6002: Bad Nutrition Lesson.

Fill your child’s schedule by filling their face with junk food.

6001: Diversity Through Adversity.

Learn more here.

6000: Bologna Baloney.

Bologna has less sugar than peanut butter and jelly? Gee, that’s amazing. Does it have less sugar than cake and ice cream too?

5999: Investing In The Ruling Majority.

Adweek.com published a fluff piece titled, “Investing in Talent Is as Vital as Ever,” detailing the efforts of Madison Avenue shops to recruit and retain employees via training programs. Of course, there’s zero mention of diversity in the story. Reading between the lines of the first two paragraphs reveals a lot:

In response to massive changes in the ways by which marketers reach consumers, as well as the ongoing cry from chief marketing officers for better integration, some agencies are revamping their training programs. In some cases, the new courses involve tackling actual client briefs.

Agency leaders say the changes are key to attracting and retaining prime talent. And although some shops are cutting staff and other expenses this year amid client spending shifts and declines, a look at a random sample of seven agencies from four holding companies revealed that most are increasing their investments in training. WPP Group’s Grey, for example, spent more than $3 million on global and local efforts last year.

First of all, “the ongoing cry from chief marketing officers for better integration” is a bunch of bullshit. Most CMOs continue to distribute the budgets—and the work—across multiple, unrelated agencies. The clients hold the integration levers, not the adfolks.

But more importantly, Madison Avenue shops have done about as well with professional integration as cultural integration. That is, they completely suck at it. The silos and barriers keeping the industry predominately White are remarkably similar to the silos and barriers keeping the industry professionally segregated—and both sets are fueled by arrogance and ignorance.

Also disturbing are the Madison Avenue executives who constantly whine about an alleged lack of qualified minority candidates whenever the issue of diversity arises. Does this story not clearly admit that even the majority of people currently inhabiting agencies are no longer qualified to meet the demands of a new world? Fortunately, Madison Avenue has a history of taking care of its own. The unqualified White folks will receive extra schooling to keep them ahead of the unqualified minorities.

Finally, it’s worth noting that one of the biggest proponents for training is Omnicom. Let’s hope they fare better in their tutorial programs than their diversity programs. Then again, let’s not.

5998: Seeing Stars.

Feeding kids’ imaginations with unimaginative advertising.

5997: Nauseating News.

Losing one’s appetite with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Applebee’s is facing a federal lawsuit for its allegedly misleading menu. The restaurant chain has been featuring Weight Watchers-endorsed items since 2004, posting the calorie counts, Weight Watchers “points” and more. However, it turns out the details were wrong. That is, the meals were anything but healthy. “They found in no uncertain terms that it wasn’t even close,” said a lawyer involved in the class-action suit. “People go into places like Applebee’s for the healthy menu, and a lot of people go specifically because they have that option.” Well, it’s sure not because of the lame musicians who used to appear in the advertising.

• Cadbury ordered a recall of its Chinese-made products, with some people fearing a connection to the recent tainted milk scandal that affected over 54,000 children. Meanwhile, Mars and Kraft are checking into Indonesian claims that high traces of melamine, the chemical behind the milk problem, were found in Oreos, Snickers and M&Ms. And folks fret over nutcases deliberately tainting Halloween treats…?

• Circuit City announced its 2Q loss widened. Which probably means you can soon pick up wide-screen TVs cheap when the retailer goes belly up.

5996: Diversity Blows In The Windy City.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Minorities make few gains in top corporate positions here since ‘05: report

By Francine Knowles

Little progress has been made in increasing the ranks of minorities in the top leadership positions at Chicago’s biggest companies, according to a biennial report from Chicago United. If strategic changes aren’t made, it could take another 89 years before minorities achieve parity, the report said.

“Such slow progress would be unacceptable in any other area of business,” said Chicago United President Gloria Castillo. “Diversity and inclusion, key business imperatives … should be no different.”

The report found minorities held 13 percent of board positions in 2007 at 21 large Chicago area companies, unchanged from 2005. Among chairmen and chief executive officers, minorities held 14 percent of those positions last year, down from 15 percent.

The report found increases at the vice president level and stronger representation among director and senior managers, improving the pipeline.

To speed progress, more companies need to link diversity to compensation at the highest levels of the company and beyond, Castillo said.

“You need to also engage middle management through training, tools and scorecards, so that diversity goals are achieved throughout the organization,” she said.

Companies need to focus on recruitment and retention, she said. She noted the turnover for minority executives is 5 percent higher than it is for non-minority executives. To retain top minority talent, companies need to develop retention programs that identify top talent and place them in rotational assignments that show them a clear career path and also build strength across the organization, Castillo said.

“If you know that you’ve been identified as someone who is in line for critical rotational assignments, you understand that your career has real potential within an organization” and are more likely to stay with that company, she said.

The business case for diversity includes greater business opportunity and global competitiveness, Chicago United said. It cited a Hedrick & Struggles report that looked at the 20 Fortune 500 companies with the highest percentage of blacks on their boards. Fourteen outperformed the S&P 500 over the last five years, the report said.

5995: Will Subway introduce Jared Jr. …?

Overweight kids have an 80% chance of becoming overweight adults. And probably a bigger chance of having overweight parents.

5994: Some Of Mad Men’s Best Friends Are Black.

AMC series Mad Men continued its schizophrenic depictions of Blacks.

This week, the elevator operator returned. Both Don Draper and Peggy Olson acknowledged the man—Don actually called him by name—and even had a cordial conversation with him.

Meanwhile, Carla, the Draper’s housekeeper, consoled a despondent Betty as if they were close friends. Carla revealed she’d been married for almost 20 years and offered sage, insightful advice.

Why does this program take a politically-correct position with Blacks, yet trash everyone else?

5993: Comparing Apples And Horribles.

Hey, Mickey D’s, how about comparing the healthy Happy Meals to the regular Happy Meals—you know, the ones with cheeseburgers and fries that outsell the apple dippers.

5992: Working On The Weekend.

Weekend tidbits in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A study showed that American workers spend about 25 percent of the workday goofing off via the Web. And probably another 25 percent using the Web to find a new job.

• American Greetings 2Q profits dropped 75 percent. Maybe the company should introduce a line of sympathy cards for failing businesses.

• A key witness in the O.J. Simpson trial testified that Simpson told him to bring a gun to the infamous hotel room showdown. Maybe O.J. will claim he was seeking to trade memorabilia for firearms.

5991: No Baby Boomers Or Gen Xers Allowed.

Creative Circle continues to present peculiar messages. This actual job listing appears to have a potentially illegal request, announcing the employer is seeking an Echo Boomer. Is it blatant ageism, or does Creative Circle realize veteran creatives won’t accept $25-$35 per hour?

Position: Copywriter
Location: City of Chicago
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: Ongoing
Starts: Within a Couple Weeks
Rate: Between $25-$35/hour DOE

Job Description:
Our client is an integrated marketing communications agency.

They are seeking a freelance Copywriter with who is highly immersed in technology and the technology scene and social networking—an Echo Boomer.

Looking for someone that might have their own blog and be heavily into blogging.

Will be working on a variety of projects to include both long and short form copy, but mainly short form ad-type copy. Will be writing ads, banners, web copy, etc.

Has the ability to conduct interviews with case studies candidates.

Must have at least 2-3 years of experience.

5990: Cream Of The Crap.

MultiCultClassics didn’t follow the Olympics in Beijing, and therefore missed the notable advertising for Cream of Wheat. Quaker revamped Aunt Jemima and Masterfoods restyled Uncle Ben, so it makes sense to feature the iconic Rastus again too. Adweek reported Cream of Wheat parent company B&G Foods has even more Olympian commercials in the can. The company’s evp of marketing said, “The Olympics have all the family values and positive equities we want associated with our brand.” Um, right. So why not depict a Black athlete teaming up with Rastus? Actually, this spot looks like it was written and produced when Rastus was a young man.

5989: Kiss My Black Ads Kicks Ads.

Craig Brimm of Culture Advertising Design—or Culture A.D.—in Atlanta has launched a blog featuring Black-related advertising and design. The hype reads, “This is an attempt to inspire and inform practitioners of multicultural advertising and graphic design.” Check out Kiss My Black Ads today.

5988: Kids’ Food & Drink.

