6:45am: Checked my email.
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was check my email. I check my e-mail at least once a day on weekdays. I have started "unsubscribing" to retailers and newsletters that I do not read anyway. I got more "junk" mail than regular mail. For example I got advertisements or newsletters from: Vera Bradley, Barnes & Noble, Victoria's Secret, Amazon.com, Ride Magazine, Express, American Horse Publications, Trailblazer, American Airlines and Apple -- none of which I read!
8:30am: Went to class.
In class today I forgot to look at t-shirts for advertising. T-shirt advertising must not be very effective unless it stands out. I usually remember if I see a funny or unusual T-shirt. For example, last week I saw a boy wearing a t-shirt for the fraternity BYX (Brothers Under Christ). I don't remember exactly what it said, but it had a large picture of a buck on it and had a play-on-words about hunting and their event. Offensive t-shirts also stand out and, while they are usually advertising against someone or something, to me it is negative advertising about the person who is wearing the shirt. I cannot thing of any offensive t-shirts that I have seen recently.
11:00am: Listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. on the way to (and from) the barn.
I must really not pay attention to what I am listening to. This is the third straight day that I've had Mark's C.D. on in my car and I've probably heard the entire thing 8 times in the last 3 days. I did not even think about it while I was in the car, but looking back on it I am surprised that I am not tired of that C.D. yet! At the turn for the barn there is a sign advertising the Razorback Round, the equine program's fall fundraiser. The sign bothers me because they taped the new date over last years but forgot to change the "th" so it says Saturday November 21th.
5:00pm: Checked my e-mail.
This evening, I had even more "junk" mail. I am sure that this form of advertising is very effective for some people, but most of the time I do not even look at clothing store e-mails because I know I will end up wanting something. That's what makes it effective, I just have the willpower to avoid temptation.
5:30pm: Got on facebook.
This evening when I got on facebook, I noticed none of the advertisements I saw appeared to be directed at me. This was unusually because I often notice horse-related advertisements or Christian advertisements -- things related to information that I put on my profile. I do not know why this happens. Tonight I saw ads for Occupation training, a cooking game, a mafia game, and a camp hiring counselors.
6:30pm: Listened to Pandora Internet Radio while writing a paper.
This evening I listened to "Take it All" radio on Pandora. This playlist is customized and based off of the christian song "Take it All" by Hillsong United. While choosing my song I noticed an advertisement for SYNC turn-by-turn navigation system by Microsoft. When I changed a song once, the advertisement changed to one for christian historical fiction books. I never skipped a song again, so the advertising did not change.
While working on my paper, I used Google search engine as well as the University of Arkansas Library website. Today Google is decorated with Count Dracula. When I search a term on Google the results show up below the search, and to the right are "sponsored links." I rarely click the sponsored links, but I am sure this is were Google gets a lot of it's advertising revenue.
This was the extent of my interaction with media today that I am aware of. I am sure I am subjected to more media than I notice! I have enjoyed this blogging because it as made me more aware of the prevalence of media in our society and in my life.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Media and Me - Day 4
8:00am: Checked my e-mail.
This morning when I woke up and checked my email, I was very excited to have 4 e-mails from friends and family. Unfortunately, I also had 5 "junk" emails. I get these because I have given my e-mail address to different stores and online stores. The ones I got today were from FastWeb Scholarships, UGG Australia, Amazon.com, American Eagle and American Horse Publications. I also had one "spam" e-mail telling me they were "having trouble shipping my new Dell system."
9:00am: Listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. while driving to (and from) Elkins.
I typically do not pay very close attention to what music is playing while I am driving. Today, Mark's C.D. was playing everywhere I drove. I think I probably listened to the entire C.D. two or three times.
1:00pm: Noticed advertising on the side of semi-trucks on the way to (and from) West Fork.
On the way to West Fork to horseback ride with my friends, I noticed advertising on the sides of semi-trucks. I've passed several semi-trucks my entire life and never thought of them as media until this assignment. Today I saw trucks advertising Tyson, Wonder Bread, J.B. Hunt and PAM Transportation Services. Also, one of my friends was wearing an Afleet Alex hat (a famous thoroughbred racing horse). Neither of them were wearing shirts with advertising on them.
5:00pm: Watched a show about the recent history of Major League Baseball.
