As I watched Saturday Night Live at a buddy’s house last weekend, I couldn’t help but think one thing: SNL is back! This year SNL celebrates its 35^th anniversary and in my opinion, this year’s cast is in the prime to take their place alongside SNL legends.  Generations have grown up with different “All Star” casts.  There were the original years with John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Chevy Chase who were among the cast that literally started it all.  Then there was that great cast of the mid 80’s to early 90’s with Mike Myers, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley who brought a new sort of humor that was unheard and unseen before.  Most recently there was the cast of the mid 90’s to the early millennium with classic characters by members like Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, and Molly Shannon.  With recent retirees like Daryl Hammond and Tina Fey, who still make cameo appearances, and current cast members which include Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg who are already becoming household names, this group has rekindled that swagger we all know and love about Saturday Night Live.

While generally being a well known and liked show, SNL has been plagued with clusters of years, usually about 3 or 4, with a relatively unknown cast and comparable lack of success with viewers.  With 20/20 hindsight, these have been seen as transitional years, where one great group of cast members say goodbye and a new group of faces emerge to take their place.  And what makes this cast great is simple: they are enjoyable to watch.  One thing that has made SNL so popular is reoccurring characters by the cast and with current characters such as MacGruber, a parody of MacGyver, and Penelope, the one-upper, the current cast has maintained that popular attraction.  Another genre that has become synonymous with SNL is impersonations, which the cast’s talent of shined during last year’s presidential campaign.  So one thing is for certain, this years cast does not lack the talent that made previous SNL casts great.

SNL has been known for launching the careers of numerous successful movie stars, however, today’s cast have somewhat turned that scenario on its head.  Members such as Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, and Kristen Wiig have appeared in a number of modern day films, bringing big screen success back to the small screen.  Even cast member Kenan Thompson had previous success before joining SNL, having stared in shows on Nickelodeon.  In addition, the cast is not the only part of the show that has improved over the past few years.  More popular hosts and musical guests have been appearing, due to the successful public image of appearing on the show lately.  Recent hosts and musical guests such as Justin Timberlake, Jack Black, and Beyoncé are all potential candidates to join the likes of Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Christopher Walken, and Tom Hanks in the famous Five-Timers Club.  This has brought a new sense of camaraderie between the show and pop culture that audiences love.

While this season’s success will depend on a couple other key elements, such as the writers, the cast will undoubtedly bring us plenty of laughs and memorable moments that will add to immense amount we already know and love from Saturday Night Live.

Austin Anderson is the Co-founder of Chic Galleria Publications, LLC and Anderson Public Relations.  While a current student at the University of Oklahoma, majoring in Advertising in the Gaylord College of Journalism & Mass Communication, Austin has his finger on the pulse of how young people view the world today. Austin is a member of the student run advertising and public relations agency, Lindsey+Asp.

Photo via www.nbc.com

If you have cracked open a magazine or driven past a billboard within the past 15 years, then it is safe to say you have seen that iconic ad of a celebrity holding a glass, sporting a white moustache, and posing next to that perpetual question: Got Milk? Originally appearing as a television commercial in October 1993, the ad has had the same message for years: drink more milk to lead a healthier life. But what is it really trying to say? Is it possible that in today’s multi-million dollar world of advertisement, money is being spent to bring in top celebrities to do a public service announcement?

While flipping through my latest issue of ESPN Magazine, I came across an advertisement that actually got my attention. Not because it had flashy colors, a funny phrase or semi-nude girls smiling at me, but because it was an ad I was familiar with. It was an ad I had practically grown up with. I had seen them as a child in my school cafeteria and at the doctor’s office. And every ad was the same. A well known actor, athlete, or fictional character posing with a white milk mustache, accompanied by the phrase Body by Milk, and a small paragraph describing why they, and more importantly, you should drink milk. This particular ad features the lovely and talented Danica Patrick. She is lovely for being voted sexiest athlete in Victoria’s Secret “What is Sexy” list, and she is talented for becoming the first woman to win an Indy car race. That covers quite a large demographic of people that may potentially see this ad and, due to Danica’s endorsement, drink more milk.

Women who see the ad think “I want to have that body.” Men who see the ad think “I want to have that body.” And what a body it is. A leather one-piece driver’s suit that clings to the curvature of her body displays the liaison between her beauty and talent. But the picture captures more than just a beautiful woman in a leather suit. Every detail of the image is designed to provoke emotion. Her stance is choreographed to display that classic hourglass figure that only women like Barbie and Wonder Woman possess. Even the color in her appearance is deliberate. She is clad in black leather; however, a lavender tent is cast across her suit and hair. Why lavender? Perhaps because the color lavender is considered a feminine color, which adds a hint of softness. Or perhaps it is because women are beautiful and delicate like a lavender flower.

But enough of this soft woman talk, what about who Danica Patrick represents to women and how this is projected through this ad. Danica Patrick is a woman competing in a male dominated sport, Indy car racing. There are other women competing in the same sport, but none have made as large an impact as Danica Patrick. Men in the sport have questioned her ability and amount of publicity, but that was before she won a race. That is when she truly emerged as female icon, representing another field that women have claimed as equal ground. And yet all the while she has maintained her persona as a gorgeous woman who is in control. Her appearance in this ad is very sexy, but not debasing in any way. She is fully clothed and what part of her could be scandalous, her unzipped top that would reveal cleavage, is covered by a white undershirt. Her facial expression radiates seductiveness with a hint of “stay out my way.” Even her nails show her balance of strong and sexy, for she has short cut, manly nails, and yet they are still painted. Milk white to be exact.

Now advertisers know that we as Americans are self-conscience about our appearance, which is why they give us the secret to obtaining this rocking body that Danica Patrick possess: body by milk. It’s that simple. We are to believe that simply drinking milk will help us achieve the beach body we all secretly desire. But I don’t think America is convinced quite yet. We need a reason or support as to why I should drink milk. This advertisement has a solution to that too. A small paragraph, written in of course, white, is written as if it were a quotation from Danica herself. “How do I stay on track? Milk.” Well I’m convinced! But others may be thirsty for more detail.

How will milk make us healthier? Sure it’s our first form of nourishment when we are brought into this world, but milk is for kids. Danica disagrees. Danica describes to us how milk’s protein helps build muscle and its unique mix of nutrients help her refuel after a workout. So if a top level athlete drinks milk, maybe it is healthy. But milk is more a relic of our childhood than a daily delicacy. Milk’s solution: insert celebrity here. We have become a culture fascinated with celebrities and advertisement agencies know fully well how powerful a celebrity endorsement is for a product. Milk processors who distribute these ads are banking on the fact that we will be a sucker for a beautiful celeb in a tight leather suit.

So does the advertisement work? Yes! It has made me thirsty and apparently millions of other people as well. Milk sales skyrocketed after the release of Got Milk? ads and rightfully so. The ad entices you from all angles; sports, sex, and health. But what most impressed me was the product itself. It is not some new expensive and unnecessary item that million dollar corporations are trying to get us to buy; it’s a product we have grown up with, being advertised by all milk processors and dairy farmers, big and small. A product we probably already have in our refrigerator, but never use as a drink. It’s a product we already know and trust, just shown in a new light. So will drinking milk make us healthier? I think we all already know the answer to that.