Team 1: What is the point of view of consenting participants/students
Team 2: What is the point of view of the university administrators
Team 3: Uncontested participants
Team 4: Molson executives (continue to use Cold Shots, if so how?)
Team 1: What is the point of view of consenting participants/students?
The Molson Company is a brewery and beer distributor and is the most preferred Canadian brand. Globally, they own the fourth largest market share. Over the years, social media has become a large part of business and advertising. To stay competitive, a company must be up to date on social media outlets that help further connect them to their customers. In 2007, Molson created a Facebook page for this exact purpose, however, various problems occurred. They began a promotion called “cold shot” in which Canadian college students would prove themselves worthy of the title “number one party school in Canada”. This backfired completely, and accusations began that Molson was encouraging underage drinking, dangerous use of alcohol and negligence. The dilemma for Molson became whether or not they should continue to have a presence in the social media world. Moving forward, it is imperative that Molson modify its previous image and promote its products in a safe and positive way. In Canada, the legal drinking age is 19 in all provinces, except in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec where it is 18. The contest was very successful from the student perspective with thousands of photo submissions; however, it was difficult to prove the legal status of the students and their ability to legally consume alcohol. Students who chose to participate did so for many reasons, specifically the grand prize of winning a trip to Cancun, Mexico. Using Facebook allowed the students to effortlessly give photo submissions to Molson in an environment they are very familiar with. Simultaneously, a large population of students find prestige attending a highly ranked “party school.” Yet another major issue was found in the students that did not give consent to the photo submissions. There were many students who participated in the contest unknowingly. A student present at a party where another student took photos to upload to the contest had the potential to be part of the contest without consenting. This could have a negative impact on the student’s future, as expressed by university administrators. This put emphasis on the disciplinary component of this activity. A student without the intention of being in the picture could easily have received punishment for participating.
As one of the leading alcoholic beverage manufacturers in Canada, Molson Coors Brewing Company showed how social media can be a very attractive potential marketing method, a way to spread the name of the company quickly and cost effectively. The trouble was using social media effectively in order to target the right age demographic (between 19 and 24 years old). So, they launched a campaign to use Facebook, one of the leading social networking sites, to “increase brand awareness of Molson products in Canada to reach Molson’s ‘target demographics in most efficent manner’ (Qureshi, 4).” Facebook had a very young membership base and was a place where “friends” interacted in a trusting setting. The basic idea of the campaign was, “to have a virtual ‘dorm room’ in the name of each university or college, where students from those institutions could post photos of themselves and their friends in full party mode. The school with the most photos would be awarded the number one party school in Canada. The best photo, determined by a panel of Molson judges, would win a spring break giveaway contest (Qureshi, 5)”. From our point of view, or critics of this contest, we feel as though this competition does not uphold the core values of Molson, or at least what they say they are. If Molson really does care about promoting social responsibility then having young people in sometimes very inappropriate attire and posting numerous photos of them drinking on a social media website is not the best branding tactic. We feel as though it is giving our well reputed school a bad reputation. When people come to look at the school, the first thought that will come to them, is “wow, this is quite the party school! Doesnt look like it stresses academics very much.” All universities are trying to reach the highest achieving and brightest students and this competition could very much deter from that. Rather than promoting responsible behavior, it seems to be doing quite the opposite. It is only an excuse for students to put themselves in over the top and outrageous situations, while consuming much more than a responsible amount of alcohol, in hopes of attaining the spring break of their dreams. We feel that this contest is giving our university “a hangover”. Furthermore, it is promoting social inequality because the people who would participate in a competition like this one are the classic “beer bong and letterman jacket” type of men and women. But what about the rest of us? This competition isn't for us, a majority of the population at the school. And what about our future? This is setting us up to fail. It is widely known that most employers look at social media outlets before hiring a prospective employee. If the employer is able to see incriminating photos of possible underage individuals, it could severely hinder their chances of getting the job they have been working towards. This extends into possible graduate school admittance and so forth. Facebook is not private, no social media site really is, there are ways to view your information so you’re not anonymous. Furthermore, we have not consented to these photos and have found ourselves in some of them; that is a problem and compromises our privacy. We don’t want to be apart of this contest because in many ways it could compromise our future. We don’t want to be in any way associated with Molson’s “Cold Shot” contest.
