I ranted a few weeks ago about a new health program at UVSC, and refined it into an opinion piece that ran in the school newspaper. Read it! Also, I'm doing an Anthropology project on SLC Rave Culture, and my friend Lauren came down to do an interview. It was a great perspective. The rave scene really is a fully developed social world with hierarchies, social status symbols, customs, etc. After the interview we decided to do some photos, and so here are our results.
Short concepts are easier to accept. Advertisers have known this, the military uses this knowledge in naming operations, books do it, film does it. An article in last week’s paper described a new Wellness Education program that helps you “Break Free” from smoking. This shows that health professionals, too, are in on the game. The branding of new programs isn’t a completely recent phenomenon, but the trend seems to be getting more pervasive as it seeks concision. The goal: two words packed with fire, to be never forgotten.
But the constant search of the succinct verse can have consequences. As words get shorter, they tend to be less articulate and have multiple meanings. Sometimes those alternate meanings speak a deeper truth. The military realized that naming military operations can be the first strike in winning public support, so they dubbed an operation the high-sounding “Just Cause.” But these two words can also indicate casual flippancy: “I did it just ‘cuz, ma.” The recent operation, “Enduring Freedom,” in Iraq makes some wonder if freedom is something that has to be endured, although it may be better than the coronation of a Desert Storm operation: “Desert Freedom.”
This brings me back to “Break Free.” Read another way, it could be a way to disengage a more honorable aspect of smokers: their vociferous defense of the ten-minute smoke break. While non-smokers are pressured to work eight-hour non-stop shifts, smokers never miss a break—if they don’t get their nicotine they’ll raise havoc. This gives legitimacy to others in demanding proper breaks. So who really drafted the slogan? Concerned health care workers, or was it our capitalistic overlords?
Short concepts are easier to accept. Advertisers have known this, the military uses this knowledge in naming operations, books do it, film does it. An article in last week’s paper described a new Wellness Education program that helps you “Break Free” from smoking. This shows that health professionals, too, are in on the game. The branding of new programs isn’t a completely recent phenomenon, but the trend seems to be getting more pervasive as it seeks concision. The goal: two words packed with fire, to be never forgotten.
But the constant search of the succinct verse can have consequences. As words get shorter, they tend to be less articulate and have multiple meanings. Sometimes those alternate meanings speak a deeper truth. The military realized that naming military operations can be the first strike in winning public support, so they dubbed an operation the high-sounding “Just Cause.” But these two words can also indicate casual flippancy: “I did it just ‘cuz, ma.” The recent operation, “Enduring Freedom,” in Iraq makes some wonder if freedom is something that has to be endured, although it may be better than the coronation of a Desert Storm operation: “Desert Freedom.”
This brings me back to “Break Free.” Read another way, it could be a way to disengage a more honorable aspect of smokers: their vociferous defense of the ten-minute smoke break. While non-smokers are pressured to work eight-hour non-stop shifts, smokers never miss a break—if they don’t get their nicotine they’ll raise havoc. This gives legitimacy to others in demanding proper breaks. So who really drafted the slogan? Concerned health care workers, or was it our capitalistic overlords?
