American Century: Sports

Commercials Worth Millions

2012-02-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

Men watch the Super Bowl for the nonstop action of the game and the food. Women, on the other hand, rarely watch the game. They may tune in to see the half time show or the commercials. I, myself, tune in every year just to see which company had the best commercial.

Well, like myself, "Close to 50% of [Super Bowl] viewers tune in to actually watch the commercials, more than they watch the game," said Stephen Master, vice president of Nielsen Sports media research.

During the 2012 Super Bowl, a 30 second commercial cost an average of $3.5 million dollars. This number seems shocking, after all why would companies invest so much of its money for a 30 second commercial.

Randle D. Raggio, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Richmond, conducted some calculations in 2011 that showed just how much of a product the company would have to sell to make up for the money spent on a commercial.

According to his calculations, Snickers would have to sell 6,329,406 candy bars to pay for its ad. Bridgestone would have to sell 298,656 tires and Skechers would have to sell 205,339 pairs of shoes. Being able to sell a large amount of a product would not be difficult for the company because it all comes down to how impressive the commercial is and if it grabbed the viewers attention.

Take GoDaddy.com for instance; though the website has nothing to do with women wearing nearly nothing, it grabs the viewers attention and would spark conversation and interest in the product.

In the beginning of it's career, GoDaddy struggled. The company needed to find a way to boost their company. "Back in 2004 [when the company launched its first Super Bowl ad], we had the very best program of everyone we were competing with, but market share just wasn't growing enough," says Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons. "A marketing firm said, 'Nobody knows that you exist and you should consider stepping into the mainstream media.' And the Super Bowl was right around the corner."

In just the first year alone, market share rose from 16 percent to 20 percent! As the Super Bowl ads continued market share continued to jumped to 32 percent in 2006 to 42 percent in 2007.

We have all seen those commercials where we try to guess what the company is that is showing the commercial. Sometimes it becomes difficult when the subject matter of the commercial and the actual company is completely different. Take a commercial where a dog finds himself too fat to fit through the door flap. The dog begins to work and becomes skinny enough to fit through the flap. It is hard to believe that the company behind the commercial is Volkswagen, a car company.

There is such a high amount of car commercials that are aired during the Super Bowl because the target audience watching the Super Bowl is men, and men typically like cars. For the 2012 Super Bowl, the Chevy Sonic, Hyundai Veloster, and the Fiat 500 were the top cars that made the viewers want to know more about the specific cars seen in the commercials. Not only do the car commercials benefit the auto company but also car search engines. Edmunds.com and Autotrader.com showed that after the commercials aired, viewers searched the cars to learn more about the cars. "At Edmunds.com, page views leapt 3,354 percent in the moments after the ad." The reason behind the thousands of page views is most likely because of the content of the commercial. The majority of the commercial is a nerdy man being turned on by an attractive Italian model.

Some of the commercials that are seen during the Super Bowl are very clever and really grab my attention. However, there are some commercials that I find myself confused at what point and product the company was trying to sell. I takes a large group of people to brainstorm and come up with ideas to make sure that their commercial is a big success and that the money that is spent into airing their commercial will then cause the company to increase their sales.

Racist or Just Plain Wrong?

2012-01-22T14:39:00.000-08:00

This past Monday, January 16th American honored Martin Luther King and remembered the true greatness of his dream. Today that dream is not a dream, but a reality. Or is it?

Last year, ESPN held a panel to discuss the black athlete. The Panel included athletes

and coaches. As I was watching a taping of the show on youtube, a topic was brought up that really made me think.

Michael Vick played for the Atlanta Falcons but was suspended when he pled guilty for partaking in dog fighting. Along with being suspended he was sentenced to serve 23 months in prison. He now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. There is still controversy of his sentence and if it was because of the color of his skin.

Ben Roethlisberger is a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 2009, a civil suit was filed for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room in 2008. Roethlisberger was not sentenced any jail time. In 2010, Roethlisberger was again accused of sexually assaulting a 20 year old women. Though he was not sentenced to jail, he was suspended in 2010.

Would there have been a difference if Micheal Vick was white? Would there have been a different outcome if Ben Roethlisberger was Black?

The topic and question of the show was is race a factor?

Before this accusations and suspensions, Roethlisberger was not a popular teammate. "Najeh Davenport also discussed a time when Joey Porter called out Roethlisberger in a team meeting for being the last one in to practice and the first one to leave. Porter also accused Roethlisberger of not being dedicated to the team and criticized him for not fraternizing with his teammates." An interesting survey was realized last year by ESPN that notes that 30 percent of African-Americans admire Roethlisberger and 22 percent of whites admire the quarter back.

ESPN wrote an article that most likely everyone would like to know, what if Vick was white? Race is something that is very important to Vick. Another question was asked in the article. It is interesting because this topic of African Americans and single parent households became a topic of discussion in the ESPN show. The question: "If Vick grew up with the paternal support that white kids are more likely to have would he have been involved in dogfighting?" It becomes a valid question because,72 percent percent of black children are born to unwed mothers compared with 29 percent of white children. Vick's father was noted as not have such a supportive father. His father was an strong cocaine user and was frequently drunk around young Vick.

So this becomes a question of was it really a race issue or was it his upbringing?

Should Childhood Obesity be an issue?

2012-01-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

Obesity in America is an issue that is sometimes neglected. There needs to be somewhere that can stop the risk of obesity from growing. After reading "Too Fat to Fight,"it is evident that children have to be taught to eat right and make exercise a regular activity. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 17% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 are obese. This is becoming a problem not only because of the risk of disease and death, but because, according to "Too Fat to Fight,"nine million of teenagers 17-24 year-olds are too fat to fight in the military. Which is 27 percent of all young adults.

