Slow... Down... Fall!

The most amusing blog posts seem to just flow from your brain all the way down to the keyboard and appear in words somehow on your word processor. Occasionally I am blessed to have those remarkable moments in life; unfortunately I am currently finding my way around this massive writers block….

Does anyone else seem to feel that the changing of the leaves is happening too quickly?! I went camping last weekend up Big Cottonwood canyon by Guardsman’s Pass and I swore when I woke up there were more bright salmon and flaming orange leaves overnight! This can’t happen all once because I haven’t even had time to hike several times and capture some of the beauty autumn brings. Colors in nature grab my attention like someone grabbing that last spoon in the classic card game, spoons. And unfortunately school getting in my way and starting to get busy, so I am not able to just journey off into the mountains to hike for hours on end.

In order for my fall to be complete, I must hike Mt. Timpanogos while it is exploding with colors. Period.

Law and Advertising

Most likely others in the class didn’t get as excited or interested as did I, when one of our long chapters started discussing the legal side of advertising. Learning about how the government creates laws and regulations to monitor the use of advertisements in our nation opened my mind to yet another possible career option.

I started having the idea of studying law at an early age, as my Dad is a patent attorney who specializes in intellectual property law. He would occasionally talk about his work and how he loved it. I even had the opportunity to help him with some work over the summer. Lately I have thought about the possibility of going to law school after I graduate, but I also am rather attracted and attached to the idea of advertising and marketing so I am torn between two choices.

So I decided to do a little more research on the subject of laws dealing with advertising, I checked out the FTC website (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/bcpap.shtm) which contains most of the same information found in our textbook about unfair or deceptive advertising . I stumbled upon an interesting blog that deals solely with advertising law.

http://www.consumeradvertisinglawblog.com/

This blog has several recent examples of companies violating a particular law or regulation. As I read over a few I became aware of how the advertising and marketing world really does need regulations, laws, and enforcements to keep it fair with everyone. One particular example I thought was interesting, was a trademark dispute between Victory Secret and Fortune Dynamic Inc. Victory Secret used the work “Delicious” on some of their tank tops and because Fortune Dynamic Inc owns the trademark for the “Delicious” mark on women’s shoes they decided to take Victory Secret to court.

Check out that blog to see advertising laws at work.

Interupting Horseshoes

Sparks flew as horseshoes collided with iron poles Sunday evening. Unfortunately the group of friends I played with wasn’t lucky enough to witness any ‘ringers’. Yet we were lucky enough to make it up to the Cook cabin with plenty of daylight to enjoy the fresh crisp air of Sundance Utah. This particular game of horseshoes had quite the unexpected start and interruption from some friendly creatures. As we ventured out to horseshoe pits in the back yard of the Cook cabin we were surprised to see they were already occupied by three deer that were enjoying a nice break-the-fast Sunday grazing session. It felt like elementary school all over again-when your group of friends was forced to confront the older grade to challenge them for complete control over the field during recess. We were a bit nervous to interrupt this peaceful site but we knew our daylight was limited and we wanted to make sure this game happened. The deer quickly noticed us encroaching on their space and chose to forfeit the backyard to allow us an enjoying game of horseshoes, or so we thought… Midway through the second game, we were caught way off guard as one brave deer returned to interrupt us by charging right through the two horseshoe pits! It’s too bad we didn’t have any sort of headlights to stop this deer in its tracks as it trampled around the backyard for another 15 seconds. All of us were forced to move in order to get out of this crazy deer’s rampage, but just as quickly as the deer came, it also left. Not everyone is able to start off their conversations saying their horseshoe game was interrupted by some wild deer, I feel fortunate being able to at least blog about it happening.
That deer was literally the only thing that interrupted a non-stop action packed weekend full of adventures from parties in Draper, BYU sport games, hot tubing, cabin fun, games, horseshoes, hiking Stewart falls, rock climbing, ward parties, and of course I can't forget the HBLL.
I felt like I needed to add a picture of some sorts, it had been a while. So enjoy a climbing pic of me pinching the Appendage up Rock Canyon.

That's the Power of... Words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HfwkArpvU
Several weeks ago a friend posted a youtube video on my Facebook page (the links just above, check it out). I watched it and thought it was rather creative, clever, and I went on with my life and didn’t think much else of it. He obviously knew that I was going to need some sort or advertising topic to blog about this first week. I personally had no idea when I first watched it that I would be incorporating it in my first blog for this advertising class. It’s not so much an ad for anything in particular but I felt there was an important lesson with advertising found within. When we see an image, person, or a logo our mind will instantly connect it with a word or brand. “Just Do It” with Nike, or when we see “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” we connect it with Old Spice, or if we are lucky enough to see “The Most Interesting Man in The World” we think of Dos Equis. This youtube clip is almost like 50 short ad clips designed to brand us to a specific word. I was amazed at how well this video flows from one image to another keeping your mind constantly thinking on a certain word.
Such a creative clip like this would have had to take a lot of time to plan out all the different shots dealing with the words: play, blow, break, split, run, fly, fall, light, and space. The use of being creative with a word or words amplifies an ad. It helps the viewer remember the ad, makes the ad more entertaining and has a powerful effect.
I am always impressed with how creative some people can be. As I attended Jason’s Thursday lecture I couldn’t stop thinking about how I need to become more creative. He constantly talked about how he personally felt he wasn’t creative at all, and the entire time I was just blown away by his creativity. I wanted to ask y’all what you do to find that added creative buzz in your writing and ideas. What tips or suggestions have helped you when you seem to have hit that creative block or wall and can’t move forward?