IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: valentine’s day

  • Celebrate SAD

    You did it! You scrolled through all the sappy captions on Instagram, saw all the stories of flowers and chocolate on snapchat, and even withstood the surprise proposal video on Facebook. As a member of the single’s club, you survived Valentine’s Day.

    new girl

    So, what’s in it for you?

    Every year, February 15th is known as Single’s Awareness Day (that’s right, the acronym is “SAD”). On this day, single people everywhere celebrate their singleness by exchanging gifts with one another, mingling, and appreciating each other’s friendship.

    Here are some simple ways to celebrate Single’s Awareness Day:

    Go see a movie with friends! Whether you stay in and find a Netflix original or go to your local theater, spend time laughing (or screaming) with your fellow single pals. Let it serve as a reminder of how great your friendships are. It will leave you more thankful for your friends than pitiful about your love life.

    Show someone kindness or love who needs it. Pay for the person’s coffee in front of you, hold the door for the person behind you, or compliment a stranger. Small acts like this go along way. It could be just what a person needs who may have had a rough Valentine’s Day, just like you.

    Allow yourself to indulge. Buy the shirt, eat another cookie, sleep in the extra hour, etc. Whatever you choose to do, keep it within reason and see it as a way of acknowledging your singleness. Give yourself some grace and celebrate your independence!

    Lastly, affirm your friends and the people you care about through words, gifts, time, etc. Let them know how much they mean to you. Even though you may not have a valentine, hopefully have people in your life who you love and trust. This is the perfect opportunity to show them appreciation.

    Don’t let February 15th become a pity party. Celebrate the non-romantic relationships in your life and let gratitude be your guide! Happy SAD…how will you celebrate?

    -Brooke Sanderson

     

     

  • “He got me yellow roses…?”

    Today is the one day of the year where LOVE IS IN THE AIR, and it’s totally socially acceptable:

    yvngswag love heart valentine valentines day

    love disney heart flowers valentine

    But before half of you start thinking already, “it’s just a Tuesday, the institution is a sham, love is dumb, I don’t care about Valentine’s Day”, this isn’t about the history of Valentine’s Day.

    It isn’t about what you should get your significant other,

    and it isn’t bashing the holiday either…

    It’s honestly about flowers.

    According to CNN, it is estimated that on Valentine’s Day, nearly 224 million roses are grown for the sole purpose of being cut into long stem bouquets for your honey-bunny. That’s not even including other popular Valentine’s Day gifting flowers like carnations, lilies, and tulips. Those poor angiosperms.

    flower

    But back to the roses, the cliché of them all.

    Our culture deems roses as the unofficial-official flower of February 14th. If any of you have talked to a florist or self-proclaimed flower expert, you know that there appears to be a cultural agreement that a color code system exists for what kind of roses you should get depending on the person or purpose they are for. I have put in some research, and this is the general internet consensus for which color roses mean what:

    Red roses: Love and romance, the perfect way to say “I love you” 

    White roses: New beginnings or purity

    Yellow roses: Friendship

    Pink roses: Admiration and appreciation, the red roses distant cousin

    Orange roses: Enthusiasm and passion

    If you’re reading this hoping to figure out what rose you should give your significant other because you waited until last minute, congratulations, I just did half the work for you. If you’re like me however, and wonder why flowers have meanings to begin with, keep reading.

    Flowers have been used to communicate human emotion and meaning for ages. There are stories dating back to ancient China, Egypt, Greece, and Rome that show flowers to be an integral part of social culture, such as gifting. Our society today identifies gift giving as a way to communicate and express something from gift giver to receiver. Even at less festive occasions like funerals, flowers are given as a way to communicate to the grieving family that you are sorry for their loss.

    Hate it or love it, but I personally think that the fact that we as a culture communicate with each other through flowers, like colored roses, is fascinating. Sure it might all be a sham, it might just be a way to boost rose sales.. but it is also important to think about the implications rose giving says about our culture. We communicate in more ways than verbally speaking, even if it is just giving a flower.

