-W 1 09. Wensdy Noeme S, 02 /ThSSaemn E37B ' 2B Wednesday, November 21 2012 The Statement THE JUNK DRAWER Why I love ads PERSONAL STATEMENT by Lucy Perkins from last week: allowance & food How much money do you generally spend a week? 0 to 10 dollars 6% random student interview by kaitlin williams / illustrations by megan mulholland Welcome to the Random Stu- dent Interview, where we ... ugh, is it Thanksgiving break yet? So what's the interview about? over 100 dollars 17% , 10 to 25 dollars I don't 19% know. Let's talk about Thanksgiv- ing, because that's like, topical. Sure. 50 to 100 dollars 21% 25 to 50 dollars 37% - What's your favorite late-night drunk food? Other 10% Jimmy John's 15% .d Pizza 47% Ugh, never mind. That's boring. What's being in Kinesiology like? I like it. Some people think it's easy because it's sports-based. I'd never think that. But I only think it's easy for me because it's interesting stuff. I'm interested in sports, so it's easy to learn about them. What's your favorite sport? Baseball. Why? Because I've always played it. How would you sell me on liking baseball? Play it. I can't play it, so that's probably why I don't like it. Yeah. Do you get crap for that Yan- kees shirt? Yeah. I actually went to the World Series game against the Tigers and people were pretty pissed off. Where are you from? Connecticut. Oh, that makes sense of it. My uncle does some stuff for the Yankees. Oh! Do you think you have an in there for after you graduate? I hope so. Just show up with your degree, like "Hey, uncle! Who's your favorite nephew?" (Laughs) So are you excited for the foot- ball game (against Iowa) tomor- row? Do you have tickets? Yeah. It's my last home game. Senior? Yeah. It's Denard's last one too. It's really sad! Yeah. He said he's playing though. Do you think it's socially accept- able to cry about it? Yes. OK. Like at the end or during the whole game? The end. OK. I'll try to hold it together. I kind of have a cold so I'm trying to be as lazy as possible to feel great by tomorrow. I'd rather be sick for Thanksgiving break. I guess we can talk about that now. Snore. Are you excited to go home? You are going home, right? Yeah. That's the plan. We're trying to get a cheap ticket. Trying? Yeah. Isn't it a bit late? You might have to hitchhike to Connecti- cut. It's a bit far. When do you want to go home? Tuesday night. You had your Wednesday class- es cancelled too? Yeah. I don't even know why they bother. I guess if break started on Wednesday then they'd just cancel Tuesday classes and it has to end somewhere. Yeah, this is boring. We should stop. Have a good day. -Eric is a Kinesiology freshman. m sa. Yip 4w 4 li ILLUST RATION BY MEGA N MUL HOLL AND Milkshake 7% Mexican Food 27% Online comments You will rarely be as succesful in achieving your goal standard of living as you will be during college. Enjoy. -Scott'82, regarding "The snacker generation" The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. Not because of Black Friday, but because of the commercials. My cousins and broth- er and I eat leftovers all day, lounge on the orange shag carpet in my Grandma's base- ment and watch the first Christmas movie of the season. If we're lucky, it's "Home Alone." If ABC decides to show a different family holiday flick, we have back up and pull out our own collector's edition of the Macaulay Culkin classic. But it's way better to watch on TV. Because the commercials on Black Friday are just as good as the movie. It's the first day of the season, and advertisers are in fine form. They can finally use all of the great Santa-and-his-elves material they've been working on all year. There's that one animated commercial where a poor little elf is sitting in his cabin on top of a snowy mountain. He has a ter- rible cold and can't help Santa build toys. His nose is so raw it looks like Rudolph's. Remember that one? The voiceover rhymes in couplets about how sad the elf is to stay in bed - until someone brings him Puffs Plus with Lotion! The elf uses one of the tissues, the redness goes away and he is instantly happier. I won't be offended if you don't remem- ber it. Advertisers love me. Slogans and jingles by celebrities meant to sell me something usually succeed. They convince me' that there's a 100-percent chance my life will get better if I buy whatever they're trying to sell. Once there was this ad for toothpaste that was so cool and minty fresh that your mouth would feel as icy and clean as the snow of an avalanche rushing down the side of a moun- tain. It had these little breath strips in it that exploded to reveal a girl with radiant white teeth skiing down the mountain, narrowly escaping the wall of snow crashing down behind her. I buy that toothpaste. I also buy shampoo that claims it will make my hair smoother and shinier. You know those commercials where they zoom in on animated hair follicles and show how each and every rough strand of hair is silky after using whatever kind of hair condition- er they're selling? I think I'm doing that to my hair almost every time I shower. Some- times I disgust myself. As you can imagine, terror strikes at Starbucks. Those seasonal beverages get me every time. Pumpkin spice lattes dictate when fall begins, and the arrival of pepper- mint mochas mark the beginning of my holi- day festivities. I'm painfully aware of how susceptible I am to corporate persuasion. One of my majors is communications. Once, my professor showed us two dif- ferent commercials for bleach. One of the commercials featured a black family, and the other a white family. Then she asked us which one made us want to buy the bleach. I raised my hand and said the one with the black family. The professor then informed us that the majority of those who watched that version of the ad shared my opinion. According to the studies we later looked at, white clothing looks cleaner and brighter on darker skin, so the company chose to use the ad featuring the African American family. 'Time after-time, class after class, I con- tinued to find myself falling in line with the what "the majority of Americans are influ- enced by." Even though I'm learning about all the different ways advertisers try to appeal ,W consumers, I still fall for it. I know drink- ing Diet Coke won't make everything in my hectic life fall into place, but I still buy one when I'm stressed out. If I have a cold and my nose is red, I rush to CVS and buy a box of Puffs Plus with Lotion and immediately believe the redness will dissipate. I know what these marketing schemes are trying to do, and I let them have their way with me completely. I may be an exaggerated case study, but everybody is influencedby advertising some- how. It just depends on how much you give in to them. It takes a strong person to pass by a Starbucks while warm cinnamon swirls and pumpkin leaves adorn the windows. All I'm saying is that you should give in sometimes. Buy a Diet Coke and watch as your life gets better. Lucy Perkins is an LSA senior and an arts writer for The Michigan Daily.