At about 5:00 I went over to my boyfriend's apartment and did some research for an assignment. While I was researching, my boyfriend and his roommate were watching a show about the recent history of Major League Baseball. I did not pay much attention to the show, but I do remember stopping to watch a few commercials. One that I thought was relatively funny was a Bud Light commercial. A girl was sitting at a restaurant and she wanted to stop the server so she quietly said "excuse me" but he did not hear. The voice-over said "too light." The same scene played but this time she tripped the server and he crashed through a window and the voice-over said "too heavy." Then a Bud Light appeared on the screen and the voice-over said "But Light: Not too light, not too heavy."
Between school, homework, working at the barn, extra-curricular activities such as riding my horse and club meetings and activities, and spending time with my friends, I do not have very much down time. I usually do not watch television unless it is only for background noise. I allow myself one show per semester to get "hooked" to. This semester is ABC's Flash Forward. Next semester will be ABC's Lost. In the summer when I have more time I spend a lot of time reading, watching Food Network and Planet Green, shopping or socializing either in person or on the internet (faceb00k) and going to movies. I just really do not have that kind of time during the school year. I think that I spend less time around different types of media than the average person because I am quite busy. Also, I do not stay current on current events like I should.
This morning when I woke up and checked my email, I was very excited to have 4 e-mails from friends and family. Unfortunately, I also had 5 "junk" emails. I get these because I have given my e-mail address to different stores and online stores. The ones I got today were from FastWeb Scholarships, UGG Australia, Amazon.com, American Eagle and American Horse Publications. I also had one "spam" e-mail telling me they were "having trouble shipping my new Dell system."
9:00am: Listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. while driving to (and from) Elkins.
I typically do not pay very close attention to what music is playing while I am driving. Today, Mark's C.D. was playing everywhere I drove. I think I probably listened to the entire C.D. two or three times.
1:00pm: Noticed advertising on the side of semi-trucks on the way to (and from) West Fork.
On the way to West Fork to horseback ride with my friends, I noticed advertising on the sides of semi-trucks. I've passed several semi-trucks my entire life and never thought of them as media until this assignment. Today I saw trucks advertising Tyson, Wonder Bread, J.B. Hunt and PAM Transportation Services. Also, one of my friends was wearing an Afleet Alex hat (a famous thoroughbred racing horse). Neither of them were wearing shirts with advertising on them.
5:00pm: Watched a show about the recent history of Major League Baseball.
At about 5:00 I went over to my boyfriend's apartment and did some research for an assignment. While I was researching, my boyfriend and his roommate were watching a show about the recent history of Major League Baseball. I did not pay much attention to the show, but I do remember stopping to watch a few commercials. One that I thought was relatively funny was a Bud Light commercial. A girl was sitting at a restaurant and she wanted to stop the server so she quietly said "excuse me" but he did not hear. The voice-over said "too light." The same scene played but this time she tripped the server and he crashed through a window and the voice-over said "too heavy." Then a Bud Light appeared on the screen and the voice-over said "But Light: Not too light, not too heavy."
Between school, homework, working at the barn, extra-curricular activities such as riding my horse and club meetings and activities, and spending time with my friends, I do not have very much down time. I usually do not watch television unless it is only for background noise. I allow myself one show per semester to get "hooked" to. This semester is ABC's Flash Forward. Next semester will be ABC's Lost. In the summer when I have more time I spend a lot of time reading, watching Food Network and Planet Green, shopping or socializing either in person or on the internet (faceb00k) and going to movies. I just really do not have that kind of time during the school year. I think that I spend less time around different types of media than the average person because I am quite busy. Also, I do not stay current on current events like I should.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Media & Me - Day 3
9:00am: Listened to music on my friend's iPod.
This morning my friend Mandy and I listened to John Mayer on her iPod while we sold parking spots for the football game. While we sold parking, we saw several people with University of Arkansas shirts on. Almost everyone was in red or white. Over the past few days of this assignment, I have realized that I spend less time than average around media. I rarely watch television because I am usually too busy, and when I do watch television it is usually Discovery channel,the Outdoor channel, Planet Green or Food Network on in the background while I am doing something else. I really enjoy watching niche market cable channels that match my interests. I enjoy being outside, horseback riding, cooking, crafts and photography.
12:00am: Listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. on the way to the barn.
