Jon and Kate dramaaaa

 

So as I stated before I LOVE Jon and Kate plus 8.  However, there has been some big drama going on in the Gosselin household.  Rumors of Jon cheating and sneaking around are all over the internet and tabloids.  What I would like to know is first off – are these rumors true and secondly – how is all this publicity affecting not only their show, but TLC as well? 

Some say publicity is publicity –whether it is good or bad, but in this case, I feel a little differently.  Jon and Kate are portrayed as this loving Christian family and when fans find out that Jon could possibly doing all these immoral acts with strangers, problems could arise.  I don’t think running around with 23-year-old teachers is the best way to promote and market the show.  I am also not so sure how TLC feels about all this.  Perhaps, TLC feels like all publicity truly is good and all this talk of rumors and what not could generate interest for the show and possibly even other TLC shows.  The question comes down – who is this scandal hurting and who is this helping? 

            I must say I am not exactly sure who or what to believe about all this.  However, I do know that Jon and Kate are being talked about in every media outlet and whether or not they like it; everyone knows their business now.  Perhaps none of its true and its all crazy rumors and the ratings for the show will stay the same like always.  Maybe rating will increase because all this media hype about the fam or maybe the ratings will drop horribly and fans will no longer support the large family of 10. 

The new seasons will be airing on May 25 on TLC so go watch and decide how you feel about them and their issues! 

Ill leave you with some quotes from Mr. and Mrs. Drama:

“It hurts me to see what it's done to my family, and it's scary to know that these tabloids are in town constantly following us and even paying locals large amounts of money to contribute to these negative stories," he adds. "It's even gotten so bad that [one tabloid] has reached out to a youth pastor from our church, which in my eyes is completely unacceptable."

Kate Gosselin responds: "Jon's poor judgment and irresponsible behavior has also without a doubt caused some added tension and stress between the two of us... Our main focus is on our family and working through this."

"When tabloids take photos and turn them into something they are not... it definitely makes us hesitant to take photos with fans and go about our daily lives. We still want to live normal lives," Jon Gosselin says. "We want our kids to have opportunities that we didn't have growing up, which is why we participated in the show in the first place. But of course it makes us think twice about how we spend our time in public."

Jon & Kate' Affair Plot Thickens

PopEater

posted: 1 DAY 10 HOURS AGO

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filed under: TV NEWS, TROUBLEMAKERS

Five Dollar, Five Dollar, Five Dollar...

When I was trying to think of a good commercial to blog about the “five-dollar foot-long” commercials came to mind. I love the simplicity and catchy-ness of the ads. When you really think about it, it seems like such a boring concept of repeating the phrase over and over again with the same hand motions throughout the entire commercial – but it works! The commercials feature everyday people and situations like police officers, flight attendants, monster, celebrity types, and even every day people – like the one where the man walks into subway and the people start running in singing the “five-dollar” song and the man is of course persuaded to buy one.

The catchy tune is something that often sticks in my head and I feel like that’s probably just what the Subway advertisers wanted. It’s the perfect song to get people thinking about Subway and eventually persuading them to actually go eat at one of their restaurants.

I found this interesting piece in an article from Slate Magazine: To ad agency MMB, the advent of a $5 foot-long seemed in itself momentous and compelling enough that elaborate persuasive efforts could only cloud the issue. The key was to be as straightforward as possible. So the team devised a simple hand gesture to symbolize the $5 price and the ample length of the sandwich. This semaphore had a pleasing parsimony. It’s so true that straightforward and simple can really go a long way in the advertising and marketing world!

I also feel like Subway was careful with the repetitiveness in the commercials. It seems like they keep repeating the same phrase over and over, but its just enough to keep it fresh in your mind, but I don’t think its too much to drive you crazy. The song has peaceful tone to it that simply reminds you of Subway in a kind of subliminal message way. When it comes down to it, it’s really just a fun song to sing. People always burst out singing it and doing the hand motions, I think its pretty funny and great marketing once again. I know that my roommates and I will randomly start singing it and then other people will just jump in.

Way to go Subway! [Eat Fresh!]

Introducing - The TeleMac!

