A Woman's Right To Choose

I thank God every day that I get to live in a country where  "We The People" still have a few of our rights left. But hurry folks, they're going fast. I try to be Switzerland sometimes, but as a New Yorker and with the previously mentioned Greek heritage, well  sometimes I just can't keep my pie hole shut.

But yes, I am glad that I am a woman who still has the freedom to choose. No, not that freedom to choose. I promised Mr. Bricks I'll keep my blog muckery free and that I won't go on any tirades about my political beliefs. And Lord knows I gotta keep Mr. Bricks' blood pressure down. If he starts popping any more of those blood pressure pills, I'm gonna have to check his butt into the Betty Ford Clinic. Know what I'm saying?  Any way....when I say the freedom to choose, I mean the freedom to choose which picture I should use for my Facebook profile. Are you with me friends? Is that what you were thinking?

OK, so currently I am using this picture. I think this is the picture that best represents me. Do you like it?

I also use it for my acting career. So many times when I have walked into an audition the casting directors are shocked!! They can't believe I actually look just like the photo. No Photoshop, no  air brushing at all. Nothing. Sorry folks it's all naturally me. I've been asked to consider starting my own skin care line because without sounding conceded, I do have nice skin. Can you hear me Allure, Covergirl, Anyone?

Ok, back to the blog...So yes, I do have freedom of choice of what photo to put on my Facebook page. I could change it every other day like most girls do if I wanted to, but I'm trying to create a brand for my career. So I am using the same picture on everything I do for a while. I've learned, the best way to help create retention for your brand is to use the same image over and over. I call it my ketchup picture. So, for right now wherever you find me or see my name Ava Aston, you will see my ketchup picture.

Why do I call it my ketchup picture?? Well for one reason I am a ketchup freak! I put ketchup on almost everything I eat, for reals.

Here is a recent dinner with massive amounts of ketchup on my eggs. OK, I know I just grossed out half the population of North American with this picture. Now my blog stats will plummet, my Twitter numbers will fall off the charts and I will lose all of my Facebook friends just because I let you into Ava's world and showed you how much I enjoy ketchup. Oh Lordy, there goes my public image.  I bet I just gave Mr. Bricks a heart attack. Ok, where were we? Oh yes, I was explaining why I call it my ketchup picture.

Well, think about Heinz® Ketchup for a second. Heinz was founded in 1869 in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania, by Henry John Heinz. And after all these years, the dude is still the undisputed king of condiments!

So when  you think of Ketchup,  this image is pretty much exactly what you think of, right?  Well, except for some of you lame people who buy generic brands, then you might see the word Kroger or Piggly Wiggly instead of Heinz. Not me man, it's Heinz Ketchup or nothing at all. That's just how I roll.

And Heinz  has been successfully making everyone think of their brand for more than 130 years. They haven't mucked it up by changing things around. Here's a few Heinz Ketchup statistics ( Because I know you wanted to know)

• Heinz is a $10 billion global company
• Heinz sells 650 million bottles of its iconic Ketchup every year
• Heinz products enjoy #1 or #2 market share in more than 50 countries

So in 130 years when you think of Ava Aston, you will still know who I am, because I didn't muck anything up by using a 1,000 different looks and styles for everything I do.  I kept using the ketchup picture. What you see baby is what you get.

Not everyone or every company is so smart. The Coca Cola  company created all sorts of muckery by introducing their New Coke to replace their standard Coca-Cola with a new design and new recipe in 1985.

Oops....that backfired. Consumers revolted and a few short years after they had rolled out this new version with great fan fare they retreated and re-introduced the old coke and rebranded it as Coca-Cola Classic or simply, Classic Coke.  Sales eventually increased, but not after a few heads rolled at the corporate offices  in Atlanta.

Even the King of Pop, Michael Jackson knew the value of having something akin to a ketchup picture. The Jackson 5 were introduced to the world in 1969 with their debut album called, "Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5"

Over the next six years The Jackson 5 released a total of 10 albums and sold more than 36.5 million albums for Motown Records. You'd think that would make the Gloved One and the Brothers Jackson happy campers, right? Nope, because there's a funny thing about creative people like The Jackson family and myself, we all have a huge need to always be in control of our own destiny.  And although the Jackson 5 were international superstars, at that time they still lacked control over the music they recorded and their image. They wanted to control all of it. So they sought out a partnership with a new record label who would allow them to write and produce their own songs. But switching labels wasn't as easy as it sounded. That's because Motown Records owned the trademark, The Jackson 5.  So, despite the fact that they were the 5 Jackson brothers that made up the brand and the band called  The Jackson 5, Motown still owned the brand name and would not let them use it.  A huge messy lawsuit happened.

So when The Jacksons  switched over to CBS records in 1975 they had to go by a new name.  Even after selling  36.5 million records, having their own variety TV show, their own animated cartoon on Saturday mornings, they still needed to try and keep the same brand name so fans could find their product on the record store shelf.

So cleverly they called their new name The Jacksons....but they used a font to fool the public into thinking they were reading the words The Jackson 5.  If you look very closely at the albums they released on CBS records after they left Motown the font they used has the "S" cleverly shaped like a number 5. So legally fans  were buying a record from The Jacksons not The Jackson 5.

With out knowing all of the legal mumbo jumbo behind the story, or as I say, how the sausage was made, the typical fan looked at this first album on CBS Records as if it read the Jackson 5, but truthfully and legally it doesn't say that at all.  See what I am saying? They had to keep their ketchup logo to keep their brand alive, even though they were already mega stars!!!

Ok one more quick tidbit....Michael Jackson. Madonna, Lady Gaga and other recording artists feel that they have it all in their head as to what their destiny should be. It is what creates those huge egos you read about because they actually believe they are the ones in control of their own destiny.  News Flash -- I know I'd like to think I am in control of my own destiny like other pop stars think, however this is where I am different than the average Pop star, because I know God is in control of my destiny, not me. Whenever I fool myself into thinking I am in control of my own destiny for a minute I find myself needing to strap on a soft helmet because I feel like my head is about to explode and my brains are going to come gushing out. That's always a huge sign for me to give the control back over to God.

So, back to the blog...see how easily I get side tracked?  So once The Jacksons switched to CBS Records they titled each new album reflecting their new found creativity and growth. It started with their introductory album simply called, "The Jacksons" Then they followed in order with the albums, "Goin' Places", "Destiny", "Triumph", "Victory" and finally their last album was called "2300 Jackson Street" which meant they had finally arrived home.

To make a long story short,  yes I do have the freedom to choose which picture of me is on my Facebook profile. If you get sick of looking at it you can always click on my photos on Facebook or my website www.avaaston.com to see more. It's not like I'm camera shy or anything. I do have lots and lots of other pictures of me floating all over Al Gore's Internet.

Blessings,

Ava

xox