Serve healthy, kid-friendly food—and let ’em wash it all down with a Miller High Life. Not sure the delivery guy would see the common sense in this media buy.

5987: Whoo Hoo! We’re Screwed!

Depositing the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Washington Mutual was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and sold to JPMorgan Chase & Co., making WaMu the biggest bank to fail in the nation’s history. “For all depositors and other customers of Washington Mutual Bank, this is simply a combination of two banks,” said the FDIC Chairman. “For bank customers, it will be a seamless transition. There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual come Friday morning.” Whoo Hoo!

• HSBC Holding PLC, Europe’s biggest bank by market value, announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs worldwide. “We’ve taken the action because of the current market conditions, the economic environment and our cautious outlook of 2009,” said an HSBC spokesman. So that’s one less potential employer for any WaMu workers about to get axed.

5986: King For A Day.

Everybody wants to be king. It’s a wonder they didn’t seek an endorsement from B.B. King. During January and February, these advertisers will probably run tributes to Dr. King.

5985: Colored Corporate Speak.

WPP media network Mindshare has a new logo and semi-new name. The former MindShare decided to go with a lower-case ‘s’ and fresh graphic. “The logo has longevity, simplicity and flexibility—it’s future-proof,” said Mindshare’s marketing director. “And it’s purple. We’re always going to be purple people.” Although the overwhelming majority of them are probably White.

5984: NYC 2 FCC—WTF PPM?

From Adweek.com…

NYC Council to FCC: Probe Arbitron

By Jackie Madrigal, Radio and Records

NEW YORK As expected, the New York City Council voted unanimously yesterday to call on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate the Arbitron portable people meter’s potential effects on the diversity of radio.

The Spanish Radio Association -- formed by Hispanic radio groups Univision Radio, Spanish Broadcasting System, Entravision Communications and Border Media Partners -- said the measure “should serve as a wake-up call for local governments and minority communities around the nation.”

In response to the NYC Council measure, the SRA issued the following statement:

“Arbitron’s flawed PPM ratings methodology will severely harm media diversity and ultimately limit the variety of voices and viewpoints on the country’s radio airwaves. It is a real threat not only to minority communities, but it could also have a devastating impact on local economies and needs to be taken seriously. The PPM ratings methodology should not be rolled out until all concerns are effectively addressed.

“Several members of the Spanish Radio Association have a long-standing presence in New York City, working tirelessly as a vibrant extension of the minority communities they serve, and as a strong part of the economic fabric of the communities they serve by creating jobs, paying taxes and supporting small and minority-owned businesses that rely on our airwaves to reach the community. Urban and ethnic stations not only provide vital news and information, they also provide a lifeline for their communities by helping to organize, promote and service a wide range of local civic campaigns and programs. The importance of Spanish-language and urban radio stations in New York and around the nation is immeasurable, and Arbitron’s unaccredited methodology produces unreliable and inaccurate measurement data that will destroy years of progress diversifying radio. Unfortunately, Arbitron is a monopoly, and even though the SRA has invested time and effort to help Arbitron develop a system that will provide reliable rating data, their lack of understanding of minority communities combined with their lack of commitment to these communities has resulted in our recommendations being ignored.

“We commend the New York City Council for working to protect and ensure ethnically and racially diverse radio programming as it continues to thrive in a city of more than 4.6 million minorities.”

Arbitron released the following statement in response to the resolution passed by the New York City Council:

“We are disappointed by the council’s failure to recognize: that broadcasters, agencies and advertisers in New York and other major markets have made it clear that PPM is critical if radio is to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging media marketplace; the quality of the PPM samples in terms of African-American, Hispanic and Spanish-dominant representation; the continuing dialogue Arbitron maintains with urban and Hispanic broadcasters and agencies; and the outreach we are making to highlight the value of African-American and Hispanic consumers in the PPM world.

“While Arbitron does not believe that the FCC has jurisdiction over our company, we are willing to continue our voluntary meetings with the FCC and other government officials. Arbitron’s role as an independent research company is to provide stations and advertisers with information that is based on the actual behavior of radio audiences. That is what PPM delivers today.”

5983: Business Briefs And Boxers.

Selling out in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Post reported 2Q U.S. ad spending dropped 3.7 percent. Which is just slightly higher than the percentage of Blacks in managerial positions.

• Anybody wanna buy a Hummer cheap? General Motors is putting the brand up for sale. “We believe that we can monetize certain assets without impacting the strategic direction of the company,” said the company’s treasurer. Sounds like corporate speak for “We’re screwed.”

• Hanesbrands is closing 9 plants worldwide and cutting 8,100 jobs. Hope the axed employees include Charlie Sheen and Cuba Gooding, Jr.

• California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law prohibiting people from sending or receiving text messages while driving. Schwarzenegger declared, “Banning electronic text messaging while driving will keep drivers’ hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road, making our roadways a safer place for all Californians.” Right. It just means Californians will have their hands free for cell phones, coffee cups, makeup, electric razors and handguns.

5982: Did Anyone Listen At The Mad Ave Hearing?

While he’s never been known for championing diversity, Woody Allen made a famous statement that applies to Tuesday’s hearing with Madison Avenue honchos and the New York City Civil Rights Committee: 80 percent of success is showing up. Granted, the advertising industry is still well over 80 percent White, but it’s a start.

In 2006, New York City Councilman Larry Seabrook blasted agencies for completely ignoring a meeting to discuss the issues. Ad Age editor Ken Wheaton did likewise when shops opted to skip a July powwow with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights. Seems the third time’s the charm, as Tuesday’s attendees included 4As President-CEO Nancy Hill.

What a difference a reporter and editor can make as well. Last April, Advertising Age wrote about the first-year results of the agencies that signed diversity pacts with New York City’s Commission on Human Rights, and the story’s headline read: Agencies Chase Rainbow, but Diversity Progress Still Cloudy. The latest Ad Age story essentially delivered the same stats, but the headline read: Ad Agencies Making Progress on Hiring Minorities, After All.

So what the hell actually happened in New York this week? No idea. But here’s some commentary anyway.

While Commissioner Patricia Gatling repeated the numbers revealed this spring, the reality of the situation remains unclear. Remember, the agencies were allowed to set their own goals, like convicted criminals selecting a sentence—or chickens choosing which feathers to pluck from their asses. Additionally, no one has ever defined what constitutes a minority. It would be nice to see faces attached to the figures.

Gatling also announced the failing agencies have hired consultants to help them get their acts together. Um, Omnicom originally created the Diversity Development Advisory Committee, and the holding company wound up doing the worst of all participants. Somebody needs to offer consultation to improve their ability to find consultants.

Omnicom lawyer Weldon H. Latham claimed CEO John Wren has demanded his shops must come into compliance by the end of the year. Hell, Wren hasn’t yet responded to Bob Garfield’s request that Omnicom cease producing homophobic commercials.

Can someone please explain the inconsistency between agencies? If so many have gone from Jim Crow to Jim Dandy, shouldn’t they conspire to draft best practices? Let’s share trade secrets, gang!

OK, give credit to Hill and others for making the cab ride to City Hall. And kudos to Seabrook for continuing to tighten the screws. But instruct everybody to pick up Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. This 21st century drama is a carbon copy of 1970. Except with fewer afros.

5981: Superspy Unplugged.

Superspy at Agency Spy delivers a rant worth reading.

5980: Snoring And Soaring.

Tired news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Two pilots were spanked and fired for sleeping during a Hawaiian Go airlines flight with 40 passengers on board. The two failed to respond to repeated calls from air traffic controllers for about 17 minutes, and even flew past the arriving airport. No word if the pilots were charged a fee for the extra bags under their eyes.

• Linens ’n Things appears closer to falling asleep forever, as its chief financial officer left the failing company after a 20-year stint. Guess he’s moving on to better ’n Things.

• Don’t sleep on this. The 2008 ADCOLOR® Award winners have been named, with Russell Simmons nabbing the All Star trophy. Congratulations to the honorees.

5979: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—12. Epilogue, Notes And Final Thoughts.

The epilogue of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers seeks to wrap things up, yet indicates the story is far from over. The section sprints through the 1980s and 1990s, and reintroduces present day players like the New York City Commission on Human Rights. It’s probable that Chambers will ultimately gather enough material for a sequel.

