5887: Airport Insecurity.

Fueling the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Diddy is feeling the rising cost of fuel too, as he’s grounded his private jets and started flying commercial. “I’m actually flying commercial,” said Diddy. “That’s how high gas prices are. I’m at the gate right now. This is really happening, proof gas prices are too high. Tell whoever the next president is we need to bring gas prices down.” Diddy’s already hawking the money-saving values at Burger King. Maybe Southwest Airlines is his next sponsor.

• Given that the Republican National Convention is taking place in Minneapolis, has anyone considered the PR possibilities of holding a speech in the airport toilet stall made famous by Senator Larry Craig? Just a thought.

• Over 100,000 people gathered on Saturday in Mexico to complain about the rampant crime plaguing the country. But the protest ended early when all the participants were kidnapped. Just kidding.

5886: Fruit Of The Latinas.

Guess Latinas like lounging around la casa in their undies.

5885: Crooked Employees Of The Month.

Light business news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• You know all those annoying GM ads hawking the employee discounts that are being extended to the rest of us? Well, now reports show GM is suing its own employees for allegedly improperly extending the discounts to non-relatives before the latest promotion. The unauthorized discounts have cost GM up to $450,000. A GM spokesman insisted the timing of the lawsuits and the extended discounts promotion was coincidental. Maybe the automaker will create an Employee Lawsuit savings event.

• GM also announced a recall of 944,000 SUVs, trucks and cars because of potential fires. Maybe the automaker will create a You Recall What We Recall event. Or they could simply hold a fire sale.

• Experts are predicting Kmart will inevitably go extinct following parent Sears’ announcement of a 62 percent drop in 2Q earnings. Lights out for the annoying Blue Light character?

5884: Ridikulous.

American Apparel does Afrika. Whatever.

5883: 2 Audiences, 2 Advertisers, 1 Happy Family.

Lowe’s and Walmart make it a family affair for Blacks and Latinos.

5882: Is The LPGA An Old Boys’ Club?

At AdAge.com’s The Big Tent, Bill Imada presents a thoughtful perspective on the LPGA (Ladies’ Professional Golf Association) and its recent decision to mandate that golfers speak English. On the one hand, these types of action are hardly surprising from the world of professional golf. Though you’d think someone would have given the matter more careful deliberation before ratifying the silly rule.

After all, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton just demonstrated the glass ceiling has been cracked, yet hardly shattered. Women need to gain respect, not invite disrespect. And seemingly lost in the Michael Phelps hoopla was the fact that women athletes scored quite a few gold medals at the Olympics in basketball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics, track and field and more. Women’s professional sports have always suffered from a lack of fan participation and interest. The LPGA especially should find ways to lure larger audiences versus turning them off. Why is a sport that literally shushes spectators so concerned about the language players must use when whispering?

5881: Memory Games.

Recalling the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Remember O.J. Simpson? Well, the co-defendant in the upcoming robbery and kidnapping trial attempted to delay the proceedings, but a Nevada Supreme Court panel rejected the request. The co-defendant wanted a separate trial, believing it will be impossible to get a fair deal if sitting next to Simpson. Perhaps, but his chances of getting a fair book deal will dramatically improve.

• Remember Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick? He filed a lawsuit to stop next week’s hearing to decide if he should be ousted from office. The lawsuit contends that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, who will lead the hearing, cannot be impartial because she has already indicated she believes Kilpatrick is guilty. Hey, it’s not like Granholm is forcing Kilpatrick to sit next to O.J. Simpson during the hearing.

• Remember DMX? The rapper and actor pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges stemming from a Miami drug case, and now must face more charges in Arizona. Somebody make sure he doesn’t drive to Arizona.

• Remember Dell? The computer company reported 2Q profits dropped 17 percent. Looks like more dudes are not getting a Dell.

• A new report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed 12 percent of Native Americans and indigenous Alaskans die from alcohol consumption—over three times the national norm. And probably 100 percent of Americans will not remember this report by next week.

5880: The Fight Goes On…

From The Chicago Tribune…

Obama’s nomination doesn’t end fight for civil rights

By Dawn Turner Trice

DENVER — More than five decades after the start of the modern civil rights movement, the country has its first African-American nominee poised to compete in a general election for the U.S. presidency.

While civil rights leaders, black politicians and others consider Sen. Barack Obama’s nomination the culmination of a dream, they fear his ascent may suggest to some that the civil rights battles of the past have been won and that it is time to lay down arms.

No need for race-based remedies or preferences, anymore. No need for civil rights groups or leaders.

But those leaders stress that such a line of thinking is flawed and can’t be further from the truth. They believe Obama’s nomination should be viewed as a milestone and evidence that the country is heading in the right direction. Still, they say, where race is concerned, the country remains a work in progress.

“Racism didn’t end when Richard Parsons got his job as the head of Time Warner or when Kenneth Chenault became the head of American Express,” said Marc Morial, the National Urban League’s president and chief executive.

He said the same “blacks have arrived” argument was made three decades ago when cities across the country began electing blacks as mayors.

“Harold Washington being elected mayor of Chicago didn’t end racism in that city,” said Morial, the former mayor of New Orleans.

He said Obama’s nomination may mark a fundamental shift away from racial-identity politics to so-called post-racial politics. But, he added, the nomination doesn’t diminish the need for activism on behalf of social justice.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton said that it’s “irrational” to expect Obama’s nomination to represent the end of the civil rights movement or even its fulfillment.

‘Fix an entire nation?’
“Black mayors couldnt solve all the problems,” he said. “So how do we expect one man to get in there and fix an entire nation?

“Throughout the black community, we’ve got double-digit unemployment, health and health-care disparities, education disparities. If we elected a messiah, he couldn’t close some of those gaps,” Sharpton said.

Marian Wright Edelman, president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, said that when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, there were 11 million poor children. Today there are 13 million, with blacks representing a disproportionate share of the total.

“We have a cradle-to-prison pipeline that threatens the last 45 years of civil rights progress,” she said. “I think about the election and I’m so proud of America right now, but we have to continue to ensure that everybody partakes in the American dream.”

Ward Connerly, the black California businessman who has led several voter initiatives around the country aimed at banning affirmative action, said he understands that racism is still a factor and that some people of color face great odds.

“But I think it’s impossible to make the argument that black Americans need to be treated differently because black people can’t get a fair shake in America,” he said. “You need special public policies to level the playing field? How do you look at Sen. Obama and make that argument?”

He said in the past 50 years, the country has undergone a profound change.

“We have stripped away the argument that you have to have one group of policies for one group of people over the other,” he said.

Not enough
But Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that the country’s problems with race are so entrenched and institutionalized that 50 years of change is not enough.

“Race got locked in with our country’s founding,” he said. “Even after the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, members of Congress allowed separate but equal to be the law of the land until 1954” and the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that ended legal segregation in schools.

Clyburn said Obama’s election could serve as a huge step toward moving beyond deep racial divisions, but that it is only one step.

At an event Thursday commemorating the 1963 March on Washington, the National Urban League’s Morial said Obama’s nomination is not only a celebration but an opportunity to recommit to the causes of the civil rights movement.

“We usher in a new era of our work,” he told the crowd of about 400. “Our work is not over.”

5879: Conflicting Concepts.

Tampax says it’s Mother Nature’s Gift. Midol says it’s The Curse. But there’s one thing we can all agree on: These Ads Suck.

5878: When You Wish Upon A Minority.

Disney amuses minorities with similar ads for Blacks and Latinos.

5877: Researchers Not Lovin’ Fast Food Marketing.

From AdAge.com…

Does Marketing Contribute to Obesity in African-Americans?
Study Indicates It Does, but Economic, Cultural Factors Also to Blame

By Emily Bryson York

NEW YORK -- There is a body of statistical data suggesting that the black community has been left behind on the road to healthier-food marketing.

That’s according to an article in the September issue of the American Journal of Public Health, which examined marketing and advertising studies conducted between 1992 and 2006 and looked at foods and beverages marketed to blacks vs. whites.

Sonya Grier, lead researcher on the project and associate professor of marketing at American University’s Kogod School of Business, said her group uncovered 20 studies done during the 14-year period. Each study, she said, found disparities in marketing to the two groups. This chasm, she concludes, creates an environment that contributes to obesity.

New study to come
Ms. Grier and Shiriki Kumanyika are primary investigators on a five-year, $4.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study obesity prevention in black children. Less than one year in, the pair is now gearing up for their own full-fledged study.

The article may be the first comprehensive look at food marketing to blacks, considering the types of products offered to a market, promotions, advertising and other communications, distribution and availability of specific products and price. The research does not single out specific marketers.

Ms. Grier also noted that in some black neighborhoods, it’s easier to find a fast-food restaurant than it is a grocery store.

“It’s probably true in terms of having access to fresh fruit and vegetables,” said Richard McIntire, spokesman for the NAACP, adding that a number of major cities, including Detroit and Baltimore, seem to have fewer and fewer grocery stores. At the same time, fast food continues to grow. “You often have fast food carry-outs; Chinese, Mexican or other well-known fast-food restaurants seem to have more of a presence than a traditional grocery store or even a corner market in some cases,” he said.

Unhealthy environment
And at those markets, Ms. Grier said, some studies indicate that point-of-sale displays are more likely to support higher-calorie products such as candy and soda. “It doesn’t make for an environment that’s supportive of healthy eating,” she said.

While there are a number of factors, particularly economic and cultural, contributing to the situation, Ms, Grier emphasized that marketers have gone to great lengths to change their positioning for other demographics.

“Companies are constantly changing marketing strategies over social concerns about healthy eating,” she said. “We don’t see with the same frequency or fanfare in terms of targeted marketing to African-Americans, and all we’re suggesting is there needs to be a more balanced approach to create a healthier food environment for African-Americans.”

As part of the article, Ms. Grier says that food marketers need to take a hard look at how they’re communicating with the black population. She also appeals to black media to pursue sponsors that hawk healthier products, and communities to push for better access to supermarkets and farmers’ markets.

5876: Assorted Train Wrecks.

Working on a railroad in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Times reported scholars believe it’s unlikely that Harriet Tubman ever uttered the words attributed to her in Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic National Convention speech. Clinton’s quotes included, “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” The scholars believe Clinton was probably paraphrasing popular expressions associated with the Underground Railroad conductor. They probably also believe Clinton’s campaign ultimately derailed into a massive train wreck.

• Sears reported 2Q profits fell 62 percent. Tiffany reported 2Q profits doubled, due in part to strong sales in Asia and Europe. Which makes sense, as folks in the U.S. can’t even afford to shop at Sears.

5875: Total Worldwide Cheesiness.

Colgate smiles with celebrities for Black and Latino audiences. And White audiences got Brooke Shields. And it just goes on and on and on and on and on…

5874: Spy Prerogative.

They say it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. Well, the woman best known as SuperSpy might rewrite the statement to read: It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her blog. From Agency Spy to The Fifth Column to The Brief. Now she’s back at Agency Spy. At least for six months. Mark your calendars.

5873: Driving In Circles.

These ads are strikingly similar… in their lameness.

5872: The Ad Industry On Life Alert…?

Another age-related rant from Adweek.com…

Is the Nation’s Richest Market Virtually Ignored?
65-plus -- Is there anyone in the agency business remotely close to that age?

By Piet Verbeck

The advertising business seems to be way out of touch with one of the fastest growing and certainly the richest market of all: 65-plus. The reason could be that there is nearly no one in the agency business even remotely close to that age.

At age 65, most people in America don’t just start living on a tiny fixed income in a small condo and then shuffle off to the nursing home. They begin, in fact, to consider how they will spend the money that they have spent their life accumulating. That money, dear friends, is more than two-thirds of the nation’s financial wealth. In 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, so please listen up.

Sixty-five-plus is the time for us to travel to places we’ve never seen, move to places we’ve always wanted to live, shed our work clothes and buy some cool vines, buy toys for our grandkids, communicate and buy on the Web, and work on our bodies to stay in shape. In short, 65-plus is a whole new life for a huge market that’s never seen so much money and never had so much time.

It’s a pity the advertising business has such a hard time relating to these people. Think they already do? Look at the spots on the nightly news tonight or check out CNN during the day. Most of the ads are done without an ounce of feeling, care or creativity.