    Caro Martini halloween pink creepy flowers

    love girl kiss amor i love you

     

    So here is a toast to all of you, may the loves of your life get you red roses as an expression of their eternal love for you, and not yellow as a way to say “we need to be just friends”.

    crying emotional break up breaking up ugly crying

    –Kayla Millie

  • How to be Single on Valentine’s Day

    Happy Valentines Day Watercolor Free Printable_aca175bc-d541-4816-833f-edc8d03db7deSo we all know that Valentine’s Day was created in order to make single people feel even more single (how rude). However, being single Valentine’s Day can be fun. Valentine’s Day is advertised as the holiday of love with giant teddy bears, heart shaped everything, and a dozen roses. Whether you spend this Valentine’s Day binge watching Netflix, enjoying your single 20’s, or going on a tinder date, read below to learn how to embrace Valentine’s Day and be your own Valentine.

    Since Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday this year, have a girls night in with your friends. You can rent a Redbox, buy a bottle of wine (or three), and order pizza. You do not have to go out to eat and run into the countless amount of couples on dates. We all know restaurants use this holiday to entice couples to choose their romantic venue to eat. However, this tactic actually works. There will be restaurants with long waits and reservations. But you are lucky because you can avoid the chaos and stay at home, while enjoying some delicious garlic crust pizza. And let’s be honest… you would rather be in a relationship with pizza than a boy anyways.

    largeLet’s say your Valentine’s Day circumstances are worse and all of your girlfriends have plans. That’s okay. Sometimes it is nice after a long, crazy week to have some free time to aimlessly binge watch a television show. There are so many options from Grey’s Anatomy, Empire, Scandal, and the list goes on. You can buy yourself a heart shaped box of chocolates and enjoy a relaxing night off. Bonus: you do not have to buy a gift for a significant other. For the past two weeks, stores have strategically placed their Valentine’s Day gifts at the front. Ranging from the little kid who has to buy his or her classmates Valentine’s Day cards or the boyfriend who has to buy that giant teddy bear she has been wanting since Christmas. Just like restaurants, stores capitalize on this holiday in order to get more money from their customers. But do not worry because you do not have to be one of those shoppers. You will be relaxing in your comfy bed excited to watch the next episode of your new favorite TV show.

    Lastly, if you are single and ready to mingle February 14th is your night. You can get a few of your single friends and have a night on the town. It will not matter that it’s Valentine’s Day because you are having too much fun dancing the night away.

    What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? Comment below!

    -Erin Fouhy, Sarah Garner, Caitlin Rodermund, and Megan Suggs.

  • “Dumb Ways to Die” Campaign—Dumb Enough to Work?

    What do you think of when you hear “Australia”? Accents? Kangaroos? The Great Barrier Reef? Wouldn’t it be nice to be there in lieu of the recent frigid weather? I bet two things no one would ever put together is Australia and train safety, but you probably will after seeing the two awareness commercials Australia has recently released for the Melbourne Metro.

    In 2012 “Dumb Ways to Die” was launched as a train safety PSA. The three-minute animated spot features personified blobs making outrageously stupid decisions –  setting your hair on fire, eating out of date medicine, using the clothes dryer as a hiding place, selling both kidneys on the Internet. With these demonstrations, comes a catchy song that illustrates each scene as it unfolds. At the 2:24 mark, the audience is introduced to train safety in which the dumbest ways to die are: standing on the edge of a train station platform, driving around the barrier at a railroad crossing, and running across the tracks.

    This year, another PSA spot appeared just in time for Valentine’s Day. Titled “Dumb Ways”, the second video – this only ones 30 seconds – features the blob from the original spot who died from selling both his kidneys on the Internet and replicates the format of the first spot with the simplistic design elements, characters, and tune. Even though the new spot has absolutely no correlation with train safety, the advertisement’s copy reads “Be safe around Valentine’s Day*” and in smaller font, “*and trains”.