I am a fan of Apple all the way. No more PCs for me! For Christmas, my senior year of high school I had the option of picking what kind of laptop I wanted for college. I always thought that Macs were cool, but they were unfamiliar and kinda “scary.” I heard that they are soo different from PCs and I would have hard time adjusting. I felt like this was big enough reason to step aside and go with a simple Toshiba. I liked the big, cool, clear screen and how you could click on things without having to hit a button. However, I soon realized I had made the wrong decision when I began having problems with my PC. Applications quit working, it wouldn’t hold a charge when it wasn’t plugged in, and silly other annoying things like that. The worst part was that my computer came from CompUSA, which of course, when out of business when I needed help, so I was basically screwed. I was going to study abroad soon and I knew I needed a new reliable computer before I went off to a foreign country with mine. I opted for the new Macbook, which I now love! Simple, easy, and efficient; no stupid random PC problems. Perfecto!

Therefore, my idea for Apple is the invention of a TeleMacbook. It would consist of your standard Macbook, but have the addition of a home telephone system built in. The TeleMac would appear like any other laptop, but would have additional extras such as: wireless charging technology, touch screen interface, thin and lightweight design, and a extra long battery life (up to 5 hours). The TeleMac laptop would eliminate the use of home telephone systems. The idea is simple-much like Skype, but it’s not an addition program on your computer at an addition cost. When you’d like to make a call you simply select the phone icon on your screen and dial the number on your touch screen dial pad. You can talk to anyone, anywhere via your laptop. No more hassle of finding the phone, just sit down and chat. If the person you are calling also has a TeleMac you would have the option of being able to see each other through the camera installed into the computer. You would be able to store all your numbers into the computer phonebook and easily scroll through to the find the right one. An answering machine would be built in and the standard caller and id and call waiting options would also be there for you. You can easily send text messages (as many characters as you desire) to cell phones, avoiding the annoyance of a small screen and tiny buttons (like on your cell).

I would contact Apple to pitch my idea and explain why this new product is so great! The TeleMac eliminates the need for home telephone systems and possibly even cell phones, if you wish. Why not save money on your monthly phone bills by buying a laptop that already has a phone system in it. Save money, time, and effort. No more hassle of finding the phone, or finding out its lost its charge, or having your messages mysteriously erased from your machine. Nobody wants to use the address/phone book to search and search for numbers, just browse through your user-friendly phonebook on your TeleMac. Simply have your TeleMac take care of it all for you.

TeleMacs would be sold like any other Apple product and would be obtainable by picking one up at your local store or ordering one online. All you need is an internet connection and you are good to go. No more addition fees of phone bills and miscellaneous charges, its all already paid for and included in your TeleMac.

The product adoption process is easy. Apple does great advertising – simple and catchy. Everyone loves iPod commercials and now iPhone app commercials, they entertain as well as persuade and inform. Apple has a very loyal customer base and word of mouth is huge. People will definitely start catching on and hearing about the new TeleMac.

The TeleMac is an amazing continuous innovation – no other PCs have a phone system built into them. This is a new and exciting innovation that will set Apple apart from competitors. Why not buy a great product from a great brand with new and exciting technology that nobody else has. Phone service providers and companies will be scared too because the TeleMac will help eliminate their services.

TeleMac isn’t confusing or too complex. Simple to use – pretend your computer has turned into your phone and just dial the number and call. It’s very compatible with our lifestyles these days. Everyone is always on the computer so why not stay put when you need to use the phone as well. Help is easily accessible as well. Apple Stores and customer care are usually very helpful and handy.

Wal-Mart no longer number 1

So I was looking through some news stories and was surprised to see that Wal-Mart has fallen to the number two spot on the Fortune 500 ranking. The Fortune 500 ranks America's largest corporations by their annual revenue. The Fortune 500 had a rough year like many other companies due to the poor status of the economy. Although, America’s 500 biggest companies earned $98.9 billion in 2008, down from 85 percent from $645.2 billion in profits the previous year. Also, 128 companies on the list had losses, totaling $519.3 billion. Even though oil prices dropped dramatically this year Exxon Mobil regained its title as number 1. Exxon proved that even though oil was at $50 a barrel or less they still came out on top!

Wal-Mart on the other hand, took second place. Oddly enough Wal-Mart had the best one-year stock return of any Fortune 500 company with 19%. This made me realize that Wal-Mart is the perfect store when money is tight and times are hard. People can’t afford to pay what they used to, so why no go bargain shopping at your local Wal-Mart. I personally am a Target fan and have no trouble paying a little more to get more. I am not a fan of Wal-Mart’s cheap products and how they want to rule the world. Whenever I have gone into a Wal-Mart it always seems yucky and the people who work there aren’t anything like the employees on the commercials.

I read in an article that “The biggest threat to Wal-Mart comes not from the economy or other retailers but from Congress: The union-backed "card check" bill, if passed, could lead to rapid unionization of Wal-Mart stores.” - J.B.

