Is this real...or false advertisement?

Should Nike be able to use this to sell their product?

People hate seeing commercials on their television. They always seem to interrupt the best part in the program that people are watching. The reason companies choose to advertise during this time, is because it sells their product. Each company develops a catchy slogan, jingle, or event to grab the viewers attention. In this video Kobe Bryant, a famous basketball player, hurdles over a car. Although most of this video is about a basketball player being able to jump, a little part of it causes Nike to get more business.

At the beginning of the video, the viewer will notice that Kobe picks up a Nike shoe and places it on his foot. After the crazy stunt is completed, and Kobe is successful he yells out, "Nike Hyper- dunks." This phrase places the success of the jump solely on the shoe and not the athlete. Nike can display this video as part of their advertisement for their new product. The stunt will catch the viewers attention and Kobe's phrase will sell the shoe. Every kid who sees the video will want the shoe because they think it will make them jump like Kobe. But is this jump even possible; can someone really jump a moving car? What if this jump is fake? Is this false advertisement?

Each person has their own opinion on whether or not Kobe really jumped over the car. Some think it may have just been Hollywood making the stunt look real. If this is the case, and Nike implies that the shoe is making the jump a success; then is this false advertisement?

Should America Inforce Capital Punishment?

When is justice fully served to those who have committed a bad dead? A famous quote from King Solomon says it all. He says, "Justice will only be achieved when those who are not injured by crime feel as indignant as those who are." This quote directly places sight on whether or not those who commit a crime are being punished enough to give the victim justice.

Some people feel that sentencing people to any form of capital punishment is wrong. These people believe in second chances and think that after doing time in prison, criminals can be released upon good behavior. Once in a "blue moon," this may be a possibility; but nine times out of ten its not the case. Minor changes in a persons life can easily be made. Someone can be taught to put their dishes in the dishwasher, or be respectful to elder. Even over a long period of time people cannot be taught, not to murder, or not to rape. A person that does something like this needs more then a little jail time. People that do this need to be treated just like they treated their victim. The victim deserves to know that the criminal who harmed them is being strictly punished. No one wants someone capable of committing a crime this bad back on the streets. It is one thing if their is doubt that the crime was committed by a certain person, but if their is significant evidence that the suspect did it, then they need to be punished right. The victim of the crime deserves justice.

If you were in the victims shoes, what would you want? Would you want the criminal to be let out on bail, after physically or mentally harming you in anyway? I believe that if someone murders a human being, then they need to be sentenced to the death penalty. A crime at this level does not need to be messed with. Why should we as tax payers, pay for this murderer to live? When these criminals are sentenced to life, we pay for their life. Our tax money goes to their room, meals, activities, and supervision. If these criminals are going to be in prison until they die, then why cant we save money and give them the death penalty? Our tax money should be spent on those kind hearted people that are raised well enough to know not to harm others. We shouldn't let criminals of this kind live in prison playing sports and receiving free meals. If the criminal thinks it is alright to treat someone the way that they did, then it must be okay to treat them in the same way.

Now that you know my outlook on capital punishment, how do you feel? Do you feel that capital punishment is justification for a major crime like murder or rape? If you were the victim, how would you want the criminal to be punished?

The Horrible Truth

Many years ago African Americans put up a good fight and received the equal rights that they deserve. Although the law states that they should be treated equal; some of the law enforcement chooses to act in their own way. A huge problem that still presents itself today is racial segregation. Everyday people of different ethnicity get picked out of groups and targeted by others.

The image on the left is meant to address a very serious problem with some humor. Although the image of the young African American boy getting pulled over by a Caucasian cop is humorous, it is realistic. The image is not addressing this problem on the youth level, but more on the teenage and adult level. This image sparks controversy because of how Americans are raised. Some Americans are raised old fashion and taught to dislike people from other ethnicity. Since they are raised this way they don't know any different and just assume that they are always in the wrong and causing trouble. Racist Caucasians are the target of this image but it is also very offensive to African Americans.

When cops go after African Americans just because of their skin color they are violating rights. This causes the African Americans to fill with anger and feel as though they are less of a person. Personally I have seen this horrible act in action. As a Caucasian male I felt embarrassed. While on my way to a party with two of my friends I got pulled over in a small neighborhood for a burnt out tail light. When the cop came to get my information, he saw my African American friend in the passenger seat. At first I didn't realize what was going on and was a bit nervous. After taking both of our information the officer went back to his cruiser, typed in information, and then returned to my truck. Upon his return he walked around to the passenger side and told my friend to get out of the truck, and place his hands on the hood. He asked for my friend's backpack and began to rummage through it throwing stuff on the ground. Innocent as a saint, my friend stood still and waited for the cop to release him. Sure enough the cop didn't find anything and told my friend to pick everything up or he would be fined for littering. At this point I knew what had happened and wasn't about to let it go. When the cop handed me my warning I got his badge number. A few weeks later after we reported him the situation was resolved, but I was still completely outraged with his actions. It was an embarrassment to myself and the rest of Caucasian people for him to act like this. The only reason the cop searched my friend was because he was an African American with a backpack. This cop had no probable cause to search my friend, except that his belief that all African Americans are criminals.

