PSA complete

PSA BLOG

Our blog experience was fun considering we just dove right into it (we were really into our idea). We didn’t really have a script (no talking), but our story board was kinda fun to make I guess. We wrote down what would be in each scene and what we would write on each sign and then went searching for the pictures to put into the PSA. Our group worked really together and filming went smoothly. We put up the sheet across the closets in our room and set up lights and filmed the whole thing in one day (it was pretty awesome). I felt that our film was really powerful so I do feel that we educated our audience to what we wanted to get across. I mean, if we could film for longer than a minute there could have been more educational content but I think it got the point across. I do, however, think that the intent was very clear and that the audience will be really engaged. Maybe we could have used more props but I do really like the film that way that it is; it is simple and gets the point across without being too busy. I suppose there are some minor things like props and education we could have changed but I was so happy with the way that it came out that I don’t think I would change anything even if I could. I really think our film gets the environmental activism across that it should! Yay!

PR CRapOla

MY ADVERTISEMENT

This image is specifically to show that Starbucks is environmental and supports things like using a reusable cup instead of paper cups (tumbler). It is interesting though because Starbucks is not really doing anything environmental it is not really contributing any money. By taking money off of people's orders is not even giving money to the cause of the environment because they over charge so much anyway that I doubt they would really be losing any profit. Also, they support that you use a tumbler instead of a paper cup, and I'm pretty sure a tumbler is a reusable mug that is sold by Starbucks. Therefore, people will probably give Starbucks more profit during this Earth Day instead of Starbucks giving anything to the environment. I think this ad is crap. People get a fake sense of environmentalism by buying coffee from a giant conglomerate; this seems so twisted. Starbucks is showing themselves with a tree and something that says Earth Day, and people who don't even read the ad will be fooled into thinking that Starbucks has some sort of environmental agenda - when they don't. Really don't.

ONLINE SITE!!!

I chose PRWatch.org as my site for the week. First of all, I’ll just be honest in telling you that I did not go through any other websites, I just picked one and ran with it. When I stumbled on this website, the first thing I noticed with the logos for twitter and facebook and blogger so that you could join them instantly. I did and did not like this fact. I thought it was too like “oh, we’re just like every other website, so you should just follow us blindly just like every other fad on twitter and facebook.” However, I thought it might be a good thing in order to raise awareness about PR that people have no clue about. I know that before this class I had no clue about what PR really was and it would have been cool if one of my friends had something on their facebook that I could have joined or read about. Honestly though, I thought having the logos in such a big area and having it be the first thing on the page was really obnoxious. I feel like environmental websites get a bad rap sometimes for being liberal and out there which means that should try a little harder to make their sites to be as professional as possible.

In terms of content, one thing I did not like was the first story I noticed was entitled “McCain De-Mavericks” the story was about how McCain does not want to be called the Maverick anymore because he does feel that this name represents him. How is this PR valuable? Who cares what McCain wants to be called? I’m not just saying this because I don’t care for McCain either; I would have the same feelings if it were Obama. I was just thinking that a site like PR watch could bring a lot of valuable PR information to the public, why are they focusing on such dumb things on the slogans of McCain.

The website was effective and organized enough to get me to read many of the articles though - which I think is good. I learned that, apparently, Energy Star appliances are bogus. Apparently a company invented fake products such as a gasoline powered alarm clock and said that it used 20% less energy than its competitors and submitted it to Energy Star for approval and received it for all four of the fake products they created. Holy Crap! I thought Energy Star was a good thing, I suppose you learn something new every day. Based on stories like this I thought that the website was good for getting certain stories out that could have public value.

I did notice that most of the stories that are run are strongly democratic and not so much republican. I am not a republican but one would think that it wouldn’t be so left sided and represent the ideas of both sides. I think you would get more people to listen if you looked as unbiased as possible, I think the site had some biases. I could clearly see the left wings flying off the site.

Another thing I think would not contribute to many people wanting the information from this website would be the fact that you can’t see who some of the stories are submitted by; therefore you couldn’t tell if this was really reliable or not unless you did a lot more research. I’m struggling right now because I want to be able to get news in a place that does not require an obscene amount of effort and I feel like this site is not conducive to that desire. There are a lot of anonymous entries which makes me and I’m sure many other people skeptical of the site’s information. I wish there was a PR website that brought well researched reliable information to my hands.

Overall, I think websites like this can work if they don’t have too many ads on them, they don’t promote you following them on twitter, they have credible/well sourced articles and don’t overly display any political agendas.

Outside - Inside - Democracy

Toxic Sludge

What does democracy mean to me? Democracy would be a place without PR as we have come to use it in this country. If we were to have true democracy in this country, we would have less of this PR crap and more of this education stuff (education as it was defined in this chapter). A single view wouldn’t be imposed on us all the time so there wouldn’t be any “mass culture,” instead there would be many people with very varying opinions that were well informed. There would be a richer culture if we were to have a real democracy, but it would be richer in discussion, education and opinion vs. richer in the pockets of PR representatives. I feel like after reading everything on toxic sludge I have realized that a lot of our “well informed” people that make up our “democracy” are just people that have been varying amounts of PR and are basing their opinions on this. I personally have been trying to figure out how I’m going to be well informed without subjecting myself to all the PR out there, I know I’ll find a way though. I feel like we have to combat this capitalist country one person at a time, for example I’ve started telling my friends and family about the PR on the news so that they are more aware and I’ve got some good responses. I think the key as a little person is to take charge of your personal life and the people you come in contact with, bring education to as many people as you meet and hope that they do the same. Also, you could write to your local news companies and ask them to stop doing PR and start writing their own stuff (who knows what will happen). It’s the little things that count. I have hope for myself and the people I know and I’m sure everything will change, I just know I won’t be around for it and that is okay. I think a bunch of NIMBY’s should run the country and everything would be just fine, but until that day I’ll just try to convert everyone I know to one.