In my opinion, GO EXXON!

Here are some interesting stats:

Industry: General Merchandisers

($ millions) % change from 2007
Revenues 405,607.0 7.1
Profits 13,400.0 5.3
Assets 163,429.0 —

Stockholders' equity 65,285.0
Market value (3/27/2009) 205,817.8

Your new computer on your phone!

Our world is all about efficiency; we want things quick, fast, and now! I remember the novelty of a cell phone and how they rarely got used, but were the cool thing to have just in case you needed to make a call. I remember when texts began to rule the world, why call when you can message it? I do agree that these inventions are fun and great and useful, I use them and love them too. However, I’m not so sure about our cell phones turning into our computers as well.

When I first heard that you could get internet on a cell phone, I thought, hey that’s pretty cool, but seems pretty silly. Well, I still feel that way. I mean I kinda sorta understand if you are a very important business person who constantly needs to be connected to the world wide web, but otherwise – its just silly. I know that we all pretty much have computers at our houses and probably a laptop or two, so why do we also need a phone that can act as our computer as well? I mean can’t we just be satisfied with having a computer that sits on lap wherever we want it too? NO! We need it in our pocket at all times apparently.

I feel like being able to access your email on your phone has eliminated the excitement of “you’ve got mail.” I still come home from a long day and cant wait to go sign online and see if I have any mail. Email has now turned into text messaging, do it anywhere anytime, so quick and simple. The fun and anticipation is gone. I know that my friends no longer get excited about new things happening on facebook because they are constantly just looking at it online during class- the excitement… is gone!

I personally enjoy my computer at home, with its big screen and many options. I like being able to scroll down once instead of 20 times like I would have to if I were reading a paragraph on my Iphone. I like being able to open different windows at one time and click back and forth through them, but hey that’s just me.
I read this article on Foxnews that had some interesting info:

Driving much of the growth are mobile phone users over the age of 35, suggesting that mobile phone browsing is extending beyond teens and young adults, researchers said.

"Accessing the Internet on a wireless handheld device is no longer a novelty for consumers in the major global economies," Brian Cruikshank, managing director at Ipsos, said in a statement. "It's becoming a common, everyday occurrence for many people."

In the United States, there has been an uptick in the number of people who use their phones to go online, although the growth appears to be leveling off as more Americans use laptops, according to Ipsos.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192431,00.html

Jon and Kate plus... Advertising?

First off, I would just like to say, I love the show ‘Jon and Kate plus Eight’ on TCL. Monday nights at 9:00, however the season finale was this week, so I am unfortunately going to have to wait a while for new episodes : ( For those of you who aren’t familiar with this fabulous show, Jon and Kate have a set of twins Cara and Madelyn and sextuplets: Hannah, Alexis, Leah, Aaden, Collin and Joel. They currently live in Pennsylvania and have their lives filmed three days a week.

Recently on the show I have noticed a lot of advertising for various products and places. The most recent was when Jon was asked by a cameraman what he was doing on the computer and Jon replied that he was just looking over some new information on AllState’s website for work. Then the cameraman panned into a five second shot of the website on the computer. Hello AllState advertising! The funny part was that during the commercials, there was of course, an AllState commercial.

They have been invited to numerous vacation destinations around the country, including Park City, Utah and Hawaii. They are always put up in the nicest rooms with lovely little extras and Jon and Kate are always sure to give huge thanks to wherever they stayed and always tell viewers how great of a place it was. Perfect advertising shout outs for Utah and Hawaii!

When Jon and Kate moved into their new house, the one that they are currently living in, the got all new appliances. I couldn’t member the exact situation, but I found some else discussing the topic online and this is what I found. That discussion went pretty much like this:

Kate: “I just love our new washer and dryer from Whirlpool! They look so beautiful sitting side by side in the laundry room. We had some in our old house and after that amazing experience, I knew the Whirlpool Duets were the ONLY washer and dryer I’d put in the new house!”

Then the camera zoomed into the Whirlpool Duets logo on the washing machine.

Now Kate is talking again, “My Whirlpool Duets are so small that they fit perfectly in the room and they’re so easy to use, but they still have tons of options! I can even wash ALL of my kids’ jeans in ONE LOAD! What other washing machine can do that? They make laundry a joy! They’re like having little friends in my laundry room!”
Pretty funny if you ask me, but if I had eight kids that I wanted to attended college someday I would be doing every last bit of 5 second advertising as well, who cares!

