A very important introduction

Roger McKenna
Birthday 10.16.06
Adopted 4.16.08
60lbs of pure awesome

So long-time readers may notice my blog description has been revised from "Advertising - Environmentalism - Feminism - Friends" to now read "Advertising - Environmentalism - Feminism - Roger." Roger is my dog. He's my best friend, and he certainly gives me a lot of material to work with and adventures to blog about! When I mentioned to some coworkers that I had a blog, they insisted that Roger Stories needed to be on there. I've got some catching up to do!

Roger was adopted as a housewarming gift to myself in April '08 from HSCC, when he was 1.5 yrs old. I'd been volunteering at HSCC for over a year, waiting for the right dog to come through, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect! He's a Catahoula Leopard dog, which happens to be the state dog of Louisiana. Like most of the people who ask me about him, I had never heard of the breed. I did a little research before going to meet him. I don't know why they're not more popular up here - he's exactly what I was looking for!! - athletic but not hyper (able to chill at home all day, then go romping around in the evening and hiking on weekends); bonds really closely with his family; webbed feet for swimming; loves and needs human interaction. The very first time we met, I knew he was my dog. We had a paw-jama party later that week, and the very next day I spent my lunch break filling out the paperwork and we've never looked back.

From what I've pieced together from his medical records, he was in at least two different shelters in Florida, then transferred up to VT. Before he and I found each other, he had been adopted by another family here in VT, and lived with them for about 6 mo. He nipped at their young daughter a couple times when she cornered him for a hug, but their loss is my gain. It's only been about 10 weeks, but I can't imagine my life without him! He's always happy to see me, protective and very lovey and cuddly. Roger is mellow for such a young dog, and for the most part, well-behaved. I continue to be amazed at how clever he is.

JC Penney's "Speed Dressing"

I'm still trying to decide what I think about this ad! It certainly isn't clear whether they plan to be having safe sex, and that they are going through such thorough preparation means the daughter hasn't discussed - or maybe discussed and not OKed - it with her mom...

Here's some of what AdWeek had to say about it:

JC Penney Co officials are upset about a racy, fake ad on YouTube in which the retailer appears to be endorsing teen sex, and they are blaming the company's ad agency, Saatchi & Saatchi. The ad surfaced on the internet after winning a prestigious international advertising award at Cannes.

While the ad could anger parents who shop at Penney, it also has the potential to make the retailer seem "sassy, fun and irreverent" to teens, said Alan Siegel, chief executive of New York strategic-branding company Siegel + Gale. "It's not going to reflect well on the brand in Middle America, but the ad is nicely done and the people in it are attractive; young people in New York and LA will get a kick out of it," he said.

twitter update!

So I spent some time searching for other twitter users since none of my friends are on it yet! I tried 'Vermont,' 'Burlington,' 'dogs,' and finally 'dogster' - jackpot! (For those of you not in the know, Dogster.com is the social networking site for dogs - yeah, really.)

My profile picture is of Roger, but I'm tweeting as myself. The search results for 'dog' and 'dogster' seemed to be a mix of either that or people actually tweeting from their dog's POV. There were tons of users with their dogster profile listed as their personal website, and Roger and I made friends with a 'houla girl and her mom!

Tweet!

I'm exploring the secret world of Twitter! Are you on it? Find me and 'follow' me, and I'll follow you back. Barack Obama and I are following each other!!
While my use will not be directly work-related, I am interested and just for my own information, will be researching the ways that it has and can be used as a PR/marketing tool.