Team 1: What is the point of view of consenting participants/students?
ReplyDeleteThe Molson Company is a brewery and beer distributor and is the most preferred Canadian brand. Globally, they own the fourth largest market share.
Over the years, social media has become a large part of business and advertising. To stay competitive, a company must be up to date on social media outlets that help further connect them to their customers. In 2007, Molson created a Facebook page for this exact purpose, however, various problems occurred. They began a promotion called “cold shot” in which Canadian college students would prove themselves worthy of the title “number one party school in Canada”. This backfired completely, and accusations began that Molson was encouraging underage drinking, dangerous use of alcohol and negligence. The dilemma for Molson became whether or not they should continue to have a presence in the social media world. Moving forward, it is imperative that Molson modify its previous image and promote its products in a safe and positive way.
In Canada, the legal drinking age is 19 in all provinces, except in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec where it is 18. The contest was very successful from the student perspective with thousands of photo submissions; however, it was difficult to prove the legal status of the students and their ability to legally consume alcohol.
Students who chose to participate did so for many reasons, specifically the grand prize of winning a trip to Cancun, Mexico. Using Facebook allowed the students to effortlessly give photo submissions to Molson in an environment they are very familiar with. Simultaneously, a large population of students find prestige attending a highly ranked “party school.” Yet another major issue was found in the students that did not give consent to the photo submissions. There were many students who participated in the contest unknowingly. A student present at a party where another student took photos to upload to the contest had the potential to be part of the contest without consenting. This could have a negative impact on the student’s future, as expressed by university administrators. This put emphasis on the disciplinary component of this activity. A student without the intention of being in the picture could easily have received punishment for participating.
Group Three- Unconsented Participants
ReplyDeleteAs one of the leading alcoholic beverage manufacturers in Canada, Molson Coors Brewing Company showed how social media can be a very attractive potential marketing method, a way to spread the name of the company quickly and cost effectively. The trouble was using social media effectively in order to target the right age demographic (between 19 and 24 years old). So, they launched a campaign to use Facebook, one of the leading social networking sites, to “increase brand awareness of Molson products in Canada to reach Molson’s ‘target demographics in most efficent manner’ (Qureshi, 4).” Facebook had a very young membership base and was a place where “friends” interacted in a trusting setting. The basic idea of the campaign was,
“to have a virtual ‘dorm room’ in the name of each university or college, where students from those institutions could post photos of themselves and their friends in full party mode. The school with the most photos would be awarded the number one party school in Canada. The best photo, determined by a panel of Molson judges, would win a spring break giveaway contest (Qureshi, 5)”.
From our point of view, or critics of this contest, we feel as though this competition does not uphold the core values of Molson, or at least what they say they are. If Molson really does care about promoting social responsibility then having young people in sometimes very inappropriate attire and posting numerous photos of them drinking on a social media website is not the best branding tactic. We feel as though it is giving our well reputed school a bad reputation. When people come to look at the school, the first thought that will come to them, is “wow, this is quite the party school! Doesnt look like it stresses academics very much.” All universities are trying to reach the highest achieving and brightest students and this competition could very much deter from that. Rather than promoting responsible behavior, it seems to be doing quite the opposite. It is only an excuse for students to put themselves in over the top and outrageous situations, while consuming much more than a responsible amount of alcohol, in hopes of attaining the spring break of their dreams. We feel that this contest is giving our university “a hangover”. Furthermore, it is promoting social inequality because the people who would participate in a competition like this one are the classic “beer bong and letterman jacket” type of men and women. But what about the rest of us? This competition isn't for us, a majority of the population at the school.
And what about our future? This is setting us up to fail. It is widely known that most employers look at social media outlets before hiring a prospective employee. If the employer is able to see incriminating photos of possible underage individuals, it could severely hinder their chances of getting the job they have been working towards. This extends into possible graduate school admittance and so forth. Facebook is not private, no social media site really is, there are ways to view your information so you’re not anonymous. Furthermore, we have not consented to these photos and have found ourselves in some of them; that is a problem and compromises our privacy. We don’t want to be apart of this contest because in many ways it could compromise our future. We don’t want to be in any way associated with Molson’s “Cold Shot” contest.