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THE TARTAN WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2011 OUR OPINION | The Tartan

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Our Opinion pieces are written collectively by members of The Tartan Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is comprised of the editing staff, Insights writers and other Radford University students. These undergraduate and graduate students represent multiple class levels and different political, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Members may or may not belong to a variety of student organizations. The Editorial Board is open to all RU students who apply. To join The Tartan Editorial Board, please contact us at tartan@radford.edu or (540) 831-5474 to schedule an interview.

Dr. Pepper 10 slightly sexist with men only campaign

he new slogan for Dr. Pepper 10 is, Its Not for Women, designed to promote the new diet variant of the ultra-popular soft drink Dr. Pepper. The new formula used to make Dr. Pepper 10 involves just ten calories and two grams of sugar, compared to the original Dr. Peppers 150 calories and 27 grams of sugar. This would hardly be the first time that a soft drink company has tried to appeal almost exclusively to men. Pepsi Max often incorporates more manly activities like Motocross and video games into their commercials to catch their main target audiences (young mens) attention. Coke Zero is considered the male variation of Diet Coke. The two drinks are essentially the same, with the only differences being the fact that Coke Zero is said to taste more like the original Coca-Cola product, and of course the other difference being the marketing campaigns. Unlike Diet Coke, Coke Zero attempts to appeal specifically to men by describing itself as calorie-free instead of diet, since various studies conducted by several of the major soft drink companies have shown that men tend to associate diet drinks with women and, therefore, unmanliness. Dr. Pepper Tens campaign, however, is quite different from some of the others. While other brands have gone out of their way to actively target men, it is almost unprecedented for a product to actively exclude fifty percent of its potential buyers. Dr. Pepper Ten put up a Facebook page that has the

Lohan long gone loco

JACKIE SALZANO
CLASS: Freshman MAJOR: Communication Disorders

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ability to block female users from viewing certain content. The page also features videos aimed at promoting male culture, and users can even play quizzes with themes revolving around hunting and ATV riding. Even the packaging of Dr. Pepper Ten is geared toward manliness; it features a gun metal tinted solid gray sleeve with bold print and little else in terms of design. Its sleek, its strong, and its (supposedly) much more manly. Even the placements of Dr. Pepper Tens ads have been strategically planned. Viewers might notice that more Dr. Pepper Ten ads will most likely run in the middle of Saturday College and Sunday NFL football games, alongside other manly products like Ford F-250 trucks, Budweiser and Miller beers, and Craftsman tool products. Now, weve all seen some pretty outrageous advertisements. From the handsome Old Spice Guy swooning women from his bathroom wearing nothing but a towel while riding a horse and starting out each commercial with Hello, Ladies, to a talking gecko with an Australian accent convincing us to buy car insurance, there seems to be no end to how far advertisers will go to catch our (the consumers) attention. While we may have come to a point where the outrageous and often moronic attempts at selling us the next great gadget are simply becoming more normal than in previous years, blatant sexism and defaming remarks toward any creed (not just women) should never be considered normal.

Couple promised til death due us part

CASSIDY LAWSON
CLASS: Senior MAJOR: English & Psycholgy

Word

Dr. Pepper 10 is aimed at young males as a manly diet soda. How does it make you feel that Dr. Pepper 10 is a mans only soda?

on the street

What you are saying...

AJ McCage Junior
It doesnt bother me. I never really paid attention to the slogan. Now that Im noticing the slogan, it doesnt make a difference to me because Im still going to drink the soda.