You know people have to be coaxed into watching a commercial. So why don’t you coax the 65-plus market. Instead, you yawn, bang out the facts, shove the spots on the tube and run them with jackhammer frequency. Here’s news: You cannot bore this market into buying, not any more. We are not really interested in what the Flying Nun thinks about our bones, what Florence Henderson thinks about our pets, what Ed McMahon thinks about our bathrooms or what Robert Wagner wants us to do with our mortgages.

[Read the full lecture here.]

5871: Adweek Examines Ageism In Advertising.

MultiCultClassics has regularly blasted Adweek/Adwhite for its consistent cultural cluelessness in recent years. But now there’s a topic where the staff does demonstrate credibility and expertise: ageism. Noreen O’Leary presents the in-depth report below.

War of the Ages
How a host of new agency realities are pushing boomers out before their time

By Noreen O’Leary

The ad biz has always been a game for the young. But has ageism become the norm?

Earlier this month, a judge set a December trial date for a $30 million age-discrimination suit by a Universal McCann media exec, George Hayes, against the agency and its corporate parent, Interpublic Group. Hayes says he was fired by a younger boss who believed young people at the agency “got it” when it came to new media in a way that older staffers did not. In addition, Hayes claims, his former boss viewed “age and experience as a hindrance, rather than a benefit.”

The two sides seem ready to go public with the private concerns of a generation of industry execs fearing displacement at a time they should be in their peak earning years.

Valid or not, the contentions of Hayes -- a former evp, client services let go at age 53 -- ring true for a large number of other executives on the street who are arguing their relevance.

Even within the youth-obsessive traditions of the ad industry, there’s a new sense of gloom about the career prospects for mid- to upper-level employees.

Creative executives, who have obviously always felt the need to exude a hipness born of cutting-edge culture, now feel it tenfold thanks to the fast pace of digital technologies and emerging delivery channels. Now others are feeling youthful pressures in a media world and larger consumer society informed by technological change. But the issues are more complicated; they’re as much about compensation and changing skill sets as they are about tenure. Factor in the current economic downturn and client budget cuts that create an incentive to lose higher-salaried employees, and it’s no wonder some in the industry see an overt ageism taking hold that could make a new minority: those over 50.

“Baby boomers always say that 40 is the new 30 [and] 50 is the new 40. In advertising, 50 is the new 65. As soon as you hit that barrier, you’re considered old,” says Dorothy Higgins, 54, who is consulting after being laid off earlier this year from one of the industry’s media companies.

That barrier, in fact, may be dipping even lower. Says one of Higgins’ peers: “It’s now starting at 40 or 45. Unless you’ve gotten to a certain stage in your career where you have one of those bullet-proof jobs—where you are extremely key to a client—you’re vulnerable.”

Not to be discounted in all of this is the fact that with “CMOs getting younger, you have a casting issue,” says Nancy McNally, 53, a former top executive at agencies like Ammirati & Puris and clients like American Express.

Industry observer Rick Kurnit, a partner at law firm Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz, agrees that client-casting issues play a role and points out that it cuts two ways. While younger CMOs may relate better to agency staffers in their peer group, he says, older ones look for the agency perspective on new media creative they themselves may lack. There may also be an element of being in the wrong career place at the wrong time. Boomers climbed their careers ranks in a different agency world. Amid new unbundled economic realities, CFOs, demanding that 75 percent of payroll come from client income, can attain cost savings more readily by cutting higher-salaried staffers. The newly empowered client-procurement people look to buy agency hours at cost and young staffers are obviously cheaper. “None of these factors reflect the merits of these [older] people, unfortunately,” Kurnit says.

[Read the full report here.]

5870: Playing Games.

Dolled up with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A federal jury awarded Barbie dollmaker Mattel $100 million in the copyright case against Bratz dollmaker MGA Entertainment. Look for Barbie to buy a few more dream houses and a new ride for Ken.

• Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will hold a hearing next week to decide whether or not to oust Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. While the two are both Democrats, their relationship has reportedly been strained. One political commentator remarked, “She never liked the mayor, and the mayor was lukewarm toward her.” Guess he never returned her emails and IMs.

• Southwest Airlines cut 190 flights due to lower customer travel demands. Maybe the company should produce a TV spot with Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick that asks, “Want to get away?”

5869: Whitewashing The Obamas.

If folks were outraged over L’Oréal’s lightening of Beyoncé, wait until they see the Obama Paper Dolls. Mrs. Obama and the girls almost pale in comparison to the McCains.

5868: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—3.

The first chapter of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers spotlights pioneers like Claude Barnett, William B. Ziff and John H. Johnson. Chambers shows how media leaders in publishing and radio helped define the Black consumer market and the ways to connect with the audience. It’s a tight, insightful perspective that’s probably unprecedented in its thoroughness—and should definitely be read.

Rather than play spoiler by regurgitating the details (buy the book and check it out yourself), MultiCultClassics will offer a few tangential observations.

Even as far back as the early 1900s, professionals have been forced to make a case for targeting minority audiences. The arguments require presenting facts and figures to justify the marketing budget investment—as well as dispel the misconceptions and negative stereotypes. Indeed, the stereotype-busters have almost become stereotypical. The group has $megazillion of purchasing power. The group is not monolithic. The group has middle-class segments. The group is educated. The group has strong American values. The group is brand loyal. The group is not comprised of fill-in-the-color-skinned White people. Embracing the group will not adversely affect the brand’s relationship with Whites. The overall practice continues today, distinguishing minority advertising agencies from general market counterparts. The predominately White agencies pitch accounts by displaying concepts, credentials and capabilities. The minority shops must always begin by convincing prospective clients that an audience actually exists. And the proof must be delivered again and again, sometimes with every new assignment.

Last year, Starcom MediaVest Group unveiled its self-proclaimed breakthrough study of Blacks titled Beyond Demographics. Yet anyone familiar with the audience recognizes Beyond Demographics barely goes beyond the obvious. In February, the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies announced its landmark study on Latino Cultural Identity. Regardless of the true worth of all the research reports, it’s amazing to witness the need to repeatedly school clueless corporate types.

The Democratic National Convention attendees will soon salute Barack Obama as the party’s official presidential candidate. The event marks a milestone in America’s progress with equality, and some wide-eyed idealists believe it signals the end of cultural divisions.

Meanwhile, on Madison Avenue, people still express shock and awe that minorities are members of society.

This is the fourth installment of MultiCultClassics’ running review of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. See the previous posts here, here and here.

5867: A Room Of Their Own.

Home Depot decorates Black spaces with African touches above and Latino spaces with colors of your land below.

5866: Damn, NAMAD.

NAMAD almost makes Mad Ave look like the United Nations. And the ad looks like no Mad Men or Women were involved.

5865: Creative Circle Opportunity Is An Oxymoron.

Here’s another gem from Creative Circle, filled with code and contradiction. A big ideas thinker—for promotions. Working with a team full of creative talent—without much supervision (i.e., you’ll work alone, on your own). Work under a Creative Director that came to us from a major worldwide agency in London—who will undoubtedly push irrelevant concepts while whining Americans simply “don’t get it.” Of course, the agency will pay for relocation—but won’t offer money to send you back home when it turns out to be a bust.

Copywriter-ATLANTA—Opportunity from Creative Circle

Estimated Duration: Possible Fulltime
Starts: ASAP
Rate: DOE

Job Description:
Are you a big ideas thinker? Are you strategic and someone that understands promotion?

Would you be interested in working on a GLOBAL campaign for a Fortune 500 client?

Are you interested in working with a team full of creative talent that pushes for award-winning work?

This is a rare opportunity for PAID relocation to Atlanta to work under a Creative Director that came to us from a major worldwide agency in London.

In this role, you will be responsible for the conceptual development and verbal expression of creative concepts on assigned brands and individual projects without much supervision. You must provide writing support and expertise in a wide variety of executional media such as write-ups of creative concepts, campaigns for presentations, headlines and body copy for POS, print advertising, OOH, interactive media, etc.

You will also be involved with promo, concepts, scripts and production of television and radio advertising, training and sales videos, etc.

Client will pay for relocation costs!

5864: New School Idea For Old School Issue.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Radical idea: Open the doors of affluent suburban schools to Chicago students

By Richard D. Kahlenberg

Sen. James Meeks’ (D-Chicago) proposed student boycott of Chicago public schools next month has sparked furious controversy. Should students miss their first day of class for the worthy goal of promoting equity in public school spending? Leaders such as Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools Chief Arne Duncan are worried about the disruption involved as Meeks seeks to enroll Chicago students at New Trier High School in Winnetka.

Missing from the discussion is a bigger point: The main reason New Trier’s students achieve and graduate at much higher levels isn’t per-pupil expenditure; it’s differences in the socioeconomic status of the student bodies in Chicago and New Trier.

Decades of research have found that the biggest determinant of academic achievement is the socioeconomic status of the family a child comes from and the second biggest determinant is the socioeconomic status of the school she attends. The main problem with Chicago schools isn’t that too little is spent on students but that the school district has overwhelming concentrations of poverty.

In the 2005-06 school year, Chicago public schools spent $10,409 per pupil, much less than New Trier ($16,856), but slightly more than several high-performing suburban school districts, including ones in Naperville ($9,881) and Geneva ($9,807). The key difference is that while 84.9 percent of Chicago students come from low-income homes, New Trier has a low-income population of 1.9 percent, Naperville has 5 percent and Geneva 2.4percent.

What Chicago students need even more than higher per capita spending is what New Trier, Naperville and Geneva schools provide: middle-class environments. It’s an advantage to have peers who are academically engaged and expect to go to college; parents who actively volunteer in the classroom and hold school officials accountable; and highly qualified teachers who have high expectations. On average, all these ingredients to good schools are far more likely to be found in middle-class than poor schools.

Low-income students in the 4th grade who are given a chance to attend more affluent schools are two years ahead in math of low-income students in high- poverty schools, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Indeed, low-income students in affluent schools outperform middle-class students in high-poverty schools. More important, research has long found that while black students don’t do better sitting next to whites per se, low-income students of all races do better in middle-class environments.

What is to be done? To provide genuine equality of educational opportunity, Sen. Meeks shouldn’t be seeking merely equal funding—a 21st Century version of “separate but equal.” Instead, a reasonable number of low-income students in failing Chicago schools should be given the opportunity to attend high-performing schools in Chicago’s affluent suburbs.

This may sound like a radical idea, but long-standing interdistrict public school choice programs exist in several metropolitan areas—including Boston, St. Louis, Hartford, Conn., Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Rochester, N.Y., and Indianapolis. Typically, low-income students who transfer into these programs achieve at high levels and are more likely to graduate and go on to college.

Even Chicago has experienced successful urban-suburban integration through the historic, court-ordered Gautreaux housing programs, which gave low-income minority families a chance to live in the suburbs. Gautreaux students rose to the occasion and performed significantly better when given the chance to attend good middle-class schools. Meeks would do well to push for a new school-based version of Gautreaux allowing low-income Chicago students a chance to attend good middle-class suburban schools. Overwhelming evidence suggests that equal spending just isn't enough.

Richard D. Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, is the author of “All Together Now: Creating Middle-Class Schools through Public School Choice.”

5863: Playing The Race Card Games.

Dodge drives the same concept for Latinos above and Blacks below.

5862: Sterling Pooper.

Are the creative forces behind AMC series Mad Men taking summer hours? There was not a single decent idea in the latest episode.

5861: Is That A Hot Pocket In Your Pocket…?

A pocket-sized MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Hot Pockets has recalled 216,000 pounds of product after learning the food stuff might contain small pieces of red plastic and other foreign material. If only Hot Pockets would get rid of the foreign Master in its advertising campaign.

• Telecommunications company Embarq announced plans to cut 500 to 700 jobs. Most of the firings will take place in the Network Services organization, which is responsible for installing and maintaining the company’s network. So customers can look forward to more dropped service people and dropped calls.

5860: Copying Cultural Computer Files.

Walmart runs identical programs for Latinos and Blacks.

5859: Translating Steve Stoute.

From Adweek.com…

Profile: Steve Stoute
Helping the beat go on for brands

By Eleftheria Parpis

NEW YORK Steve Stoute, the 38-year-old CCO of Translation Consultation & Brand Imaging, launched in 2004, has been building brands since he was barely out of high school. But the former record executive -- who once managed artists such as Mary J. Blige and Nas -- still considers himself an advertising neophyte.