On the way to and from Meremel today (where I keep my horse), my friend Stephanie and I talked and listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. called Healing Songs (for Elliot). Mark Bennett is my boyfriend's brother and he is a very good musician. He is the worship leader for the 9:00am service at a large church in Tulsa, OK. His middle child, Elliot, has downs syndrome and attends The Little Lighthouse school for children with special needs. This school is tuition-free due to generous donations. Mark created the C.D. and sells it with profits benefiting The Little Lighthouse. I really enjoy listening to the C.D. and sharing it with others. This is one of the many ways that media can be used to benefit people and organizations in need.
4:30pm: Watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel with my friend Stephanie.
Stephanie and I had about an hour to kill after riding before going to dinner. We talked and watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel. Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs does a very good job advertising for his show during the show. He is funny and clever and he really get's the audience's attention. This is probably why Ford hired him to do Ford truck commercials. Speaking of Ford truck commercials, one of those commercials with Mike Rowe in it played during a commercial break. Since we were talking, I didn't pay much attention to commercials but I do remember stopping to watch the Ford commercial as well as a Geiko commercial.
7:00pm: Watched the movie Madagascar.
After dinner we went to Blockbuster to rent the movie Madagascar. While at Blockbuster, we looked through all of the family section even though we knew we were going to rent Madagascar. When we got home and started the movie, other movie trailers started playing automatically. Since Madagascar is a fairly recent movie, we watched the trailers to see what else would be coming out soon. The new Wallace and Grommet movie looks like it is going to be very good and funny. Both Stephanie and I really enjoyed Wallace and Grommet as children. I accidently fell asleep during the movie and slept until about 11:00pm. When I woke up I remembered I need to blog for the day -- and that is why my blog is posted so late!
This morning my friend Mandy and I listened to John Mayer on her iPod while we sold parking spots for the football game. While we sold parking, we saw several people with University of Arkansas shirts on. Almost everyone was in red or white. Over the past few days of this assignment, I have realized that I spend less time than average around media. I rarely watch television because I am usually too busy, and when I do watch television it is usually Discovery channel,the Outdoor channel, Planet Green or Food Network on in the background while I am doing something else. I really enjoy watching niche market cable channels that match my interests. I enjoy being outside, horseback riding, cooking, crafts and photography.
12:00am: Listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. on the way to the barn.
On the way to and from Meremel today (where I keep my horse), my friend Stephanie and I talked and listened to Mark Bennett's C.D. called Healing Songs (for Elliot). Mark Bennett is my boyfriend's brother and he is a very good musician. He is the worship leader for the 9:00am service at a large church in Tulsa, OK. His middle child, Elliot, has downs syndrome and attends The Little Lighthouse school for children with special needs. This school is tuition-free due to generous donations. Mark created the C.D. and sells it with profits benefiting The Little Lighthouse. I really enjoy listening to the C.D. and sharing it with others. This is one of the many ways that media can be used to benefit people and organizations in need.
4:30pm: Watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel with my friend Stephanie.
Stephanie and I had about an hour to kill after riding before going to dinner. We talked and watched Dirty Jobs on the Discovery channel. Mike Rowe, host of Dirty Jobs does a very good job advertising for his show during the show. He is funny and clever and he really get's the audience's attention. This is probably why Ford hired him to do Ford truck commercials. Speaking of Ford truck commercials, one of those commercials with Mike Rowe in it played during a commercial break. Since we were talking, I didn't pay much attention to commercials but I do remember stopping to watch the Ford commercial as well as a Geiko commercial.
7:00pm: Watched the movie Madagascar.
After dinner we went to Blockbuster to rent the movie Madagascar. While at Blockbuster, we looked through all of the family section even though we knew we were going to rent Madagascar. When we got home and started the movie, other movie trailers started playing automatically. Since Madagascar is a fairly recent movie, we watched the trailers to see what else would be coming out soon. The new Wallace and Grommet movie looks like it is going to be very good and funny. Both Stephanie and I really enjoyed Wallace and Grommet as children. I accidently fell asleep during the movie and slept until about 11:00pm. When I woke up I remembered I need to blog for the day -- and that is why my blog is posted so late!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Media & Me -- Day 2
6:50 am: Listen to KLRC on the way to the barn.
To be honest, I was very tired and, although I had KLRC on the radio, I was not listening to it.
