FEBRUARY 24, 2014 VOLUME V, ISSUE IV
CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2014
GOOD TIMES FREE
FEEL LIKE WASTING MONEY ON GAMES?
THE MAGIC OF SUPERBOWL COMMERCIALS
By Kaylin Lopez
By Andres Mah-Candelaria
Do you have money just laying around just using up space in your wallet? Well, how about buying a suit of samurai for the “Sims Free Play” game for $15? How about $100 for a sports car in “Real Racing 3”? Or even more money -- a $600 bear gun in “Gun Bros.”? Many people, especially kids, have cell phones and play their favorite games on them. With more people playing games, more things are being bought and more money is being wasted. One of the easiest ways to waste money is spending it on in-app purchases like that $600 bear gun.
Most people think the Super Bowl is all about the action on the field, but others think it is about the commercials on television. The commercials can be funny, crazy, dramatic, adorable, and stupid. Companies want to advertise commercials during the Super Bowl because so many people like to watch the football championship; there were 110 million viewers this year.
The dark side of the in-app purchases is that kids are sometimes able to spend as much money as they want. The Los Angeles Times reported that a girl “spent $2,600 playing the ‘Tap Pet Hotel’ app.” The parent of this girl was part of a group of parents who complained about purchases being made without their permission. Because of these parents, Apple will refund $32.5 million. One thing that Apple needs to tell parents about is the 15-minute window after the password is typed in. The 15-minute window allows kids 15 minutes to buy other things before the password expires. Alexis McDowel, the public relations director of EA Mobile, which makes “Real Racing 3,” commented on people who would actually buy the $100 car in the game. She said that it is not necessary to use actual money. In the game, people can earn fake money and then buy the car with that. McDowel did not respond to further questions about the game. “Feel Like Wasting Money” continued on page 2...
MR. PEABODY & SHERMAN By Natalie Sanchez As a kid, you go to school, you finish homework, you go outside and play… and you watch TV! That’s the life of a kid. The life of an adult is different. But when someone asks you what you watched when you were little, one of the top five responses would be “Mr. Peabody & Sherman.” On March 7, 2014, the modern “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” is coming to the big screen. “The filmmakers have kept some of the same characteristic traits from the original,” said Kyle Goins, a central production assistant on the movie. “It is a great movie about a father-son relationship, and it can teach kids about history,” added Elyse Meier, an animation production assistant on the movie. The movie stars Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody, Max Charles as Sherman, and Ariel Winter as Penny Peterson. Mr. Peabody is an extraordinary dog who adopts a human boy named Sherman. Mr. Peabody
Most Super Bowl commercials try to sell A Bear Clawing for Yogurt During a Chobani SuperBowl Commercial snacks, beverages, and cars. Some examples are Bud Light beer, Carmax, and Apple computers. was kidnapped by a mafia king and put in the trunk Companies pay a lot of money to be on air during the of a car. The mafia king said they were going to chop Super Bowl. They pay 4 million dollars for a 30 second him up and put him in ice cream. The M&M said, commercial. Last year, NBC generated 75 million dol“sounds like fun to me.” The M&M was so stupid lars from the commercials. that he didn’t know what they would do to him. Many people think the best Super Bowl commercial ever was introducing the Mac computer in 1984. It showed a dictator that controlled people and someone who revolted by throwing a hammer at the dictator’s face on a screen. This year the Super Bowl had a good year for commercials even if the game itself was sad for Bronco fans. I think the companies made funny commercials so the people would buy their products. Funny things make people feel good about their product. My favorite commercials were: 1.The Audi Doberhuahua commercial which showed a chihuahua combined with a doberman that terrorized the world. The dog’s looks made me laugh like a monkey. 2. The Chobani yogurt commercial was about a bear trying to grab a cup of yogurt, wrecking the whole store and scaring people. I liked it because the bear was real and it specifically took the honey yogurt. 3. In the M&M candy commercial, the yellow M&M
4. A Doritos ad had a kid who made a fake time machine out of cardboard. He tricked his neighbor, telling him that he would travel into the future if he put the Doritos bag through a slot. At the end, the man steps out to find a senior citizen and thinks it is the boy in the future. This commercial was funny because the kid was able to get the Doritos bag without stealing it. Some companies released teaser versions of commercials ahead of the game. For example, Carmax made a commercial about a man who bought a car. When he drove through his neighborhood, people and even a bear were clapping and staring at him. In another version, the driver was a dog and the whole city was filled with dogs barking. The commercial for Toyota Highlander will have Kermit the Frog and the Muppets doing crazy driving. Maybe next year there will be better commercials and maybe the Broncos will win. Andres Mah-Candelaria likes to write because writing will help with his grammar. He goes to Eagle Rock Elementary and is 9 years old. He hates the Broncos.
has the hardest job in the world: being a dad. Sherman goes to school and doesn’t like a girl named Penny. Penny also doesn’t like the company of Sherman. So Mr. Peabody invites Penny’s family for dinner. As Sherman and Penny try to get along, he shows her Mr. Peabody’s time machine, the WABAC. Sherman and Penny accidentally go back in time and make a hole in history. Now it’s up to them to save the universe! “This movie at its core is a father and son story. I think any parent can relate A Scene From Mr. Peadbody & Sherman, 2014 DreamWorks Animation to the fact that no matter what their child does, they will love them unconditionally. “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” was written by Craig Although no one can relate to the fact that Sherman Wright, directed by Rob Minkoff, produced by has a dog for a father, I think everyone relates to DreamWorks Animation, and distributed by 20th wanting acceptance and having a parent who loves and Century Fox. This is a movie you do not want to miss! supports them,” said Kyle. “I think everyone should see If you want to laugh, come see Mr.Peabody, Sherman, this movie, its beautiful animation, its loony secondary and Penny on the adventure of a lifetime. characters, and its huge heart.” Natalie Sanchez is in the 6th grade. She goes to “It’s good, wholesome entertainment with lovable Clifford Street School. She is super funny, cool, and characters, especially Sherman,” said Elyse. AWESOME!!!!!!!