Journal 9(I did Fort Myers trip instead of Invasive Species)

Our trip to Downtown Fort Myers was extremely eye opening. For almost the entire semester I had been curious to try and picture where they had dropped the cows off "A Land Remembered". Although it might not be an exact location, it gave me a great idea. The park where we first got off the bust was really quiet and the fountain with Thomas Edison was really cool. I thought it was a little funny how they even had statues of fake fish in the water though! Once we started walking around some and we then got the see the Buffalo Soldier statue and then made our way to the Olympian Art Museum. My favorite part of the museum was the painted shoes walking on the wall by the entrances to the bathrooms. It had adult shoes as well as children’s ones all painted in different colors. The entire museum was really great. I wish I could afford to buy some of the art that they had....maybe one day!! I also really enjoyed going to the hotel and seeing the view from the roof. Even just walking down the street was great. They had all of these little shops that you can't find anywhere else. If given more time I would have loved to go inside and see what some of them had for sale. After living here for 7 years and not knowing everything that was around, it was great to go see everything! I will definitely try and go back to the arcade theatre and see a show. Even though it is older the seats and atmosphere in the building were great. It makes me wonder what it was like when they first built it. Especially since, now it is surrounded by other skyscrapers and tall buildings! I love that we live in such a diverse place….and not diverse in that we have lots of different people, but diverse in a way that Fort Myers has so many unique things to offer.

WD 334

Journal 8

Almost everything that we consume on a daily basis is covered in a package. Even if it is fresh fruit and not necessary wrapped in a package, it usually still has some type of sticker on it to distinguish a brand. My breakfast consisted of Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patties. The box was bright red with green lettering. I wasn’t really attracted to the package itself but not many sausage products are made with turkey. My orange juice was in a big bright clear bottle, with a giant orange on the label. These items weren’t chosen because of the way the labels look but because that was what I wanted to eat. If you think about how food and consumer products are labeled, mostly they are targeted towards specific groups of people, or the labels may emphasize words that would catch the attention on their target consumer. “Low fat”, “no sugar”; these may attract people who are dieting. Cookie packages and cereal boxes are colorful with characters that are relatable to children and then the children want those products. If they beg their parents enough, they just might get what they want! It is not just food label and packaging either. On most occasions, whether it is toys, or bath products. Children’s products tend to be extremely bright and eye catching with cartoon characters or characters that they have seen on the television before. Adult products may show really shiny, desirable hair on shampoo bottles.  These types of marketing strategies target specific people. It is no coincidence that all of the makeup products in a cosmetic store have gorgeous flawless women representing them, or that all of the commercials on TV about toys have kids playing with them. If the products are not relatable to the consumer, then chances are it will not sell very well.

WD 306