In Response To Jade Brulotte

Would you agree that this is a great way to market to women? Why or why not?

I have seen this ad before and absolutely loved it. With images of the "perfect" body in magazines or on television women are confronted with an issue of body image and this determines how they perceive themselves, which is not right. As the Dove Ad aired, it illustrated that although women are beautiful in their unique ways, they are unaware of it themselves. They are drained from the exhaustive amounts of images of what it is like to be perfect, even though these are more than often photoshopped images, that they are insecure about themselves. They way we perceive ourselves corresponds with how we carry ourselves and if its negative then it shows greatly. When the artist revealed the sketches to the participants you can see it clearly in their faces the realization that they don't appear to others the same way they think they appear in their own eyes. This resulted in many tears. I think its sad that women place so much pressure on themselves that they fail to see themselves as they should, and instead looked down upon themselves.

"Its emotion that drives brands you feel like you can trust and brand you want to bring close to you and your family"

I feel companies use the emotional aspect to appeal to consumers. If they can grab the consumers attention through emotion then they are usually more successful than those who use other tactics. However, this could also fail due to the content of the emotion trying to be grasped or the marketing of the product. In the case of Dove, I feel as though they completely hit the target when using the emotional aspect to draw in consumers with this particular ad. Perception is a driving factor in every day life and by showing the truth many women face, they will "touch" more consumers; which will draw them into choosing this product over other competitive products.

Do you think women place too much pressure on themselves and are blinded by their own perceptions?

Boston Marathon

Recently there has been a bombing that took place during the Boston Marathon. With the marathon bringing in crowds from all over the world, this incident not only affected Americans but also many other countries and people around the world. Living in Massachusetts I have visited Boston several times a year since I can remember, its like a second home. My brother, who currently lives in Boston, has been keeping me updated on how the city seems so dead, compared to the liveliness it usually has. Up until that Friday night, when the second suspect was captured, the residents of Boston were afraid to leave their homes; a fear they never had before. Many businesses had resorted to closing temporarily during this time and placed signs in their front windows which stated the re-open of their business will happen when all suspects are found. These businesses did not have to shut down, especially seeing how this would cause them to lose profit until the capture, but they did to show their support for the city of Boston. This included that of small and large businesses.

Do you think it was a good idea for businesses to close until the capture of the suspects?