Point Lobos: Marine Protected Area

            On a daily basis, humans are not exposed to marine life as commonly as wild life. Even explorers who take on adventures everyday, are not exposed to marine life. Our deepest compassions are directed towards the beings we see on a stroll, a hike, or even a boat ride. However, even on the sea, marine life is not a way of life we are exposed to. Many of our actions are bases on what we see, and how we empathize with nature. With our naked eye, we see the litter on the trails and the damage humans are doing. However, the impact the litter has done to the ocean can only bee seen by satellite, or physically on a boat. We are also incapable of seeing the harmed animals that our actions have affected.

            Humans like to relax and kick back on the beach, and maybe go on a boat ride, but on many occasions, humans invade animal’s homes at their convenience. How would you feel if strangers walked into your house with no warning and left a mess every time they left? That’s how these animals feel, and they feel unwelcome too. The feeling makes the animals leave with nowhere else to go.
            In Point Lobos, China Cove was a home to many sea otters, but humans kept on going off trail to take pictures our lounge, forcing the sea otters to feel unwelcome. They eventually stopped going back to their home, and China Cove is closed because of it. Now, Point Lobos closed it off as a Marine Protected Area, hoping that the sea otters will come back to lounge and breed as they please. Point Lobos has many MPA to keep the waters a sanctuary for the animals who live there.

A Marine Protected Area (MPA) is essentially a space in the ocean where human activities are more strictly regulated than the surrounding waters - similar to parks we have on land. Point Lobos is labeled as a MPA. They also promote a healthy costal environment for all things living.

            Save our Shores focuses on the Monterey bay to enhance the integrity of the divers, fishers and loungers. Their three initiatives are Plastic Pollution, Clean Boating, and Ocean Awareness.

            To help promote the MPA’s that you visit, #MPAmondays with your Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter posts, also tag @SaveOurShoresOfficial.

Blog Number Eleven: College Students Should Eat More Spam

Starving college students need their eyes to be opened up to Spam. Spam is an excellent food choice because it is inexpensive and tasty. Most college students live on a budget because they get help from their parents, have a part time job, or are taking out student loans. At this point, extra money is thin, and they do not have the luxury to eat out or shop at Whole Foods every week. So, as a result of this, they go to cheaper food choices. Unfortunately, Spam is not one of them, and something needs to be done about it.

After a survey with my class, I can see that most college students wont even give Spam a chance because of the unhealthy reputation. Also, it comes off as a food that our “old grandmas” would eat. This stereotype can semi-verified because Spam became popular during World War II when canned food was sent across seas to be rationed. Also it was cheap back then too, so families adapted to shopping for cheap and easy to make foods while the man of the house was away at war. So, the war efforts gave Spam a certain reputation and now our generation wont even touch it.

A solution to raising Spam awareness in college, is to make a fun campaign that we can all participate it. The campaign needs to emphasize that we all have an important social life to maintain and homework to keep up with, so why should time be wasted on cooking. Spam is quick, easy and cheap. Furthermore, Spam will go to various colleges to promote their product by giving out free cans, and have social media contests. They will start a hash tag called “#beSPAMtanious,” and have the students create their most creative meal with spam, and post the recipe. The winners from each school will win some type of scholarship.

Finally, they will start supporting the colleges by having a “Spam Cam” at each event and post the videos on YouTube. The “Spam Cam” will be different from other channels because it will be ran by different departments every week so that the channel is versatile. Spam will provide all the products needed, and have short commercials to remind the viewers that Spam is a necessary grocery to our kitchens.

The following pictures are some recipes made with Spam: 

Blog Number Ten: Group Semiotic Critique

Group Semiotics Critique

Gucci Ad:

1. Denotation (literal description)

• Both models do not have clothes
• Plain black background with high warm contrast
• Male model gives guilty look with stare & puffed lip
• Female model stares at male model
• Female model has tattoo of writing & red lips
• Male model has mustache and chest hair
• Male model wearing chain, logo, and thunderbolt
• Male has blue eyes
• Female is white and blonde
• Male is White, Italian, or Hispanic
• Gucci Guilty Perfume on bottom right corner
• “Gucci Guilty Pour Homme” written on top

