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Globalization is the process of increasing the connectivity and interdependence of the world economic markets. This process has begun a rapid increase of the past few decades as great increases of technology have been made, and many countries are beginning to use outsourcing for their businesses.

Unfortunately, many have seen the negative effects of globalization and refer to it as "cultural imperialism", or, the domination of a powerful culture over the local culture in the area. As countries begin to share ideas and products, the cultures begin to bleed into one another. American culture, in particular, has been scrutinized by intentionally trying to turn other cultures into consumer cultures in order to make more money off of them. The consumer culture is one of the main factors of the American economy, and if it spreads, the economies of other nations could be affected in unknown ways.

One recent (and rather funny) example of this today is pulled from a story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/15/dubai.star.wars.photography/index.html

French photographer Cedric Delsaux's most recent artwork consists of pictures he took in Dubai that have been photoshopped to include images from George Lucas's "Star Wars" films. This is a perfect example of the influence that American films have had on other cultures. "Star Wars" is American, yet this French photographer is using it as the primary aspect in his work.

Advertising: The reason that little Apple Logo adds $200 to the price tag

Good old Apple. Apple is probably the best company in the world today at advertising their products. No matter what the product is, and no matter how much it costs, two things are a given nowadays: Apple will advertise it, and people will buy it. How do they do this? Well, first of all, they make good products. As I sit here typing this on my MacBook Pro, I can attest to this fact. I am extremely satisfied with my laptop, as are many other consumers. This fact certainly helps them out. You can advertise anything, but if it sucks, people probably won't buy it. Second, they make their advertisements catchy and appealing to everybody. In this blog, I will use the iPad as an example.



When the iPad was first announced, the media ate it alive. Many called it "a giant iPod Touch" and for the most part they were right. The iPad doesn't feature any real technical advantages over the current iPhones or iPod Touches, aside from the bigger screen. Many vowed that they would never buy an iPad, as it was useless. And then they saw the ads. The ad shows just how much you can do with this thing. It puts a faceless user and just shows what this device can do, allowing the audience to put themselves in the shoes of the person in the advertisement (not unlike their iPhone or iPod Touch ads). What is the appeal for this ad then? It has to be that of autonomy and curiosity. Autonomy because this ad shows that you can become more productive, as well as have a better leisure time. Curiosity because it shows so much stuff that the iPad can do so quickly that you want to see more. The consumer wants to see what the iPad can do, which hypothetically might take them to apple.com, which subjects them to more advertising. So did this ad work effectively? Well, according to recent data, the iPad has sold about 4.5 MILLION units! I would say that the stats don't lie here. People want the iPad.