Grady at Oxford Class

Hello All,

I'm just writing in response to some class related concerns I've been hearing. I'm sorry we haven't been more upfront with you about what was going on with Dr. Reber's health, but I'm sure you will appreciate that we had to respect his privacy and wait for the doctors to give us some definitive answers. I can now confirm a few things: 1) Dr. Reber is being treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and is doing much better, but he won't be able to resume teaching your class just yet. 2) You will all absolutely receive credit for this course - we are making arrangements with the Grady college to have the teaching covered by other faculty members, including Dr. Barry Hollander who taught on this programme two years ago. 3) You will have class on Monday and we will begin with a viewing of the Frontline documentary that is on your syllabus.

I would like to get all Grady class-members together for a brief meeting at 7.00 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday night) after the barbeque supper to go over some logistics and give you some more information.

In the meantime if any of you has any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me or Jamie McClung via e-mail or mobile phone. We will do our best to answer your questions within the parameters stated above.

Once again, apologies for the uncertainty of the last few days, but there really wasn't too much information that we could have divulged immediately.

*Important Class Notice*

I just spoke with Dr. Hollander via Skype and he gave me a few class updates. We WILL be having class on Monday. We will watch a video for the first hour and then discuss it with him via web cam during the second hour. Dr. Hollander told me to tell everyone that we WILL get credit for this class even it means he has to "friggin fly over here".

I told him we did not know anything about what is going on and he said they will probably address us as a group on Monday. Dr. Hollander said we are going to try to stick with the syllabus as much as possible, but most things (such as the debates) will probably get pushed back.

That is all for now! I guess we will all find out the rest on Monday!

British 'Get a Mac' Campaign

I'm sure everyone here has seen the 'Get a Mac' campaign shots on TV in the US, but have you picked up on the UK version running here? Media Arts Lab began what seems to be a successful series for Apple as far back as 2006. The current ad has a simple standard template for each run. It has a minimalist all-white background. A man dressed in casual clothes introduces himself, "Hello, I'm a Mac." Then a fellow in a rather formal suit introduces himself as a non-Macintosh computer running Microsoft Windows or Vista, "Hello, I'm a PC." The pair then acts out a brief vignette in which the capabilities and attributes of a Mac and a PC are compared. (I'll let you guess which one comes out best!)

The original American ads starred Justin Long and John Hodgman. For the recent British campaign, these roles were recast with the popular British comedic duo of Robert Webb as Mac and David Mitchell as PC. Besides a change in actors, the British adverts are altered to appeal to their British market viewers. This advertising technique has been labeled "appealing to the target audience." With the cultural differences between two nations, the advertising company had to do extensive research in discovering what best appeals to their British audience. Various things I noticed in comparison to the American ads were: the obvious change in dialect (from American English to British English), some differences in words used (for example, PC describes a virus as being a "humdinger" instead of a "doozy"), and generally longer ad format running for 40 seconds rather than the American norm of 30 seconds. I also thought the character of Mac in the British adverts seemed a bit more self-centered. His facial expressions are not as warm like our American version.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4SKUXwpfp1k

I have linked some of my favorite British 'Get a Mac' campaign TV adverts for you to view. What else do you notice that is different? Does this version appeal to you? Apple Inc recently has aired some new commercials in Japan. How would you anticipate the campaign there would be modified to specially appeal to the viewing audience?

LAS

Hi, I'm Brian, and I've had LAS for two years.

As soon as college hit, the freedom brought out from inside me a level of laziness about which I'd only read of in mythology books. I'd get my work done, and well, but typically at the last minute. Something was always just a little more important at the moment.
Being here has been different in a lot of obvious ways, most of which have been covered by everyone else. But I feel like I need to stress the academic shock I've been trying to wriggle my way out of.
Before our first High Table, we met our tutors. A LOT of my anxiety was assuaged when I met Simon Baptist. Young, friendly, relate-able. The literal opposite of what I expected. Then he told the group that our first papers were due that Wednesday. Enter: anxiety again. Thing is, there are some times when you just have to get your donkey in gear and, really, just do it. And that's what I've been doing. Nose to the grindstone.
Our Grady lecture has been comparable. I've been forced to read nightly, and to derive some genuine understanding from the material.
Here's to finally learning how to study 2 years into college.

so gay ads

While riding the escalator in London's Underground, a series of posters flashed before me. In big, bold letters, posters read "Atlanta is so gay...South Carolina is so gay...Boston is so gay." I was immediately stunned and confused by this ad, and it was only after I had caught a glimpse of the company name, Amro Worldwide, a gay travel company, did I realize that this was an ad endorsing the ultimate travel experience provided for gay and lesbian travelers.

The process of viewing this ad reminded me of the Cognitive Response Theory that we discussed in class earlier that week. When initially seeing the posters, I thought to myself, "what did their message mean, and what were they advertising? Wouldn't others find this ad offensive due to the negative connotation associated with the expression?" Wouldn't a poster that read its company's logo, "Amro Worldwide- Gay Travel. Tried and Trusted." be just as effective? Probably not. The fact that it brought to mind my own thoughts and concerns about the message made the ad much more memorable, which according to the Cognitive Response Theory, is the most important element when developing a persuasive advertisement.

Tiny Magazine

I was passing through the magazine aisle in Sainsbury's the other day when something caught my eye.  It was the latest issue of Glamour magazine, only it was a smaller size.  Though I'm a girl, I'm not a magazine junkie (I actually don't subscribe to any magazines), but the cute size of Glamour really made me want to purchase it.  I had never seen anything like it.  It was even in a plastic bag, as if it were a special treasure.  When I noticed the price, and reminded myself that I am on a budget, I set it back on the shelf.  

From an advertising/marketing perspective, the mere change in size was enough to catch my eye so that I paused what I was doing, and took a closer look.  I may not care about the content of the magazine, or even who is on the cover, but I was strongly tempted to purchase it only because it was unusual and different.  I'd be interested to learn if such a change like this increases the magazine's sales.  

Where Can I Study?

In a city that is bursting with tourists and academicians, you'd think coffee shops would stay open later, past about 5/6.  Last night, for the first time in whole college career, I realized that I take the Student Learning Center for granted.  Jittery Joes, the 24-hour policy, and the Reading Room, together provide one convenient study spot.  Perhaps there is a coffee shop in Oxford that remains open late and I Just haven't discovered it yet, or maybe only pubs and bars serve the late night folk.

I wonder if the coffee crowd is not as large here as it is in the US.  Early risers and night owls supply the major revenue for coffee shops in the US.  With the numerous historic pubs in Oxford, I suppose the economy is doing just fine and will not adopt the US system of late night coffee shops.  Or perhaps the libraries are the only locations set aside for studying.