Also worth mentioning are the 30+ pages of notes. As stated in previous posts, the author did his homework. Chambers’ thoroughness and ability to connect the events to a bigger picture ranks him alongside advertising writers including Randall Rothenberg and Warren Berger. The book really is an unprecedented collection of information.

On Tuesday, Madison Avenue executives gathered for a hearing in New York, with industry honchos offering testimony on the state of diversity. Commissioner Patricia Gatling said she was “cautiously optimistic” over the possibilities for change. Let’s hope everyone involved has picked up a copy of Madison Avenue and the Color Line. Reading it could significantly accelerate the progress.

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

5978: Mad Ave Diversifies Its Stereotypes…?

From AdAge.com…

Mad Ave’s Other Diversity Problem
Commercial Closet Calls on Agencies to Eliminate LGBT Stereotypes in Ads

By Andrew Hampp

NEW YORK -- Race isn’t the only diversity issue causing a stir in the ad industry. A letter being distributed to agency heads this week is calling out Madison Avenue for its stereotypical portrayal of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The letter was drafted by Michael Wilke, executive director of Commercial Closet Association, a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 to educate the ad industry on the preferred ways to incorporate or refer to the LGBT community in advertising. The letter’s signers range from New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to Nancy Hill, CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies.

In the letter, the participants ask the ad industry to “re-examine any lingering conventional wisdom that LGBT stereotypes, homophobia and transphobia are considered successful approaches to selling products by actually testing it with general audiences.”

‘Critical mass’
In an interview, Mr. Wilke said the call to action wasn’t prompted by any particular incident or LGBT-insensitive campaign but rather a “critical mass of things that have been followed by the media that are showing a greater awareness and the potential for change. I guess you could say I was looking to create momentum on those things.”

Mr. Wilke cited recent ads from Nike and Snickers that were considered homophobic as part of that critical mass, adding, however, that the marketers’ responses to those spots showed signs of limited progress. “More often than in the past, advertisers are taking [insensitive ads] down quickly when they realize they’re not being well-received -- and not usually with an actual apology, just acknowledging things are not going well.”

Occasionally, corporations will make good on advertising that’s seen as homophobic by creating gay-inclusive ads, such as the “Lipstick” spot T-Mobile aired in 2005 as a response to its 2003 “Basketball” commercial, which was viewed as saying insufficient masculinity was socially unacceptable. But such corporate turnarounds are still rare, Mr. Wilke said.

Agency efforts
Some agencies also are starting to get more organized in their LGBT efforts. Three years ago, Havas’ Arnold Worldwide established AMEN, the Arnold Multlicultural Employee Network, to create more awareness around diversity. Earlier this summer, the agency added ARC, the Arnold Rainbow Coalition, to “see some similarities between both of our fights,” said Tiffany R. Warren, AMEN’s director, referring to race and gender. “Generally when diversity is talked about, it really begins and ends with ethnicity. … Hopefully this will be a sounding call to the industry to look at this issue seriously.” Ms. Warren is also Arnold Worldwide VP-director of multicultural programs and community outreach and a contributor to Ad Age’s Big Tent blog.

Katie Kelly, an associate broadcast producer for Arnold and the New York chair of ARC, said, “Brands are already asking: ‘How can we start incorporating LGBT issues into our campaigns?’”

Mr. Wilke said he hopes the letter will create awareness of Commercial Closet as well as its signatories’ assistance in bringing sensitivities to light. “We want to increase attention to both positive as well as problematic representations. The more attention given to them, the quicker responses we’ll see by those companies.”

The letter’s signatories include New York Sen. Thomas Duane; New York State Assembly members Deborah Glick; Daniel O’Donnell and Micah Kellner; New York City Council member Rosie Mendez; Michael McLaren, U.S. president of McCann Erickson; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; New York City Comptroller William Thompson; and Tony Wright, CEO of Lowe Worldwide.

5977: Mad Ave Chiefs Earn Feathers…?

From Adage.com…

Ad Agencies Making Progress on Hiring Minorities, After All
Human Rights Commission: Most Met or Exceeded Pact Goals

By Rupal Parekh

NEW YORK -- Many people aren’t satisfied with Madison Avenue’s progress on the diversity front, but Patricia Gatling, head of the New York City Human Rights Commission, today said she is “cautiously optimistic” that ad agencies will ramp up the numbers of minority executives in their ranks.

Ms. Gatling was speaking at a public hearing at City Hall called by New York City Councilman and Civil Rights Committee Chairman Larry B. Seabrook. The goal of the hearing was to discuss the progress (and lack thereof, in some cases) of the agencies that two years ago signed a pact to boost minority hiring and set individual goals.

As part of her testimony, Ms. Gatling reiterated statistics released this spring that found that five of the 16 ad agencies that signed on have not met all their minority-hiring goals in the first year of their diversity pact with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. However, the remaining agencies either met or exceeded all their 2007 goals.

BBDO, DDB behind
Of the shops that signed a memorandum of understanding with the commission in 2006 vowing to boost diversity, five did not meet their goals. Four of them were from the country’s biggest holding company, Omnicom Group: BBDO, DDB, Merkley & Partners and PHD. The fifth was Publicis Groupe’s Kaplan Thaler Group.

While it eventually caved and signed the pact with its competitors, Omnicom went its own way at first. It pledged more than $2 million for diversity initiatives, including the establishment of an advertising, media and marketing curriculum at the historically black Medgar Evers College.

Weldon H. Latham, a diversity counsel to Omnicom who testified at today’s hearing, said the holding company’s CEO, John Wren, has firmly communicated to those shops that they must come into compliance by the end of 2008. “We gotta make sure that those numbers get up,” Mr. Seabrook told Mr. Latham, recommending that Omnicom appoint an executive solely to monitor the agencies’ progress.

Those that failed to meet their self-created diversity goals have hired consultants to help them improve their numbers, Ms. Gatling said as part of her testimony.

Hiring up 25%
Meanwhile, the other agencies that signed the agreement have all met or exceeded their goals, said Ms. Gatling. They are: Havas’ Arnold and Euro RSCG; WPP Group’s Grey Direct and Grey Interactive, Young & Rubicam and Ogilvy & Mather; and Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Avrett Free Ginsberg, Gotham and DraftFCB (counted as two agencies because it was created out of the merger of Draft and FCB Worldwide). The average goal was 18% for minority hiring and the average result was 25%, Ms. Gatling said.

In certain cases, the agencies have raised their minority-hiring goals for 2008. For example, Ogilvy this year increased its goals 2%, and is aiming for 18% of its senior management and 35% of all staff to be of color.

The hearing garnered a far better turnout compared with those called two years ago, though agency and holding company chiefs were still absent. During Advertising Week 2006, Mr. Seabrook had called hearings decrying minority-owned media outlets’ lack of advertising, and nobody turned up. The agencies, Mr. Seabrook said at the time, “ran like chickens with their asses plucked clean.”

Reviving that metaphor today, Mr. Seabook said, “I’m putting some feathers back on you now,” as a means of commending the majority of the agencies for their progress.

In addition to an attorney for Omnicom, Interpublic Exec VP-Strategy Philippe Krakowsky and representatives for WPP also testified today about the status of their companies’ diversity initiatives, as did executives from Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi.

Saatchi was also one of two ad agencies that turned up for a public meeting called by the Human Rights Commission about the issue in July.

Representatives for Havas or Havas agencies did not testify.

Nancy Hill speaks
Also submitting testimony was Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, who Mr. Seabrook commended on her presence, noting that her predecessor, O. Burtch Drake, had not shown up for hearings in the past.

There was strangely no talk of a potential threat of a class action lawsuit against the industry, but Mr. Seabrook promised to stay on top of the issue. “The commission is going to stay on your case and I’m going to stay on the commission’s case until we get it done and get it right,” Mr. Seabrook said at the conclusion of the hearing.

5976: Clay Is Gay And Other Non-News.

Coming out with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• American Idol alum Clay Aiken is revealing in People magazine that he’s gay. Wow. What next? Barack Obama will admit he’s Black. John McCain will declare he’s old. Madison Avenue will expose itself as racist.

• Circuit City CEO Philip J. Schoonover resigned. One analyst wrote, “Circuit City’s business has deteriorated dramatically over the last two years and although we do not lay the blame entirely on his shoulders, we do believe that some of Mr. Schoonover’s decisions definitely had a significantly negative impact.” Wow, that’s like declaring Clay Aiken is gay.

