Wednesday, March 7, 2012

In Response to Brooke Lacasse...

Would you be swayed to drink more milk because of the person who is on the advertisement? What else could the milk companies do to promote drinking the product?

It seems evident that the reason that Got Milk chooses the specific person that they are using for their advertisements is to target a specific group of people. But, people are definitely swayed to drink more milk depending on the person who is on the advertisement for a number of reasons. 

The main reason is that for the most part, when people see Got Milk ads, they do not automatically crave milk. It is a bit different than other advertisements for food or drinks that are appetizing or refreshing because if the consumer is either hungry or parched when they see ads for McDonalds or Coke, they may immediately have a craving for one of those products. But, milk is a bit different because it is so simple and general. Plus, most American's do not crave milk since it is not the tasty, sugary drink we have been waiting for. 


When consumers see Got Milk ads they are focusing on the model. It can be a man or woman of any age and Got Milk has definitely used a very large variety of models for their ads. I know that if I saw a healthy looking man or woman in their ad, rather than an unhealthy looking person, I would be more inclined to want to drink milk. The model is meant to give off the impression that if you drink milk you can look like him or her. So, Got Milk needs to focus more on their target market when deciding which model to use. If they are putting the advertisement in a magazine such as Men's Health, then it should be a fit male that gives of the persona of someone that the person reading it would want to be like. 


I think milk companies could have more television or internet commercials that explain the benefits of substituting a glass of milk with a glass of soda. While doing so, it wouldn't hurt to have an actor that is fit and healthy to represent what could happen if you drank milk instead of soda or another sugary beverage. Do you think that actual commercials would help milk companies promote their brands better than the simple "milk mustache" pictures that Got Milk promotes?

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

CVS Gave Kids Cancer Drugs by Mistake

CVS Pharmacies have grown to become a huge business that tends to maintain the name of a quality and trustworthy pharmaceutical company. Well, if you thought this, think again. In the article, written by Mark Russell he explains that CVS accidentally prescribed kids with the breast cancer drug, Tamoxifen instead of a fluoride pill to resist tooth decay. Children from 50 families in New Jersey were exposed to this drug mix up.

Tamoxifen is meant to decrease levels of estrogen in the person taking it. Fortunately, CVS stated that there should not be any serious side effects to taking this drug. It was actually CVS who realized that there had been a mix up in the different drugs and contacted the families to tell them and apologize. The catch is that CVS still has no excuse for the mix up.

I personally deal with CVS every time I need a prescription that my doctor wrote me off for. Reading about this story has already made me think twice about using them in future for pharmaceuticals. Although this was not a devastating mistake, do you think that it could ruin some of the reputation that CVS has upheld? What would happen to company if this happened again except with a more serious matter?