Take the Activia Challenge Today!

It seems like every other ad on television now is for some celebrity-backed fiber-rich food substance guaranteed to get you going, literally. Why is it that fiber is suddenly in the spot light and celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis have proudly taken on the role of primary spokesperson? The answer reflects several converging trends in today's food culture.

First off, we are a fatty, greasy, extra-cheese loving population, but unfortunately those staples aside from lacking any real nutritional value also lack the ingredients necessary to pass them properly. At the same time more and more studies are revealing that many of our health problems may be linked to dysfunctional digestive systems. Toxins are being over absorbed and fatty foods simply do not move well with out the help of insoluble fiber. The increased incidence of colon cancer can be directly linked to a diet high in fatty foods. Therefore we are witnessing one of the great evolutionary realizations in human behavior, what goes in must come out!

However, awareness doesn't always lead to action. Poop is still a touchy subject for some people. The question becomes, how do we capitalize on infrequent BMs without inflicting disgust and embarrassment on to our customers? Answer: CELEBRITY SPOKESPERSON!

The Dannon Company, the makers of Activia and other health-smart dairy products, chose women over the age of 50 as the target audience for their fiber-rich yogurts, shakes and snack bars and needed a celebrity to match:

Brooke Shields - not old enough...yet
Patricia Richardson - who?
Betty White - too old, PetMeds rep
Meryl Streep - not hot enough
Demi Moore - too hot (also not yet 50)
Sharon Stone - crazy
Jamie Lee Curtis - took her top off in some movies like 30 years ago + spunky silvered hair + still skinny = PERFECT!

By signing on a famous, gracefully aging celebrity, Dannon has been able to de-stigmatize digestive health and remind Americans that everyone poops - and should more often - now thanks to fiber-rich foods, WE CAN!

Leia Mais…

Riches to Rags: the Newspaper Evolution

There's a lot of buzz about the demise of the newspaper industry and the loss of our national watchdog. In this information age the mediums for transmission are evolving with the technology and tangible collections are getting left behind. However, proliferation of information is now more important than ever before and the digital interface hasn't found a way to completely absorb the rags without a few snags along the way.

Many publications have gone digital, providing their readers with direct access to stories and current updates. Readers love the quick, easy, and free access, but the loss of sales and ad revenue has reaped havoc on many of the publications glossy counterparts. Some publications have been started and reside only on the net. The Huffington Post and Slate are two such sites that have flourished on the internet, with readership growing everyday. Is this the next wave of news media? It seems so. But how will these sites be funded? How will journalism change? How has it changed already? I'm posing these questions in hopes of starting a dialogue. Comment and check back for additional comments from me and other blog followers.

I will follow this entry up in a week or so and share some of my personal views on the evolution of news media.

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International Strategy: Peace

I am very excited to see that the new administration is taking an active role in repairing our international relations. President Obama spent the majority of the past month abroad, speaking with foreign leaders and reintroducing America to the world. President Bush has done irreparable damage to our diplomacy with policies above and beyond Iraq. One of the biggest reasons some Americans hated Bush was for the way he made everyone else in the world hate us.

I'm ready for a new world order. Peaceful talks. Cooperation. Collaboration. Productivity. Efficiency. We've certainly lost our global footing in the past eight years, but I think that Obama is moving in the right direction. We can't solve all the worlds problems, but maybe if we all work together we can solve a few more than we would have alone. Maybe I'm just young and naive, but I've naive enough to think we can make this a better world and young enough to benefit from it when I'm older.

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Guest Bloggers

Press-Junkie is looking for guest bloggers. If you are a news fanatic or just have something to say, join the press-junkie team. Submit a 100-500 word writing sample to anneadoryan@yahoo.com. All points of view are welcome.

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A Realistic Timeline

President Obama has come under hasty fire in the past twelve weeks for his performance while in office. To expect anyone in his situation to achieve instant results is unrealistic. I am confident that at least some of the problems Americans have been facing will improve over the next six months, but I think that it's going to take at least a year before we see sustained improvement. That is not to say that Obama should be given free range to do with the presidency whatever he would like. We are still the watchdogs and he is responsible to all citizens. I do think that the protests many republican groups are staging are a bit premature. Give the guy a little space. Kennedy once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Right now all it needs is a little breathing room. You can throw some ridiculous, irrational tea parties late this summer - at least that way the water will be warm.

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Tea Bagging America

Many conservatives have thrown 'tea parties' in protest of the Obama financial recovery plan (and the federal tax money used to fund it) in homage to the Boston Tea Party of 1773 which proclaimed "No Taxation Without Representation." There are so many things inherently contradictory about this situation that I am thrilled to pick it apart and discuss what is actually going on here.

