lauder made products that would attract consumers and would sale. The technique that was used lead to people gaining more knowledge about breast cancer awareness. This same process was imitated when Verizon created the Blackberry or the Droid and when Apple created the IPhone both making the world more knowledgeable of how technology has evolved and making communication easier for people.

JenaBee:)

When I started reading the article it  made me feel really down. I started to realize that everyone judges people and it shouldn't happen at all until you meet and get to know the person. It also made me even realize that I do it sometimes too and I shouldn't, even coming from a multiracial background I do judge people and I know better. ( not saying people who don't do, I just think I have had alot of racial experiences)My picture relates to the article because it has racial imagery all over it. Our president has his own money and cause has black he has all different types of stereotypes printed on his money, such as watermelon fried chicken and the kool aid man. People think they can classify a race by the lifestyle some lead and others don't, or because they are different from you. But the bottom line is everyone is different so if you wanted to classify every single person to how they live, eat, work and what they look like you would have like millions of categories to fit everyone specific outline.

Vogue cover

Hey everyone! The image on the right is the Vogue cover that Rebecca Hyman talks about in her article "The Shape of Race" that we're reading for class on Tuesday. The image on the left is another one that Hyman mentions in her article and will be helpful for providing context for her argument.

Intro to blogging

Hi everyone!

This is going to be our class blog. On the first day of class, we will generate a schedule for who is posting when. Your posts should include a form of media that relates to the texts we will be discussing in class for the day you are blogging. It is my hope that this class blog will help you to make links between what we discuss in class and what you perceive in the world around you, so you can make whatever connections you want as long as you explain them thoughtfully. Media can include still images, links to news stories, videos, advertisements, a photograph of a billboard you saw while driving, etc. I encourage you to be both thoughtful and imaginative in the media you choose. Your description of the media itself and the connection you are making to course material should be at least one paragraph (5 sentences) long and you should be clear about what texts you are connecting to your media. If you have questions about blogging, you are responsible for contacting me at least 24 hours before your blog entry is due. On days that you are not responsible for an entry, you are responsible for reading the entries of your classmates - they will be available at least 24 hours before class. You cannot count blog entries toward your 2 required texts on weekly responses, though you may reference them in addition to the 2 texts if you would like.

I look forward to reading your entries!

~ Carrie