Staying True To Their Word

                                                      (Photo Courtesy Of chaosnzen)

Recently in class we have been working on our final project being that we research a company in hopes to discover whether or not that company is staying true to their claims. I decided to do a little research on the company, Aveda, because I use to work for a spa that used only Aveda products. Aveda claims to be "The Art and Science of Pure Flower and Plant Essences". I thought it would be interesting to find out if this claim is true to its standards and see whether or not Aveda is true to its words. I know from experience that nearly every single Aveda consumer was 100% satisfied with the product itself. Knowing this I was hoping to find that they are true to their claim and that they do use natural ingredients in their products.


Aveda was founded in the year of 1978 having the goal of providing professional beauty industries with high performance, botanically based product. In doing that their product would be better for us as humans as well as friendlier for the planet in which we live. Nowadays it seems as though going green is the “in” thing to do. Aveda manufactures in a wide variety of products in which they claim to be completely plant based. From their hair care, skin care, and makeup to perfumes they claim for it to all be natural.

In doing my research I found that they are true to their claim. On the Aveda website I actually found that they acquire many products from all over the world. For example they get argan from Morocco, sandalwood from Australia, rose and lavender from Bulgaria, babassu from Brazil, urukum from Brazil, and cistus from Spain. In knowing this I am even more proud to say that I am an Aveda consumer myself!

One for One

                                              (Photo courtesy of estherhavens)

How many of you own your very own pair of TOMS? Did you buy them for the fashion or for the knowledge of knowing that you also just gave a child somewhere without shoes their very own pair of TOMS as well? TOMS, to me, are one of the greatest inventions thus far! Blake Mycoskie, creator of TOMS, could honestly not be thanked nearly enough. Not only are the shoes fashionable, but they are also very durable, light weight, easy to clean, and on a one for one market. TOMS have made such a huge impact around the world other name brand lines such as, Ralph Lauren- Polo, and Element Skateboards are creating the same one for one marketing line.

If you are unaware, for every pair of TOMS you buy you are also giving a shoeless child a pair of TOMS as well. These are children whom live from day to day not even knowing what a pair of shoes is. A lot of these children are suffering from diseases and illnesses picked up from their feet due to not wearing shoes and having some kind of coverage over their feet. Can you even imagine walking outside for ONE whole day without having a pair of shoes on?!- No Way!

Blake Mycoskie was inspired when traveling to Argentina and noticing all the young children running around barefoot. That trip was what gave him the inspiration to create TOMS and help the needy children on a level that we could all relate to and be willing to do so. According to the TOMS website, “As of September 2010, TOMS has given over ONE MILLION pairs of new shoes to children in need through Giving Partners around the world.”  (par. 4)

So next time you want to purchase a new pair of shoes, think about it! Go with TOMS and help a needy child out in the process! :)

                                               (Photo courtesy of Steve Hopson)

Social Networking

How often do you find yourself on a social networking site on a daily basis? I’m sure you’ve never even payed attention to how many times you get on Facebook within a 24 hour time frame, have you?! It is as easy as unlocking your phone and clicking on the Facebook app nowadays.

The more often we get on the social networking site the more business we gain for, Mark Zuckerburg, founder of Facebook. On April 4, 2004, Mark Zuckerburg from Palo Alto, California, age 21 published the social networking website, Facebook. He claims that he never planned on it being such a large success. He never even meant for it to be a huge communication website. All he had intended on doing was building a website where you could simply type in someone’s name and find out information on the specific person. He stated in the video that the website was costing him around $85 a month and for the first three months he had to rent computers in order to keep the site up and going.

With all that being said, Facebook has a huge success rate of atleast 75% of its users returning to the site on a daily basis. According to Foxbusiness.com, Matt Egan stated that, “Facebook has reportedly landed a $500 million investment from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor that places a $50 billion implied price tag on the social networking giant.” (par. 2) In the video on the website, Fox business reporter, Ashley Websters explained, “Facebook is worth more than Time Warner, Ebay, American Express, Ford, and Target.” He also mentioned that, “Facebook has raised est. $1.3 billion in private investments.”

I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck would love to have been the one to have been sitting at home bored one April day and thought to create a website where others and can search one another and find out information on each other! I can’t even begin to wrap my head around these numbers!

Item Placement

                                         (Photo courtesy of S. Balcomb)

Have you ever ran into the grocery store after three items and ended up leaving with bags and bags of groceries? I am a victim of this scenario almost every time I step foot into the grocery store. Sometimes I may even make a list of the certain few things that I need and still end up leaving with at least fifteen items. Almost 100% of the reasoning for this is because of the product placement of the items in the stores. The marketers are going to get you every way possible.

