is it in you?

You’re dribbling down the court as the sweat drips down your temple, your heart is pounding, and your teammates are anxiously anticipating the ball. You pass to the guard, cut through to the middle and he passes you the ball. As you take one giant leap towards the basket, the center just misses the ball and you put it right in the hoop. Score! The next time out is taken and you jog over to the bench and grab that light blue bottle of Glacier Freeze flavored Gatorade. How refreshing. I think being a consumer of Gatorade products shows how much the people of our culture get caught up in branding. The commercials are so intense and serious, but it’s just a sports drink; it’s not that serious!

Unlike plain old water, Gatorade says something about that person; it’s superior to water. Gatorade says, I am a serious athlete. Similarly to the ipod, Gatorade has an aura. It may not be as common as the ipod’s, but it exists.The brand of Gatorade seems to have snob appeal, since it is the preferred beverage of good athletes (per their commercials and ads). The motto is: is it in you? Whatever it is, kids want that to be like these athletes.

When you see pro athletes drinking Gatorade, it makes the youth of American society want to drink it too. Thus, the branding of Gatorade (and branding in general) has a huge influence on kids, it boosts the Gatorade market, and people establish brand loyalty.

When a kid sees that bottle with the orange cap in a pro athlete’s hand, the kid will want some, because they desire that secret “it” ingredient in Gatorade. Water doesn’t have a catchy slogan or a cool bottle, so why drink it?

media habits

I would say the medium I use the most is the internet. Usually when I wake up in the morning I get online and check my email and things of that nature. I come home from school and turn on the television and get online again. I probably get on the internet at least five separate times a day. I also watch a bit of television. I don't read the newspaper that much, something I would like to do more often. As far as radio goes, I find it annoying..it is not a good source to get news or even music anymore since there are so many advertisements.

The way I was raised influenced my media habits. My father is not much of an evening news person, or even a television news kind of person, so I am not either. I find that my boyfriend's mom usually has the evening news on in the background to whatever she is doing, so my boyfriend likes watching the news sometimes too. It is kind of a habit for them to flip it on and it fits into their everyday routine.

Since I do not really keep up with news, politics, or stuff like that (I know, it's horrible and ignorant), I can't really say that I have good media habits or even good aspects of it. I usually find myself using mediums as a source for entertainment, something I think other Americans have problems with. I and these other people should be more concerned with the real world and what is going on! That is the worst thing about my media habits.

I think to improve my media consumption, I would like to start reading the newspaper, but my Dad always takes it into work so he gets dibbs on it (just another excuse, right?). The least I could do is watch the news and put a little effort into trying to keep up with current events, and spend less time being absorbed by entertainment.

intro

Hey guys I am Nadia Muha and I'm studying American Studies and Psychology at UMBC. I'm a sophomore and I think I am double majoring but I am trying to work out the details with my scheduling right now. I want to do something with television, like be an anchorwoman or a reporter, or work in publishing for a magazine or a newspaper, or even work in advertising and marketing. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do, but I know everything will fall into place sooner or later!