“I really am a novice,” says Stoute, who despite his modest characterization has built a lucrative career connecting brands to the much sought-after hip-hop-inspired youth market. In fact, he’s being honored by the American Advertising Federation in November with an induction into the organization’s Advertising Hall of Achievement.

“It’s something that took me by surprise,” says Stoute of the honor. It shouldn’t have. Stoute, who earlier this year launched Translation Advertising with Jay-Z -- as a division of Translation Consultation & Brand Imaging -- has leveraged the increasingly smitten relationship between Madison Avenue and the entertainment business into a lucrative career. His matchmaking efforts over the years have paired Jay-Z with Reebok, Justin Timberlake with McDonald’s and Gwen Stefani with Hewlett-Packard.

Most recently, Stoute paired Wrigley’s with artists including Chris Brown to help rebrand its chewing gum products. He commissioned the singer to revamp the brand’s classic Doublemint jingle, which was released first as a four-minute single, “Forever.” (The blogsphere subsequently lit up with fans angry they hadn’t been told about the Wrigley’s connection.) Wrigley’s new campaign also includes revamped jingles for Big Red by Ne-Yo and for Juicy Fruit by Dancing With the Stars contestant and country singer Julianne Hough.

Brown’s “Forever” was recently nominated for MTV Video Music Awards’ Music Video of the Year. “It’s incredible that an artist was nominated for a Video of the Year with a Wrigley’s jingle,” says Stoute.

With no formal business training, Stoute relies on instinct. He says he developed his insight into consumer behavior by watching people window-shop. “I’ve always paid attention to what people pick up and put down,” says Stoute, whose client roster includes State Farm, Samsung and General Motors.

[Read the full story here.]

5858: Can You Segregate Me Now? Good.

Verizon plays the same ad tune to Latinos above and Blacks below.


New Addition: Verizon spins another version for female publications.

5857: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—2.

Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers is a serious chronicle of Blacks in the U.S. advertising industry. How serious? Well, the book’s introduction alone runs a whopping 19 pages in length.

Chambers does a thorough job of setting the table, presenting contemporary anecdotes, referencing scholars like Marilyn Kern-Foxworth and Anthony Cortese, detailing early pioneering efforts and more.

The author also makes straightforward, provocative observations like, “Yes, advertisements are entertaining and their creators design them to grab and keep our attention, but their first job is to persuade us to take an action, to buy a product. But because of the ubiquity of advertisements, we sometimes fail to recognize the role advertisements have in persuading us about things beyond the particular product or idea they sell.”

As previously stated, this book is not an easy read—at least for those of us accustomed to zipping through slim perspectives by authors like Seth Godin and Ken Blanchard. Chambers has painstakingly compiled a ton of facts and data covering roughly 100 years of history. The introduction probably contains more information and about Blacks in advertising than the average adperson—especially the average White adperson—currently comprehends.

As diversity continues to be an issue on Madison Avenue, commanding a working knowledge of the situation becomes imperative. For that reason, all agency leaders—regardless of your race or ethnicity—need to check out this book and gain enlightenment. You should minimally pick up a copy and peruse the 19-page introduction (remember, it’s probably shelved in your local bookstore’s African-American Studies section).

Or if you’re a really lazy cheapskate, the publisher has posted the introduction online.

This is the third installment of MultiCultClassics’ running review of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. See the previous posts here and here.

5856: Obesity And Diversity.

Next Stop—Obesity High! And what’s with the ultra-diverse student body? The only kids missing are Harold and Kumar.

5855: All Minority Recruitment Ads Look Alike.

ConEd plugs the same idea to recruit Blacks above and Latinos below.

5854: Going For The Gold—And Golden Arches.

Sunday Morning News in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team won gold medals by beating Spain 118-107. No word how the team from Spain—who sparked controversy with their slit-eyed tribute—will salute the U.S. champs.

• Alabama is going after fat state workers, mandating they must get fit within a year or else they’ll be charged $25 per month for health insurance that’s currently free. No word if the workers will be permitted to pay the amount with McDonald’s gift certificates.

• Madonna’s latest tour features a video presenting John McCain alongside images of Hitler. Not sure how many homes or bunkers Hitler owned.

5853: Running In The Wrong Direction.

Did anyone else initially think this headline was saying African Americans keep the hotel business running—as maids, janitors, bellhops, doormen, kitchen help, etc.?

5852: WPProfits.

From AdAge.com, WPP reported revenue gains. That’s pretty amazing news, given that the holding company’s major U.S. agencies seemingly suck on so many levels. WPP also bragged about its increasingly diverse business mix. Not to be confused with its increasingly non-diverse business staff—despite running the stellar JWT diversity recruitment ad depicted below.

WPP Posts Profit, Revenue Gains
Group Reports Jumps of About 15% as Holding Companies Continue to Perform

By Rupal Parekh

NEW YORK -- Despite a looming recession, holding companies are continuing to stand financially strong, with WPP Group today posting a 15% boost in profit to $387 million for the first half of 2008.

Revenue at the world’s second-largest marketing organization leapt 14% to $6.2 billion, as the fast-growing markets of Asia Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East saw revenue increase more than 17% in the first six months of the year. Growth in the U.S. and the U.K. was much slower, with revenue in the first half up between 5% and 6%.

The London-based parent of agency networks including Ogilvy & Mather and JWT attributed its performance to strategic investments in international markets and diversification of marketing disciplines -- much like its competitors Omnicom Group, Publicis Groupe and Interpublic Group of Cos.

String of acquisitions
An uber-acquisitive player, WPP has made a string of acquisitions in high-growth countries such as the Ukraine, Netherlands, Chile, Malaysia, China and India this year. It also earlier this month made a $2.28 billion hostile-takeover bid for market-research firm Taylor Nelson Sofres in an effort to create the second-largest company of its kind after Nielsen.

The company also noted its increasingly diverse business mix. Direct and digitally related activities now account for 25% of WPP’s total revenue, according to the company, while almost 55% of its revenue came from outside advertising and media investment management in the first half of 2008, compared with more than 53% last year.

Additionally, WPP estimated it has netted more than $2.5 billion worth of new-business billings via assignments for existing and new clients.

Continued growth
The company, as part of its earnings statement, predicted that the back half of 2008 should ensure continued growth due to marketer spending around the Beijing Olympics and U.S. presidential election, but in the wake of those events, prospects for the ad business are less certain.

WPP remained conservative about performance looking ahead, particularly in early 2009, though the financial markets could rebound thereafter and 2010 could be more promising, given events such as the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.

5851: Job Hunt Going To The Dogs?

Are you struggling on the employment scene? This actual job listing offers an alternative income source—your pet. Wonder if this industry has diversity issues too. There don’t seem to be a lot of Black dogs getting opportunities.

PET MODELING

Would you like to break your pet into the modeling and entertainment industry? Glamour Model Talent, Inc. is the licensed talent agency to help get your pet started. We need pet talent for TV, commercials, movie extras, stunt work, print advertising. All kinds of animals and breeds. Training or prior experience is not required. Your pet can be our next star! Top pay! Call for an appointment. We interview new pet clients on Sundays 10:00am till 5:30pm.

5850: Back-To-Fool Advertising.

Don’t be tardy. But don’t let obsessive promptness make you send kids to school in their underwear.

5849: Playing The Culture Cards.

The very best MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Hallmark is releasing a line of gay marriage cards. “It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can,” said a Hallmark spokeswoman. Look for lots of usage of rainbow colors and the words pride and fabulous. Wonder if Hallmark will tap its Peanuts relationship and also integrate Peppermint Patty.

• The Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon has adopted a law recognizing same-sex marriage. Tribal law experts believe the Coquille will be the first tribe to sanction such unions. Hallmark is probably creating a special card right now.

• Candy seller Mars plans to raise its prices in October. Wonder if Snickers bars will cost extra for GLBT consumers.

• Seems 50 Cent wound up talking with investigators after all regarding the fire that destroyed his Long Island home. However, no one’s talking about the details of the conversation. Maybe Hallmark can create a line of cards for… ah, never mind.

5848: Fresh-Baked Bullshit.

Saw this bullshit ad seeking to position Hostess muffins as alternatives to actual baked goods. If it’s possible for mass-produced snacks to have delusions of grandeur, Hostess takes the cake. Did a Google search to ascertain the nutritional values, and wound up finding something even more outrageous—a consumer review at Epinions.com. Check it out and see if you don’t agree this critic is about as real as, well, Hostess muffins. From declaring the crap is “Almost like it came from the bakery!” to incorporating the obvious target insights of craving snacks at the office, this first-person perspective is pure fiction. Did the legal department mandate the inclusion of all the chemical ingredients?

Fresh Muffins from the Vending Machine?

Product Rating: 5.0
Pros: Soft and moist, not too sweet
Cons: Not enough!

The Bottom Line: Almost like it came from the bakery! Very surprising…

nad_masters’s Full Review: Hostess Mini Muffins — Chocolate Chip 9.6oz

Sitting around the desk simply makes you want to snack sometimes. I know, I know… that’s not a good thing. However, there are times where that weakness leads me to the lunch room’s vending machine.

I’ve noticed one of my co-workers keep getting the same Hostess Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins, so I decided to check it out.

Package
The small baggie that comes from the vending machine have about 5 small muffins. I rarely ever count, but they do run out just when I’m about ready to have enough. Today, I went ahead and bought another bag and was able to verify that it does indeed have 5 mini muffins. The net weight on the bag is 2 oz (57g), though I think it would also be more effective to say it comes with 5 of them.

The bag itself has the Hostess red, white, and blue company colors on it, along with a picture of the mini muffins popping or exploding, or otherwise, moving really fast towards you. I don’t know why — are they suppose to be extreme muffins?

Ingredients
Sugar, enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, barley malt, reduced iron, “B” vitamins (niacin, thiamine mononitrate (B1), riboflaven (B2), folic acid)), soybean oil, semi-sweet chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, dextrose, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanillin), whole eggs, water, corn syrup, egg whites

Contains 2% or less of: sweet dairy whey, salt, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat gluten, nonfat milk, sorbitan monostearate, xanthan gum, calcium acetate, guar gum, lecithin. Contains wheat, egg, milk, and soybeans.

Most of the ingredients sound like something you’d use when you’re baking this at home. They get into the ingredients that makes the enriched bleached wheat flour as well as the chocolate chips, which is impressive. The rest of the stuff listed in the 2% or less category sounds down-right scary, though. They are probably preservatives.

Taste
The bag I bought today (Feb 20) have an expiration date of Feb 22. I’m not sure how long they were in the machine, but they are still pretty soft and moist. I haven’t microwaved them yet, but on the bag, it has instructions on doing so if you like it warm. It suggests you microwaving on high for 10 to 15 seconds.

I like these muffins because of the chocolate chips. The soft and moist cake melts away and you are left with the harder chocolate chips. This combination is really nice, and I like it this way. This is the reason why I didn’t care to try it warm, as the chocolate chips would be too soft.

Each muffin is a little bigger than a mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. They are bite-sized in which you can stuff the whole thing in your mouth. I still rather bite into it.

Surprisingly, the muffins taste isn’t as sweet as their other cakes with bad reputations (Ho Hos, Swiss, Twinkies, Suzie-Qs, etc). It actually taste almost as good as the home-made muffins from Costco (yes, they actually make their own in-house!).

Conclusion
These are a great snack at the desk or at home in front of the TV. They are actually moist and soft, and are very tasty. The chocolate chips give the soft cake the much needed texture to offset the softness.

Overall, they are good, but not quite sure they are good for you (in the long run). Best to not over indulge!

Recommended: Yes

5847: Fat Facts And Faces.

Facing the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Burger King’s fiscal 4Q profits soared 42 percent. Bet the obesity epidemic soared even higher.

• A new study of hockey players showed men with wide faces are more aggressive. “One great thing about hockey is that you’re able to display aggressive behavior in an acceptable manner. You don’t have to go to prison or whatnot for striking someone with an elbow. It makes a good setting to look at aggression,” said one researcher. Um, this guy needs to do more research. Another researcher remarked, “We were astounded to see that this relatively simple measurement in the face predicted how aggressive men were in a lab-based computer game, and then equally astounded to see that the same measure could predict aggressive behavior in a real-world setting, that of sports.” Wonder how the results work out in a real-world setting like Burger King. Might explain the reactions in the recent Freakout campaign.

