Droz and his faulty reasoing...

In the movie, PCU, an "appeal to ridicule" logical fallacy that can be found in the quote from Droz, "What's this? You're wearing the shirt of the band you're going to see? Don't be that guy." By mocking someone who wears any attire of the a group whose concert they are going to, he is saying that it is stupid and wrong to do that. This sort of reasoning is not valid because mocking a claim does not show that it is false.

Death of an Innocent ♥

In 1992, Chris McCandless, was found dead in a sleeping bag on a bus in the middle of Alaska at the age of twenty four. McCandless died due to poisoning from a wild sweat pea and starvation while he was hitch hiking out there in the wild. This young man was a college graduate from Emory University, right here in Atlanta, Ga and his family was from Annandale, Virginia. Now why would a fellow from a prestigious background even bother with dangerous trips like that? He claimed that he wanted to "invest a new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience." He wanted to prove his freedom and his ableness to take care of himself to his parents, so much that he abruptly stopped calling and checking in with them each time he went on one of his adventure trips around North America. In fact, he hadn't spoken to his parents or his beloved younger sister, Carine, for at least two years prior to his untimely death.
On a smaller scale, this is exactly how college students' mindsets are. It is a well-known and widely accepted fact that teenagers, even those in middle school and high school, want a sense of freedom. They want as little parentl advisement as possible and think that they can handle anything that comes their way on their way without any help. As wrong as this mindset is, it still continues to affect teenagers all across the country, quite possibly even the world. McCandless was just a stubborn young man that was trying to find himself by distancing himself from civilization and "becoming lost in the wild." Although his was a more extreme case, this is how young adults across college campuses in the United States want to express themselves: by being more self-reliant and without any parental forces. McCandless was so stubborn. He was "absolutely positive [that he would not] run into anything [he could not] deal with on [his] own." He ademently opposed for any sort of help from people that he encountered during his trips and he even got rid of his watch, map, and went as far as to burn all of the money he had on him, around one hundred sixty dollars worth. Young people these days also act the same way, on a lesser scale. They do not want any help and they think that everything is possible to do on their own. They are so stubborn that they become blind, based on passion, and unconvincable, much like McCandless was. They are "rash and incautious to the point of foolhardiness." Young, restless, and void of much common sense. Chris McCandless is the epitome of young people these days, to an extreme of course. This stubborness and dedication is what accounts for the success of youngsters growing into responsible adults through experiences and lessons learned. Unfortunately, for twenty four year old Christopher McCandless, it ended with his premature death...the death of an innocent.

Manipulation or Reaching Out?

Years ago, the famous clothing company, United Colors of Benetton, put up an advertisement that featured a picture of a dying AIDS patient and his family surrounding him. The patient was in obvious distress and the family was grieving. The only words seen in the ad was the tiny logo of the company in the right-hand corner. This is a very confusing advertisement strategy considering that clothes and AIDS, or any sickness for that matter, are unrelated. However, I believe that this was done in order to appeal to consumers and their emotional side. It is not clear if Benetton used this real-life image to convey the message that they had intentions of donating a percentage of their revenue to AIDS research and patients but that is definitely what anyone would think after taking a look at the ad. It tugs on the heart strings and would make consumers ponder it. It could even be a play on the company's name, "United," meaning that we should all stick together and support people in need of love and care, even those who we do not know. They did not use the conventional form of grabbing the audience's attention. I think that was exactly the point. They created a highly controversial advertisement in order to evoke a sensitive emotion in people and make them remember their company. No one could ever forget something that is as confusing or as heart wrenching. The image may be a subliminal message so that it makes sure to stay in people's conscience and trigger an impulse to buy and contribute something when passing by a United Colors of Benetton store at the mall. Because the picture depicts nothing about Benetton's clothing, they clearly were only focusing on the image itself and the stigmatisms that come along with it. It was a very risky business move, however, that alone may have been the factor as to why it was a good move to make.

By just looking at the image, no one call tell what exactly is going on. It is not apparent that the patient was suffering from AIDS or that he was even dying. That is not the point. The point is someone is obviously in distress and so are their family members. Those people were ordinary people, just like you and me. Associating Benetton with saving or helping ordinary people is a good look for the company. That way, consumers would think that Benetton cares about them and their family. As much as we would all like to believe that the corporate world cares about individuals and are not all money-oriented, that is not the case. The image in the advertisement projects that feeling though and that is definitely a great look for them. All in all, I think that as smart as this tactic was, it was still manipulation. United Colors of Benetton cares more about sales and money than they do individuals, as sad as that is to say. We live in a cold, cold world that is made up of capitalists. What more can you expect?