Essay 316

Counting down the final MultiCultClassics Minutes for 2005…

• Drug dealer Pfizer has been running advertising for Viagra with a headline that reads, “What are you doing New Year’s Eve?” An AIDS activist group is protesting, insisting the ads promote unsafe intercourse on a typically sex-filled night. Additionally, the group claims Pfizer is hyping Viagra as a recreational drug. “It’s not a recreational drug,” said the group’s president. “It’s irresponsible for the company to advertise it this way.” Regarding the New Year’s ad, he added, “We’re marketing a drug that’s supposed to treat a disease because it’s a holiday?” Pfizer should have presented celebrity endorsements from Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest.

• The University of Michigan is joining other schools fighting against Colombian coke dealers. Actually, it’s the Coca-Cola Company, and the schools are reacting to an investigation of working conditions with Columbian bottlers. The protests include banning Coca-Cola products from campuses. Can’t beat the real thing — but you can ban it.

• The African-American Film Critics Association named Crash as the top film for 2005. Other films receiving honors included The Constant Gardener, Good Night, Good Luck, Brokeback Mountain, Syriana, Walk the Line, Hustle & Flow, Capote, Batman Begins and North Country. Holy Questionable Voting! How did Batman Begins nab a mention?

• A new brand of Swedish jeans is sparking controversy for its logo and religious viewpoints. Cheap Monday features a skull with an upside-down cross on its forehead. “It is an active statement against Christianity,” the designer confessed. “I’m not a Satanist myself, but I have a great dislike for organized religion.” Sales are heavenly, and there are plans for distribution to the U.S. What would Jesus wear?

• The Washington Post reported an increase in the number of women fighting back against workplace pregnancy discrimination. Claims filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rose 33% in the past decade. An EEOC official believes it doesn’t reflect greater discrimination; rather, it shows a greater willingness from women to file complaints. An official with the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California, Hastings, added, “You have this volatile combination of Generation X and Y women feeling entitled to be in the workplace and live up to widely held ideals of motherhood…And employers who simply appear not to know that it’s gender discrimination to push them out.” Don’t mess with 21st century June Cleavers.

• The Washington Post also reported a decrease of sexy imagery in male-targeted advertising. “[Men] think with a multiplicity of organs, not just the one below the belt. They want to be respected, admired, entertained, to be part of a community,” said ad executive and alleged trend guru Marian Salzman. “They don’t want to be patronized like they’re a bunch of morons.” Not sure what planet Salzman is on, but it’s definitely nowhere near Mars or Venus. Bacardi and Axe are just two advertisers disproving Salzman’s theories. Moron continues to be a title men proudly accept.

• Tiger Woods is moving on up, if it’s even possible for someone of his stature to do so. The sports superstar plunked down $40 million for a 10-acre estate on Jupiter Island in Florida. But joining the golfers at the ultra-exclusive Jupiter Island Club may prove problematic. “There is a huge waiting list [to join the club], and no one supersedes the line to be considered,” said an anonymous neighbor. Woods will probably just buy the damned club too.

• Happy New Year to Everyone!