• Children’s book publisher Scholastic, Inc. is banning Bratz books from school book clubs and fairs, bowing to pressure from an advocacy group arguing the characters are too sexy. “When schools send these book club fliers home with children,” said the advocacy group spokesperson, “the message is that ‘We think these are fine and are good for your child.’” Heaven forbid kids might stick the fliers in their Bratz lunchboxes, Bratz backpacks or the pockets of their Bratz jeans and jackets.

5975: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—11. Golden Opportunities And Copper Linings.

“The Golden Age” is the title of the fifth chapter of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. Here Chambers spotlights the Black advertising agencies that launched in the 1960s and 1970s (including Vince Cullers Advertising, which technically opened in 1956), ultimately touching on the key characters, complexities and contradictions created by this section of the ad community.

Once again, the book shows the more things change, the more they stay the same. See the professionals who left the glass ceilings of White agencies to set up their own enterprises, often finding new barriers along the way. Hear how so many never viewed Black-targeted accounts as the endgame, but rather, the entry to general-market assignments that rarely materialized. Touch on topics like professionals’ consistent contention that specializing in minority audiences severely limited growth and profits—as well as the difficulty even minority shops experienced searching for qualified Black candidates. Taste samples of the campaigns produced by the innovative pioneers. Smell the bullshit that continues to restrict, pigeonhole and segregate minorities on Madison Avenue and beyond. In short, the chapter stimulates—and reels—the senses.

Chambers doesn’t hesitate to consider all angles, noting the contributions every player has made to the global problems and challenges. There are certainly implications for the current diversity dilemma. How will minority shops affect and be affected by the latest drama taking place in the advertising industry—will they lead or be led? The chapter serves food for thought to anyone involved with today’s efforts. And if you’re not involved, it’s high time to get started. An easy first step is buying this book.

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

5974: Searching For Something Different?

Didn’t realize Google wasn’t doing the job. OK, check it out for yourself.

5973: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—10. Digressing To Address A Pet Peeve.

The fifth chapter of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers featured adman Junius Edwards, who ran an advertising agency in the 1960s and 1970s. During a 1971 interview with a trade publication, Edwards remarked, “White teenagers have long regarded Negroes their own age as fashion trend setters. Fashion starts in the streets and filters up, not merely from youth to age, but from lower economic class to upper.” Now, for anyone who has ever worked in a minority shop, Edwards’ revelation is common knowledge. Indeed, most minority shops—and most minorities, for that matter—recognize the phenomenon continues today, due in great part to the influence of hip hop culture. Yet self-proclaimed futurist Marian Salzman still positions herself as the discoverer of wiggers on her website. Ironically, Salzman doesn’t recognize the trend for White folks to stumble upon something that’s been around forever and declare they invented it. Her online entry should include an asterisk and qualifier that reads: First White adwoman to belatedly notice wiggers. The futurist ought to spend more time studying the past. Hey, it will only cost about $40, which she’ll no doubt write off as a business expense.

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

5972: Get Your Headhunter Examined.

AdAge.com presented a fluff piece interviewing recruiters at headhunter firms and big advertising agencies, probing for insights and perspectives regarding the current job market. Not surprisingly, the +1,000-word report contained zero mentions of diversity. In fact, a few comments could actually be interpreted to mean shops are inclined to perpetuate the status quo:

“People are looking for mature, aggressive, in-command personalities. … I think when the economy suffers, they’re more concerned about stability and experienced management people who can command a presence automatically. It’s their safety net.”

Other comments hinted at new tactics, but probably weren’t directly addressing diversity:

“If we broaden our horizons, there are a lot of good people out there. We don’t put them in an old traditional role; we put them in roles that play to their strengths.”

If hearings and lawsuits move forward, someone must demand testimony from these recruiters. Granted, contrary to what the executives might think of themselves, most recruiters do not really influence hiring decisions. At big agencies, they tend to be screeners and/or supplemental human resources staffers. And lots of independent headhunters are failed pimps. The managers with hiring authority—creative directors and account directors—make the final calls.

Nonetheless, it’s imperative to discover what specific and deliberate efforts recruiters are promoting for diversity, especially in the big agencies. And more importantly, to hear how the people with hiring authority are supporting and complying with the initiatives.

Now that would be worthy of publication.

5971: Mad Men Emmy Report.

Is it ironic that AMC series Mad Men received 16 Emmy nominations—and somehow managed to nab six—but no actresses associated with the show received a single nod? Plus, were any minorities among the Mad Men winners—even the hairstylists and set designers? The one positive thing to come from the show’s Emmy victories: AMC opted against airing an original episode on Sunday.

5970: Gray Flannel Suit, Meet Diversity Lawsuit.

From AdAge.com…

Do-Nothing Execs Take One Step Closer to Diversity Suit
An Ad Age Editorial

We hate to say we told you so, but only two months ago in this space, we wrote the following about the lack of diversity in the advertising industry: “If agency executives don’t come to the table and start using their own sets of tools (and money) to unravel this mess, the next tool likely to be reached for will be lawyers.”

Of course, there is no lawsuit -- yet. But Cyrus Mehri, of the firm Mehri & Skalet, has commissioned his own study of the advertising industry. That study hasn’t been completed, but the preliminary findings aren’t a surprise to anyone. African-Americans account for 13% of the general population. By extrapolating from industries similar to advertising, they should account for 9.5% of the professional ranks and 7.2% of the managerial ranks. Instead they account for 5.8% of the professional ranks and a stunning 3.2% of the managerial ranks. And those figures include African-American specialty shops.

Mr. Mehri refused to comment on what exactly he planned to do with his findings, but one would have to assume that he didn’t commission this study out of idle curiosity.

“I want to be clear that our firm has commissioned this study because we do our homework before we come in with guns blazing,” he told Advertising Age, adding, “We’re serious players. … We’re going to build this up step by step. This is a world of difference compared to anything [the industry has] faced before.”

The majority of our readers may not think a lawsuit or the threat thereof will accomplish anything. But when one considers what lawsuits accomplished in the halls of Coca-Cola and Texaco and offices on Wall Street, it would have to be hubris -- or worse, absolute cluelessness -- to think that advertising agencies can somehow withstand this sort of assault.

Separately from the threat of lawsuit, the New York City Committee on Civil Rights has called a hearing this week. When a similar meeting was called two years ago, no one from the agencies showed up.

“What needs fixing isn’t the African-Americans; it’s the white guy running the agency. The leadership has to come from the top,” said Mr. Mehri.

Maybe some of those white guys could clear some time on their schedules to start leading on this issue.

5969: Spending Down, Racism Up.

Figuring it out in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The New York Post reported the advertising industry is facing its worst slump since 2001. “No one knows the implications on corporate America of what transpired over the last week,” said chairman and CEO of MDC Partners Miles Nadal. “We still haven’t seen the bottom to all this.” Should make for a cheery time at Advertising Week in New York over the next few days. Plus, it gives executives the excuse they need to avoid Larry Seabrook. They’ll probably claim they couldn’t afford the cab fare to the hearings.

• A new poll showed one-third of White Democrats have negative feelings about Blacks, which could lead to problems for Barack Obama. Hey, has anyone ever conducted a similar poll among White advertising executives?

5968: More Multicultural BS From GM?

Can’t help but think the story above detailing General Motors’ multicultural marketing (Advertising Age, September 15, 2008) is a monster truckload of bullshit.

Less than a year ago, the automaker spun out and collided into arguably the most bizarre example of messed-up PR in recent history. It started with alleged misreporting from Advertising Age that announced GM was shifting its multicultural accounts to different shops, and even handing Black assignments to White agencies. Within days, minority media sources were criticizing the automaker. Rev. Jesse Jackson wrote a letter to GM Chairman-CEO Rich Wagoner. Rev. Al Sharpton broadcast concerns via his radio show. And consumers were organizing boycotts. GM ultimately tried to correct the alleged publishing mistakes—with GM North America Vice President Mark LaNeve granting interviews and posting online comments. Yet nothing was ever clearly resolved.

This latest piece of fluff inspires questions and contradicts earlier remarks.