Have you ever payed attention to how the milk and eggs are normally located at the very back of the store? There is a reason for this! The reason being is that milk and eggs nine out of ten times are going to be at least one of the three things that are on your list. As you are on your merry little way to the back you will notice the Little Debbie cakes poking out there on the side rack. Who doesn’t need a Little Debbie cake, Right?! As you continue to make way to the milk there is also a twelve pack of Mt Dew “on special”. Of course, you only have like five Mt Dew’s left anyway, why not pick up a pack while it’s “on special”?!. It’s crazy how well they have this all worked out for us poor college kids to blow our whole check on one trip to the store going only after necessities.  

Linked here are a few tips to help you save while running into the grocery store after milk and eggs.



Don't Give In To It!

(Photo Courtesy Of Pink Sherbet Photography)

Corporations have become very sneaky and manipulative these days. They have found that the greatest form of advertisement is to advertise to the younger generations, knowing that they don't typically know right from wrong. They are sneaky in such a way that they make advertisements that appeal and draw attention to young children. Whether it be pictures, music, or cartoons corporations have found a way to manipulate their buyers. What parent wouldn't give in to their crying child in the middle of Wal-Mart whom wants the Sponge Bob macaroni and cheese as to the regular "Great Value" macaroni and cheese. Looking at the ingredients between the Kraft's Sponge Bob macaroni and cheese and the Great Value brand I see no difference. Yet, the parents are willing to pay as much as $1.50 more to please their screaming child. If the corporation has the child sold then in most cases the parents are sold as well. With that being said, as long as corporations continue to advertise in such a way they will be successful in their business. Parents, on the other hand, need to realize exactly what it is they're paying for. Is it for the value in the product or the advertisement in the product? On the other hand, how much extra money are corporations spending on their advertisement to draw attention to these little rugrats? Is it really worth their time and money? Once I think about it, I am sure that it is. Knowing my younger nephews they will not settle for anything less than Kraft’s Sponge Bob macaroni and cheese. In my opinion, mac-n-cheese is mac-n-cheese.. Period!

Do You Get What You Pay For?

(Photo courtesy of BLW Photography)

I have recently been doing a research study on Taco Bell and the lawsuit's it has had filed against it. The corporation, Taco Bell, is known nation wide and is widely spread all over the United States. Taco Bell has one of the cheapest "dollar menus" of all fast food chains. This leads me to the question- Are you really eating what you think your eating when you bite into that cheesy gordito crunch, soft taco, or baja nachos? The answer is- probably not! Taco Bell has been convicted of serving not so beefy beef. They now have two lawsuit's filed against them regaurding their "beef" product. There is a certain percentage of 100% ground beef restaurants must have in their ground beef to legally consider it beef. Taco Bell, on the other hand, has a "beef" product that contains almost a third of what the legal amount of real beef should be in their ground beef. The product ratio Of their beef is about one third 100% ground beef having the other two thirds of the "beef" being "fillers". I have not been able to find where the "fillers" are explained in detail. As far as I know, the "fillers" consist of vegetables, wheats, and flavoring. I found it quite funny when I visited the Taco Bell website and I clicked on the ingredients link and found the broken down ingredients of everything on their menu except for their beef. That just leads me to be even more suspicious as to what is really in their meat product! Next time you catch yourself in the drive-thru line waiting to order that fourth meal, think twice! You really are getting what you pay for!

Bigger Doesn't Always Seem To Be Better

(Photo Courtesy Of Asthma Helper)

In today's society, the larger the corporation the greater the opportunities for multi-structuring in which creates the atmosphere that offers more job positions with different benefits also creating potential downfalls. These downfalls, for example, would consist of individual workers or members not being recognized for their personal strengths and being acknowledged only as a number. It takes a lot more assets and energies to maintain a large corporation, as to a smaller corporation that operates on a smaller scale with less expenses and overheads. Many large corporations are made up of smaller entities which produce the required efforts mandatory for the larger corporations and often do not receive recognition for doing so. There are a lot more complications that come about when having a large corporation. Obviously, the larger the company the higher the expectations, which also means the greater chance of doing something incorrect. How often do you hear of a smaller corporation getting busted for fraud or being wrongful in some particular manner? Not very often do you ever turn on the news and hear about a corporation that you’ve never heard of before. The larger “known” corporations are those who have watch on them twenty-four seven. They are the ones whom are mentioned repeatedly in the daily news. I would agree that larger corporations have to watch their backs at least twice as much as the smaller, unheard of, corporations. On the other hand, if the smaller corporations plan to expand they must be constantly watching their backs as well. Although big or small, corporations tend to get away with way too much these days.

(Photo Courtesy Of C.G.P. Grey's Photostream)