In Gupta’s class this week, we continued our conversations about the defining factors of corporations. On Monday, we watched a documentary called “The Corporation” that highlighted the harsh truth behind the intentions of many businesses and their employees. Some of the examples include companies marketing their products to children in an attempt to force parents to buy their products. They admitted to intentionally manipulating and exploiting children for the benefit of profit. Furthermore, the documentary revealed that undercover marketing takes place more often than we think. Undercover marketing means that products and services are staged in public places, unknown to the consumer, which unconsciously influences people to want to buy the company’s products. One of the most shocking anecdotes from the documentary was a broker stating that they, and many others, were almost ecstatic when 9/11 occurred because of the profits they gained. I will never understand why someone would publicly admit their positive feelings towards tragedies, but it shows how selfish businesspeople can be.

As I expected, my internship has started to pick up the pace. Throughout the week I continued to edit past presentations and transfer new data. I had the opportunity to test out some of the finalized survey programs and offer advice on how to improve. I also had the opportunity to witness the setup for an in-person marketing study that would take place in the office. The study focused on people’s tolerance for wrinkles in their clothing and how likely they would wear their garments straight from the dryer. This study will help Whirlpool develop a wrinkle dryer cycle that would satisfy people’s wrinkle preferences. I organized the data table with each item of clothing and classified them by gender, occasion, and level of wrinkle. My team has been very responsive in sending me the tasks for the study and helping me with creating a report presentation. I look forward to receiving the results from the study so that I can transfer the data into their charts.

This week I chose to explore Milan. On Sunday, a group of us decided to go shopping near the Duomo and relax for the day. It was a day well spent and filled with lots of gelato and pizza! On Monday, we also took advantage of Bar Magenta’s aperitivo right after Gupta’s class and shared a few drinks. Since I stayed home from the Alps trip this Saturday, I chose to have a maintenance day. I took a trip near Milano Centrale with Ava to get our nails done and have lunch. From there, we made our way to City Life Shopping District where we browsed a few stores and admired the layout of the mall. The mall is in the center of three towering offices in Milan known as the Tre Torri. These offices include PwC, Allianz, and Generali. I remember seeing the three towers from the top of Torre Branca our first night in Milan, so it was exciting to see the buildings up close. Finally, we wrapped the day by walking back to Aparto from the Duomo area where we saw a lot of Inter Milano fans. Safe to say that I will most likely be celebrating with the fans tonight!