In the story, General Motors appears to be boasting about its own diversity:

“We began to value the contribution of diversity to our business,” said Rod Gillum, VP-corporate responsibility and diversity, who has been at GM for 29 years. So from hiring a diverse group of engineers, designers and executives starting in the late 1960s, GM went on in 1999 to establish 10 affinity groups within the company, including African-Americans, Hispanics, women, people with disabilities, Chinese, Middle Eastern and more recently Native American.

The idea? “We need to hire people who could help us market to people like them, recruit people like them and retain people like them,” said Mr. Gillum, who also chairs the General Motors Foundation.

It’s always astonishing to see major advertisers embrace diversity while conspiring with White advertising agencies that have consistently failed to do likewise. Of course, companies like GM compensate by hiring minority agencies. But the minorities receive significantly less money. And in the end, GM perpetuates the industry’s segregation.

Regarding the scheme GM once dubbed as “a new approach to diversity marketing,” the specifics remain fuzzy. GM executive director-advertising and media operations Betsy Lazar supplied the standard corporate speak by saying, “The shift was part of a broader strategy to expand multicultural representation … aligning agencies with the retail channels.” Whatever.

GM claimed to increase its multicultural spending. However, the automaker won’t reveal the figures. In the minority world of advertising, increased funding doesn’t translate to proper funding. Plus, GM admitted to cutting its Asian-American agency—although the company insists the move “should not be construed as lack of interest in Asian-American marketing.”

It’s hard to determine how Black agencies benefited from the breakthrough strategy. When originally probed on the notion of giving Black assignments to White agencies, LaNeve declared, “…it will be an African-American agency that will get the Chevy business, and that will get the Cadillac-Saab-Hummer business.” However, the story above states, “Cadillac and Hummer moved African-American advertising to GM general-market shop Modernista…” LaNeve needs to wrangle his communications staff. Their interactions with the press are making him look like a liar.

The story above seems to indicate General Motors has essentially increased spending for Latino marketing. And increased the separate-but-unequal status of minorities in advertising. Ironically, the piece ends with a final nod to doing the proverbial right thing.

“As demographics shift, diversity becomes more and more important in getting your message out,” said GM’s Mr. Gillum. “Some people call it marketing. I call it value.”

Reading between the lines of this story, MultiCultClassics calls it business as usual.

5967: Fees And Taxes.

Checking in on the news with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• News reports claim major airlines are allegedly seeking to improve customer service as they continue to boost fares and fees like second carry-on bag charges. The companies will probably impose a fee for every second positive customer service act.

• A Nevada judge dismissed the gun case against Jerry Lewis, who was packing a pistol in his luggage at a Las Vegas airport in July. Lewis claimed the gun was a gift that he had forgotten was in the luggage. Not sure what airlines would charge passengers for firearms in their second carry-on bag.

• Procter & Gamble is suing the government for $435 million, charging they were “erroneously and illegally assessed” in an IRS audit. That should make for a nice “stimulus” check.

5966: Wear your Brand.

Coke inspires homemade clothing…?

5965: There’s A New Mayor In Town.

From The New York Times…

New Mayor Takes Oath as Detroit Vows Rebirth

By Nick Bunkley

DETROIT — As workers on Friday finished restoring the Spirit of Detroit, the statue outside City Hall whose uplifting silhouette graces official business cards and letterhead, a new era began 12 floors above with the swearing in of an interim mayor who promised to remove the tarnish of his predecessor’s scandal.

In a ceremony decidedly more modest than the galas held for previous mayoral inaugurations, Kenneth V. Cockrel Jr., a former City Council president, was sworn in as Detroit’s 61st mayor, a job thrust upon him after Kwame M. Kilpatrick resigned after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice.

After eight months of defiantly insisting he would be vindicated, Mr. Kilpatrick quit amid evidence that he had spent about $10 million in city funds largely to hide an extramarital affair with his chief of staff, who quickly resigned when text messages from her pager became public.

“This is that new beginning that people have been looking for,” said John M. Green, a Detroit resident who founded the Ralph Bunche Repository, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the Nobel Peace Prize-winning diplomat. “Despite what everybody says about Detroit going into the drain, we’re not.”

Mr. Cockrel told an overflow crowd in the City Council auditorium that “this is our time to breathe life back into the city.” He laid out an agenda that included expanding the city’s convention center, cleaning up trash and “coming after” criminals.

“It is critical that we find closure, mend our wounds, treat our bumps and bruises and heal as a city,” he said. “It is also important that after that healing, we get back to work.”

[Read the full story here.]

5964: Alas, Poor Yorick!

This ad could have been more interesting with gushing blood and brain matter.

5963: Legal Threat? No Sweat.

Playing off its recent story about civil rights attorney Cyrus Mehri, Advertising Age conducted a poll to see if ad people thought a lawsuit would work better than current efforts at solving the industry’s diversity dilemma. The final tally can be viewed above, with 57 percent voting no. The result is hardly surprising, demonstrating how Madison Avenue continues to pooh-pooh potential legal action or other intimidation tactics. Hell, ad men have been calling the bluff for over 50 years. Perhaps it’s time to make good on the threat and see what happens.

5962: Shopping For A Concept.

You don’t need an interpreter to understand this ad is dumb.

5961: Colored People Brought To You By Adwhite.

There’s something outrageous about Adweek boasting to offer “Everything you need to reach America’s fastest-growing markets.” For starters, the publication couldn’t be more culturally clueless. The paint can imagery couldn’t be more contrived and clichéd. And the belief that all you need to address four distinct, multi-segmented audiences is a $299 catalog couldn’t be more insulting.

5960: Knocking Out Believability.

Does anyone think this woman ever fought to squeeze into her jeans?

5959: Calling All Ass-Plucked Chickens.

From AdAge.com…

Diversity Hearing to Be Held Second Day of Advertising Week
Seabrook’s Committee on Civil Rights Back in Action

By Rupal Parekh and Ken Wheaton

The New York City Committee on Civil Rights is holding a hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 23, the second day of Advertising Week on the topic of diversity and the advertising industry. Advertising Age obtained a memo, issued by the office of Gary Altman, the legislative counsel for the City Council, to participants. It was dated Sept. 10.

It was unclear which agencies were invited to attend, though industry executives said that many of those who signed on to the agreement with the Commission on Human Rights were invited. A couple of those executives groused that the invite was sent out at the last minute and, scheduled as it is for Advertising Week, was part of an attempt to embarrass the agencies.

The Committee on Civil Rights is headed by City Councilman Larry Seabrook and is not to be confused with the New York City Commission on Human Rights that reached an agreement with 16 ad agencies regarding their minority hiring practices. The Committee technically has oversight power over the Commission.

Further, according to all sides involved, this meeting has nothing to do with recent news that attorney Cyrus Mehri has commissioned a study examining diversity in the ad industry. The memo was issued before news of the study broke.

The last time Mr. Seabrook’s committee involved itself directly with agency affairs was in March of 2006 when it vowed to hold hearings on the subject of diversity. Back then, he said he’d likely subpoena industry executives to testify. He also raised the possibility of asking clients for their positions on diversity.

But the deal worked out by the Commission on Human Rights and 16 agencies seemed to have eclipsed the hearings at the time.

During Advertising Week of 2006, Mr. Seabrook held hearings as to why minority-owned media outlets don’t get more advertising. No one showed up. The agencies, Mr. Seabrook said at the time, “ran like chickens with their asses plucked clean.”

Mr. Seabrook did not return calls by press time.

5958: Dreadful News.

A stylish MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A Manhattan nonprofit organization is being sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for ordering Rastafarian workers to hide their dreadlocks under uniform caps. The EEOC says the workers are being discriminated against because of their religious beliefs. However, the nonprofit insists they tried to resolve the matter, even offering the workers larger hats. Looks like they’ll have to offer dreadfully larger sums of loot instead.

• A Florida judge dumped a law banning saggy pants after a kid was busted for violating the mandate. The kid’s lawyer persuaded the judge to nix the law by arguing, “Your honor, we now have the fashion police.” Guess hip hop enthusiasts now have the right to remain stylish.

• Home Depot hopes to stimulate sales by cutting prices on certain items up to 50 percent. The savings will be totally negated by the cost of gas for driving to Home Depot.