The issue becomes crucial when adolescents are too overweight to defend their country. Childhood Obesity should be an issue discussed by running presidential candidates.

Former running mate, Sarah Palin disagreed with Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign stating that,

"Instead of a government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician's wife's priorities, just leave us alone, get off our back, and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track."

Former Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, gave a speech in 2004 about his reactions to the Conference on Child's Obesity in Texas. Throughout his speech, Perry calls obesity an "epidemic." He says that this "epidemic can be prevented with physical activity and dietary changes." He also states that he "want[s] Texans of all ages to form the fitness habits that will allow them to live longer, healthier lives while saving taxpayers billions of dollars in healthcare costs associated with obesity."

When Barack Obama was running for President, he discussed Childhood Obesity with nurses at the Ohio State Medical Center.

I found it difficult to find the Republican nominees opinions' on childhood obesity. While it is early in the election, I think it should be an issue if childhood obesity leads to American's not being allowed to fight in the army.

President Obama raises the issue of childhood obesity with a campaign endorsed by his wife, Michelle Obama. The campaign is called, "Let's Move." Michelle Obama is also featured in "Disney Channel's Magic of Healthy Living." Children are more likely to listen and realize the message of the program because it is being said by their favorite Disney Channel Stars and Michelle Obama.

Michelle Obama hold meetings and discusses obesity and fighting in the army. The First Lady visited the Army's largest training post at Fort Jackson. The training facility is making changes that include more rigorous workouts and better food choices. "Kids are spending too much time in front of TV and computer screens, not getting enough exercise and drinking too many sugary soft drinks", Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling said. He said that makes their bones too fragile for military lifestyles.

Starting with child and helping them understand the risks with obesity can help them grow to be strong and healthy to one day fight for our country.

"It's Not Really My Country"

2011-12-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

In 1968 during a interview with Joe Garagiola on the Today show, basketball stand out Lew Alcindor answered the question everyone was wondering: Why was he protesting the 1968 Olympics? He answered the question by stating, "Yeah I live here, but it's not really my country."

Many wondered what Alcindor meant when he claimed America was not really his country.

Even the Chicago Defender's A.S "Doc" Young wondered, "Where is YOUR country?"

Lew Alcindor was born in Harlem in 1947. Alcindor soon learned about the separation between blacks and whites when he found himself excluded from his classmates, playing with two black classmates. He enrolled in a catholic high school where his basketball coach, Jack Donohue, told him how the "N" word should never be used. After having discussions with his basketball coach about racism, Alcindor became interested in Civil Rights.

By the 1960's, Lew began to admire Bill Russell and look up to him as a model.

When the school year ended in 1964, Alcindor went back to Harlem, where he worked at HARYOU-ACT, a youth education program. On July 16, 1964, a white policeman, who was off duty, shot and killed a fifteen-year-old African American. Riots broke out. When Alcindor arrived in Harlem, there was chaos. Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant burned for six days. After witnessing this traumatic event, Lew Alcindor was not going to sit around and be neglected, he was going to speak his mind.

On May 4, 1965, Lew Alcindor made a decision to play for the UCLA Bruins. Ralphe Buche, Jackie Robinson and Rafer Johnson were all black athletes who attended the college.

Alcindor picked the school because it would be able to excel in basketball and in class as well, without any discrimination.

Alcindor was a standout at UCLA:

At UCLA, Lew was informed that the dunk shot. This rule would be known as "The Lew Alcindor Rule."

Alcindor boycotted the Olympics because he said, "if you live in a racist society, you have to react-and this is my way of reacting." Critics called Alcindor a traitor. Bob Considine, a political commentator wrote that black athletes were " 'stupid' for believing a boycott could create any meaningful social change. "

Lew Alcindor can call American his country only when "African Americans achieved self-determination and empowerment. "

http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/JSH/JSH2009/JSH3602/jsh3602g.pdf

Branching Out

2011-12-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

Jackie Robinson made history when the racial gap was broken. BUT the reason behind it all was Rickey Branch. Sure Robinson had really great skills and a persona that didn't make him react to the crowd, but Branch was the one who believed in Robinson.

Rickey began his baseball career at Ohio Wesleyan University. He made his major league debut with the St. Louis Browns and after two sessions he was sold to the New York Highlanders.

Rickey approached George MacLaughlin. He told MacLaughlin that he wanted to recruit black players for the Dodgers. MacLaughlin liked the idea, however he told Branch that he needed to find a good player who could control himself. By mid 1945 Branch narrowed his search. Branch liked the idea that Robinson was educated and stayed away from alcohol. Rickey gave Robinson a copy of Papini's Life of Christ and asked him to read it. There were certain sections on nonviolence that he would have to look over because of the negativity that was coming his way.

According to a witness in the meeting Jackie Robinson said, "Mr. Rickey, I think I can play ball ... in Brooklyn. ... If you want to take this gamble, I will promise you there will be no incident." At the end of the meeting, Jackie Robinson signed a contract to play for the Montreal Royal. Rickey Branch stayed alongside Jackie Robinson. Robinson's triumph and Branch's leadership showed the first great public civil rights event.

I think that it took a lot for Robinson to be the first black to play in the major league. But I also think he was ready for change and didn't want to play amateur baseball anymore. I also think that Branch showed leadership through this story and is really seen as a great man for staying by Robinson's side and supporting him through this era.