7:20 am: Driving to the Quarter Horse World Show.
On the way to the World Show, we listened to music on different people's iPods. The music ranged from Disney songs to rock and roll. On I-540 we passed some billboards and one that I remember is a David Yurman Jewelry billboard. There were much more billboards as we approached Tulsa. There were several for the Hard Rock Casino in Catoosa. The billboards for QuikTrip gas station and convenience store are very effective. One I specifically remember had a picture of a doughnut (QuikTrip has doughnuts) and said "Life's too short to eat oatmeal." I also saw a billboard for the University of Arkansas that said "SOONER or later you'll be a Razorback!" -- which I thought was very funny and caught my attention.
1:00 pm: Arrived at the Quarter Horse World Show.
There were some advertisements at the world show. In the show ring there were banners for sponsors all along the walls. There were also two exhibition centers full of venders advertising their stores and products that they sell. During the competitions, music was playing in the background. At first I heard music that I would expect (country) such as Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks. But I also heard some unusual music like "Another One Bites the Dust." The music was quite but noticeable. Back by the stalls where the exhibitioners kept their horses, there was a lot of advertising for farms, stud services, and individual horses. Many of the exhibitioners decorated their stalls very elaborately with their farm name or service. One set of stalls was completely decorated like a log cabin on the outside and had a small bar set up in front. There were some very elaborate decorations/advertisements!
4:00 pm: Headed back to Fayetteville in the university van.
On the way back to Fayetteville, we listened to music on various people's iPods. We listened to Queen, Michael Jackson, Counting Crows, the Madagascar movie soundtrack, the Aladin soundtrack, Paul Simeon, Billy Joel, and a wide variety of other artists.
10:00 pm: Back in Fayetteville listening to Pandora while I blog.
Now I am back in Fayetteville and I am listening to my Francesca Battistelli play-list on Pandora Internet Radio. The advertisement on the Pandora site is for Carrie Underwood's new CD "Play On."
To be honest, I was very tired and, although I had KLRC on the radio, I was not listening to it.
7:20 am: Driving to the Quarter Horse World Show.
On the way to the World Show, we listened to music on different people's iPods. The music ranged from Disney songs to rock and roll. On I-540 we passed some billboards and one that I remember is a David Yurman Jewelry billboard. There were much more billboards as we approached Tulsa. There were several for the Hard Rock Casino in Catoosa. The billboards for QuikTrip gas station and convenience store are very effective. One I specifically remember had a picture of a doughnut (QuikTrip has doughnuts) and said "Life's too short to eat oatmeal." I also saw a billboard for the University of Arkansas that said "SOONER or later you'll be a Razorback!" -- which I thought was very funny and caught my attention.
1:00 pm: Arrived at the Quarter Horse World Show.
There were some advertisements at the world show. In the show ring there were banners for sponsors all along the walls. There were also two exhibition centers full of venders advertising their stores and products that they sell. During the competitions, music was playing in the background. At first I heard music that I would expect (country) such as Carrie Underwood and Garth Brooks. But I also heard some unusual music like "Another One Bites the Dust." The music was quite but noticeable. Back by the stalls where the exhibitioners kept their horses, there was a lot of advertising for farms, stud services, and individual horses. Many of the exhibitioners decorated their stalls very elaborately with their farm name or service. One set of stalls was completely decorated like a log cabin on the outside and had a small bar set up in front. There were some very elaborate decorations/advertisements!
4:00 pm: Headed back to Fayetteville in the university van.
On the way back to Fayetteville, we listened to music on various people's iPods. We listened to Queen, Michael Jackson, Counting Crows, the Madagascar movie soundtrack, the Aladin soundtrack, Paul Simeon, Billy Joel, and a wide variety of other artists.
10:00 pm: Back in Fayetteville listening to Pandora while I blog.
Now I am back in Fayetteville and I am listening to my Francesca Battistelli play-list on Pandora Internet Radio. The advertisement on the Pandora site is for Carrie Underwood's new CD "Play On."
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Media & Me -- Day 1
6:45am: I listened to 101.1 KLRC on the way to the barn to feed the horses.
KLRC is a Christian station out of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. I really enjoy listening to KLRC because all of their music is uplifting -- it is a great way to start the morning. I know from listening that KLRC is sponsored by John Brown University and many of the announcers are students. I am very impressed with how professional the station is! Commercials are pretty limited to JBU advertisements as well as advertisements from their "ministry sponsors."