Alex OMasta Senior

I think its stupid that theyd only market to half the population. Its losing sales and it doesnt wanna make me drink it anymore.

any of you will recognize this quote: I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and Ive led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone whos ever lived: Ive loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough, as the opening lines of The Notebook, the 2004 lm with Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. This quote rings true with a real life couple, Gordan and Norma Yeager who just recently passed away. Gordon and Norma were from Iowa and have been married since May 26, 1939. Gordon proposed to Norma the day she graduated high school. By that night, they were a married couple. Ever since then, they have been inseparable. They traveled together, worked together, and had many children. They also have 14 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren. After 72 years of blissful marriage, Gordon and Norma were sent to the hospital last week because of a car accident with broken bones and multiple injuries. Even though both suffered fatal injuries, they were concerned about each other more

so than themselves. They were eventually moved to a room with beds side by side so that they could hold each others hand. Gordon died at 3:38 p.m. with his hand still holding Normas. Even though he stopped breathing, nurses noticed that his heart rate was still consistent on the monitor. Apparently, Gordon was picking up Normas heartbeat through holding her hand! Norma Yeager died exactly an hour after Gordon. The couple was put in a casket together holding hands. They are being cremated and will have their ashes mixed together before the burial. This couples story should be an inspiration to everyone out there who is skeptical about true love and marriage lasting forever. Even though this doesnt happen every day, true love can be found and it can last all your life. Gordon and Normas happy life has been an inspiration to their grandchild, Randi, who has been happily married for 13 years to his wife, Mara. Grandpa and I were talking this summer about all of the people getting divorced for this reason or that and he mentioned that nobody stays together anymore, Randy Yeager wrote to ABCNews.com in an email. I told [him] that my wife Mara and I would never be getting a divorce and he said, Thats because youre old school, like me! He claims this is the best compliment he could have received and he will strive to live up to it the rest of his life.

or my sixth birthday, my family took a road trip down to Southern Florida to my aunt and uncles house. From Radford, it is over a ten hour trip. Within the span of two days and about 1,000 miles, I probably watched Lindsay Lohan in 1998 remake version of The Parent Trap what felt like up to 56 times. While learning every line to the movie, Lindsay Lohan became my role model. I wanted to dress just like her, have a British accent and be a twin. After this movie, she was on top of the world. She had several big screen hits such as Life Size, Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. She had multiple music albums and she even had her own Barbie doll. However in 2005, her life came spiraling down hill. She had just finished Herbie Fully Loaded when her parents became legally separated. She then became involved with partying, alcohol, the drug scene, and started hanging out with the wrong people. Within the span of five years she has been to Alcoholics Anonymous, rehab, court and jail multiple times. Lohan has become the talk of the celebrity town and everyone is wondering if she is going to be able to pull herself together to become a productive citizen for the future. Lohan has been through a similar strain of events as Britney Spears. Spears had about a two year span of physical and mental breakdowns, jail sentencing and loosing custody of her two children. However, Spears had a major comeback with her small television appearances and her album Circus and now seems to be back to her pop-star-self. In regards to Lohan, the newest news is her most recent court appearance. She was accused of not fulfilling her community service requirement. She was sentenced 360 hours to be served at the Downtown Womens Center, however, she was terminated and is now working with The Red Cross. Before the court hearing, Lohans publicist said, Shes really pounding away (at her community service hours). Shes on a good track. Were optimistic the judge will see that. Apparently, the judge, who revoked her probation, was not on the same page. Lohan was sent back to jail in handcuffs with $100,000 set on bail. She will return to court on Nov. 2, 2011. It was then reported the within the span of six months, Lohan only completed 12 of her community service hours. I think she got what she deserved. If she is not willing to accept the consequences and pay the time, then yes she should be sent to jail. The sad part was she should have learned her lesson a couple of jail trips ago. When I first heard about Lohans bad choices, I was in shock. It was almost as bad as the day I learned she was not actually a twin in The Parent Trap. However at this point, she has had ample chances to repay her debt to society and get back on the right track. Because of her childhood success, she has so many resources to help her get her life in order and she has clearly not used any of them. Im not sure of any judge who would have let her walk after this last court hearing. The public seems to be infatuated with other peoples problems and since drama is what sells in the media world, journalists, paparazzi and producers will jump upon any chance they get to print or air the newest celebrity downfall in Hollywood.

Email:clawson30@radford.edu

Email:jsalzano@radford.edu

Melissa Kim Sophomore

I dont think that its fair to say that because how does someone categorize something as a mans only drink? Thats impossible.

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