• R. Kelly insisted in an interview that he doesn’t chase after underage girls and declared, “I don’t like anyone illegal.” He then probably rushed to Home Depot to pick up new paneling for his hot tub room.

5957: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—9. Charting A Course For The Future.

The chart above appears in Chapter 4 of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. It says a lot about diversity in the advertising industry during 1970—and 2008 as well. In some instances, Black representation at the top agencies was better then than now, and folks were making progress. So what happened? Well, as the chart displays, self-regulation led to inconsistent results. Plus, a lack of official enforcement meant shops could cease any positive efforts with no fear of penalty. Finally, a recession gave ad executives the excuse they needed to focus on other matters.

Is the chart above a historical record—or a prediction of the years ahead?

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

5956: Peppering The Ad With Cultural Cues.

As if depicting a Latina watching telenovelas wasn’t targeted enough—Coke felt the need to show her making salsa too. And she sure made an awful lot for a single gal.

5955: Names In The News.

Taking names in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The Detroit Zoo removed the name of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick from its water tower. Officials will probably offer the name to a local circus instead.

• Linens ’n Things may become a things of the past as a buyout plan fizzled last week. The retailer must now consider liquidating its business during the holidays. Talk about throwing in the towel—and bed sheets too.

• A new study shows overweight kids may be more prone to headaches. Wonder if the research included ice cream headaches.

5954: Mad Ave More Racist Than Ever?

Adweek recently published the bizarre page depicted above. The bizarreness comes from the loaded question that implies guilt. It’s akin to asking, “Are you beating your spouse more than ever?” Plus, it’s pretty hilarious to quiz Joyce King Thomas, as her agency is facing a $30 million age discrimination lawsuit. Like the company lawyers would have permitted her to speak the truth. Anyway, given the latest hoopla surrounding diversity on Madison Avenue, it seemed appropriate to present another page. All remarks are actual quotes—nothing’s been made up!

5953: Next Time, Boost The Budget.

Guess Boost couldn’t afford to translate the illustrations, as the words are in English.

5952: Calling For Assistance. Or 911.

A heart healthy MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A star witness at the O.J. Simpson trial appeared to suffer heart problems during his testimony yesterday. While facing questions from Simpson’s lawyer, the witness clutched his chest and called for medical help. As if O.J. needs another death on his hands.

• Best Buy reported 2Q profits dropped 19 percent, citing the dip was related to company spending connected to rolling out its Best Buy Mobile cell phone service. They should have just gone with T-Mobile instead.

5951: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—8. Affirmative Action. And Inaction.

Chapter 4 of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers is titled, “Affirmative Action and the Search for White Collars.” Chambers continues to do a stellar job of presenting the details, showing how various civil rights groups, activists and professionals sought to solve the diversity problems rooted in exclusivity and discrimination. Many political organizations convinced clients and agencies to depict more Blacks in ads and to hire more Blacks, hoping to transform society and inspire desegregation. Diversifying Madison Avenue was just part of a much bigger goal.

Ironically, while Blacks’ presence in advertising messages has arguably improved, the advertising industry has grown more segregated than ever. And this week, Advertising Age announced prominent attorney Cyrus Mehri is on the case.

It should be interesting to see if history repeats itself. The 1960s-1970s efforts were ultimately hampered by a weakened economy. Today’s recession will certainly serve as an excuse for further inaction.

Although even the most cash-strapped agency leaders should still invest about $40 and pick up a copy of Madison Avenue and the Color Line.

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

5950: No Country For Ugly Men.

Is this some sort of tribute to Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh?

5949: Mad Men Suffering From Schizophrenia.

AMC series Mad Men continued its schizophrenic depiction of minorities. Last week, the staff completely ignored the Black woman selling coffee. The latest episode featured another appearance by Carla, the Draper’s Black housekeeper. She not only delivered dialogue, but the Drapers treated her with politeness and even a modicum of affection. In fact, Carla probably received more legitimate respect than any woman—or any man, for that matter—on the show to date. Go figure.

5948: Living Long And Prospering.

Trekking through the news with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• George Takei, aka Sulu of Star Trek fame, married longtime partner Brad Altman on Sunday in a multicultural ceremony including a Buddhist priest, Native American wedding bands, a Japanese Koto harp and a bagpipe procession. However, there were no alien guests like Klingons, Romulans or William Shatner.

• United Airlines doubled the fee for a second piece of luggage to $50, blaming the move on rising fuel costs. It may soon be cheaper to just buy a ticket for your luggage.

5947: Insert Minority Model Here.

It’s a wonder Maybelline didn’t just lighten and darken one model’s skin tone to create both ad versions.

5946: Sorry, No Embryos.

It’s always interesting to see the range of definitions for titles in the advertising business. For example, this actual job listing seeks a Creative Director with excellent graphic, Web and writing skills; plus, familiarity with Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator and pre-press. No experience necessary. Ironically, over the course of their careers, most ad people will work for quite a few Creative Directors who seemingly have zero credentials.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Job Category: Advertising/Public Relations; Management/Executive
Location: West Palm Beach, FL
Position Type: Full-Time, Employee
Experience: 0-1 Years Experience

CREATIVE DIRECTOR-Top ad agency, F/T, excellent graphic, web & writing skills, Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, pre-press.

5945: Mad Men, Meet Mad Lawyer.

From AdAge.com…

Top Lawyer Preps March on Mad Ave
Man Who Beat Coke and NFL Starts to Study Diversity in Ad Agencies

By Ken Wheaton

NEW YORK — Cyrus Mehri, one of the nation’s top civil-rights attorneys and a man who has been dubbed one of Washington’s most feared lawyers, has turned his attention to the ad industry’s woeful diversity record.

Blacks in advertising
Mr. Mehri declined to discuss whether a lawsuit was in the works but said his firm was behind the preliminary results of a study obtained by Ad Age. Any way you look at it, the fact that a top civil-rights attorney has commissioned a survey of diversity in ad agencies does not bode well for the agencies whose ranks are still overwhelmingly white.

The study, which isn’t complete yet, is being conducted by economist Marc Bendick Jr. on behalf of the firm. According to the summary, Mr. Bendick looked at census data and figures for similar “persuasion” industries (media, law, philanthropy, high-end sales) and came up with benchmark percentages of minorities one could expect in an industry such as advertising. Whereas, according to the benchmarks, African-Americans would be expected to make up 9.5% of the professionals in advertising (a number even lower than the 13% in the general population), it turns out they make up only 5.8%. On the executive and managerial side, African-Americans make up only 3.2% compared with an expected 7.2%.

That amounts to a 39% shortfall in African-American representation among the industry’s staff and a 56% shortfall among managerial employees. Unlike previous efforts, this study takes into account the entire ad industry, not just a handful of agencies operating out of New York. The figures include employees and managers at African-American-owned shops; Mr. Mehri said he expects the numbers to be even worse when those agencies are not factored in.

‘Purposeful discrimination’
“If this was 1970 and they had this shortfall, I could be sympathetic,” he said. But, he added, “the preliminary results [of this study] are showing shortfalls that are rare to have in this magnitude in this modern day and indicate purposeful discrimination.” He went on to say that the industry won’t resolve this issue until it stops focusing on a false “supply” argument (not enough African-American candidates) and starts focusing on the people in charge.

Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, declined to comment on the matter.

Mr. Mehri, a partner at Mehri and Skalet, wouldn’t disclose the firm’s long-term plans in relation to the ad industry, but he made it clear he is not working with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. He did attend a forum held by the commission earlier this year on behalf of ad-industry employees who’d contacted him.

A look at Mr. Mehri’s case history should worry the industry. His firm was behind suits against Texaco and Coca-Cola Co. that resulted in the largest discrimination settlements in history — $176 million in the Texaco case and $192.5 million in the Coke case — as well as dramatic reforms in both companies’ employment practices. His firm was also behind recent gender-discrimination suits in the financial-services sector. The so-called Women on Wall Street Project has resulted in, among other things, a $46 million settlement against Morgan Stanley and a $33 million settlement from Smith Barney. Even when lawsuits aren’t filed, Mr. Mehri leaves his mark. He, along with Johnnie Cochran, released the report “Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities.” That report, backed up with the threat of a major lawsuit, led to the hiring of numerous African-American coaches.