This horrible experience opened my eyes to the huge issue that this picture addresses. When I see this picture I think about that experience, and all of the other Caucasian cops that are segregating people based on their race and not their actions. This image is very effective and it will appeal to people of all races. It is controversial to people that have been segregated because of race. It is also effective on those that have witnesses segregation and those who are embarrassed because of the people committing the segregation.

Overcoming Stereotypes

The lottery is a game played by many Americans each day. Although the chances of winning are slim, many spend money on a ticket just to try their luck. Those who are lucky enough to guess the random number drawing for the lottery, are blessed with riches. This large sum of money is a blessing, but it comes with a number of curses as well. Nine times out of ten, a large sum of money like this will change a person's life, along with their personality. That ten percent of people houses a family that is as kind, warm hearted and helpful as they were before the lotto. Deep down inside behind all of the material things these folks are still truly wonderful people.

Twelve years ago a friend of mine was living a normal American life. She worked a nine to five job and her husband ran a small construction business. They had two kids both of which were young at the time. Occasionally when they had some extra cash and were near a liquor store they would buy a lottery ticket. Every time they would play my friend would discuss what she would do with her winnings with a co-worker. Without any hesitation she would tell him that the first two things she would do is, start a cat rescue, and give a portion to her family. Never once did she include herself in the plan for her winnings; that is just the type of person she was. She always put others first. Her co-worker would always say, "just wait until you win; you will change your mind right away." Little did he know that she would get the chance to prove him wrong.

One morning over Labor day weekend while reading the newspaper her husband decided to check their ticket. After matching all of the numbers and not believing his eyes, he rushed outside yelling to his wife that they hit the lotto. She was also as shocked as he was and immediately went into denial thinking it couldn't be true. They waited until the Tuesday after Labor day and went into the liquor store to confirm their numbers. Sure enough they really did win. The next step was to go to Baltimore and collect their winnings. Upon arriving they found out that they won seventeen million dollars. After taxes and finding out they had to cash it over twenty years it didn't seem quite as much. Still excited and shocked they met with a financial planner to prevent spending the money on things that were not worth while. Sticking to her plan the friend of mine told the planner that a portion of the money from each check every year would go to their families and to her rescue. After word spread rapidly in the small town things began to get hairy.

Being money hungry Americans, people started to make threats against her kids. They also started coming out of the woodwork asking for money. This madness astonished these kind people and they didn't want any part of it. After giving winnings to their family and setting it aside for the rescue they built a new house on a decent amount of land. Many people would stop at the property stereotyping and ask if they were the people who won the lotto. After their answer, the people would snicker as if they had just met someone completely stuck up. My friend didn't want this, she wanted to be remembered for all of the people she had helped and the good things she had done. Now years after, things have settled down and rude people have begun to leave them alone. She still continues to stick to her plan and help others. The cat rescue is fairly large now and she is placing friendly kittens into the good homes they deserve. It takes a lot to defeat the greed but someone so whole hearted like her, has no problem.

No matter what shape, size, or color, anyone is welcome into her home. She will take care of anyone or anything that needs a helping hand. Character traits like these are hard to find in a person. Finding these before and after an event so significant as winning the lotto is a gift. I feel so lucky to have met such nice people. Anyone who has had the time to get to know this amazing family will remember each and every one of them as true kind people. Their character will overwhelm their association with the lotto and it will be placed in the back of peoples' minds and relatively forgotten about.

"The Golden Arches"

I've finally figured out how McDonald's made a name for itself in America. The everlasting fast pace lifestyle of Americans helps McDonald's stay alive. The quick and easy fulfilment of a meal brings people to this food joint each and everyday for all three meals, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When sitting down and observing the environment around me it was easy to see that many people were in a rush and were not here for a good well prepared meal, like they would be at a five-star restaurant.

The first thing that caught my attention when walking into the fast food restaurant (McDonald's), was the man holding the door for Katie and I. Although he was being courteous the look in his eye said, "hurry up, i don't have all day to stand here for you and you better say thank you." Of coarse the common thing to do was to say thank you and I did so just as I returned the favor by opening the door for an elderly lady walking out. This moment is when I first got the impression that everyone one was in a rush. My assumption was soon to be confirmed as we took a seat at one of the tables and started to look around.

As I glanced at the counter where people were placing orders my mind was constantly getting interrupted by a ear piercing noise. Not knowing what it was I kept looking around until a little flashing light caught my attention. I quickly noticed that as the beep would pierce my ears the light would also light up without missing a beat. After a few seconds I realized that this noise was the screen that orders popped up on after people decided what they wanted. The next noise that I noticed was the sound of chairs moving back and forth across the tile floor as people got up to leave or get condiments. A confusing sound of a conversation between two Hispanics sitting closely to us made me realize that this was also a fast lunch stop for workers. These workers were quickly shoving food into their mouths while trying to have a conversation during their lunch break. Another man was on his laptop trying to finish up some work while eating so that he could get off early and spend some time with his family. While money is flowing in and out of the register, i sit and think about how fast everything is moving. The shuffling of feet and chairs is constant, the production of food is continuous, and the conversation between everyone is never ending, except in between bites.

This chain of events is never ending. People continue to come in and out along with the workers. Until I sat down and took the time to observe this place I didn't get the same feeling that I do now. Now that I came in to McDonald's looking to see what is going on, instead of getting my own quick meal; I realize how hectic and none stop the American lifestyle is. The events in this fast food restaurant are independent but the speed and nature of them, greatly reflect upon many American lives.