TOW #16 IRB Post 2: Bossypants by Tina Fey

     I have just finished reading Bossypants by Tina Fey and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I find Tina Fey to be a remarkable person who I can only hope to aspire to be someday. Tina Fey has done some pretty impressive work in her career from being in one of the best improv groups in Chicago to being a writer and actress in the male dominated show in SNL and most recently working on the popular show 30 Rock. In the beginning Fey directed the book towards a lot of different groups, but by reaching the end of the book I have realized that most of her audience can just be summed up into anyone who enjoys comedy. Fey gave me such insight into the behind the scenes world of comedy that I feel like I left the book enlightened. In the book Fey included lots of little anecdotes to support her purpose. When writing about her time at SNL Fey tries to convey the change that she saw in the role of women in the writing world. To better portray the role of women Fey uses anecdotes in order to get her message across. The one story that really stood out to me was her week at SNL the guest was Sylvester Stallone and the opening monologue was based off Rocky and SNL needed to have someone play Adrian and while one of the female cast members at the time fit the part perfectly the directors decided to go with one of the male staff dressed in drag. Now there would be no doubt that one of the female cast members could take that role and play it perfectly. I learned so much about Tina Fey and in the end she accomplished her purpose, which was to entertain the audience with her life. I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone who has ever been interested in Tina Fey or even just has an interest in the comedy world.

TOW #15 Shake Shack Milkshake Cup

            One of my favorite places in the world is shake shack. The food there is delicious and I could honestly eat there everyday. Shake Shack is a fast food chain that is just starting to branch out into our area The menu there is pretty simple it is just different variations of burgers, hot dogs, fries and the best of all milkshakes. I usually go to shack shake every week, but it was only this week that I decided that I would analyze the iconic shake shack milkshake cup. The purpose of the cup is attracting more business. The design of the cup features a large milkshake that is in black and then all around the milkshake is little pictures in green of some of the other food choices at Shake Shack. The customers who see the cup have obviously already bought a milkshake, but seeing some of the other food might cause them to go back and order some of the other delicious food on the menu. Since Shake Shack is a fast food chain odds are that people are going to travel with the product, meaning that whoever interacts with a customer with a cup will also want to go to shake shack and buy some spectacular food. A key strategy that went towards proving the purpose was the design of the cup. It is a pretty plain cup, but it stands out from most of the other chains, in that it is so simple. The only words on the entire cup are Shake Shack. By using this plain design that is made to highlight the essence of the business. It is not a cup that demands attention; rather it just makes the person holding it feel comfortable, even though they are drinking a milkshake that has a lot of calories. I love Shack Shake and I love the cups the milkshakes come in. 

TOW #14 Pitching Obamacare to a Tough Crowd in Mississipi by Mark Mardell

     Since we live in the United States we usually just use news sources that are in easy acess such as news stations and newspapers. It is not very often that we, as Americans, get to see our problems through the perspectives of other nations. BBC just recently posted an article by Mark Mardell entitled Pitching

Obamacare to a Tough Crowd in Mississipi. Mark Mardell is the North American Editor for BBC, and wrote the article on Obamacare that was mainly focused on its effect in Mississippi. The purpose of the article was to educate readers about the actual effects of Obamacare. The article was directed towards an audience that was not American, because Mardell constantly defined certain facts that to Americans would be common knowledge, such as the state that Mississippi is currently in. Not to say that this article could not be beneficial to an American, such as myself. I personally learned some interesting facts about Obamacare, but that would make sense, since I have not fully followed the situation. Mardell was able to achieve his purpose by including a variety of sources to assist in getting a full picture of what the situation in Mississippi. The article had quotes from all sorts of people ranging from politicians to just average citizens. This since I have not followed Obamacare that Intently. To achieve his purpose Mardell used a strategy that was extremely effective in the portraying Obamacare, because most likely the audience of BBC are not in direct contact with anyone who has to be dealing with Obamacare. I think Mardell did achieve his purpose in some ways. I found the article to be slightly biased towards those against Obamacare, but overall I thought that for someone who is not from America it was an educational article.

TOW #13 China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon by Paul Rincon

            It has been 37 years since the last soft moon landing, and right now YUTU, more commonly known as the Jade Rabbit, is roaming around on the moon. In the article China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon by Paul Rincon details the success of Chinese. Rincon is the Science editor at BBC News Website. The purpose of the article was to detail the latest moon landing, but also speculate what this event means for the Chinese. In order to give information about the landing and show what the possible outcomes are for the Chinese Rincon pulled quotes from multiple diverse reliable sources. Rincon got a quote from one of the space engineers for the lunar program that stated that the mission “is an important component to mankind’s activities to explore the peaceful use of space” which gives the audience a view as to how the Chinese view the landing. Later in the article Rincon pulls a quote from an American professor at the US Naval War College that states “with the US exploration moribund at best, that opens a window for China to be perceived as the global technology leader” this quotes contrasts to what the Chinese have said the landing means, which allows the audience to make their own analysis as to what will come in the future. The audience of the piece would be people who have less of an interest in the actual moon landing, but more of an interest as to what this historic event means for the future. I believe that the author did accomplish his purpose, I was able to get a brief understanding as to what actually happened with the moon landing, while getting a greater knowledge as what this moon landing really means in terms of global powers. I enjoyed that this article wasn't to obviously biased either, he did not just write about what other people who are not Chinese believe the moon landing means, but also let the actual people who designed the mission, the Chinese, give their own words as to what it all means. 

