We watched an eye opening 30 minute film last night for my Ways of Seeing class. Killing Us Softly 3 is the third film in a series of studies about gender representation in advertising. This concept has been more recently illuminated by the Dove-Evolution 3 minute clip of a model’s photo shoot and cg touch up session.
This movie should be required viewing for every guy on the planet. I came home from class with a better understanding of how the marginalization of women in advertising and the objectifying of their bodies has an effect on the daily life of my wife and every woman in our advertising saturated world.
When statistics show that we are, on average, bombarded with 3,000 ads a day, it is so important that we stay aware of how these images effect our perception ourselves and the world around us.
I discovered 20MinuteNap.com recently. They serve up a different mix of nappable music everyday. Hop over to the site, turn up the speakers and press play. 20MinuteNaps will lead you into a Power Nap state without letting you drop into a deeper sleep that might leave you groggy.
I’m loving the mix of music. I’ve already discovered a couple of new bands and been reminded of some old favorites. I could see this becoming a welcomed part of my daily routine. Now if I could just stop paying attention to the new music I’m discovering long enough to take a real nap. Well you’ll have to see for yourself Give it a try.
I’ve held off a couple of weeks now from picking up Alex’s story because many others were already lending their amazed voices to the cacophony. But seeing Etan Horowitz’ assessment of Alex’s blog post and its effect on the Spirit Airlines customer service debate made me eager to join the fray.
Many of you know Alex through seeing his name appear in my blog posts and through comments he’s left on the site. He is a hard working, web visionary who’s hell bent on seeing Orlando become the cultural and new media hub of the Southeast. He is often blogging about Orlando’centric topics and is a founding member of LikeMind Orlando and Florida Creatives. Additionally, Alex also expresses his entrepreneurial tenancies as the CEO of his start-up company Emurse, an online resume and job-hunting site.
I post today to simply bring attention to the power that one man’s voice can bring to bare on a subject in our digital age. With the accessibility the internet provides to the market place of ideas, no matter one’s station in life, if their idea has true merit it may ultimately make headlines despite the humbleness of it’s origins.
Alex’s article is case in point. He didn’t set out with a vehement desire to crush Spirit Airline’s bottom line but simply to inform his friends and family of his experience and ward them from entanglement with the less than desirable customer service practices of this low fare air carrier. Ultimately, however, his story resonated with other snubbed passengers of Spirit Airlines and this word of mouth affirmation has brought his blog post to the forefront of the discussion over Spirit Airline’s deleterious customer service.
Image provided by Julie Fletcher, Orlando Sentinel / August 23, 2007