Blog Post #4

Weight Watchers Small ad
http://inthecrowds.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/weight-watchers-the-heavy-hitter-in-the-weight-loss-wars/

This advertisement of Charles Barkley that represents a company called "Weight Watchers" is to encourage women and men to lose weight and get in shape. The advertisement wants people to accept "good" lost to win the perfect body they have desired for years.

At the first glance, the advertisement has a quote  by Charles Barkley that says "Lose like a guy who hates losing, as a professional athlete and lifelong competitor, losing is something I've never enjoyed. Until now."  Also, the advertisement includes Charles Barkley holding a basket ball with a straight face showing no emotions and at the bottom of the quote there is Barkley's signature for approval of the quote (so people can believe it is actually Barkley saying that).

When Barkley says "Lose like a guy," he is encouraging women who need to lose weight with comparing them to male athletes who hate losing and are extremely competitive. Also, the phrase "Who hates losing," means be like an athlete who does not accept lost and pushes themselves toward becoming better because of lost.

The advertisement encourages people to lose weight by showing that even Charles Barkley lost weight even though he does not except lost.

However, looking at the picture with a closer lens. Charles Barkley is a professional athlete that has been exercising for almost his whole life so he is healthy and probably  has a fit body to be a successful athlete. The advertisement presents Barkley as one of their clients  that enjoyed "losing" even though he is one of the guys who hate losing by his saying "Losing is something I've never enjoyed. Until now."

Basically, the advertisement says if a well known athlete can accept losing to win his perfect body than you surely can.

The advertisement's mean target are men and women who need someone to support their self-esteem and help them believe that they can lose weight just like Charles Barkley did. The company targets people who are willing to pay for the diet program that the company has to offer. People around the world join Weight Watchers because they can economically afford it and the program is probably well known in their country.

Furthermore, the advertisement represents gluttony because it encourages people to stop eating fatty foods or "Bad" food for the goal of losing weight and fulfilling their desire for food without feeling guilty. In addition, it represents sloth because the mean aim of Weight Watcher is to encourage people to get off the couch, stop being lazy and respect their bodies by giving themselves time off to hit the gym or even walk around their neighborhood.

Examining the advertisement as a whole, the representation of a black male athlete shows the diversity of the company and the members of that company because stereotypes usually consider black male athletes being well structured and have better muscles than other athlete just because of their color. However, showing a male athlete presents the idea of every body wants to lose weight and focus on the idea of not only women and men how are overweight want to get in shape but also lifelong professional athletes.

http://www.mydaytondailynews.com/news/news/what/

Names are a way we as humans communicate and identity each other. In addition, names make us unique in different ways and meanings. For example, my name "Muna" is translated as dreams, hopes or desires in English. However, when pronounced in English it sounds like "moon" which appears at night when every one is fast a sleep dreaming of their future or deep desire. My first name, Muna comes from my mother's sister Muna, who passed away when she was eleven years old.

My last name "Nemer" is translated as tiger in English, which is considered to be a powerful animal in the jungle and gives my name a boost of confidence and power in some way. I cannot truly say that my name defines me as a human being because i did not choose it, but i can say that my name tells a part of my story, where i come from and what my background looks like because when someone hears my name which is made up of two Arabic words they can immediately assume that i am from the middle east and i am frequently asked if i can speak Arabic.

In the mornings, during school hours i live as Muna a Syrian girl living an american life. Only communicating, speaking and thinking in English for several hours makes me feel lost between two worlds. When i speak in English, i feel as a different person because the style of language is different also my thoughts in English are different from my thoughts in Arabic because when i use English i use it to think of school work and communicate with others during school hours. However, i think about my day and problems in Arabic also i text in Arabic.

So, before the school bell rings i am a typical American teenage girl following her simple goals to make it through another exhausting day of high school which is me living as a whole. However, when the bell rings i switch to my Arabic mode which i prefer to be in because i have been living that way for the longest and when i get home me and my siblings only communicate in Arabic which can be considered me as an individual because i do not get to be in that mode unless i am at home or between other Arabs. Therefore, there are "two mes", American Muna, and "Arabic Muna".