Nature Valley and Project Censored

Ad Analysis

As I was scouring the internet I saw some advertisements with some implicit false environmental symbolism or greenwashing. One company that constantly uses the environment to its advantage is Nature Valley. Why not? It says "nature" in the name it must be natural, or straight from the forest as this image implies. The marketing strategy is obvious, it wants people to think they are buying a natural, healthy, and trustworthy product. Looking at the ingredients of these granola bars it is hard to believe they use this kind of advertising campaign because these things are far from natural. It does have granola, but the list of oils and chemicals does not exactly make it seem like this food item was picked from the wilderness. The forest used in the background almost looks like a redwood forest from the pacific northwest. This region has been plagued by some of the worst deforestation and environmentally degrading logging practices. I am not linking Nature Valley to destruction of the redwoods but the imagery is a little ironic.

http://sisterlysavings.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/naturevalley.jpg

Activist Websites

After going through some of these sites, project censored was the most interesting to me. This site offers alterative news articles and videos to corporate media, and any messages that resemble propaganda. There are quotes and references that support the sites goals of critiquing journalism and any bias that might exist. The Interviews with co-editors Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff are really interesting, these are two people that know a lot about corruption in the news and are on top of their game. If there was anything critical about the site it would be the lack of organization. If you look at every category it is easy to find what you need though. Project Censored has a good message, maybe they should expand, and add more editors or journalists since I have never heard of them. One cannot really participate with this organization, unless you purchase their literature and guides but looking at the news and articles makes visiting this site worth it.

PSA

Plans fell through to get the filming done this weekend but our story is all set and our group is still in good shape to finish. We just need a few hours to get the filming done, and an hour or so to edit. I think it is good we have not filmed yet since this gives us more time to think about the scenes and the information we will use.