• 50 Cent reportedly refuses to talk to investigators about the May 30 fire that destroyed his Long Island home where his ex-girlfriend and son lived. Blame the stonewalling on his wide face.

5846: School Daze.

From The Chicago Sun-Times

‘separate and unequal’

FLAWED SYSTEM | Lawsuit claims property-tax system of funding education in Illinois violates civil rights of black, Latino kids

By Maudlyne Ihejirika

The State of Illinois’ school funding system violates the civil rights of its black and Latino children and should be declared unconstitutional, a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Chicago Urban League contends.

“We have an educational system that discriminates against minority children, and those who should be held responsible for overseeing this are doing nothing about it,” Urban League chief Cheryle Jackson said at a news conference, surrounded by civil rights leaders and lawmakers.

The suit by the Chicago group and the Quad County Urban League, which serves minorities in DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will counties, comes in the wake of protests and calls for a boycott of the Chicago Public Schools over the achievement and graduation gaps plaguing minority students.

Many, including the Rev. James Meeks, who is also a state senator, blame those gaps on the property tax-based school funding system. Meeks’ call for a boycott sets the stage for the landmark suit. The lawsuit marks the first use of civil rights law in the decades-old school-funding battle. Schools in poorer areas, such as Chicago’s inner city, have long suffered from inadequate funding.

“We cannot allow the current flawed system to continue,” Jackson said. “We cannot allow another minority child to begin a school year knowing they will not be given the same opportunity to learn as compared to white students in well-financed schools in Illinois.”

The 39-page suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court is being handled pro bono by legal powerhouse Jenner & Block. The lawsuit claims that under the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, the current system “disparately impacts” racial and ethnic minority students.

[Read the full story here.]

5845: Newport’s Pleasurable Rebuttal.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Defending the marketing of menthol cigarettes

Your story “Blacks seen as targets of menthol; Exemption for additive troubles many critics” [See here.] mischaracterizes the facts regarding the marketing of menthol cigarettes. It is but one more example of a coordinated effort by paternalistic moralists through the media who neither know the facts or the science about menthol in cigarettes nor care to learn them.

This campaign is seeking to take away a smoker’s choice to smoke menthol cigarettes, or to smoke at all. It is a blatant effort to impose a politically correct agenda on the American public with the unfortunate assistance of the media.

The Chicago Tribune article leads the public to believe that tobacco industry marketing practices target African-Americans differently from the targeting by other consumer product manufacturers. The article uses race as the emotional lure to turn the public against those companies that have the audacity to market their products to those who want to use them.

We know that the marketing of cigarettes at all is an anathema to those who want to end smoking, but to characterize the marketing methods of our company as “designed specifically to lure young blacks into a lifetime of tobacco use” is slanderous. Moreover, it is particularly offensive since the reporter never contacted us in an effort to understand our marketing practices.

The truth is that Lorillard markets its Newport brand cigarettes to adult smokers of all ethnicities. The truth is that our marketing is not disproportionately directed to African-Americans. The truth is that we do not target underage smokers. The truth is that there are twice as many Caucasian menthol cigarette smokers as there are African-American menthol cigarette smokers. I challenge those who want to prove otherwise to come forward with evidence to support their charges.

Our consumers have the right and ability to choose to smoke and to select their brand of preference. Suggesting that certain ethnic groups are more impressionable than others is insulting to our consumers and wrongly suggests that some are incapable of making individual choices.

Martin L. Orlowsky
Chairman, president and
Chief executive officer
Lorillard Tobacco Co.
Greensboro, N.C.

5844: Scary Imitation Phone And Commercials.

For its new Instinct phone, Sprint released commercials with horror movie imagery. Sort of like the Verizon Wireless campaign with horror movie imagery. Except a lot less creative and interesting. Sprint’s shit isn’t horror—just a horrible rip-off. Ditto its Instinct phone.

5843: Corporal And Cultural Punishment.

Delivering a spanking in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A new study showed minority kids receive more paddlings and spankings in school. Black and Native American children get the most whuppings. Other findings included: In states where paddlings happen most, Black girls were paddled over twice as often as White girls; Boys are three times more likely to be beaten versus girls and; Special education kids were more likely to be paddled. Which means, ironically, that Spanky got fewer spankings than Buckwheat.

• Add Argentina’s Olympic Women’s soccer team to the squads making slit-eyed gestures. Perhaps it’s the start of a new Olympic event. Or maybe some idiots just need a good whupping.

5842: Mission Statement Impossible.

Creative Circle presents another same-day assignment. Your mission—should you choose to accept it—demands crafting corporate mission statements for a strategic communication agency. Wow. It’s now possible to create a company’s vision while you wait. Your business is sure to self-destruct with such quality execution.

Position: TODAY—Branding Copywriter—corporate mission and positioning statement writing
Location: Northern Suburbs
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: 2 days
Starts: TODAY—8/20/08
Rate: DOE

Job Description:
Our Client is a strategic communications agency who works with corporations to determine their ideal mission and positioning on the upfront prior to engaging in creative and tactical execution.

If you are a senior copywriter who has experience (and samples) of your corporate mission and positioning statement writing and have availability over the course of the next 2 days—please send your interest and relevant samples!

Ideally, you could go to Wilmette today to brief on the project—but if you have the relevant experience and can only work from home—please still apply and indicate.

5841: Political Diversity On Board.

From USA TODAY…

Board diversity expands political spectrum

By Del Jones, USA TODAY

At Marriott International, Chairman Bill Marriott has not only contributed the maximum $4,600 to Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign, he’s also an active McCain “bundler,” who has raised between $100,000 and $250,000 from others.

At the table at Marriott board meetings is director Debra Lee, chairwoman of BET Holdings, parent company of Black Entertainment Television. Lee not only has given the maximum to Democrat Barack Obama, but is a bundler for his camp and has raised nearly $100,000. The Marriott board is a conglomerate of political givers: four other directors to Obama and/or Hillary Clinton, three others to McCain and/or Mitt Romney.

For 20 years, large companies have recruited directors of color to their boards, and by doing so, they have installed into the corporate system an unforeseen byproduct: political diversity. Among the 200 largest Standard & Poor’s 500 companies, 78% have at least one African-American director, says executive search firm Spencer Stuart. Executive search firm Korn/Ferry International says that 78% of Fortune 1000 companies have a director who is a minority, up from 47% in 1995.

And while Obama has substantial support among white business leaders, too, the outcome of efforts at Marriott and elsewhere to diversify the board has meant that at most quarterly meetings, staunch Obama supporters sit congenially, but eye to eye, with those staunchly supporting McCain.

There are strange political boardfellows at Commonwealth Edison, The Gap, General Electric, McDonald’s, Time Warner and Wal-Mart, among others. Even Halliburton, where Dick Cheney was chairman before becoming George Bush’s running mate eight years ago, has on its board two Obama contributors, including Milton Carroll, African-American chairman of CenterPoint Energy.

Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew Liveris, an Australian citizen who can’t vote here, has contributed to McCain and Romney. Dow Chemical director James Bell, an African-American chief financial officer at Boeing, has contributed to Obama. At General Mills, white Chairman Kendall Powell is a McCain contributor. African-American director Dorothy Terrell, an accomplished technology executive, is an Obama bundler who has raised between $50,000 and $100,000.

Nationwide, about 90% of African Americans say they will vote for Obama, vs. 3% for McCain, according to the latest polling by Gallup. African-American directors appear almost as solid in their support, USA TODAY research finds. There are 191 African Americans on the boards of the largest 250 companies, according to Black Enterprise.

[Read the full story here.]

5840: Opportunistic Bastard.

OK, everybody hates Mr. Opportunity. Now he reveals, “Value is my middle name.” But what’s his first name? Feel free to submit your guesses.

5839: Spy Vs. Lie.

Spying the news with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• British spy agency M15 is actively recruiting gays and lesbians after years of shunning them. “Until a decade ago, gay people were seen as a security threat, and as recently as two decades ago, they were being witch hunted and sacked from the security services,” said a gay rights activist. “It was part of the Cold War mentality that saw security threats, traitors, and spies everywhere. Gay people were regarded as vulnerable to blackmail, even if they were open and out about their sexuality.” The first assignment for gay agents: assassinate the Snickers-shooting Mr. T.

• A judge ruled the Detroit City Council does not have the authority to proceed with its plans to oust Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Kilpatrick’s lawyers had argued the city charter permitted forfeiture only if the mayor lacked qualifications or was convicted of a felony. So the City Council still has some hope.

5838: Overreaction Of The Week.

OK, on the one hand, any effort to bring diversity to Madison Avenue is commendable. Actually mandatory, if you’re with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights. GeneratioNext is taking place September 22, 2008. Sponsors include BBH, whose black sheep logo is accompanied by a statement claiming, “The company looks to hire the black sheep of the industry.” Not sure if the company looks to hire Black people too. Another sponsor is Merkley + Partners, the agency who signed a pact with the Commission yet managed to hire zero minorities in the first year of trying. Which sorta makes them the black sheep of diversity-committed agencies.

5837: A Stupid Snapshot From Mad Men.

The latest installment of AMC Series Mad Men presented one silly moment between Don Draper’s daughter and copywriter Paul Kinsey, who has been seeing a Black woman. Draper was forced to bring his daughter to work during a weekend pitch preparation, and the girl wound up spending time in Kinsey’s office. Spotting a framed photo of Kinsey’s girlfriend on his desk, the daughter asked, “Is this your maid?” Upon learning he was dating the woman, Draper’s daughter proceeded to press Kinsey with precocious sex-related questions. OK, she’s smart enough to ask about intimate details, but stupid enough to think someone might frame and display a photo of their maid? Whatever.

5836: Mad Ave Desperately Seeking Whites…?

The 3 Minute Ad Age video spotlights executives at the Ad Age Women to Watch luncheon. American Association of Advertising Agencies President-CEO Nancy Hill declares the single biggest problem affecting the U.S. advertising industry involves recruiting and retaining talent. You know things have gotten bad when ad agencies can’t even attract White folks.

5835: Hadji Williams Goes Missing In Two Places.

Hadji Williams discusses his “We Want Our Children Back, Too” campaign at Open Salon and Racialicious. Don’t go missing—check it all out.

5834: People for the Ethical Treatment of Aflac…?

When did PETA recruit the Aflac duck?

5833: Breaking New Records And Barriers.

A women’s and girl’s movement in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Cartoon above by Nick Anderson from the Houston Chronicle.

• Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi were married yesterday at their home in Beverly Hills. No word if Barack Obama danced with the bride.

• Venus and Serena Williams won their second career Olympic doubles title via a 6-2, 6-0 victory over the team from Spain. No word how the Spain team responded.

5832: Harper’s Bazaar Is Bizarro.

Is Harper’s Bazaar mimicking Italian Vogue? Tyra’s on the front cover and Naomi’s on the back. Plus, there are Black women in the editorial.


There are Black women in the advertising.


There’s a Black woman in an 8-page fashion spread.


And Tyra plays the First Lady!






Granted, the other 560+ pages feature wall-to-wall White women. But hey, it’s a start.

5831: 2Xtremely Weird.

MultiCultClassics will probably go straight to hell for saying this, but it looks like the ad’s head and body were combined from different sources via Photoshop.

5830: There’s Enough Evidence To Prove Idiocy.

From The Associated Press, the latest Detroit drama.

Judge rules there’s enough evidence for Detroit mayor to stand trial on assault charges

By Ed White | Associated Press Writer

DETROIT — A judge ruled Friday that there’s enough evidence for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to stand trial on two felony assault charges stemming from a confrontation with two investigators.

The investigators testified that an angry Kilpatrick shoved one of them into the other and made racial remarks while they were trying to deliver a subpoena in the mayor’s perjury case to one of Kilpatrick’s friends last month.

District Judge Ronald Giles said there was no question Kilpatrick knew Wayne County sheriff’s Detective Brian White and county prosecutor’s investigator JoAnn Kinney were at the home where the confrontation took place on official business.

“It’s clear Kilpatrick knew who Detective White was. He had previous contact with him through his other case. He specifically called him by name in this case,” said Giles, who ordered Kilpatrick jailed for a night last week for violating bond in his perjury case.