2. Connotation (abstract meaning)

• The facial expression of the male model’s face showcases guilt, which is the name of the product
• Both models are without clothes showcasing a sensational or romantic scene
• The black background creates mystery and the warm contrasted tones are drawing the audience in
• Woman looks like she is breathing in his scent
• Woman is drawn to the male, probably from his scent
• The ad wants the viewer to see that the female is hot for the male in the picture because he smells amazing.
• The ad wants males to buy the product to make them feel like a chick magnet
• The male is “guilty” for attracting the hot female
• Sex Appeal, then again sex sells

Pellegrino Ad:

1. Denotation (literal description)

• The people have smiles on their faces.
• They are beside a boat/yacht with an oar/paddle & a variety of ropes
• They are dressed nicely with fitted clothes
• Woman wearing a hat and pearls, indicate wealth
• Background appears to be of old buildings with wires and water (Itay)
• Ad has sepia tone
• Pellegrinos sit beside glasses, limes, & what looks like sea urchins
• Child in the picture
• In Italy, maybe Venice

2. Connotation (abstract meaning)

• Smiles represent happiness, eagerness,  and excitement
• Fitted clothes and pearls suggest wealth and luxury
• The boat/yacht exudes wealth & connects with water (the product)
• The delicacy of the food also represents wealth
• Lime hints at Italian Soda used with Pellegrino
• Sepia tones showcase a old time feeling or past
• The child indicates that the scene is family friendly
• Everyone looks wealthy, so Pellegrinos is a drink for the rich and famous
• Drink Pellegrinos, and you will feel wealthy like the Italians in the picture
• Pellegrinos is a relaxing and refreshing drink for any occasion
• They may be on vacation in Italy that many cannot afford to ever being able to visit.

Blog Number Nine: Consumer Behavior and its Motivation

Consumer Behavior is based on internal and external decisions that lead us to a purchase or not. When we feel the need to fulfill our needs or wants, the internal state kicks in and draws from events from the past weeks or months to make a decision weather to purchase an item or not. An example of this would be the organic food industry. When it first came to the market, organic food was exclusive; people would have to drive miles to find a Whole Foods, or New Leaf in order to fulfill their shopping needs. They would also pay more to have organic food. The typical background of a person who prefers organic food is education and awareness. Most of the consumers have a college degree and choose to spend more on a healthier lifestyle. Assuming that their education made them more aware of the environment, they made decisions based on making the environment a better place to live, while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Over the past 10-15 years, this organic food trend has become a mainstream trend. Regular everyday consumers are increasingly becoming more aware of the environment and their health and are choosing to shop more organically, like at Whole Foods or New Leaf. Furthermore, Safeway has made an organic brand to keep their customers from straying away. 

Overall, these types of consumer motivations will change the marketplace and healthy life styles. We, as consumers, have a lot of power and can change the way the market produces. Consumer motivation drives change. So change comes from being involved. The more motivated we are, the greater likely hood we are involved with the brand, and we pay more attention to the advertisements. Consumer behavior is an integral part of the advertising processes. The better we understand people, the better we can understand the advertising process.

Blog Number Eight: The Surfrider Foundation

The Surfrider Foundation, founded in 1984, is a non-profit organization with a goal of raising awareness to protect our oceans, waves and beaches along the United States coastlines. The way they raise awareness is by social networking campaigns and bringing people together at beach events in local coastlines. The Surfrider Foundation knows that many adults use social media and engage with local events. Social media is a place where people’s minds live, and using it will put them at an advantage because the approach is low-friction and doesn’t make them flee when something appears on their news feed. Their social media sites inform the locals about meets ups that include beach clean ups and raising awareness of how important our beaches are to the environment. Another way they utilize their online activity, is by sharing new policies, and having people sign digital petitions. On Facebook, they are able to keep track of how many people like their page, comment on posts and how many are actually signing up for their digital newsletter. On Twitter, they have 111,000 followers. This makes it easier for them to spread short messages about what’s going on in each community. Furthermore, since the Surfrider Foundation is non-profit, social media is their main tactic of reaching out to the public.

Their current campaign is geared towards minimizing out water footprint by skipping a shower for one day. As daily clean water consumers, we use more water than we need and the water goes to waste instead of reusing it. By taking the pledge here, http://www.surfrider.org/every-drop-counts/, you will learn how to save and reuse water on a daily basis in your own home. #everydropcounts

http://www.surfrider.org/