EOC: Beech-Nut apple juice scandal

"The sale of the appleless apple juice product earned the Beech-Nut Corporation approximately $60 million over a ten-year period."(http://socyberty.com/crime/the-beech-nut-apple-juice-scandal/)

Beech-Nut company decided to lower cost by changing their apple juice supplier and from that earn more money from their sales. But what the real problem was that there was no real apple juice, it was some mix of chemicals that had apple juice flavor.

What happens is that they did a false advertising and that's illegal, second the main target market for the apple juice were children.There was no article that said that no one was harm from this but yet it was not healthy to feed the little one with such an unhealthy product.

They had this going over more than 10 years without a problem until an investigator decided to do an research and found out what was really going on. As soon as he found out what was going on, he began to use the law against them. The process took more than 2 years to have a settlement were the CEO's of the chemicals supplier and Beech-Nut ended up in jail and the companies had to pay a fine.

The worst part was that even though they knew what was going on while they had a chance they distributed the product to different countries and locations The product was sold with a discount, so they can still earn money for what was left on their appleless juice.

As a company this prove how they did everything wrong and didn't even care about the people only about multiplying the money no matter what. This damage their image, they are still in business. But the they lost a lot of loyal customers.

EOC: Exercise Chapter 3

“He did everything before anyone else, and everybody has copied him,” the Paris stylist and editor Marie-Amélie Sauve said in The New York Times Magazine in 2005

"Mr. Simons was born on Jan. 12, 1968, in a Belgian village near the German border, where his father had served in the military. He studied industrial design at a university in Genk. While taking an internship with the fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck in Antwerp, he began to think about clothing design. "

"Although his early collections seemed dark and forbiddingly cool, Mr. Simons’s perspective is essentially that of a romantic. He sees things simply and directly, but from a distance. " (http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/raf_simons/index.html)

""I don't want to show clothes, I want to show my attitude, my past, present and future. I use memories and future visions and try to place them in today's world." (http://fashion.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&zTi=1&sdn=fashion&cdn=style&tm=25&f=00&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.fashion.at/who/raf.htm)

Raf Simons first started as a furniture designer and work his way up into clothing design, he always wanted had ideas for men’s clothing. He wanted to apply for an fashion design school but it was to late he was to old to start from there but yet when he started on his own he had great skills. From there he started working on his collections but he never wanted to get exposure. He seems like in his own world.

In 2005 he was named creative director for Jil Sander, a well-known designer. From that it's were he began to be recognize among all the fashion designer in Europe moving today his way to Asia and now USA.

EOC: Discussion Questions Chapter 3

1.Is Ralph Lauren a designer? Why or why not?

Ralph Lauren is a merchant that is obsess with his looks and loves to be unique. HE has become what he is because he had a vision were he has created a life style with his collections.

2. Where did Ralph Lauren work prior to working for himself? Why do you think this experience was beneficial to his career?

He first worked at Brooks Brothers and than at Rivetz, a tie manufacturer were he was doing normal as a salesman, he believed that everything comes from the looks he would look outstanding and that’s were he would get people attention and start networking, the experience helped him build his image and network and build his career form that.

3. Currently, how many divisions does Ralph Lauren operate under his name? Can you identify the target market of each division? Are they homogeneous or diverse?

He has many divisions under his from women, men, kids and sport wear clothing. He also has fragrance and home furnishing. As you can see get targets to everyone from different age groups and lifestyle. He can do both, but more homogeneous.

4. What is your favorite division of Ralph Lauren? How does that division emulate your personal lifestyle?

I don’t wear any of his brands; my personality for the moment doesn’t fit into his collections.

5. How has Ralph Lauren built on his original brand to create an empire and an almost unparalleled career in fashion? Can you think of someone else who compares to him?

Ralph can be considered as a classic his been around for many years and I believe his style will be here for more generations to come. He is unique at what he does. But of course there are many designers from back than that has build their careers by being loyal to themselves and build a business of what they believe in. They have a story and they make come true, each designer is different but he is not the only one.

Midterm: Barbie

"The Barbie doll was invented in 1959 by Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel), whose own daughter was called Barbara. Barbie was introduced to the world at the American Toy Fair in New York City. The doll was intended to be a teenage fashion doll. There has been some controversy over Barbie's figure when it realized that if Barbie was a real person her measurements would be an impossible 36-18-38. The Ken doll was named after Ruth's son. Barbie first had bendable legs in 1965."(http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbarbiedoll.htm)

"Girls went wild over her and set a new sales record for Mattel the very first year at 351,000 sold at $3.00 each. Since then the Barbie Doll's popularity has rarely waivered and today, with over one billion of her lookalikes sold, the product line is one of the most successful in the history of the toy industry." (http://www.billbam.com/barbiehistory.html)

"Ruth continued with her idea. She traveled to Europe and when she returned she brought a German doll named "Lilli" with her. Redesigned, Lilli became Barbie, and Ruth continued to pester the Mattel executives until they agreed to produce the doll. The original patent date is 1958. Ruth even hired a fashion designer, Charlotte Johnson, to create a fashionable wardrobe for the doll." (http://www.loti.com/barbie_mattel_1959.htm)

"At first, Barbie was a teenaged fashion model, but she's had over 80 careers since then, from astronaut to a medic in Desert Storm and Two Barbies are sold every second around the world"(http://www.loti.com/barbie_mattel_1959.htm)

EOC: Exercise Chapter 2

"The mission of the Burberry Foundation is to help young people realise their dreams and potential through the power of their creativity. The Burberry Foundation is committed to dedicating its global resources to help young people build confidence, make connections in their communities, and grasp opportunities to succeed. The aim of the Foundation is to empower young people to use their intellectual creativity — that which will help them to imagine and achieve their life goals."