White testified that the mayor shoved him into Kinney when he was trying to deliver the subpoena. He and Kinney also testified that Kilpatrick used profanity and made a racial remark during the confrontation.

“You’re a black woman,” Kinney said the mayor told her. “You should be ashamed of yourself being with a man with the last name White. You should not be a part of this.”

The mayor and Kinney are black. White is white.

Kilpatrick’s attorneys have denied an assault took place.

During the hearing, they played a taped conversation between White and a police dispatcher recorded just after the alleged assault in which White asks the dispatcher to “change the header to assault on a police officer — and fondling.”

Asked to explain the remark, White told the court: “This was very stressful to me personally. I was under a lot of stress. My way of alleviating stress is to make light of things.”

Defense attorney Jim Thomas said after the hearing that he would peck away at inconsistencies between the testimony of White and Kinney when the case goes to trial. He called the investigators’ visit to the house a setup.

Kilpatrick remains free on bond ahead of arraignment next week in Wayne County Circuit Court. He must continue to wear an electronic ankle tether.

The mayor and his former top aide, Christine Beatty, were charged in March with conspiracy, perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, mostly tied to their testimony in a civil trial.

Sexually explicit text messages between the pair, published by the Detroit Free Press in January, contradict their denial of an affair, a key point in the trial last year involving a former deputy police chief.

5829: Going Green By Displacing Blacks…?

Looks like Constellation Energy is putting minorities out to pasture.

5828: Green Gig, Green Not Guaranteed.

Creative Circle presents yet another dubious job offering. If you have “green” writing samples, this gig is for you. But given that the day rate is not listed or even estimated, don’t expect to collect any green.

Position: Freelance Writer-SUSTAINABILITY and GREEN Initiatives
Location: Downtown Chicago
Duration: Week of 8/18; 6 Weeks in Duration
Rate: Depends on Experience

Job Description:

Are you a writer passionate about sustainability? If so, this is the project for you. Our client is looking for a copywriter to work with their team.

You will be writing for a project that focuses on corporate sustainability and green initiatives. If you have relevant experience, please respond now with your “green” writing samples specific to sustainability.

This starts the week of Aug. 18th so please send samples right away! Thanks!

5827: The Cartoon Lady Doth Protest Too Much.

Complaining about the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Protestors wearing character costumes were arrested at Disneyland. The group was protesting Disney’s treatment of hotel workers, arguing for the health care benefits of 2,300 maids, bellhops, cooks and dishwashers. “Disneyland is being unfair with us because we’re fighting for our health care and they’re trying to take it away,” said one participant. “They’re trying to cut our hours and take away our seniority.” The protestors better hope the Disney negotiators don’t include all the evil queens and stepmothers.

• Now Jerry Lewis claims the gun cops found in his luggage at the Las Vegas airport last month was just a gift presented to him after the last Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon. Gee, and you thought Jerry’s Kids preferred receiving cash donations.

• Jackson Browne is suing John McCain for using his song, “Running On Empty,” without permission. McCain’s campaign created a commercial criticizing rival Barack Obama, and the tune was playing in the background. Browne joins ABBA and John Mellencamp, who also had to tell McCain to stop using their work in his campaigns. Maybe they can team up to create a music video blasting the Arizona senator.

• J.C. Penney 2Q profits dropped 36 percent. Walmart 2Q profits rose 17 percent. Limited Too has a limited time remaining in the U.S. market, as the retailer’s parent company plans to convert about 600 stores to its lower-priced Justice brand. That’s Too bad. Or maybe it’s Justice. Sorry, there are only Limited gags to milk from these news items.

5826: Dropped The Ball On Dropped Calls.

A USA TODAY story detailing the worldwide problems iPhone customers are experiencing with dropped calls appears alongside an ad for exclusive iPhone provider AT&T hyping fewer dropped calls. Looks like the media department dropped the ball.

5825: This Is Your Brainless Campaign On Drugs.

What are they smoking at the Partnership for a Drug-Free America these days?

5824: It’s, Like, Really Lame.

Sorry, don’t like this ad.

5823: See The Dark Knight, Defend The Nation.

It’s somewhat disconcerting to think the people defending our nation were inspired to serve by the opportunity to land a free movie ticket.

5822: Adweek Belatedly Comes Out Of The Closet.

Adweek.com presented a fluff piece on advertising with anti-GLBT imagery. Plus, the news source has also started allowing online comments. The end result is a story that’s about two weeks late with responses that have already been made repeatedly at other sources. Fabulous.

5821: All Black Presidential Candidates Look Alike.

A real brain teaser for the ignorant among us.

5820: Culturally Clueless Copycats.

The Rx Club is calling you out—for entries to its annual awards competition. These phat pharma dudes created a campaign that they probably believe is totally dope (pun intended). Check out a sample of the copy:

It don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got no bling.

Yo, Ad peeps. If your office space could use shiny new bling, then kick it into high gear and show us your goods. The battle is on for a massive stash of gold and silver eye candy, plus a whole heap of excellence.

Unfortunately, the Rx Club is biting the Art Directors Club. Yo, the battle is on. Word.


(Hat tip to homegirl Carmen Van Kerckhove for pointing it all out.)

5819: Party Like It’s 1999 In 2050…?

From USA TODAY, experts predict a more diverse workforce by 2050. Which means Madison Avenue will probably start to consider addressing its diversity issues in about 42 years. Maybe.

Census data projects more diversity at work

By Emily Bazar and Paul Overberg, USA TODAY

The U.S. workforce will become increasingly diverse over the next three decades, a shift that could bring changes in education, training and public policy, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Census data released Thursday.

Racial and ethnic minorities in the USA will become a majority in 2042, but the working-age population — those 18 to 64 — will cross that threshold three years earlier, the projections say. By 2050, minorities will make up 55% of the working-age population. The share of the population that is working-age will drop steadily, from 63% to 57% in 2050.

“Not only are we going to have a relatively small workforce, but also one that’s more diverse,” says William Frey, demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “We need to become very concerned about getting the proper education track for those in the pipeline.”

In 2050, the working-age population will be 30% Hispanic, 12% non-Hispanic black and 8% non-Hispanic Asian. Today, the breakdown is 15% Hispanic, 12% black and 5% Asian.

Mark Mather, who studies U.S. demographic trends at the Population Reference Bureau, a research group, says the greatest concentration of minorities now is in the group younger than 18.

Lawmakers must address the needs of immigrants’ children in particular, he says, because immigrant groups often experience high rates of poverty and work in low-skilled jobs. “The challenge for policymakers is to make sure that, especially for children, they have all the opportunities and resources they need to become productive adults,” he says.

Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, whose analysis of Census data in February reached similar conclusions, says the U.S.-born children and grandchildren of immigrants will account for much of the growth in minorities, and they will be more educated than their parents.

“More and more of the Hispanic population is going to be native in the future,” he says. “These are people who have grown up here, gone to American schools and grown up speaking English.”

Growing workforce diversity must be addressed by employers, says David Grinberg, spokesman for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

“The workplace is a microcosm of society,” he says. “Employers need to be mindful and aware of these changes and implement workplace policies that are non-discriminatory.”

[Read the full story here.]

5818: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—1B.

MultiCultClassics originally picked up a copy of Madison Avenue and the Color Line: African Americans in the Advertising Industry by Jason Chambers back in January, promising to eventually review it. Unfortunately, a crazy schedule prohibited an honest reading of the book.

Well, nearly seven months later, the reading has finally begun. Given the reality that it might take some time to complete the effort, MultiCultClassics has decided to submit a running review, posting critiques and commentary as pages and chapters are covered.

For background, visit the book’s official website. Additionally, Carol Watson offered her thoughts months ago at Advertising Age’s The Big Tent.

As noted back in January, it’s ironic—and sadly outrageous—that many bookstores stock the title in the African American section versus the business section. The irony comes from Chambers’ observations that Blacks have been historically separated/segregated from the mainstream advertising industry. The sadly outrageous part comes from the fact that the book is a hardcore study of the advertising industry. It ranks right alongside contemporaries like Adland by Mark Tungate or classics like The Want Makers by Eric Clark, The Image-Makers by William Meyers and The Mirror Makers by Stephen Fox. Instead, you’ll find Jason Chambers’ work sharing shelves with Veronica Chambers, W.E.B. Du Bois and Michael Eric Dyson. Not shabby company, but arguably the wrong neighborhood—or to be fair, the book should appear in African American and business sections.

The preceding paragraph is critical because it’s important to consider the potential audiences for the book. Given the continuing turmoil surrounding Madison Avenue’s dearth of diversity—including the actions of New York City’s Commission on Human Rights—Chambers’ tome should be required reading for all agency and industry leaders. Especially the White folks, to be clear. The insights featured in the book could go a long way in lessening the confusion and cultural cluelessness so prevalent in our global professional community. This is not to imply White adpeople never peruse the African American sections of the local Borders and Barnes & Noble stores. Rather, the book would hopefully become more top-of-mind, visually accessible and relevant to a broader group in the business section—which is imperative in light of the limited media attention it’s received to date.

In today’s fast-paced world, many of us prefer scanning thin books from Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell or Ken Blanchard. Or we’re accustomed to advertising and marketing books that are semi-instructional ala Luke Sullivan or the published series from Adweek. Like the previously mentioned contemporaries and classics, Madison Avenue and the Color Line is a serious historical piece. You won’t get through it during a New York-to-Chicago flight, unless you graduated summa cum laude from the Evelyn Wood School of Reading Dynamics.

Chambers is an associate professor in the Department of Advertising at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and consults for companies and media outlets. Essentially, he’s an outsider—at least in terms of lacking ad agency experience. One might ordinarily dismiss the author, as outsiders tend to be ignorant on so many levels about our industry.

Yet Chambers brings a fresh viewpoint to the proceedings. He’s curious and not immediately judgmental. Like a great reporter or social anthropologist, he seeks facts, data and respected opinions. Chambers did tremendous research, culling through periodicals, journals, studies, etc. Plus, he interviewed key players and trailblazers. Then he launched comparisons and contrasts to parallel businesses. And he wrapped everything into American history. The book is a deep and thoughtful exploration of a subject traditionally clouded in mystique and misunderstanding.

Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers presents an opportunity for everyone to finally “get it.” Or minimally walk away with a single clue.

This concludes the introductory review overview. The next installment will dig further into the specific content. Stay tuned.

5817: A Bad Marriage.

This ad marries lousy art direction with corny copy.

5816: Dopey Ad.

The leader in detoxification under anesthesia probably can’t attribute the top position to its advertising campaign. And its nearly 70% success rate doesn’t say much for the competition.

5815: Auditioning For Feminine Voices…?

Creative Circle presents another classic job listing, now seeking an Copywriter capable of writing with a Feminine Voice. Um, would a Bea Arthur Feminine Voice suffice?

Position: Advertising Copywriter - Feminine Voice
Location: City of Chicago
Status: Fulltime or Freelance to Fulltime
Estimated Duration: Possible Fulltime
Starts: When right candidate is found
Rate: Up to $30/hr
Salary up to $70K

Job Description:
Our client is a staple in the Chicago ad industry. They’re an established downtown agency with a need for an Copywriter to act as one half of a team.

You should be a strong, conceptual Copywriter with experience touching a variety of traditional advertising mediums and forward thinking for new media (interactive) as well. You should have experience working in a similar team capacity and you must be able to present and defend your work internally and to clients.

Copywriters must be able to write with a feminine voice and have experience working on packaged goods, specifically those targeting a feminine audience are preferred.

5814: Targeting Blacks With Menthol Is Not Kool.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Blacks seen as targets of menthol
Exemption for additive troubles many critics

By Tim Jones | Chicago Tribune correspondent

FLINT, Mich.—Eighty years after a man named Lloyd “Spud” Hughes, as legend has it, accidentally mixed his tobacco with menthol crystals, Congress is fighting over whether to ban these popular flavored cigarettes.

Mentholated cigarettes started out in the 1920s with such names as Spud, Listerine, the Original Eucalyptus Smoke and Snowball. Today they’re sold as Newport, Kool and Marlboro Menthol, the smokes of choice among the black community.

Critics charge they are products designed specifically to lure young blacks into a lifetime of tobacco use.

While a growing number of states and cities, including Chicago, have moved to ban smoking in workplaces, restaurants and entertainment sites, and Congress is weighing a ban on flavored cigarettes, the issue of what, if anything, should be done about menthols has proved complicated for political Washington—and for smokers.