    With the release of the newest Valentine spot, it is obvious that McCann Melbourne realized the success first 3 minute spot reached with over 71 million YouTube views. However, the Valentine Day advertisement is relying on the presumption that the viewer has already seen previous campaign efforts, which include radio, print and outdoor advertising. The campaign even has some interactive media such as a fully functioning website and a mobile phone game app that offers short mini games where you can save the characters from their “dumb” deaths.

    There is no denying that the whole campaign is undeniably cute and captures attention, but the question is, is this direction effective?

    When asked about the creation and initial vision of the campaign, John Mescall, McCann’s executive director, said this, “The idea for a song started from a very simple premise: What if we disguised a worthy safety message inside something that didn’t feel at all like a safety message? So we thought about what the complete opposite of a serious safety message would be and came to the conclusion it was an insanely happy and cute song.”

    metrotrain_2

    What Mescall is describing is the use of logical fallacy or in our case irrelevant points. Usually the use of fallacies in an argument or message weakens it, but Mescall used it to his advantage, strengthening the impact.

    One logical fallacy, argumentum ad baculum, is an argument that uses threats or forces to cause the acceptance of the conclusion. Example: “Do this! Or ____ will happen!” “If you don’t this, ____ will happen!” The Dumb Ways campaign uses this fallacy’s appeal to fear in the explicit form of death – if you do these activities in the ad you will die – to remind people of the need for train safety.

    In addition, another logical fallacy is also used – red herring. In this type, a fallacy of diversion is created where irrelevant arguments or information is introduced into a discussion in order to divert people’s attention away from the issue under discussion and towards a different conclusion. No one needs to know all the dumb ways to die; almost all of the scenarios are things that are common sense. Except for the last 30 seconds, none of the scenarios are relevant to educating people on train safety.

    Over a year after the original launch of the “Dumb Ways to Die” commercial, the campaign has grabbed the attention of the world, educating all of us on train safety. What do you think of this PSA? Do you think the campaign could have been stronger if the agency had gone in a different direction?

    –Savannah Valade, Elizabeth Harrington, Caroline Robinson

  • Valentine’s Day Pie

    With another Valentine’s Day comes another slew of tacky love themed promotions from chain restaurants.  Over the past couple of years, chain restaurants all over the country have put out heart shaped dinners for Valentine’s Day, and this year is no different.

    Image

    For the fourth year in a row Papa John’s is bringing out their heart-shaped pizza on February 14.  Back in 2010, Papa John’s debuted their annual Valentine’s deal by offering a one topping thin crust heart-shaped pizza and a cinnapie for $15.  The past few years have been such a success that they decided to bring the deal back for another year.

    Another pizza joint that is joining in on this year’s fun is Pizza Hut, but they’ve got something else up their sleeves.  Instead of joining in on the heart-shaped fun, Pizza Hut has decided to put out a pizza-scented perfume for Valentine’s Day.  A free bottle of Eau de Pizza along with a $20 Pizza Hut gift card will be given out to 24 people each day from February 11 to the 13.  In order to win, customers have to tweet at @PizzaHut with a reason they should win and the hashtag #LastMinuteLovers.

    Image

    Pizza Hut is no stranger to the February 14th pandemonium.  Last year they offered their Valentine’s Day Engagement Package for the first 10 customers who could afford it.  At the measly price of $10,010, the package included a red ruby ring, limo service, flowers, fireworks show, photographer, videographer, and a Pizza Hut Dinner Box.  As tacky as this package sounds, the company received about 800 serious inquiries within the first 24 hours of the promotion.

    We will see how well this years promotions work for Papa John’s and Pizza Hut, but if history tells us anything, they will work out very well for the companies.  Here’s to a beautiful day filled with love, romance, heart-shaped pizza and pizza-scented perfume.  Hope y’all enjoy it!