"The Burberry brand is anchored in the integrity of its outerwear, a tradition that began when Thomas Burberry invented gabardine and continued by Burberry making the coats that would keep Ernest Shackleton, among other adventurers, warm and dry regardless of the extremity of their conquests. Since the beginning of the 20th century, aviators, cartographers, and mountain climbers alike have worn Burberry to expand the boundaries of human experience.

The Burberry Foundation recognises that while the nature of exploration has changed, the horizons today’s young people seek to conquer are no less daunting than the South Pole was a century ago. The twenty-first century requires new skills among young people who are looking to become successful adults in today’s multicultural, diverse global community. They must be educated well beyond their primary school years; they must be skilled in language and relationships and be technologically and culturally fluent; and they must navigate difficult decisions and locate trustworthy mentors to open doors to professional careers and meaningful lives.

Just as Burberry has clothed and encouraged the adventurers of the past, the Burberry Foundation will support the creative spirit and the ambition of the young people of today by helping them to navigate the uncertain terrain of their age and of the complex world in which we live." (http://us.burberry.com/sitemap/index.jsp)

EOC: Discussion Questions Chapter 2

1. How has fashion advertising changed since the mid-twentieth century? What are some of the differences between ads that appeared before the 1950's and those from the 1950's, 1960's and today?

As you can see the how ads have change from being conservative to more creative and open minded



2. What are some of the theories related to fashion branding? What do they say about fashion branding as a means of communicating with consumers? How do the contemporary ideas of Hamilton, DeBord, Agins, Gobe, and McCracken relate to those Barthes and Baurdrillard?

Roland Barthes, “ He believed that a garment is actually present in fashion system at three distinct levels: the real garment; the terminological garment; and the rhetorical written garment."
Jean Baudrillard theory was hyperreality: presents itself to consumer through media. He believed that brands are the principle concepts of advertising culture, and that they constitute a new discourse in the order of consumption.

3. What types of meanings does Grant McCraken associate with fashion products? Do you agree or disagree? If you disagree, what would you add to or delete from his list? Give an example of one of the meanings.

There are nine different types of meaning that are usually targeted by companies: gender, lifestyle, decade, age, class and status, occupation, time and place, value and fad, fashion and trend meanings. I completely agree.

EOC: Discussion Questions Chapter 1

1. Fashion branding has been defined as " The cumulative image of a product or service that consumers quickly associate with a particular brand, it offer an overall experience that is unique, different, special and identifiable" (Brand Story by Joseph Hancock pg. 4)

Branding establish an identity to a product by give it a name, for example there are many mass-produced merchandise from shoes, t-shirts, bags, etc. Branding will make every one of the products unique by give it a image, logo, reputation, an identity.

2. Companies are able to sell item at a expensive price because they have created an image a reputation in this case you are the buying a product you are buying a name. For example Levi's jeans against a Tommy Hilfiger one.TH are not a luxury brand but consider themselves as a high end one, yet their jeans quality its normal there are not bad also but not high end quality people rather pay more because of their name.

3. Consumer groups are Rastafarian, Chinese and homosexuals.
They all differ from each other regarding to fashion, its seems that shouldn't but it does. What makes them differ from each other its their culture and beliefs. But mostly it really doesn't matter as individuals we all are the different. But their are some groups like the Gothics, country, nerds, etc that share a style in common but with these groups that I mentioned there's not much what they can have in common for fashion.

EOC: Exercise Chapter 1

"This beautiful visual is a significant new addition to the core values campaign. Not only does it capture the unique quality of a father-daughter relationship, in which both are enriched by a shared experience, but it also evokes the heritage of Louis Vuitton with its suggestion of know-how being passed from one generation to the next." (http://www.fabsugar.com/Fab-Ad-Louis-Vuitton-Core-Values-Campaign-Featuring-Francis-Sofia-Coppola-1699400)

This ad captures the attention of the viewer because of the message the brand is sending out, a good quality time father and daughter. For the people that knows who is the famous person in the ad, in this case would be the a prestigious filmmaker from Buenos Aires, Argentina and his daughter.

For those that don't know who he is, it really doesn't matter right! As you can see the massage is still the same. So when you see the ad having or not having knowledge of who that person is, what it portraits is the same feeling.

The viewers get involved with the brand emotionally and feel the long lasting relationship there is, that makes them want to part of it and to a point the they got to have LV product because they are already involved with the story and want to part of it.

Besides this campaign was for a good cause, LV will be making a donation to The Climate Project so if the sublime message didn't worked the realistic one will.

BOC: Slip! Slop! Slap!

"The Australians had the "Slip, Slap, Slop" campaign - slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat."(http://www.guide4living.com/skincancer/prevention.htm)

"Skin cancer survivor Jorge Contreras, 46, preaches the importance of the three S's and follows them religiously. He was diagnosed with skin cancer five years ago on his neck and chest, and six months later his arm turned out to have a cancerous bump. He’s been cancer free for three and a half years." (http://elpasoinc.com/readArticle.aspx?issueid=286&xrec=5271)

"We have seen positive changes in sun-related behaviour and attitudes over that time. Australia’s improved skin cancer survival rates are generally higher than in other countries because we are now more aware of the signs of skin cancer and are detecting skin cancers earlier." (http://www.cancer.org.au/cancersmartlifestyle/SunSmart/Campaignsandevents.htm)

Australians have made it big with the skin cancer awareness by having success over the past 25 years with the Slip! Slop! Slap! campaign. It's all about taking care of your skin by just doing three simple steps. The campaign has many followers that has motivated other countries invest in skin care campaigns.