Ferguson & Marketing

Tensions have flared since Tuesday afternoon when a St. Louis police officer fatally shot a 23-year-old black man wielding a knife who was acting "erratically", a few miles from the street where Brown was shot. The confluence of events has triggered racial tensions smoldering in the mostly black community. "The Ferguson police officer who shot Michael Brown didn’t stop him because he was suspected in a recent robbery, but because he was walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic." In today’s society people will come up with whatever they can, with any excuse they can think of on the top of their mind. The media is saying that “robbery does not relate to the initial contact between the officer and Michael Brown. “ But others are saying otherwise the other way around. Ferguson police released a surveillance video of the robbery but the video does not typically have anything to do with the shooting of Brown, since the media is saying that the robbery does not relate to the contact bet” because the press asked for it.” The additional information that was released added more intrigue to a case that has brought about protests in Ferguson among people who are angry at the shooting of the 18 year old Brown, and what they may know as a heavy handed response by police afterward. “The documents claim Brown roughly handled a clerk trying to stop him before walking out of the store with the box of Swisher Sweets.” The media claims that showing a surveillance video as proof of that, may have been a way to cover up and to help protect the officer. “Brown being a suspect should not have led to the use of deadly force.” Brown was not guilty of anything, therefor it should not have led to shooting.

Networking In The United States

In this episode, the guys go pick up their denim jeans that they designed. Their denim jeans did not come out how they wanted them to come out, with no time to spare they decided to go show what they had to see if maybe they might have gotten any success out of what they have. They went to go show their denim jeans to a fashion designer, fashion buyer who is from out of the state and only comes a certain time of the year. “Make as many contacts as you can with people in all types of businesses and industries related to your chosen career field.” they were waiting to speak with the designer they were also talking to some of the people waiting in the lobby but they were not necessarily talking about their own garment that they have designed. The other people out in the lobby weren’t afraid to have their garments shown; they also had more than one item of apparel to show to the designer. The guys did not have a business card but they did introduce themselves to the designer.  “Networking brings in a lot of new faces and connections.” I feel like even though they only had one denim pair of jeans they should have somehow thought of having a spare of what their jeans were originally supposed to look like instead of how they came out. In the end, the fashion buyer from out of town ended up liking one of the guys t-shirts that he was currently wearing. I think that they both should have thoroughly thought out if it would even be possible to come up with several more shirts that looked just like the one that one of the guys was wearing because it was an old shirt that he had made way back when he was in high school. “Networking is the use of contacts to acquire information, advice, and referrals for the job hunt.”

McDonald's Coffee Too Hot

Liebeck vs. McDonald's Restaurants also known as the McDonald's coffee case and the hot coffee lawsuit. A 79-year-old woman suffered third-degree burns when she accidentally spilled hot coffee in her lap right after purchasing her coffee from a McDonald's restaurant. Liebeck was hospitalized for eight days while she underwent skin grafting, followed by two years of medical treatment. She sued McDonald’s and a jury awarded her nearly $3 million in punitive damages for the burns she suffered. The reaction from people was: “Isn’t coffee supposed to be hot?” And “McDonald’s didn’t pour the coffee on her, she spilled it on herself!” She was driving the car and wasn’t paying attention. What really had happened was that Liebeck was not currently driving when her coffee spilled onto her lap, and the car was currently not moving.  She was actually the passenger in a car that was stopped in the parking lot of the McDonald’s where she bought the coffee. She currently had the cup between her knees while removing the lid on the cup to add cream and sugar, that caused the cup to tip over and spilling the entire cup of coffee on her lap. The coffee was not just hot, it was dangerously hot. McDonald’s corporate policy was to serve it at a temperature that could cause serious burns in seconds. “McDonald’s operations manual required the franchisee to hold its coffee at 180 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit.” She was wearing sweatpants that had absorbed the coffee and kept it against her skin. She suffered serious third-degree burns and required skin grafts on her inner thighs and elsewhere. Liebeck had offered to settle the case for $20,000 to cover her medical expenses and any lost income, But McDonald’s did not offer more than $800 making the case go to trial. The jury found Liebeck to be partially at fault for her injuries, reducing the compensation for her injuries accordingly. The original punitive damage award was reduced by more than 80 percent by the judge. Liebeck and McDonald’s later reached a confidential settlement. “McDonald’s admitted it had known about the risk of serious burns from its scalding hot coffee for more than 10 years. The risk had repeatedly been brought to its attention through numerous other claims and suits.”

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/the-truth-about-mcdonalds-hot-coffee-lawsuit-why-it-matters-video.html

More in America

EOC Week 2

In this episode of How to make it in America the guys meet are introduced to a big designer. All they wanted was a minute with the designer. They thought they would have a big opportunity to get their denim line CRISP started. I think that they did the correct thing which was getting the designer’s attention and then making a good impression. That’s what got them an invite to the office of the designer and that can sometimes be impossible. Once they got to the office they found out that the designer is out of town but the head person of the denim line is there to speak to them instead. I think this is where they went wrong, they were definitely not prepared for what to expect. They did not have a plan or financial plan but they were still confident. All they wanted was the information on where they could possibly find a good manufacturer but I still believe that they were not able to succeed because they just were not prepared. As far as I could tell they only really had a name for their line and nothing else. 

How to Make it in America

From watching this episode I learned that sometimes it isn’t hard to try new and different things in order to solve your solution and to succeed. In the first episode of “How to Make It in America”, the guys first had a skateboard business but as soon as something happened they weren’t able to make money off of the skateboards. After that they need to find a new solution in order to make money. One of the guys thought about selling leather jackets, but that plan does not go so well due to the fact that one of the cousins returns from jail and there is money owed to him. The guys later on meet an old friend from high school and he is able to help repay their loan and they are back on track to making money. So sometimes you need to try several options in order to find the right one to your solution. “Brand structure and brand management have helped build businesses, market products and services, and manage reputation. Behind the brand is careful business management controlling the way the brand expresses itself.” (Davis 22) . In this episode the guys bought leather jackets that were supposed to be Marc Jacob brand, but the name was spelt wrong, instead of Marc with a C at the end it was Mark with a K at the end. That made a big difference because if people really know their brands they would of spotted that the first time and would have known the leather isn’t really from the brand Marc Jacob. If the name was perhaps spelt correctly then they could have maybe made good profit off of the leather jackets.