Glenn Reading

Glenn 

Before Reading:

1. An advertisement I could think of is Taco Bell’s dog mascot. I don’t think it’s recent, but I can still remember the “te quiero taco bell” from the tiny dog. When I was younger , I actually made me want to go to taco bell. The mascot was this tiny cute dog that I wanted, and taco bell was pretty good. I never really thought about the meaning of having the dog until now. I realized that now, it did have an effect on how I saw the company. It was a cute helpless dog that sponsored a mexican chain restaurant. Obviously it made me feel (at the time as a child) like taco bell was a good company. Back then I didn't realize it was a giant cooperation wanting nothing more than profit. Overall I think how a company uses image affects how they're viewed, thus providing a 'brainwash' for the consumers of the world. 

2. I don't have much of a connection to farm animals, I've grown up in New York City all my life. I've never had any connection to any type of environment that called for animals in general. To me, seeing a cow or a chicken around would be a huge deal because it's not something I see ever. Overall I don't have any knowledge or exposure to any of the farm culture that there is in the United States. I know more about the way skyscrapers are built than how farm animals are raised. 

Questions for Journaling and Discussion:

1. According to Glenn, the main characteristics of a 'factory farm discourse' is the idea of the creation of a falsehood that then becomes the 'truth' in the world. It's the idea of propaganda of how the lie slowly becomes the truth. Factory Farm discourse is definitely a good example for this because it's so easy to think that animals are being treated in a nice way and have a nice home with open space. But in reality farms more like factories with packed animals. There is no such thing as only open farms. The media has given us this general imagery so we don't feel guilty and continue with our savage choices. The term 'ignorance is bliss' is a big part of it, people don't want to realize the consequences of their actions, they want a blind eye so it's easier to go to bed at night. In my point of view these discourses are not ethical at all, there is no reason for the lies, and if people want to have it this way, they should be well aware of the consequences. Everyone should be allowed to have their own feelings and perception but there needs to be facts and truths provided. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

2. The company I choose is tyson. Tyson as a company is probably one of the worst companies out there. They make advertisements about healthy chickens and how they're raised well. Tyson might be one of the creators of the "factory farm". I could tell because I watched 'Food Inc' and they interviewed a ton of farmers and showed how the chickens were really raised. And yes tyson does pretend to be a family farm, marketing how their chickens are healthy and well raised.

4. One of the companies I've chosen is Apple. Apple has many factories in China. Obviously as everyone has an iphone and macbook, there needs to be people behind all these products. Recently a picture has come out as the production of the iphone 5 has come out, that they forced workers to stay until products were made. They even had a safety net outside incase any workers wanted to jump and commit suicide because of their overworked conditions. I think people will overlook these conditions because they want the Iphone or Macbook so bad. Heck, even I've done it. I've willingly bought a mac AND iphone because I wanted the products that badly.