ENTERTAINMENT: BET Music Awards

Graduation time is upon us, or rather upon my friends and I. I have no idea what this weekend will hold and though I'm looking forward to the ceremony, I'm kind of scared at the same time. It's weird to know that next fall I won't be coming back here and moving into a new house with friends, I won't be packing up my backpack full of school supplies, or dreading spending $300 on text books. I have a great summer ahead of me, if I can even call it summer anymore.

So as I turned in my last final this afternoon, I didn't really know what to do with myself. Do I jump up and down and cheer or do I sit back and realize that this serene moment only occurs once in my life?

The next few days are going to be rather insane as I see it. Lots of goodbyes, lots of cheers, lots of photos and lots of hugs. Maybe this will be the best transition into the "real-PR world" as my mentors call it...

PONDERING: Is this Dove campaign for real?

Dove's Sleeveless Ready Campaign cracks me up! As if woman didn't have enough things to worry about in regards to their appearance, here comes a company that promotes women's true beauty, begin to make women worry about the beauty and appearance of their armpit.

When Dove asks consumers, "Think your underarms are beautiful?" Personally, I'm not trying to debate with anyone if they're beautiful or not, I'm rather worried about if they're smelly or not.

I do agree with BL Ochman's blog entry, Dove's Sleeveless Ready Campaign: File Under WTF?', when she said that the campaign would be better if Dove leaned toward a something humorous, rather than of serious concern. In America, most of us are concerned with our everyday appearance, however we must not forget that there are also women in other countries worried about their lives and if they're going to see tomorrow or not- and I'm sure they could care less about their armpits.

So I think that the Dove campaign for their new deodorant goes a little too far. Dove should focus on raising the self-esteem of our future children, and adults now, by teaching and showing us that real beauty isn't about your armpits, it's about the way you feel inside about yourself. Sure you can't deny that appearance doesn't have something to do with our personal perceptions (we do live in a culture that is very concerned with beauty), but Dove should instead focus on helping people recognize that beauty starts within.

INSIGHT: Blogging at the University of Oregon

See what other students at the University of Oregon are blogging about in the Public Relations Campaigns class!

PR@SOJC

Post comments if you'd like. As a student, we love feedback!

RESPONSE: Female-only floor

In the article JW Marriott responds to female-only floor concerns, JW Marriott plans to build a female-only floor in their new hotel in Grand Rapids, MI that includes upscale amenities. However, with the marketing of the female-only floor comes public debate. People are skeptical about the idea and whether or not the idea is discriminating to others.

"Marriott's listening," she added. If a man should happen to request a room on the 19th floor, "it's not going to be an issue... he won't be excluded." Shouldn't he be excluded if it's a women's only floor? Isn't that the point? It's not like JW Marriott plans to conduct background checks on every man or woman that enters that hotel, but potentially this can serve as a dangerous situation for women- such as potential opportunities for assault or attackers. Though this idea sounds great at first, and sort of relaxing from the floors that are packed with big families, I'm just worried about safety in the long-run. Perhaps JW should consider a men-only floor?

Any thoughts?