On a more touching note, there was a very memorable episode that gave great recognition for children living with cancer when the whole fam visited Saints Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Tennessee. Throughout the episode, much of the hospital was shown and Jon and Kate did a great job of bringing awareness to the services it provided. Kate specifically mentioned that she hoped this episode would bring awareness to the hospital several times.

So ya, there is a bunch of advertising on this show, funny yes, but certainly not a bad idea in my book!

What happened to music...

The music industry used to be run by those who actually LOVED music and record companies that actually cared. Sadly enough, the scene has changed drastically and we live in a world that only cares about images not words. I totally agree, even though it is sad to say. We no longer care what anyone has to say, we just want to see Britney Spears shakin it and listen to music we can dance to.

In the frontline video, ‘The way music died’ past band members discussed how they used to make great music and make millions. Now a days, you only get one shot, and if your single fails, you fail and will be forced to “work at Starbucks.” David Crosby said that he began singing in coffee houses during high school and how it was all about the love of the music. He didn’t care that he wasn’t getting paid; he just wanted to get his message out there. It’s sad that artists no longer feel the passion that these artists once did.

By the late 70’s the baby boomers were getting older and wiser and began buying less. Sales were down and vinyl records were being digitally re-mastered and put on CDs. The industry focused on past works and didn’t sell any new artists.
The whole idea behind producing new records was changed. It began to be all about deadlines and release dates and the inspiration and creative aspects were thrown out the window. The battle of art verse commerce emerged.

In the 80’s hip-hop and rap began a whole new scene that wasn’t yet exposed to radio or TV. It wasn’t mainstream and was still fresh and exciting. The record industry didn’t even understand how it worked and what they needed to do to market this new genre, so they allowed the new artists to spit out creativity and people soon loved it. However, once the industry did get a handle on what they were doing, it was no longer hip-hop, it was just the same old commercialized junk.
It’s funny how Guns and Roses was considered the real deal / biggest band in the world and that they had so much power that their fans would do anything they suggested. They were making so much money that they had their own plane and could drinks and do drugs all they wanted.

The new members of Velvet Revolver discussed how there is so much pressure on them and how difficult it is to come back into a changed economy with smarter people. The music industry is tougher than its ever been now! They not only need to produce great music, but they need to recognize how the markets have changed.

Wal-Mart is a huge distributor of music sales, but they only sells “clean” music. If Velvet Revolver wants to be a part of this big market, they are forced to re-do records without the explicit content.

So what it all comes down to is that things aren’t the way they used to be. It used to be all about the music, creative aspects and enjoyment and now it’s all about what you look like. It’s about the Britney Spears and Jessica Simpsons types who look hot doing it, but whose lyrics say Nada. People simply just don’t care; I mean, a lot of the time I don’t even care. We just want the fun, fluffy singles that get played on the radio. Nobody cares about the rest of the “deep” crappy songs on the rest of the CD. No wonder we just download the songs we want from Limewire.

We don’t care about the Sarah Hudsons who really can sing, have great voices, good messages, and different looks. We want Britney and that’s all.

Facebook: for you, me and your MOM

When I graduated from high school I remember the moment when I received my college email account and was allowed to sign up for Facebook. Facebook was something new and exciting exclusively for the mature college scene. It had a special appeal unlike Myspace. I remember feeling so cool that I was now allowed and old enough to enter a whole new realm of social networking.

I also remember the unfortunate time when Facebook had decided to let high schoolers join in on the fun. I was not accepting of this change and the elite college atmosphere facebook once had, was taken away. Eventually I got used to it and in the end it was nice to be able to communicate with my friends who were still in high school.

Through out the years Facebook has had many changes; I would say some good and some bad. When the applications started coming, I thought to myself, Myspace here we come once again. The silly drinks and games were unnecessary and lame in my opinion; however, I am a fan of the bumper stickers. They are pretty funny at times.

Although my least favorite change to the Facebook network is the not so brilliant idea that Facebook should be open to anyone. When I say anyone, I mean my mom, my uncles, even my grandma if she so chooses to do so. Its ridiculous! If I wanted to talk to any of those people over the internet we could email or even instant message, but not through facebook. I don’t want my mom and dad posting on my wall! Facebook was once special for the college crew, and I but now that appeal is gone. It has turned into a social networking site for every one of all ages. Not only can you Facebook chat with your friends, but your Dad and younger siblings as well.