    – Zach Abramo, Callie Fenlon, Lauren Habig,  Alexandra Huss, Michael Nunes, Daniel Schaefer, Dann Williams

  • For the Love of Advertisements

    For those of you who don’t know what Valentine’s Day is (and have been living under a rock), it is an annual holiday established to celebrate relationships and love. It is a time when couples buy each other gifts, exchange them with one another (which is the most stressful part from a man’s point of view). Just what inanimate object is somebody to give their loved one as a symbol of their relationship? This decision can make or break the holiday and ultimately the relationship.

    Due to the nature of the holiday, consumers are now being bombarded with visual and audible advertisements offering grand suggestions for Valentine’s Day gifts. These commercials seem very similar in nature, as they are usually directed towards men. Most of these commercials hold men in the stereotypical light of being confused and flustered by the thought of buying a gift for their significant other. This notion can be clearly seen in a commercial created by the company “ProFlowers.com.”

    In this commercial the main character, a football coach, is “coaching” men on how to get their partner the perfect gift. The coach uses great inflection in his voice as he tries to motivate his “players” to make the right choice and go with his company’s business. The advertisement even goes so far as to show what not to get her (as the camera pans to a sloppy bouquet of dead flowers in between the coach’s motivational speech). He keeps explaining the benefits of this service as he draws up “the big play” on the chalkboard behind him, showing how it can help you “score.”
    Another classic example of a company targeting a dominant male audience is through the chocolate company Russell Stover and their “Men Should Go With The Heart Shaped Box” campaign. This advertisement showcases testimonials from women who are just passing by on the street and exclusively features them praising the chocolate makers. The attractive women clearly explain that “it wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without the heart-shaped box” and, of course, how much they love chocolate on this special day. They conclude the commercial with these women coming to a consensus that; “men should go with the heart-shaped box at Valentine’s Day.”
    With all of these advertisements, there is obviously a great range of possible gifts to give a loved one. Just don’t be an idiot and not get her anything or you will be in the dog house….and that’s not an ideal place to be on the 14th. 

  • Oh Red, How I Love Too

    There are many legends and stories explaining the history of Valentine’s Day and St. Valentine, but one thing remains the same; Valentine’s Day is a holiday where lovers express their affection for one another.  Every year marketers use the same tactics to attract their love struck consumers into the arms of their products. Valentine’s Day advertisements are flooded with hearts, flowers, and of course the colors of love: red and pink. Red and pink symbolize passion and tranquility and are considered the most romantic colors. However, the appeal of generic pink candy and red roses will eventually run its course. So it’s time to spice it up and show your love that you put some real effort into this Valentine’s Day.

    M&M’s are promoting their brand this Valentine’s Day season by offering a sweet alternative to help consumers express their feelings to their loved ones.  The commercial features “Red,” the helpless romantic candy bite, who cannot respond to the love of his life with the three words, “I-Love-You.”  M&M’s understands that it is not always easy to express your feelings. With that in mind they are here to make it easier with personalized M&M’s. Popular messages include “Be mine,” “You make me melt”, “You Had Me at Hello” and “I Love You.” M&M’s also features a prepackaged Valentine’s Day blend with an assortment of colors, sayings and symbols. If that won’t cut it the Romance Bundle may be for you. It comes complete with a teddy bear and three bags of personalized M&M’s wrapped up in a gift box.  Remember, personalization shows that you took time out of your glamorous day to care!

    Through this strategic marketing plan, M&M’s enhances their brand by making it convenient for their consumers to spice up Valentine’s Day. M&M’s are one of the few companies that offer personalized messages on their candy products. This allows the company to stand out against the assortment of chocolaty competitors. Keep in mind that personalized candies aren’t just for Valentine’s Day, but also for any of life’s sweet moments.

    -Kelsey Bendig, Andrea Blanton, Brooke Keller, Brian Burch