“We’re serious players,” Mr. Mehri said. “We’re going to do our homework. We’re going to interview everybody who contacts us. We’re going to build this up step by step. This is a world of difference compared to anything [the industry has] faced before.”

Economist’s perspective
Mr. Bendick, who's conducting the study, is an economist who specializes in employment and human-resource management at Bendick and Eagan Economic Consultants. He’s done work for both employers and employees, the departments of Justice and Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Most of his work doesn't involve litigation.

Mr. Bendick wouldn’t comment for this story, but in previous studies — such as “Changing Workplace Cultures to Reduce Employment Discrimination” — he’s touched on types of discrimination that may sound familiar to those toiling in the ad world. “They often derive from social relationships that informally limit access to information about job opportunities. They may reflect issues of ‘social comfort’ and personal style that affect whose comments get listened to, who is perceived as competent and who gets credit for accomplishments.”

On the other hand, he told The Washington Post in January of this year, “If you ask what is the impact of diversity training today, you have to say 75% is junk and will have little impact or no impact or negative impact.”

According to Mr. Mehri, the study won’t be ready for several weeks. “I want to be clear that our firm has commissioned this study because we do our homework before we come in with guns blazing,” he said. The study is meant to offer raw data, a look at causes behind the lack of diversity and, hopefully, remedies.

Leadership problem?
While Mr. Mehri wouldn’t disclose what shapes those remedies might take, he was clear that the answer isn’t more internships, scholarship programs and diversity initiatives — which he sees as “rope-a-dope” schemes designed mostly to make it look like the industry is doing something about the problem.

“It’s not a matter of forming affinity groups among the excluded,” he said. “What needs fixing isn’t the African-Americans; it’s the white guy running the agency. We want to relentlessly focus on not the excluded groups but the excluding groups, the people who control the power and make the decisions. That’s where people are running into barriers. The leadership has to come from the top.”

He went on: “We know the industry has had various diversity efforts over the years. However, these efforts are going to continue to fall short until they understand they're operating under a false premise — that the problem is the supply of African-American talent — when the real problem is the lack of leadership at the top and their exclusionary policies and practices.”

Mr. Mehri countered the argument that the problem is a lack of interest in the industry among African-Americans or a simple lack of candidates. “Supply is important. But you also have to shift the focus to a level playing field. So you can applaud the work that they’re doing, but there’s still going to be this revolving door unless there’s this tenacious focus on a level playing field.”

Contributing: Rupal Parekh

5944: Old Standby Scores With New Media Twist.

AdAge.com presented a Special Report on the 2008 Hispanic Creative Ad Awards. The Best of Show went to Conill for its nontraditional media integration for Toyota. During the telecast of the Copa Libertadores soccer championship, Conill inserted 15-second videos that appeared to be part of the actual game. OK, it’s a breakthrough idea. At the same time, it doesn’t exactly support the contentions of former Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies Chairman Carl Kravetz. When Tommy Thompson posted a perspective at The Big Tent that argued Hispanic ad agencies rely too much on things like soccer (or fútbol), Kravetz declared, “The only people ‘selling’ these insights [like fútbol] are pretenders to Hispanic marketing expertise.” Um, looks like Conill just scored a major “Goooooooal!”

5943: Headlines And Heads.

Figures rising and falling in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Hitler is back. The wax figure from the Madame Tussaud’s museum in Berlin has returned rebuilt after a visitor tore its head off two months ago. Maybe the museum should hire neo-Nazis as added security.

• Alaska Airlines plans to cut up to 10 percent of its workforce and trim capacity by 8 percent. Airline officials stated the actions were in response to “the one-two punch of record oil prices and a softening economy, on top of increased competition.” Guess they’re not expecting Sarah Palin’s rise to boost tourism to the state.

5942: Hot Prospect.

Um, is this recruitment ad designed to lure women or men?

5941: It Takes A Village, People.

A Macho MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The Village People were recognized with a star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Perhaps the venue should be renamed the Hollywood Catwalk of Fame.

• YouTube has agreed to ban videos “inciting others to violence,” following input from Senator Joseph Lieberman, who insisted the site was too open to terrorists. Wish YouTube would ban videos of Lieberman’s political speeches, which incite others to violent nausea and boredom.

5940: Old News From Adweek.

From the September 8, 2008 issue of Adweek.

5939: Traveling Circus.

TGIF with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Senator Larry Craig’s lawyers were in court on Wednesday asking to void the guilty plea stemming from the infamous toilet stall arrest. Wish these guys would piss or get off the pot.

• Kanye West and his road manager were busted for busting the cameras of paparazzi at LAX. Part of the confrontation was videotaped by a TMZ videographer. There’s gotta be a concept for a Kodak or Sony spot here.

• Snoop Dogg was granted a visa to visit Australia for a concert tour, despite initial reservations from the country’s immigration department. Australian paparazzi are encouraged to carry extra cameras.

• O.J. Simpson will face an all-White jury for his trial after defense lawyers failed in their efforts to put two Black women on the panel. No paparazzi problems to report yet.

5938: Recognizing Native Americans.

From USA TODAY…

For payout or pride, more claim Native American heritage

By Janell Ross and Clay Carey, USA TODAY

More Americans are identifying themselves as Native American, pushing the growth rate of that group higher than that of the USA.

Those identifying themselves as at least part American Indian grew from 4.1 million in 2000 to 4.5 million last year, according to U.S. Census data released in August — a 10% increase.

The total American population grew an estimated 7.7% over that period, the data show.

Demographers say the growth, too large to attribute to birth rates, comes after more than a century of Native Americans choosing to hide their ethnicity over fear of discrimination.

“There’s less of a stigma with Indians identifying themselves than there was in the past,” says Jacqueline Johnson Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians in Washington, D.C.

Kathleen Fitzgerald, a sociologist at Columbia College in Missouri, says “there is just more of a sense of freedom to define and describe who you are.”

Some claiming Native American heritage may be motivated by finances, says Bill Wells, an Indian Affairs commissioner in Tennessee. Tribes recognized by the federal government that operate casinos take in more than $20 billion a year, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission, and sometimes pay out significant dividends to their citizens, Wells says.

“I almost hate to say it, but I think there may be some people who see the casinos and the windfall profits and think there may be something for them in identifying,” Wells says.

Melba Checote-Eads of Tennessee, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, says she, her children and grandchildren claim their heritage.

“My daddy always would say ‘Why would any one want to be Indian?’” she says. “Today, a lot of people are doing research, they’re able to find out a lot more about their families. And I think it’s wonderful that some of them want to claim their heritage.”

Cindy Yahola, also of Tennessee and a member of the Muscogee Nation, says she thinks some believe “if they identify themselves as Indian, they are entitled to something” like government money or preference for scholarships.

Still, Yahola says she thinks “it can help us share the culture.”

Ross and Carey report for The Tennessean in Nashville

5937: P.S., PPM.

From Adweek.com…

Arbitron Says Its Sample Is Solid

By Mike Boyle, Radio & Records

NEW YORK Despite mounting scrutiny over its portable people meter (PPM) service by the Federal Communications Commission and New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo, among others, Arbitron kicked off Wednesday’s monthly PPM conference call with president of sales and marketing Pierre Bouvard saying, “We have another set of great news for you on the PPM sample.”

“It’s ironic when you read about the concerns of ethnic broadcasters. In actuality, we have a major overrepresentation problem. We have an overrepresentation of Spanish speakers in all our panels,” Bouvard said.

Some of that news culled from the August data across 10 PPM markets included:

-- An average 6+ Designated Delivery Index (DDI) of 106, with an average DDI in 18-54s of 102.

-- 18-34 DDI is at 93.

-- Arbitron also said it is meeting or exceeding 56 of 57 benchmarks for 18-34s across the 10 markets.

Addressing ethnic sampling, Arbitron svp, marketing Bill Rose pointed out that the black sample is averaging 109 percent of goal across Philadelphia, Houston, New York (nonembedded), Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. However, the same markets are bringing in an average DDI of 116 among Hispanics, with Spanish-dominant Hispanics at 133 and English-dominant Hispanics at 115.

For the second month, Arbitron’s PPM measured AM and FM streams and HD Radio subchannels. There are now 395 HD or Internet streams encoded and ready to report. To show up in the PPM data, a station must have a .495 weekly cume rating. Those stations making the grade in August were Clear Channel AC WLTW and CHR/top 40 WHTZ in New York and Clear Channel AC KOST and CBS Radio alternative KROQ in Los Angeles.