Apparently Zuckerberg and co-creater Hughes believed this new change would be a positive one, but I strongly disagree. I feel like I once felt safe on Facebook, but now any creepy old person can come and find you and friend request you!
I read a interesting article from 2006 posted on USA TODAY and here are some good excerpts:

When Facebook first launched two years ago, it was only open to people who had valid college e-mail addresses. Last September, the site opened up to high school students. And in May, it opened up to selected work networks. Now it will be open to virtually anyone.

And that could spell trouble for Facebook, says Danah Boyd, a social media researcher for Yahoo.
"Already, the high school students, college students and corporate accounts are having a hard time dealing with each other's presence," Boyd says. "I don't even want to think what will happen when Mom and Dad can join.”

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-09-11-facebook-everyone_x.htm

Go get 'LOST'

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1859671179/bctid1877562253

Many of us enjoy getting ‘LOST’ on Wednesday nights at 9:00 on ABC, but apparently not as much as we did last year. According to the LA Times on January 22, ‘LOST’ had received record-low premiere ratings. It captured 11.4 million viewers for last years season four premiere and it is sadly down 26% this year. I guess it’s hard to battle with Fox’s new drama ‘Lie to Me’ with its ever so popular lead in, American Idol. However, the ratings weren’t too shabby with a 5.2 verses a 5.1 rating for ‘LOST’.

ABC’s Television Group President Anne Sweeney reported plans to develop a “widget powered by Intel for the final season of ‘LOST’ next year to bring the show to additional devices.” Interestingly enough, ABC was the first network to set up a deal with iTunes “to seek out alterative distribution venues for its show…” I personally love that you can watch shows on online form ABC.com. Sometimes, I think its even better than watching it when it originally airs because the commercials are only 30 seconds and I can conveniently watch on Mac while I’m cozy in my bed. iTunes is also great though because when I was studying abroad in South Africa I had no television and ABC.com wouldn’t work outside the country, so I had to resort to buying shows online. I loved the fact that after I bought each show they were saved in my library and I could watch them whenever I liked, without any commercials. The convenience of watching shows online has to have made Americans much happier people. Our 8:00 Monday night shows have now turned into our Tuesday morning subway riding ipod shows or perhaps our Saturday afternoon TIVO or DVR shows.

TV Week even had some exciting news to report that ‘LOST’ was the most popular show watched online ahead of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’. Maybe Wednesday night really isn’t a good time for many of the viewers and it is simply more convenient to watch it at a later date on some other electronic device. Perhaps these viewers need more than just that one time viewing and they feel the need to purchases their favorite episodes from iTunes or even wait until the DVD of the season comes out. Whatever way you choose to watch ‘LOST’ is fine with me as long as you watch it some way or another!

Annoying Expired Car Warranty!

So, I’m sure a handful of us have received those awful annoying calls from mysterious numbers explaining that our car warranties have expired and we are in desperate need of renewing them. Well, I'd just like to share that I HATE them! My initial reaction to my first call lead me to believe there was actually something wrong with my car and I did need to take action. However, I explained the call to a friend and they told me that the phone call was total BS and my car is too old anyways. Of course the warranty is expired, silly me. I later decided to add the number of the mysterious warranty caller into my contacts, so next time I simply just wouldn’t answer, but of course, they called from a different number! This is what really sent me over the edge.

I even did some research on the topic and read an article saying that the numbers that they call from aren’t really even real. Someone tried to trace the number back and it went to a disconnected phone line in Nebraska. Strange, I know! So, this of course, brought up the question of why this expired car warranty message is using fake numbers? They clearly need some help with their marketing skills, if they actually plan on getting anyone to buy into their calls. Secondly, any good marketing campaign knows that if they want results, they must provide at least a call back number, a name, an email, or perhaps a website…but no. Not these guys.

The article I read also talked about how attorneys are even getting involved.

Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal says his office has received a "huge number" of complaints about the highly annoying and possibly illegal sales calls. Illegal because many of them blatantly violate the Federal Do Not Call Registry. Annoying because not only do they waste people's time, the extended warranties the companies are selling are almost always impossible to use, according to one attorney general. Connecticut, New Jersey and Iowa have teamed up to look into the sales pitches.

However, I would like to share some good news. So my roommate was of course, also getting the stupid calls and she had the bright idea to actually listen to the entire message. I always hung up right as the message began, but that was obviously my mistake. At the very end of the recording it tells you that if you’d like to be removed from this list you simply just need to press 2! That’s it, just press 2! This instantly made my day better and I patiently waited until I received my next stupid; annoying, warranty call and I simply listened to the end, and pressed 2!

Poor expired car warranty people, they just need some new marketing strategies!