TOW #12 IRB Post 1: Bossypants by Tina Fey

            For my IRB this marking period I decided to read Tina Fey’s autobiography Bossypant, and I am enjoying immensely. This book has only increased my admiration for Tina Fey. In the introduction of the book Fey writes that in writing “this book has been a simple task of retracing my steps to figure out what

factors contributed to this person” (5). I think that this book is not defined by one single purpose. The best way to encompass the book into one purpose is to educate the audiences as to how Tina Fey got to where she is today. There are many different audiences as to who this book appeals to, Fey even took the time in the book to address the different groups of people who would drawn to her book including woman, parents, haters and even people of the future. Different people will be able to get different messages from this book. To achieve her many purposes to her different readers Fey uses humor, which makes sense seeing as how she is a famous comedian writer. The use of her humor makes the whole book seem so much more relatable and genuine, which is essential since she is writing to some many different audiences. A large part of the book so far has been Fey’s experiences in a theater program, which provided her many friends who were gay. Fey is able to put in her own views as to how gay people should be viewed in a way that is is not abrasive, but rather light-hearted humor. “Gay people don’t try to convert people. That’s Jehovah’s Witnesses you’re thinking of” (32). I do believe that Fey is on her way to achieving her purpose in this book. I look forward to finishing her story, because so far she has only written about her experiences growing up being a slashed victim, awkward, boy-repellent girl who had grown gay best friends for her companions. It is a truly captivating book that so far matches the person I thought she was.

TOW #11 A List Of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists

      The brain is a complicated part of the body, and I have a feeling that we the human race will never get a complete grasp as to how our minds really work. Maria Konnikova’s wrote an article for the New Yorker that was all about why our brains love lists, with the appropriate title A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love List. The purpose of the article is to educate the audience about an elementary theory in psychology in order to further the understanding of the brain. Konnikova wrote this article for the people who had minimal if any knowledge about how the brain deals with lists. It can be seen in the article where Konnikova uses a strategy that works well for her audience that also goes to prove the purpose. In the article Konnikova describes how the brain can categorize lists then puts it into simple relatable terms, which allows the audience to get a better understanding as to what she is trying to proves. To be specific Konnikova writes about how the brain works better when it has bulleted lists and then relates it to a topic that nearly every person does: making a grocery shopping list. I do think that the purpose was achieved in some sense in the article. It really only works for the people who have no real knowledge of psychology. I personally am taking a semester psychology at school so some of the stuff in the article was already that I knew. The article works it is just a very elementary article. Konnikova has Ph.D in Psychology and has several specialized books about psychology so she definitely could have written at a much higher level, but she really wrote it for a specific audience. It was meant as an article that would be a quick entertaining reader where the audience could leave some little bits of fun facts about psychology.

TOW #10 British Airways #lookup Billboard

            People often look into the sky at planes passing overhead and wonder where those planes might be heading to: a beautiful beach, a tropical rain forest or maybe even just to visit some family. With British Airways new Look Up campaign the day dreaming as to where planes are going is over. In this new

marketing campaign billboards have been strategically been placed where planes fly overhead and feature a little boy actually following the plane with a little description as to what kind of plane it is and where it is heading to. Through the use of effective social media reference the purpose can be achieved. On the bottom of the screen of the billboard there is a hash tag that reads #lookup when people see this cute billboard they might feel the need to tweet about it. One audience that British Airways is probably targeting is the younger generation who more often use social media as a way to express themselves. The billboard draws the audience in, but by tweeting about the billboard the purpose is achieved by getting the company British Airways in media and ultimately getting people to fly on their planes. A campaign like this has never been undertaken before showing the innovation of the marketing team at British Airways and they obviously have enough social awareness to know that anything with a hash tag is a good way to get the message across. I believe that the purpose was achieved, because it is just an incredibly eye catching billboard that will most likely spark a lot of conversation about British Airways. It is pretty much that British Airways has to pay to have this billboard up, but because people are tweeting about it they get free advertisement without paying for it. It is incredibly innovative way to involve new technology in the old school world of billboard advertisements. 

Link to gif of billboard 
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52910feb6bb3f738682c6b06/fast%20company.gif