LIFE IN THE WOODS

At first I really wanted to leave. Seriously. I parked myself on a rock by a stream in the woods and felt really lonely. I just wanted to talk to someone, at one point in the first five minutes I was on the verge of tears. However, something happened. I laid down on some leaves and dirt right in the sunshine and felt more comforted than I have in a long time. Screw you tempurpedic bed, the mountain floor was more forming to my body and more comforting to my soul than you’ll ever be. I felt like a small child as I inhaled the dirt smell and was reminded of playing in the woods as a five year old. At one point I had a craving to listen to Pink Floyd and go back and get my blanket and stay outside all day. I closed my eyes and soaked in all the smells and feelings of being cradled by leaves and it was the most peace I’ve felt in a long time. When it was time to go I was saddened, by the end of the half hour all I wanted to do was camp outside for the rest of the day and night. I grew really attached to my little area and didn’t want to return to life. All in all I was really happy to do it and I think I’m going to make it a part of my week until school ends; I need that kind of peacefulness in my life every so often.

LIFE IN THE TELEVISION

I have not watched television without doing something else at the same time in so long. I chose to watch half an hour of MTV for it something that I never watch. The entire time I was watching it I felt so absent of thought. I ended up watching a full 15 minutes of commercial during the half an hour and the commercials all felt like PR. There was even a commercial put on by the Dow Chemical Company that was advocating clean water!!! I felt so forced to watch the television as if I didn’t have control over what was going into my mind. I felt literally dumb because of the fact that I couldn’t think of anything. When I was in the woods I had all these thoughts coming into my head about various things that I was contemplating but when I was watching television it was if I had not thoughts, I was just consuming. I never want to feel like that again. It was a rather disturbing experience - in fact I’m cutting television out of my life for a little while as a result of it. After I was done with the half hour I literally had to lay in the dark with nothing on to try to gain some sense of brain (it was kind of like watching television put me into shock). I laid in the dark trying to hear no noise, and then ended up taking a 4 hour nap. I don’t think I’ll ever watch MTV again.

PSA

We’ve actually finished the entire PSA and it is now currently on a disk. The only thing we have to do is have someone else watch it to make sure it is good and put on a DVD player compatible disk. I would say our group works really well together, obviously. Our concept hasn’t changed at all. We were each actors and filmers and producers and directors in our video. By the end of our next class we will have this on a DVD and have someone watch it to make sure it looks good.

TOXIC SLUDGE IS NOTTTTTTT GOOD FOR YOU

Chapter 8

1. Toxic sludge companies know that public opinion is against them and their campaigns so they employee passive public relations so that the public doesn’t really hear about anything that is happening. This is terrible! These toxic waste companies know what they are doing is bad and they know that the public will think that it is bad so they use passive techniques to introduce sludge farming! Good Lord!

2. Only 1% of sludge is useful to plants and the other 99% should not go where people live and or eat. I can’t believe that something that is entirely made of harmful chemicals is putting spread out over the land where we live. “Land spreading of sewage sludge is not a true ‘disposal’ method” - I agree!

3. If we wanted to really research the bad effects of this sewage stuff, we would not have the proper money to do so. The EPA is giving money to people (millions of dollars) who want to people who want to research the benefits of sludge but not to anyone who wants to research the bad effects. This is not fair to the public. What can we do? The EPA is supposed to stand up for the public, not for the companies.

4. What the hell is with Institutional Constraints and Public Acceptance Barriers to Utilization of Municipal Wastewater and Sludge for Land Reclamation and Biomass Production warning that there are irrational components to the public’s attitude about sludge!!!! I’m irrational? Last time I checked having toxic sludge in clean water is irrational!

5. “sludge that was too contaminated to be placed in a strictly controlled sanitary landfill was promoted as a safe fertilizer and dumped on farmland without anyone having any responsibility.” What is this? Seriously? I cannot believe this!

My question is why is the Environmental protection agency on the same side as the toxic chemical companies? How can we take back our environment from them and put it in the hands of someone who actually cares about it?

Chapter 9

1. PR executives are “mediating” our lives! I don’t want someone to tell me what is good for me with the interests of a company in the mind. I want my interests in mind! I don’t like that PR is mediating what I think.

2. “The best PR ends up looking like news.” This makes me think about to the video when we heard that it wasn’t against the law to produce news that wasn’t true. This is just like that, it is not illegal to lie and say that it is news - which essentially what PR people are doing for the companies that they work for.

3. “Environmental PR seeks to fix these ‘misperceptions’ by convincing the public that ecological crises don’t exist.” Well it’s not working. I’m very aware that environmental crises exist and are happening all over the place! We need to put an end to these, those environmental PR people should probably just step down and let the truth be known.

4. How on earth is McDonald’s one of the highest environmental rated companies!?! I feel like companies I use everyday must be part of this environmental conspiracy - if McDonalds can get an environmental reputation that is good I’m sure other companies can too - probably companies I even use! OH NO!

5. Even worse, companies will advertise the “very qualities they do not have” - does this mean when I buy products from a company that is supposedly caring and environmentally friendly, they are probably not!? Now what am I going to do.

My question is if all the companies I use are just pretending to be environmentally friendly, where am I going to buy from? And, If I start only buying locally to avoid the whole scam, who is to say that the soil is not be fertilized with toxic sludge being masked as fertilizer!

PSA BLOG POST

Torie Sanders and Sarah Schipelitti

Our concept is that not only are cosmetic companies ruining the self esteem of girls across America, they are also ruining the environment. This should stop, females need to take back the environment and their self esteem.