7:00am: My friend is wearing a Justin Boots hat
It is interesting to me that people pay money to advertise for free. I do the same thing -- I love my John Deere shirt! It is probably our society's obsession with brand names that causes us to do this. I usually do not take much notice about what people are wearing, I guess that is going to change today.
7:30am: I listened to 101.1 KLRC again on the way back home.
8:00am: I listened to Pandora Internet Radio while I got ready this morning.
Pandora is really cool; I get to choose they type of music I want played for free with very limited interruptions! To listen to Pandora, you simply create a free account then choose an artist or song you want your "radio station" modeled after. Pandora rarely interrupts your music with an advertisement, most of their advertisements are simply on their website. This morning I saw advertisements for Wendy's, AT&T and Carrie Underwood. When I saw the Carrie Underwood advertisement I was listening to "Taylor Swift" radio so I believe that some of the advertisements may be targeted to listeners who are listening to certain artists or genres.
9:30am: In class I saw people wearing clothing with logos.
Today in class I took notice of what people were wearing. About 1/2 the class was wearing clothing with a visible logo. The following are some of the brands/logos that I saw: Gucci, Polo (Ralph Lauren), University of Arkansas, Victoria's Secret (PINK line), Nascar, Corona and Bentoniville High School. I was suprised that so many people were wearing logos, but then I looked down and realized that I was wearing a "Block and Bridle Club" t-shirt. I am president of Block and Bridle Club at the University of Arkansas and I am proud to advertise the club, but I was doing so without even thinking about it!
11:00 am: I got on Facebook.
Facebook is full of media! Not only are there ads directed at me based on information that I put in my profile (for example, I saw: The Animal Rescue Site, Equine Hits, Adobe and Horse.com) but there are also advertisements about events going on in the Fayetteville area. Besides the paid advertising, individuals also advertise on facebook. I've been invited to "become a fan" or "join a group" of local businesses, politicians, organizations, clubs, etc. Individuals also post videos and photos. This morning I "became a fan" of the D.E. King Equine Program and invited 10 people to "become fans" as well.
12:30 pm: Attended "When the Ink Runs Dry: the Future of the News Business"
During this forum, the panelists discussed the news business. A few of the panelists showed us their websites (PolitiFact.com , PublicIntegreity.org and ArkansasOnline.com as well as several additional websites that are owned by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette). Not only we're we hearing about their opinions about the future of media, we were also exposed to media via websites.
3:00 pm: Checked my e-mail.
After I ate lunch, I checked my e-mail. Along with some emails from my mom and sister, I had some e-mail "deals" and advertisements. I had e-mails from Barnes & Noble, DKNY, FastWeb Scholarship website, and Vera Bradley. I have a junk mail filter that takes "junk mail" into a "spam" folder. In my "spam" folder I had a probably bogus offer to win a $500 Amazon.com gift card for filling out a survey. I am beginning to no longer give stores my e-mail address. I rarely look at special e-mail offers from stores. There are a few stores that I do enjoy receiving discounts from but other than that it is mostly just frustrating having to delete the "junk" to get to important messages.
3:30 pm: Listened to a Stoney LaRue CD in the car.
On the way to and from West Fork to bathe my horse, I listened to a Stoney LaRue CD in my truck.
5:00pm: Watched the Outdoor Channel while I ate dinner and did homework.
While I only had the television on for noise in the background, I did notice that I looked up when I heard an interesting advertisement. Most of the ads on the outdoor channel are for bow-hunting equipment, camouflage, guns, tree-stands, blinds, and other outdoor channel shows. I remember the advertisement for Rage Broad-heads because it was very funny. I also really enjoyed the advertisement for the show Heartland Bow-hunter because it had really great music and cinematography.
7:30pm: Watched ABC's Flash Forward.
Flash Forward begins at 7:00 but JP and I recorded it and started 30 minutes late so that we could skip the commercials. We really did skip all of the commercials except for the Mac commercial. I love watching the mac commercials, you know, the ones that start "Hi, I'm a Mac," "...and I'm a P.C." Apple advertises their Macs very well; the ads are funny and describe the computers as very user friendly. In fact, I have a Mac and I am using it right now and it is extremely user friendly.
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