Sunday, April 29, 2012

Ramblings

Ramblings
JOUR 4470 Blog 5
By: Michael Haake



This is the final edition of Michael Haake’s Blog.  I know.  I’m sad too.  Not only is this the last blog, it’s one of my very last assignments before graduation.  That being said, I’m going to focus on how much the Journalism program at UNT molded me into the ad guy/writer/business guy/whatever guy I am today.  I’m also going to ramble about random thoughts and topics.  This won’t be as well organized as the previous blogs.

This semester has gone by faster than any previous one.  The end of my career as a full time student is approaching at the speed of light.  I’m trying to slow down the last 2 weeks of college, because it’s awesome.  It took me a while to realize it, but these past 4 years were filled with the most fun and excitement I have ever experienced.  It seems like I was walking across the stage at the 2008 Keller High graduation only yesterday.  I’ve learned soooooo (sorry had to do it) much since high school. I’ve evolved from the kid who played hockey every day to the guy with a degree in advertising, a love of being a fan and one hell of a writer.  

I have always been a decent writer.  In fact, all of my English teachers loved me.  I approached assignments with a “through the book” approach. (Thanks TAKS)!  Since transferring into UNT (was at Tech, hated it) I learned to say “F the book!”  Why even bother writing something if it’s not entertaining?  I never thought about that question until I took a class with Dr. Broyles.  I attribute her to my so-called “style.”

Before this semester when I’d read/heard about a company making an idiotic move, I would laugh and click over to the next story.  Today, I realize the philosophy class that beat the living hell out of me (most boring class ever) can actually be applied to modern/relevant issues.  JOUR 4470 made it possible for me to not only sit through a lecture on utilitarianism, but also understand different ethical theories.  The course was fun because the class already knew one another and we were taught by another one of Mayborn’s awesome teachers.  Seriously, I have never had a Mayborn teacher that I will ever forget. 

Just read the instructions for this blog.  Hope this rambling style is okay. 

  • My holy crap moment for this class and semester started happening last week and hasn’t stopped.  Here it goes:  “Holy crap I have to start a career!”  I’ve pinpointed a few positions that I consider dream jobs and am anxiously waiting to hear back from them. 
  • How will JOUR 4470 help me in my career?  Well, I can have an educated conversation about the array of ethical theories.  I can apply what I learned through researching case studies to real world ethical issues.  For instance, if for some reason I ever work at a pizza place, I now know not to post a video of me pushing a fart out on someone’s lunch.  That would be very egotistical of me and would not follow the rules of communitarianism, utilitarianism, deontology, virtue and most other ethical theories.  (I really hope I don’t have to make that decision one day).  Joking aside, I really can use the “stuff” I learned in class.
  • What I got out of the class?  This is my last JOUR class ever.  This class reaffirmed how strongly I feel about the UNT Ad/Jour program.  Seriously.  Great teachers, smart kids and fun classes.  Doing homework for JOUR 4470 didn’t feel like homework (except for case 1 for reasons you are aware of).  I really love how much freedom we have in our upper level JOUR classes.  That’s what makes assignments not feel like homework. 

So, what else? 

I’d like to end my last blog with a thank you. 

Professor Bufkins,
Thank you for your time and dedication this past semester.  I went into this class thinking it was going to be a beating, but it wasn’t.  The time you gave to our case study group was certainly appreciated.  I learned a lot about something I kind of always shrugged and didn’t take seriously (ethical issues).  You made me a better writer when you commented on my use of the word “that.”  I now hate that word and hope it didn’t appear in any of the above rambling.  If I wasn’t graduating I would definitely be enrolled in another one of your courses.

If you want to stay in touch my real Email is mphaake@sbcglobal.net .  Have a wonderful summer and thank you for everything you did.

-Michael Haake

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Jour 4470 Blog 4

The Crazy Tale of the Walking Fingers

JOUR 4470 Blog 4

By: Michael Haake

http://michaelhaakeunt.blogspot.com/


In this version of Michael Haake’s Blog I will discuss the story of the AT&T Walking Fingers trademark and anything else that’s relevant to this story or just funny.


All right, let’s do this.


As I am sure the audience that grew up in the dark ages before Google became a noun and a verb know, a copy of the Yellow Pages was a must have in every household. It provided business owners with customers through advertising and even helped you find the phone numbers to those businesses advertising. The Walking Fingers logo is synonymous with the Yellow Pages. If you care to read more on the history of the logo, click here.



This case intrigues me for many reasons. The biggest reason is because I interned with AT&T in Atlanta, GA this summer. Talking with people who have been with the company since the mid 80’s and reading about the trademark issue while in training really shocked me. In case you didn’t click the link in the last paragraph, or haven’t heard about what I am referring to, the logo depicted above was originally made for the AT&T Yellow Pages. Today a version of this logo can be found on nearly every other company’s version of the Yellow Pages. And if you didn’t know why you receive so many copies of the Yellow Pages on your doorstep, it’s because there are multiple businesses that produce a version of the Yellow Pages.


At the time AT&T (when I refer to AT&T I am talking about South Western Bell and all of the company’s other branches that specialize in local advertising in the Yellow Pages. There have been multiple additions and mergers, but just know that I am referring to the AT&T’s version of the Yellow Pages which is actually now called The AT&T Real Yellow Pages) neglected to trademark this logo. After other businesses caught on, it was too late for AT&T to trademark the logo.


This move is considered one of the worst business decisions/mishaps the company has ever experienced (they literally say that in the training manual, which I can not provide in this blog).


What I can’t get over is the fact that the company had its identity pretty much stolen and put on similar products. It also amazes me that whoever the first non-AT&T company to use this logo had the balls to do it. But, I guess that’s capitalism. Some people might not understand why this whole story is a big deal. To those people I’ll provide you some examples in the next paragraph.


Why is this a big deal? This is pretty much the equivalent to those companies that sell the knock off designer products. Sure the product looks the same as the one that sells for hundreds of dollars more, but it is not the same. What would happen if some small coffee shop started using cups with the same mermaid logo that Starbucks uses? The cups look the same, but what you are paying for inside is completely different (and in this example much cheaper). I’m not saying that what the other businesses have in their Yellow Pages is anything less in quality, but is the information behind the Walking Fingers logo of Company X’s book follow the same guidelines that AT&T’s book does? Whether the information is the exact same or not is besides the point. AT&T’s negligence in not trade marking the logo allowed for imposter businesses to provide the same product.


As you have probably realized by now, I am sort of a homer when it comes to this story. While I completely understand the concept behind getting logos trademarked, it still upsets me that a company can let this happen. If you were not aware of this story, I hope you learned something. Once again, for much more information check out the link at either the top of the story or under my sources.


Sources:

Walking Fingers Story

Walking Fingers Logo