First of all, it's always fun to see Conservatives protesting stuff. Abortion, Gay Marriage, and now Government Spending. These are the justices that seem to get Cons really riled up these days. The Left is far more well known for their sign-carrying, bureaucrat-taunting abilities, but that comes as no surprise. Who else is going to protest the status quo?

So not only has it been a thrill to watch our republican counterparts stand up in anger against the spending bills hewn from the new recovery plan, but I have personally taken much joy in watching these feeble little conservatives grasping aimlessly for a symbolic platform on which to steady their argument. Like a fledgling perched on the rim of an unsteady nest, conservatives have chosen to speak out against President Obama's use of federal funds to stimulate the economy, and what better way to do so than to tie the fight to one of the most well known protests in American history: The Boston Tea Party.

Perhaps more research should have been done before allying with a protest meant to stop forced importation of tea leaves. The Tea Act of 1773 passed by the British Parliament imposed a tax that was intended to save the cash strapped East India Trading Company. Colonists were pissed that they were being taxed without having any voting rights to those members of the British parliament representing them, "Taxation Without Representation" they declare! Justified. But when conservatives and republicans start proclaiming the same decree I have trouble understanding what all the hubbub was last November 4th and what they thought was happening when they went into those little booths and cast their vote.

Republicans have no justification for declaring "T.W.R!". We have a democratically elected president and have for over 200 years. The officials in office were duly elected. In fact, John McCain voted in favor for last years $700 billion dollar bailout revealing inconsistency on his own views of government spending. Would this be happening if McCain was in office? It's hard to tell. However, it's certain something had to be done.

For eight years we watched Bush spend exorbitant amounts on the War in Iraq, running up inane structural deficits and running down morale. When we protested, they called it un-American. What could be more American than standing up for what you believe in?

So I say to the conservatives and republicans at their tea parties, kudos. Aside from completely missing the point of the Boston Tea Party and wasting a whole lot of Nestle products, you're on the right track. I support free speech and enthusiasm for public policy in all forms. Hopefully you'll have plenty of time to practice dissent in the next eight years. Until then, carefully rethink your protests for pertinence and validity, though I'd love to see another Whiskey Rebellion when Obama gets around to paying for the wars your half-wit president started.

-AA

Leia Mais…

Welcome Back!

Press-Junkie has been on spring hiatus getting stories ready for you! Keep an eye out for updates and feel free to write in if there is something that you want to hear about. Comments are welcome and encouraged. This is one addiction you can and should share with friends!

annie a.

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A New Era of Diplomacy...It's About Damn Time

Press Junkie Commentator: Anne Adoryan

I have to admit that I used to cringe when I would see President Bush on TV making a speech on international politics to a group of foreign emissaries. His southern drawl delivering cliche battle cries sent shooting pains up the core of my spine and caused a stiff aching in the deepest part of my chest. It still does. His ignorance of foreign politics and his complete disregard for the beauty and intricacies of other cultures made me ashamed to call him my leader. The world is in a fragile place right now, and I know America must take a big part of the blame. But when I saw President Obama making a speech in Turkey this morning I was comforted by my lack of a visceral reaction. I'm not on the same page with everything that he is trying to do, but I am excited by his efforts to fix our relations with foreign nations. We need to be respected as a country, not feared. Bush's global paternalism was unproductive and I'm happy to see that our new leader is using his first months in office to try to repair the ties that the past eight years have cut.

(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

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GM and the New American Socialism

Part of the agreement the US government has forged with the General Motors corporation after it accepted billions of dollars worth of bailout money involves compliance with the direction ordered by the council established to deal with GM's economic collapse. President Obama has stated that the US government is not taking control of the Detroit automaker. However, the sphere of his influence became more evident last week when GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner stepped down from his post after the White House rejected GM's recovery plans for the use of government money. The intimate relationship forming between the federal government and one of America's biggest corporations has spurred heated debate over the extent of control a government should have in a supposedly free market economy. Opponents of the Obama recovery plan and bailout have called it socialist in nature and raise unwarranted frenzy about the threat of big government.

The truth is the market doing its best to kill industries that don't respond to consumer demand. Detroit has put out a lot of shitty cars in the past twenty years. It has reissued models without making any significant improvements, and it over produced SUV's with no rational consideration for the direction of the market and the evolution of motor vehicle transportation. Eight years ago when I started driving a 4-cylinder Mazda Protege, I was terrified of being run over by one of those gas guzzling giants. Even then I knew that that was not the future of automobiles and I was only 16. What Obama is trying to do is save the thousands of jobs and people that weren't making the decisions that ran these companies into the ground.

I don't think the government should be a controlling factor in any industry, but the motivations behind the Obama plan make sense on other levels. Unfortunately it's hard to put a price on the overall social good produced. What I fear is that after all this work and money it will be too little too late, and the people at the top of the ladder than ran these companies into the ground will get out just fine. I guess only time will tell.

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