Billy Perry of Chicago said he’s been smoking Newports for 30 years. “It has a better taste and less of the effects of harshness,” Perry said.

But Perry said there is “not a shadow of a doubt that blacks are being targeted” by cigarette marketing campaigns.

For her part, Twaynis Royal, a Newport smoker who is a student at Chicago’s Robert Morris College, said cigarette firms have identified their market and are going after it. Royal, who is 25, said she started smoking Newports as a teenager, because that was what her parents smoked.

“Newport realizes their database is black people and they do the targeting,” Royal said.

‘Dedicated effort’ seen
A ban, though, looks like a political step too far for Congress. The House last month approved a measure that would authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products and to ban flavored additives. Menthol flavoring, however, was exempted in the bill; defenders of that loophole argue it is a necessary concession to get the bill through the Senate.

The bill passed the House last month 326-102, but the menthol exemption was part of the negotiations to get enough votes to pass the bill. Some House members wanted to protect tobacco farmers, and others objected to the government having any role in the regulation of tobacco. One tobacco company, Philip Morris USA, agreed to support the measure, but only with the menthol exemption and other language that would prevent the government from ordering a ban on tobacco products.

Menthol critics point to studies that claim young blacks, who as a group are much more likely than whites to smoke menthols, have been targeted by marketing programs of cigarette manufacturers. Tobacco companies have forcefully denied targeting young people and are lobbying against any ban on menthols, which make up about a quarter of all cigarette sales.

“I think they should be banned,” said Floyd Clack, a former state representative in Michigan and lifelong resident of industrial and majority black Flint, where an estimated 36 percent of adults smoke, according to a 2007 study.

“It’s similar to other things in urban areas—there’s a dedicated effort to sell them to minorities,” Clack said. “Some things just shouldn’t happen.”

[Read the full story here.]

5813: Breaking New Olympic Records For Idiocy.

Despite having already published a few posts on the events in Beijing, MultiCultClassics really isn’t following the Olympics. So this gem initially slipped past. The men’s and women’s basketball teams from Spain appeared in ads for a courier company making slit-eyed gestures. Olympic officials already nixed a 7-year-old girl for not being pretty enough. Wonder how they’ll respond to this childish ugliness. Athletes are tested for doping. Too bad there’s no penalty for being a dope.

5812: Pimp Your Wardrobe.

Matching ride with hottie bathing in the back not included.

5811: Awarding Medals For Stupidity.

• Olympics controversy! It was revealed that a 7-year-old girl scheduled to sing during the opening ceremony was nixed for not being pretty enough—and she was replaced by a lip-synching cutie. “The audience will understand that it’s in the national interest,” explained an Olympics official. Wish they’d apply the same thinking to a few of the athletes. And announcers. Can’t wait to see the Olympics-related Dove commercial that’s surely being executed at this moment.

• Activist groups are organizing boycotts of the movie Tropic Thunder, arguing the film demeans people with intellectual disabilities. The lead character, played by Ben Stiller, is named Simple Jack; plus, the film makes frequent use of the word retard. Which means it will ultimately make stupid money.

• A judge ruled that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick did not violate his bond by visiting his sister over the weekend. The potential issue involved the assault incident that occurred last month, which Kilpatrick’s sister witnessed. An order prohibited Kilpatrick from having any contact with witnesses in the affair, but the judge decided such restrictions did not include the mayor’s family. Kilpatrick is now free from jail, although he’s wearing an electronic tether and can’t travel outside of Michigan. Every day, this scenario seems to grow more ugly and retarded.

5810: Nice Package.

Were the art director and copywriter snickering like schoolboys throughout the production of this ad? The phallic gum is crying for a subhead that reads, “Stick it in your mouth.” Where are the Doublemint Twins when you really need them?

5809: The State Of Recruitment TODAY.

Creative Circle is really starting to look like the employers who hire undocumented immigrants on the spot for daily jobs. Here’s an announcement to fill a position TODAY. CC is hunting for a “Jr. Bilingual Copywriter-Hispanic Market”—which technically should read as a Bilingual Jr. Copywriter, unless the recruitment company is actually seeking someone with junior-level fluency in Spanish. ¡Ay Caramba!

Position: Jr. Bilingual Copywriter-Hispanic Market
Location: Western Suburbs
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: 16 hours
Starts: TODAY, 8/12
Rate: $25-30/hr; DOE

Job Description:
A great freelance opportunity in the WESTERN BURBS. Our client is looking for a Jr. Copywriter to work with their team.

You MUST be bilingual in Spanish. You will be writing a promotion targeted towards the Hispanic market for a big name brand.

This starts TODAY, 8/12 so APPLY NOW!

5808: Keeping Up With The Joneses At Olympics.

From The New York Daily News…

Riding Olympic wave Bronx-born swimmer now champ in Beijing

By Edgar Sandoval and Corky Siemaszko
Daily News Staff Writers

Bronx-born swimmer Cullen Jones didn’t just help power the U.S. relay swim team to Olympic gold — he just may have shattered the stereotype that blacks can’t swim.

Although Jones isn’t the first African-American swimmer to make the Olympic squad (he’s the third), or the first to win a gold medal (he’s the second), he figured in one of the most exciting races in sports history.

And that thriller will be replayed on Olympic highlight reels for generations to come. “I hope this exposure from the race today, a kid can see this and say, ‘Wow, a black swimmer — and he’s got a gold medal,’” Jones, 24, said. “The stigma that black people don’t swim ended today.”

“That’s great,” said Jones’ teammate Michael Phelps, who also romped to victory today in the 200-meter freestyle for his third-straight gold medal of the Games.

As for Jones, the reason he began swimming in the first place is because the water nearly killed him.

Jones was 5 years old and living in Irvington, N.J., when his parents took him to a Pennsylvania water park to cool off. His mother, Debra, didn’t want him to go down a slide in an inner tube because he couldn’t swim.

Jones should have listened to his mother. When the inner tube flipped over, he panicked instead of letting go and then passed out.

It took CPR to bring him back to life. The next week, his mother sent him for swimming lessons at a YMCA in nearby Newark and then the John F. Kennedy Aquatic Center, which is also in Newark. Jones took to the water immediately, but wasn’t a standout at first, his coaches said. “At first he was an average swimmer and he progressed,” said Elliott Bradley. “The more he progressed, the better he got at it. I never thought he would go this far. I’m very proud of him.”

[Read the full story here.]

5807: Say It Ain’t So, Joe.

Surprised the art director didn’t style the model’s fingernails with Coffee-Mate polish.

5806: eXCUSES, eXCUSES.

Love the way this ad blames others for the problem. The excuses should include: I’m a sloth-like lardass.

5805: Mad Men On The Cutting Edge Of Bias.

Not much to say about the latest installment of AMC series Mad Men. Minorities didn’t make an appearance—although it was hard to tell if Black stable workers were present where Betty Draper rides horses. The only blatant cultural jab involved the ridiculing of a client’s obese wife. This type of bias is actually ahead of its time for the show.

5804: Overreaction Of The Week.

This ad appeared in the latest issue of Ebony magazine. Of the four presidents depicted on the specially minted coins, three owned slaves.* What’s next—a commemorative coin featuring Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings? Maybe the U.S. Mint could distribute the coins for free in lieu of reparations.

*John Quincy Adams did not own slaves. Martin Van Buren owned slaves before serving as President, but not during his stay in office.

5803: Urban Expertise In 15 Words Or Less.

This actual job listing from the infamous Creative Circle warrants ridicule. Read it quickly and view the MultiCultClassics response below.

Account Planner + Research-Urban Markets

Position: Account Planner + Research-Urban Markets
Location: City of Chicago
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: Ongoing
Starts: Aug. 20th
Rate: $35-45/hr DOE

Job Description:
A great freelance project with an upbeat agency in the city. Our client is looking for an Account Planner to work with their team.

You must have urban marketing and research experience to be considered. The ideal candidate will have 3-4 years of experience.

This starts on Aug. 20th so apply now with a sentence describing your experience doing research and planning for urban marketing.

OK, for anyone needing a clue, urban marketing is standard code for Black- or minority-targeted marketing—at least in the Chicago advertising community where this message originated. And they’re probably not seeking Latino marketing professionals, since Creative Circle would have stipulated for fluency in Spanish. Regardless, the outrageous part involves the final request: a sentence describing your experience doing research and planning for urban marketing. Does Creative Circle have such little respect for the specialization that they believe any expertise can be summed up in a sentence? You have to wonder what responses might spark interest from the recruitment firm. Here are a few guesses:

I worked at (fill-in-the-Black) agency.

I received an MBA from an HBCU with a UNCF scholarship.

I won an ADCOLOR™ Award.

I organized a gospel choir competition.

I’ve produced at least one commercial featuring a barbershop.

Ditto commercials featuring double dutch.

I’m the hardest-working man in Black advertising.

I invented the Black Inventors ad concept.

I have access to hip-hop artists.

I am a hip-hop artist.

5802: Who’s To Blame For L’Oréal And Beyoncé?

One more quick hit regarding L’Oréal and Beyoncé.

As always, the advertiser is taking the heat while the advertising agency quietly cowers in a corner. It’s difficult to identify the responsible agency via Google. New York’s McCann-Erickson handles the Féria brand in the U.S. If McCann is the culprit in this latest fiasco, well, it would be no surprise. The shop recently watched another client, Verizon Wireless, pull a commercial deemed insensitive by pit bull lovers. Plus, McCann’s as culturally clueless as they come on Madison Avenue.

Again, MultiCultClassics is not convinced Beyoncé was whitewashed. However, it’s quite likely her image was messed up by Whites.

5801: Isaac Hayes (1942-2008).

From MTV.com…

Isaac Hayes, Soul Legend And The Voice Of ‘South Park’ Character Chef, Dead At 65

Singer/songwriter died Sunday afternoon.

By Jem Aswad

Isaac Hayes — a legendary soul singer, songwriter, musician and producer whose career spanned four decades and who achieved unexpected fame later in life as the voice of “South Park” character Chef — died Sunday afternoon (August 10), a spokesperson for the Shelby County, Tennesee, sheriff’s department told WMC-TV in Memphis.

Hayes’ wife found him on the floor near a treadmill inside his home, according to the station’s Web site. Hayes was taken to Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 p.m.

Deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department are continuing their investigation into Hayes’ death, but they believe no foul play was involved, the report said. Hayes was 65.

Born in Covington, Tennessee, in 1942, Hayes was a key figure in the development of the 1960s Southern soul sound before going on to a successful solo career.

He made his public singing debut in church at the age of 5, and taught himself piano and saxophone before relocating to Memphis and performing with groups there, according to All-Music Guide. In 1964, he began playing with the Mar-Keys, which led to his long stint as a musician, songwriter and producer for the legendary Memphis soul label Stax Records.

Over the following years, Hayes and songwriting partner David Porter wrote a reported 200 songs, including such soul classics as Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” Carla Thomas’ “B-A-B-Y” and Johnnie Taylor’s “I Had a Dream.”

Hayes released his debut solo album in 1967, but his breakthrough came two years later with the classic Hot Buttered Soul, which featured lush, ambitious arrangements and an innovative structure, and exerted a profound influence on many soul albums to come — not least Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.

In 1971, Hayes reached the peak of his musical popularity with the single and album Shaft, the score from the film. The song not only was an archetypal slice of funk that garnered Hayes a #1 single and Grammy and Academy Awards, the talk-singing style he employed on it exerted a huge influence on rap music.

After the strong albums Black Moses and Joy, Hayes’ popularity waned in the coming years, exacerbated by a legal battle with Stax over royalties. He filed for bankruptcy in 1976.

Hayes continued to perform and record over the following years, but he didn’t reappear on the mainstream radar until 1997, when he provided the voice for the “South Park” character Jerome “Chef” McElroy. Originally intended to be a one-off appearance, Hayes’ character quickly became extremely popular, providing the main children characters with advice and often breaking into comical R&B love songs that parody some of the songs Hayes had written in the first place. Hayes sang the notorious “Chocolate Salty Balls” on the “South Park” album Chief Aid.

A Scientologist since the mid 1990s, Hayes parted company with the show after a 2005 show that skewered the religion. A press release announcing his separation from Comedy Central, which airs “South Park,” was issued in March 2006. Hayes reportedly suffered a stroke in early 2006, and was occasionally unsteady in public appearances thereafter.

