Just about a week, we will be going into year 2k8. For me, this year is really amazing. why?
1. I got accepted into the VCU Adcenter, the best advertising school in the US. and the school doesn't let me down at all. It's not about the reputation, new location, pride but it's about meeting new people. And they are friend. Friends who make me better and give me some life's lessons.
2. I miss my hometown so much. At this time last year, I was spending a quality time with my Thai friends at the resort and we were so happy. But living my life here in Richmond is not bad and makes me smile every day.
3. The Adcenter is a place i can think freely and not afraid to express crazy thoughts. I know this school is shaping my mind and thought.
Thanks for stopping by this blog and giving a comment. I hope all my blog reader will have a good time and great holidays for 2007. Merry Christmas :)
Last two weeks I had a chance to do an extra assignment about "slaves to marketing." It reminded me of one image that i have in my laptop for a while. The guy in this image is Ryan Sheckler, an American professional skateboarder, with his last name tattoo on his back. Many people may know him from MTV's The Life of Ryan show. When I re-looked at this image again, some thoughts came across in my mind. 1. This kid is very talented and skillful. He has got a sponsor from skateboarding since he was 10 or 11 and presently (now he is 17) many big companies are supporting him like Red Bull and Volcom. So this image for me is kind of juxtaposition between expressing himself through his tattoo on his back and corporate logos that have been attached to him for 7 years. I feel that his tattoo is meaningless for me because he has been labeled and monetized so something that he tried to identify himself is diluted.
2. Teenage girls love and adore him. Of course, they are the slave to marketing. They think he is cool even he wears a Volcom t-shirt and Red Bull cap all the time. On the other hand he sells his own t-shirt on his official website with his tattoo screened on it like this. I can't deny that we are in capitalism and it works.
Stopped by Flavorpill website to find arts events in NYC, I found many pieces of art on the cover of the webpage. They are created by Chad Kouri.
All I know about him from his website is "Chad Kouri spends most of his time in alleys looking for wood, books, and other treasures to build out some elaborate found-art collage. The rest of his time is spent eating humus, playing guitar, and other things to pass the day. He has most recently taken up bench resting... a workout ritual much like bench pressing, but without all the lifting."
Personally, I really like his works. I like the way he put things together in one piece of art. Here are some samples of his arts I took from his website. I will try to catch up flavorpill website for their new cover artists. I think they are really cool.
Though I hesitate to criticize, there are some things I just don't like about the new Vaseline campaign.As a former media planner for Vaseline in Thailand, I would say Vaseline once focused on the skin health benefits and did a good job in discriminating itself among the competitors as healthy body care product. So the tonality of communication was straight-to-the-point and very functional but still kept a feminine element. In the recent campaign titled “Your skin is amazing,” speaks about healthy skin in a different way. The creative work is brilliant and enhances the strategy with great execution. But I feel that Vaseline campaign is too similar to Dove campaign in a few ways.
As a consumer, I think Vaseline is a simple, affordable product. I feel that Vaseline is trying to educate and convince me about their skin mission statement by telling me that moisturizing my skin when dry is not enough. Taking care of skin is a long-term regime and a thousand ways can disrupt your soft skin. But my Mom won’t understand what they are talking about. The majority of consumers still focus on problem solving and that’s Vaseline job to convert consumers to be more proactive to their skin.As an advertising student who loves to explore new things, I browsed the website and found out that Vaseline paid 5 celebrities to endorse the brand and be a part of skin visions activity. The only one I like belongs to Dave Navarro, a guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s addiction. I love the insight saying “My skin is my canvas…my tattoos represent a time in my life….” I hope this quote is real.
Every morning (well, not really) i saw people drinking Red Bull to refresh themselves from drowsiness and fatigue. It is obvious that when you got many tasks to finish in one night or one day to survive the Adcenter, Red Bull is on the top list. For me I rarely drink it because I am distracted by Skittles. Skittles give me glucose to stay awake at night. I have been addicted to Skittles for 2 months. I bought a lot of Skittles presently. Now I realize that i need to stay away from that small round fruit chews. I don't want to feel the rainbow anymore. My addiction was getting worse last week because one night i woke up at 4am. and i grabbed my rainbow candy and put them in my mouth. That's was too much. I want to quit Skittling.
We are officially done for the first semester at the Adcenter. It's a moment that i had craved for since November. I did some good jobs and fair jobs or bad works but i know i am improving myself. The first 15 weeks taught me a lot not only advertising business and planning but also social interaction and team working.
I learned many things here from the scratch. I learned more about American's brands. I learned how to put myself toward and pull myself out of trouble. I learned to work with people and their personalities. I learn to embrace failure and imperfection and learn to cherish myself with victory and pride. I maximize and utilize my positivity for this school.
Next, It's time for myself. I want to do many things i could not do it during the school. I bought some books and magazines. I am planning my trip to New York and DC. I am thinking about building my portfolio and blogging more.
The next semester at the Adcenter will be fun and exciting. We will move to the new building, located a couple blocks away from my place. and Bye bye 1313 Main Street.
Something I wanna do in the US before I leave (to answer Jordan's question)
- Going to NYC - Going to the MoMA - Visiting friends in California - Sipping Malibu cocktail on the beach - Meeting with my blog friends - Stepping into the US advertising business - Being an ordinary and silly tourist and having fun with sightseeing around this country - Making Adcenter's friends happier and better - Walking with Jordan Childs in the park at night + Christmas decorations (We actually did this and had a good time together, haha)