Hayes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

The following statement was issued Sunday by the Soulsville Foundation:

“The Soulsville Foundation, which operates the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Stax Music Academy, and The Soulsville Charter School, is so deeply saddened by the passing of Isaac Hayes that we are in state of shock. Isaac is one of the most beloved members of the Stax family and we all cherish him. He will be missed not only by us, but also by the entire world and the millions of people who love him as much as we do.

“Marc Willis, CEO of the Soulsville Foundation, said, ‘Isaac was unique and an inspiration to us all. His accomplishments as a musician are unparalleled. But more than that, he was a very dear friend and great supporter of the Soulsville Foundation mission, particularly the work we do with children. We will miss him and his wonderful presence more than we can convey at this time.’”

5800: Obligatory Olympics Post.

Given the recent decision by New York City schools to make double dutch an official varsity sport, look for the iconic activity to become an Olympic event in the 2016 Games at least. And while the Americans will dominate, some obscure country will undoubtedly present serious competition. Just remember you read the prediction here first.

5799: Keeping It L’Oréal With Beyoncé.

Here’s another shade of Beyoncé from L’Oréal. See the full spectrum here.

5798: A Cliché Is A Terrible Thing To Waste.

The United Negro College Fund presents the Black Inventors concept. Wonder if a Black advertising person invented this overused idea.

5797: Back-To-Not-Cool.

Back-To-School Advertising 101: Don’t allow your campaign to be created by people completely out of touch with the target audience.

5796: Making Headlines For All The Wrong Reasons.

Political hacks in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Scratch another name off the short list for Democratic vice-presidential candidates.

• Good news, bad news. A judge decided Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick could be freed from jail. But then Michigan’s attorney general declared he was charging Kilpatrick with two felony assault charges stemming from a scuffle with a sheriff’s deputy. Actually, not sure which part is good news and which is bad.

5795: Bernie Mac (1957-2008).

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Comedian, South Sider Bernie Mac dies at 50

By Sun-Times Staff

Comedian Bernie Mac died at Northwestern Memorial hospital early Saturday morning, according to his publicist, Danica Smith. He was 50.

“Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital,” Smith said in a statement. “No other details are available at this time. We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected.”

Sun-Times columnist Stella Foster said that she received calls early Saturday morning from a close friend of the Mac family, confirming the reports of Mac’s death.

The columnist also said she was deeply saddened to receive such a phone call just an hour after Mac was pronounced dead.

“It brought tears to my eyes because Bernie Mac has always been my all-time favorite entertainer and comedian. It pains me to have to report that,” Foster said during a phone interview on Saturday morning.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for the actor, whose real name is, Bernard McCullough, said that he had been responding well to treatment for the illness.

Smith said Thursday in a statement that Mac’s condition is “stable.” Smith first announced Aug. 1 that Mac was hospitalized in Chicago.

Smith said Mac’s pneumonia wasn’t related to an inflammatory lung disease Mac also had. That condition was in remission since 2005.

Foster noted that last weekend several web sites reported wrongly that the comedian died.

Mac made waves last month with off-color jokes during a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The comedian starred in the critically acclaimed Fox television series “The Bernie Mac Show.” His film credits include roles in the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise.

Foster says she remembers Bernie’s comedic beginnings through his show, “Midnight Mac,” which aired for four shows on HBO and was taped in Chicago in 1995.

“It was a variety entertainment show,” she said, “He even had dancers called Macaroni’s. That was my first exposure to how talented Bernie Mac was. And after that show, that’s when Hollywood started beating down his door.”

Mac started his comedy career at age 8, with a standup performance at a church dinner. In 1977, at age 20, he took that act to comedy clubs in Chicago.

His film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans movie “Mo’ Money” in 1992. Mac went on to star in the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney and his turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005’s “Guess Who?” — a remake of the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1967 classic “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” — topped the box office.

Mac also had starring roles in “Bad Santa,” “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” and “Transformers.”

The comedian drew critical and popular acclaim with his Fox television series “The Bernie Mac Show,” which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006.

The series about a man’s adventures raising his sister’s three children, won a Peabody Award in 2002. At the time, judges wrote they chose the sitcom for transcending “race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion — and cool.”

The show garnered Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Mac. He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his “The Original Kings of Comedy” co-stars, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.

In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS’ “Late Show” that he planned to retire soon.

“I’m going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit,” Mac told Letterman. “I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.”

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city’s South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.

In his 2004 memoir, “Maybe You Never Cry Again,” Mac wrote about having a poor childhood — eating bologna for dinner — and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.

Mac’s mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.

“Woman believed in me,” he wrote. “She believed in me long before I believed.”

The actor’s upcoming movies include “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” starring Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and David Schwimmer; and “Soul Men” with Samuel L. Jackson and Isaac Hayes.

There is no word on whether public services will be held.

5794: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 15.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5793: Holy Mackerel… Or Holy Shit?

Anybody want to try and explain this one?

5792: L’Oréal, Beyoncé And Cultural Cluéléssnéss.

Hadn’t planned to examine the L’Oréal/Beyoncé drama, as others have already addressed it with better perspective, better emotion and better boycotting. Besides, it’s always best to avoid touching a Black woman’s hair—even as a blog topic—unless you really know what you’re doing. Hey, this subject is so combustible, it managed to draw comments at the typically ignored Agency Spy. Anyway, here are a few thoughts from a primarily advertising-related viewpoint.

Contrary to popular protests, it’s unlikely that L’Oréal deliberately lightened Beyoncé’s skin or messed with her nose and other items. The company officially insisted, “It is categorically untrue that L’Oréal Paris altered Ms. Knowles’ features or skin tone in the campaign for Féria hair color.” The company is probably right. However, they’re still probably wrong. Bear with us for a bit.

Technically, it’s a safe bet L’Oréal did not covertly tamper with the superstar. Anyone who has ever produced fashion advertising or fashion photography will attest that lighting plays a key role. When filming hair, incredibly strong lamps are used to make each strand visible and shiny. For example, commercials for Pantene and Clairol often show the backs of women’s heads for two reasons: 1) to display every glistening follicle and; 2) to avoid having the person’s face completely “blown out” (or whitewashed) by the spotlights. Given that L’Oréal is selling a haircolor and highlights product, they undoubtedly employed a ton of lights. Think supernova.

This is not a case of L’Oréal manipulating Beyoncé via Photoshop (at least not beyond the normal ultra-retouching done for fashion shots). Quite the opposite. L’Oréal should have used Photoshop—to restore the natural skin tone removed by the lighting. Sorry, but it simply doesn’t make sense that L’Oréal would alter Beyoncé for this campaign when she has already graced numerous ads for the beauty company.

Unfortunately, L’Oréal unwittingly stepped on a cultural landmine, and ultimately displayed their cultural cluelessness. They should have worked harder with their lighting to compensate for a Black woman (Black hair care specialists are much more savvy about these things). Plus, they should have looked closer at the image to realize the potential issues. Although they were not actively being sneaky or evil, L’Oréal was professionally insensitive in this scenario. Despite being headquartered in Paris—a locale boasting forward thinking—the company is culturally clueless.

Ironically, L’Oréal owns SoftSheen-Carson, an expert in the Black hair care category. Rumors claim the enterprises remain segregated, so it’s not like the White folks would ever consider consulting with the Black sister company. And heaven forbid SoftSheen-Carson might receive L’Oréal budgets to sign up Beyoncé too. SoftSheen-Carson has to settle for Kelly Rowland.

Another dilemma to keep in mind: L’Oréal is working with White beauty standards. Hence, they failed to foresee the damage this campaign has generated. Beyoncé looked just fine to L’Oréal—and she still does. We’ll forgo the standard(s) rant associated with this observation.

In the end, L’Oréal didn’t intentionally do anything wrong. Unless you believe that an international beauty corporation being culturally clueless is wrong. For the advertising industry—and the fashion industry—it’s par for the course.

5791: Changing Faces.

Facing reality with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• L’Oréal denied whitewashing Beyoncé in an ad for its hair color product. “It is categorically untrue that L’Oréal Paris altered Ms. Knowles’ features or skin tone in the campaign for Féria hair color,” insisted the advertiser. Beyoncé’s publicist added, “There is no doubt that anyone seeing that ad will know that it is Beyoncé.” No opinion yet from Michael Jackson.

• U.S. Census figures show minority populations continue to rise. “The White population, I wouldn’t say is fading into the background, but it is becoming the older, less fertile part of the population,” said a demographer from the Brookings Institute. A Maryland school official added, “If you don’t have a plan to accommodate the diversity and the poverty and the language, your community is gonna have a train wreck.” Or mirror Madison Avenue.

5790: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 14.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5789: Creative Circle Or The Tenth Circle?

It’s hard to tell if talent recruitment firm Creative Circle is indeed a cesspool or a harbinger of the devilish days ahead for advertising job seekers. Probably a combination of both.

The joint regularly posts low-paying assignments requiring candidates bring their own supplies and act as stenographers—before writing and designing a brochure in a day.

Position: Freelance Marketing Copywriter
Location: Western Suburbs
Starts: Thursday, August 7th; One Day w/chance of extension
Rate: $25-$30/hour DOE

NOTE: You will need your own laptop to work on site with this client for the day.

Job Description:
Our client is seeking a freelance Marketing Copywriter with their own laptop for a one day assignment. There is the chance it may spill into another day but as of now, it is scheduled for one day.

We are looking for this person to sit in on a meeting with the partners of the company. You will be taking notes on the meeting, asking questions, and afterward, will make recommendations based on previous work in regards to coming up with some marketing collateral for this client. You will deliver a one-page brochure summarizing this insight for this client.

NOTE: If you happen to have the DESIGN skills to also lay this out, please mention this in your reply. (This is not required but could be a big PLUS!)

Creative Circle also emails requests for same-day service.

Position: ACD (COPY SIDE)
Location: City of Chicago
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: Days
Starts: TODAY
Rate: Up to $40/hour

Job Description:
Our client is looking for an ACD (COPY) to get started on a project TODAY!

Must collaborate with an Art Director on a variety of materials including innovative marketing concepts.

Will be working today (Thursday), Friday and potentially the weekend.

If you’re avail to do some great work and work with a creative team, let us know about you!

And the place is never shy about demanding award-winning talent to slave for its hackneyed clientele.

Position: Freelance Sr. Designer
Location: City of Chicago
Starts: TODAY; Duration TBD
Rate: Depends on Experience

Job Description:
Our client is a downtown branding consultancy, design firm and agency seeking the next VSA caliber designer to deliver amazing design solutions.

If you have design appropriate AIGA award-winning pieces, and are available as soon as TODAY, please let us know ASAP.

This is a great opportunity to OWN your design within this shop and really push the boundaries of creativity.

To keep things cordial, all Creative Circle emails feature a disclaimer essentially admitting they’re running a cattle call—you’re one of countless monkeys on their conveyor belt.

We apologize in advance if we’re unable to connect with you in person for each of your submissions. As you can imagine, we get quite a few responses. We are committed to review and evaluate each applicant’s qualifications. If you would like to opt out of future emails, please reply with ‘no more emails please’ on the subject and/or body of your response.

Not sure what’s worse: advertising agencies so dysfunctional that they require instant bodies or advertising professionals so desperate that they supply instant bodies. Regardless, it’s a sure bet that neither is worse than Creative Circle, which deserves a position alongside the other nine circles in Dante’s Inferno.

5788: Trouble Brewing.

Not Living the High Life in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was thrown into jail for traveling to Canada without informing the court, a violation of the terms of his bond in his perjury case. Kilpatrick tried to apologize by explaining to the judge, “I’ve been living in an incredible state of pressure and scrutiny.” He may soon be living in an incredible state prison.

• Molson Coors Brewing company recorded 2Q profits dropped 56 percent. Guess the Silver Bullet is no financial silver bullet, in addition to being an outdated and corny campaign vehicle.

5787: Super-Size Me And You.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Up next, a weighty majority

By Rex W. Huppke

It seems Americans have adopted an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” approach to the raging obesity epidemic. According to a new study, pretty much everyone in the country who can lift a fork will be overweight or obese within the next two decades.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health—clearly unconvinced that we’re going to stick to that new diet we started—are saying that more than 86 percent of Americans will be super-sized by the year 2030.

The report appeared in the July online edition of the journal Obesity—a publication looking forward to an ever-widening reader base—and it’s unnerving for a number of reasons.

It warns of skyrocketing health-care costs and a sharp rise in heart disease, type 2 diabetes and strokes. It also could jeopardize the future of people like myself, people who went through high school chubby and were called mean names that may have seemed harmless but caused serious self-esteem issues, forcing us later in life to write snarky newspaper articles incorporating low-brow fat jokes.

How am I going to sell low-brow fat jokes when everyone’s fat? And how unfair is it that I had to go through high school when it was uncool to be heavy, while future generations get to revel in an age when only the thin are outcasts?

Imagine it for a moment. Fat will be the new thin, and most people will shop Gap and Benetton for the latest in stylish elastic-waistband jeans, leaving the scrawny minority to browse un-hip “minus-size” stores.

Bingeing will be in and purging will be passé, as supermodels feast lustily in full view of paparazzi.

An aging Eddie Murphy will don a rubber “thin suit” so he can play every character in a movie about a jocular family of fit people. Fat Albert will be known simply as Albert.

And after the inevitable collapse of the fitness and organic vegetable industries, the once-righteous skinny folk will find work only in the fields of sprawling Midwestern pancake farms, forced to lunch on deep-fried radicchio and high-fructose corn syrup-infused sea-bass-on-a-stick.

It all makes me shudder so much I just spilled my Slim-Fast breakfast shake.

This apocalyptic new study, funded by a weeklong bake sale at Johns Hopkins, also projects the cost associated with America’s chubification could be as high as $956.9 billion. That’s roughly equivalent to 956.9 billion items from a McDonald’s dollar menu.

Speaking of which, I believe it’s cheeseburger time. No sense waiting until 2030 to celebrate the revolution.

Rex W. Huppke is a Tribune reporter who writes frequently about nutrition from a Hostess-centric viewpoint. For his take on the 100-calorie snack pack, go to chicagotribune.com/snackpack.

5786: Majority Minority Not An Oxymoron.

From The New York Times…

Minorities Often a Majority of the Population Under 20

By Sam Roberts

Foreshadowing the nation’s changing makeup, one in four American counties have passed or are approaching the tipping point where black, Hispanic and Asian children constitute a majority of the under-20 population, according to analyses of census figures released Thursday.

Racial and ethnic minorities now account for 43 percent of Americans under 20. Among people of all ages, minorities make up at least 40 percent of the population in more than one in six of the nation’s 3,141 counties.

The latest population changes by race, ethnicity and age, as of July 1, 2007, were generally marginal compared with the year before. But they confirm the breadth of the nation’s diversity, and suggest that minorities — now about a third of the population — might constitute a majority of all Americans even sooner than projected by census demographers, in 2050.

In 2000, black, Hispanic and Asian children under age 20 were at or near a majority in only about one-fifth of the counties and, over all, blacks, Hispanics and Asians accounted for 40 percent or more of the population in about one in seven counties.

Even with the growing diversity, all but one of the 82 counties where blacks make up a majority are in the South (except St. Louis), all but two of the 46 where Hispanics are in the majority are in the South or the West (except the Bronx and Seward, Kan., home to giant meatpacking plants), and four of the five counties with the largest proportion of Asians are in Hawaii (San Francisco rounds out the top five with 33 percent).

Read the full story here.

5785: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 13.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5784: Needling The Thread With Bob Garfield.

OK, it’s getting a tad tiresome, but check out the comments for Essay 5770. Bob Garfield returned with thoughts, and MultiCultClassics responded. While this blog has disagreed with Garfield in the past—and even ridiculed him while doing so—the man has never deserved outright condemnation. In short, we don’t hate you, Bob. Calm down.

5783: Light News Day.

MultiCultClassics Monologue Lite.

• L’Oréal sparked controversy by apparently lightening Beyoncé for an advertisement. Not sure why they’d hire Beyoncé but want her to look like other L’Oréal spokesperson Heather Locklear.

5782: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 12.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5781: Spreading MADness.

Going mad in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Certain Circuit City stores temporarily pulled the latest MAD magazine from shelves after discovering a parody advertisement section from “Sucker City.” The spoof includes lines about Nintendo Wii, “Guaranteed In Stock … if you’re friends with an employee who hid it in the back for you. Otherwise, ooh, sorry, all sold out.” Circuit City wound up backpedaling over the in-store censoring. “We apologize for the knee-jerk reaction, and have issued a retraction order; the affected stores are being directed to put the magazines back on sale,” said a store spokesman. “The parody of our newspaper ad in the August MAD was very clever. Most of us at Circuit City share a rich sense of humor and irony … but there are occasional temporary lapses.” The issue will probably be the only thing Circuit City manages to sell this month.

• A new report presented the obvious: child meals at restaurant chains are loaded with calories. “Parents want to feed their children healthy meals, but America’s chain restaurants are setting parents up to fail,” said a nonprofit public health group official. “McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC and other chains are conditioning kids to expect burgers, fried chicken, pizza, French fries, macaroni and cheese and soda in various combination at almost every lunch and dinner.” Doesn’t help when parents are stuffing their own faces with high-calorie adult meals.

• Former President Bill Clinton insisted, “I am not a racist,” during a TV interview. “There are things I wished I said [while campaigning for his wife Hillary]. Things I wished I hadn’t said, but I am not a racist,” said Clinton in reference to comments he made about Senator Barack Obama. “I never made a racist comment and I didn’t attack him personally.” No, Clinton is not a racist. He’s something worse: a typical politician.

5780: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 11.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5779: It’s The Economy, Stupid. And Stupid Ideas.

You know things are bad when Mercedes-Benz dealers resort to cheap, clichéd advertising concepts. At least they didn’t say buying a Mercedes-Benz makes good cents.

5778: The Price Of Apologies.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Long-overdue apologies nice, but add substance to words

Sometimes saying “sorry” doesn’t cut it. Take two recent public apologies: The U.S. House of Representatives apologized to African Americans for slavery and Jim Crow, and an Army officer publicly apologized to 28 black World War II GIs who had been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the death of an Italian prisoner of war.

Paying reparations to descendants of slaves might give weight to that first apology, but that’s hardly practical.

What would be practical is to redouble efforts to improve the lives and opportunities of African Americans by investing more in our inner city schools, the safety of neighborhoods and job training.

Less complicated is the matter of compensation for Roy Montgomery, an 87-year-old ex-GI living in Park Forest, and the only known survivor of the 28 wrongfully convicted.

Last year, an Army review board cleared all 28 soldiers. And soon after that, one of the men, Samuel Snow, applied for compensation and received a check for $725 -- back pay for his military service.

Talk about adding insult to injury. The Army didn't even adjust for interest or inflation, which would have made it $80,000.

Snow refused to cash the check, and waited for a more official apology. That came last Saturday, the day after he died.

The Army still owes a debt to the last survivor, Montgomery, a debt it can never pay in full.

But they might start with a check -- and not for a measly $725.

5777: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 10.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ad and read closely.

5776: Mad Men And Mad Fly Women.

Was it Interracial Romance Week on the latest episode of AMC series Mad Men?

Copywriter Paul Kinsey is dating a Black woman.

Don Draper had a weird moment with an Asian waitress.

Mad Men presented another stereotype that goes beyond the depicted period: The minority female as an exotic sexual object. Maybe next week Pete Campbell will be lusting after Rita Moreno in West Side Story.

5775: School Bullyshit.

Not sure it’s a good idea to combine back-to-school messaging with a nod to the school bully.

5774: Cynicism And Racism.

Political moves in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. said he would accept Barack Obama’s Senate seat if Obama is elected President. However, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich gets to make the decision, and he’s not a big Jackson fan. Hey, maybe Rev. Jesse Jackson could put in a good word for his son.

• Barack Obama, responding to the Republican campaign’s accusations that he had “played the race card,” called the John McCain campaign cynical versus racist. “In no way do I think that John McCain’s campaign was being racist,” said Obama. “I think they’re cynical. And I think they want to distract people from talking about the real issues. … They’re very good at negative campaigning. They’re not so good at governing.” Only in American politics can cynicism potentially be worse than racism.

• A Black reporter covering the McCain campaign in Florida was allegedly singled out and instructed to vacate a media area in Panama City. The man was among at least three other reporters—and the only Black among the reporters—standing near McCain’s campaign bus. He was asked to present his credentials by security personnel, then told to leave without explanation. When another reporter asked why, she was also removed from the area. A McCain spokesperson later remarked, “At the end of the day, [the] reporter was in the wrong place. I do not know why the other reporters were not moved. The rest of the local press should have been moved as well.” Perhaps McCain’s people were playing the race credentials. Or just being cynical.

5773: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 9.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ad and read closely.

5772: Banish Bias From Madison Avenue…?

CV Harquail, PhD—an independent scholar and consultant in Montclair, New Jersey—presents an interesting perspective on Omnicom and homophobia, along with ideas for banishing bias from advertising agencies.

5771: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 8.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5770: Gay Mission Accomplished, Bob Garfield?

Technically, the image above was published by Bob Garfield to declare victory in his jihad with Comcast. But it’s being reissued here to illustrate a few (hopefully) final thoughts surrounding An Open Letter to Omnicom President-CEO John Wren. We’ll elaborate on the image shortly.

In Garfield’s follow-up post connecting a Tennessee truck driver’s killing rampage with the Snickers commercial, the columnist was still sparring with critics. Garfield remained condescendingly adamant in his position, although it would be nice if he refrained from continued gratuitous use of a certain slur.

Yet one can’t help but wonder if Garfield considers himself successful in the Snickers scenario. It’s pretty likely, given his humungous ego. But take a closer look at the realities. For starters, the commercial was pulled after the Human Rights Campaign Foundation directly confronted Mars Inc. Word of the spot had already worked its way through the GLBT grapevine, even before Garfield addressed his letter to Wren. So it’s tough to say if Garfield played any role at all in the decision to yank the offensive message.

As previously noted, Omnicom and John Wren never publicly acknowledged anything. Not to be too presumptuous, but we’ll bet the responsible ad agency, London-based AMV BBDO, doesn’t feel guilty of wrongdoing. In fact, they probably view themselves as victims of a PC mob. Has Wren spoken to his agencies’ leaders about the topic? Or reprimanded anyone for the mess? Those who urge that corporations strive for authenticity and responsibility might hope so, but we’ll bet against the possibility. A related Advertising Age story quoted Gary Graf, the creative director behind the homophobic Super Bowl Snickers spot, and the man showed zero signs of regret. “It’s silly,” said Graf. “At the end of the day, take the stupid commercial off the air. It’s on the internet anyway. Millions have already seen it, and now millions more are going to track it down.”

And what about Garfield? When presented with typically lousy customer service from his cable company, the man went to war, launching an elaborate online attack and negotiating with Comcast officials. In contrast, a human rights incident—which Garfield tied to murders—only inspired nasty volleys with blog visitors.

Is Garfield announcing, “Mission Accomplished” in this controversy? If so, he kinda looks like President Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

5769: Profits And Losses In Perspective.

Putting it all into perspective via a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• General Motors posted 2Q losses at $15.5 billion. Let’s put that into perspective. It’s like ordering an item from Mickey D’s Dollar Menu—15,500,000,000 times. Over the course of three months.

• Exxon Mobil posted 2Q earnings at $11.68 billion, the biggest profit ever by a U.S. corporation. Let’s put that into perspective. Exxon Mobil is evil incarnate.

5768: Tagging Diversity Ads, Part 7.

Corporations love producing diversity ads to hype commitment to an inclusive workforce. Yet these advertisers seem unconcerned about partnering with advertising agencies where diversity is almost viewed with adversity. Granted, many companies compensate by mixing up their AOR rosters with minority-owned shops. But does such a move really negate the contradictions of associating with agencies that have steadfastly resisted moving beyond predominately White work environments?

This week, MultiCultClassics presents actual corporate diversity ads that have been “tagged” with special messages to highlight the hypocrisy.

Click on the ads and read closely.

5767: The Irresistible Siren Song Of Ad Blogging.

The former SuperSpy of AgencySpy, after spending a short stint as Sabrina Duncan at the short-lived The Fifth Column, has resurfaced with The Brief. No formal announcement yet on the latest secret identity.