The next milestone for PPM will be Oct. 8, when eight new markets will become currency: New York, Nassau-Suffolk, Middlesex, Los Angeles, Riverside, Chicago, San Francisco and San Jose.

5936: Guilty Displeasures.

From national news sources…

Memo to African-Americans: Sometimes blacks are guilty

By Leonard Pitts

If Kwame Kilpatrick were white, don’t you think he’d have been thrown out of office a long time ago? Heck, he’d be out of jail by now and shopping his memoirs.

Instead, it was just last week, after a year of scandal and revelation that has paralyzed his city and made it the punch line to an international joke, that Detroit’s mayor surrendered his office and copped a plea: 120 days in jail, 5 years’ probation and a $1 million fine. Because, you see, Kilpatrick is not white, he is black in a city that is itself more than 80 percent black. And that complicated things.

For instance, it led to undeserved support from the local black paper.

And to a massive rally for him at a black church.

And to black people blaming the media for “bringing down” a gifted black man.

And to a political consultant calling the case “Jim Crow justice.”

And to Kilpatrick repeatedly portraying himself as a victim of racial politics and a “lynch-mob mentality.”

All the claims of racial solidarity and victimization gave Kilpatrick what Eliot Spitzer could never have imagined: a base from which to dig in his heels and declare he would not be moved.

If you didn’t know better, you might have thought this was Birmingham in 1963 or Montgomery in 1955, with strains of “We Shall Overcome” ringing in the air. You’d never know it was Detroit in 2008 where the issue wasn’t desegregation or human dignity but, rather, a mayor who had an extramarital affair with his chief of staff, fired police who came too close to discovering it, lied about it under oath, agreed to an $8.4 million payoff to keep police from releasing explicit text messages proving the affair and, for good measure, shoved a sheriff’s deputy trying to serve a subpoena to someone else in an unrelated matter.

Racial victimization? Jim Crow justice? Give me a break.

Earlier this year, I excoriated the mayor for playing upon African- Americans’ reflexive tendency to rally in defense of any one of us who gets in trouble. But that’s only part of the problem here. It’s not just that someone played black folks, but that black folks keep letting themselves be played.

Truth is, we get played like checkers any time any high-profile one of us is caught in scandal or sin. From Michael Jackson to O.J. Simpson to Tawana Brawley to Mike Tyson to Marion Barry to Kilpatrick, lying his natural backside off in court, we keep proving pathetically susceptible to manipulation by any brother or sister who says white folks have done him or her wrong—especially if they invoke God a few times for good measure.

There’s an axiom that goes: fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. But what about fool me 87 times? What about fool me like the nerdy kid with the “kick me” sign taped to his back?

What happens when you get fooled like that? I’ll tell you what should happen. You should say, “Enough.” You should evolve the social and political maturity, the common sense and the plain self-respect to stop letting yourself be used like a dishrag.

African-Americans—and, for that matter, all people of conscience—have a moral responsibility to stand up for those who truly are victims of racial injustice. In defending those people, we should be unstinting and unwavering.

We should not, however, be unthinking. We should stop falling into the easy trap of believing every black man in trouble is a victim of racial malfeasance. Sometimes, a black man in trouble is a victim of his own malfeasance. If more black folks in Motown had understood this, the city might not have spent the last year embarrassing itself.

Leonard Pitts is a syndicated columnist based in Washington.

5935: What Obama Teaches Madison Avenue.

The Franklin Blog noted two other blogs—FiveThirtyEight and Crooks And Liars—insisted Barack Obama must create better ads. Crooks And Liars wrote, “The Obama campaign needs to think a little more outside of the box. They should aim to produce ads that are either more creative/funny than a typical campaign ad, or more sincere.” MultiCultClassics posted initial comments at The Franklin Blog, and here they are again with elaboration.

Perhaps Obama realizes traditional ads don’t influence voters’ decisions. After all, has anyone ever cast a ballot because of a commercial?

It’s hard to recall positive and memorable TV spots for presidential candidates. The last one that comes to mind is Hal Riney’s “Morning in America” hyping Ronald Reagan. On the flip side, there are plenty of spots that result in ridicule and worse. How many parodies were inspired by Hillary Clinton’s 3 a.m. nonsense? John McCain has generated loads of problems for himself via broadcast bullshit. You’d think the Arizona senator would opt for direct mail and telemarketing versus continuing to set up people’s punchlines.

The truth—if such a thing exists in advertising and politics—is that Obama has been running great ads. But he’s using nontraditional ad techniques. His digital skills make McCain look downright analog. Plus, Obama lets influencers literally sing praises for him. Meanwhile, numerous recording artists have demanded McCain stop playing their tunes.

There’s been controversy with minority media feeling slighted by Obama. But why buy ad space when the publications put him on nearly every cover? That’s called free publicity.

Obama’s “Change” theme has been consistent and memorable. Could anyone recite McCain’s “Country First” tagline until maybe a week ago?

Obama has displayed an active dislike for the standard political games, and it appears his annoyance extends to the standard political ads. Like successful and breakthrough brands, Obama has established a leadership position without regular marketing schemes. TV spots are not the primary vehicles delivering his messages. And the “product” is ultimately selling itself.

There are lessons here for the ivory towers on Madison Avenue.

5934: Court Nutcases.

Courtroom dramas and sitcoms in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A New York judge dumped two lawsuits by three people who appeared in the 2006 Borat movie. The individuals accused the movie producers of deceiving them over their roles in the film; however, the judge pointed out they had accepted loot and signed agreements. Guess these folks need some cultural learnings of American contract laws.

• A judge allowed 50 Cent the right to see his son regularly while battling for custody with the child’s mother. He’ll probably take the kid to see Borat.

• During jury selection for the O.J. Simpson trial, one prospective juror talked her way out of eligibility. “He chose to put himself in the public eye,” declared the woman. “He should be a little more self-conscious of his actions. … I think as far as the first trial, I felt he got away with murder!” Guess the woman needs some cultural learnings of American jury system.

5933: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—7.

Take a minute to see what others have to say about Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. Carol Watson at The Big Tent posted the first critique last February. In November 2007, Chambers participated in a radio show discussion on Blacks in advertising. Then he hyped the book himself during an interview with WGN-TV. Check out a few reviews at Amazon.com—and while you’re there, buy a copy.

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

5932: Cruising With Puppets.

Never realized Kukla and Ollie were gay.

5931: Marian Salzman Has A Dream.

Marian Salzman is back, presenting another peculiar perspective for Adweek. Inspired by Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Salzman typed the drivel below.

Prior to this election season, I often wondered whether our America is just the chauvinistic, white-man’s world of Mad Men with less smoking and more overweight people. But now, I think America can evolve enough to present a blended, multicultural face. Take Biden’s middle-class upbringing, blond grandchildren, schoolteacher wife and son Beau, who ships out next month, and combine them with Obama’s biracial heritage, hardworking single mother, Ivy League loans and hypoallergenic puppy. By choosing these candidates, we are finally putting the best of reality forward. No excuses, no dreams, but lots of promises. The imperfections are encouraging -- no denials about inhaling, no pretensions of perfect fathers, no excuses about skeletons that may rattle out of closets. Together, the Obamas and Bidens hold out the American Promise for the rest of the world: We’re real, and we’re ready to join with you, not as a with-us-or-against-us superior force but as a powerful inclusive world leader, ready to bring our strength to the table to address problems near and far.

As for Mad Men, is it just a coincidence that it’s set 45 years ago, when Dr. King shared his vision and Madison Avenue was selling advertising dreams? I can’t help wondering whether some of my generation, and some in the advertising industry, emotionally hark back to that era. Fortunately, Obama’s historic American Promise speech is a wake-up call and a measure of huge progress since that era. We’re moving on from those fashions, those rules of engagement and those arrogant assumptions.

Um, that’s nice. Except Salzman has spent most of her adult life on Madison Avenue, where Obama’s vision for change has hardly been realized. In fact, Salzman is currently employed at Porter Novelli of the Omnicom network, home to homophobic and diversity-adverse Mad Men and Women. The self-labeled—and self-absorbed—futurist needs to join the rest of us in the 21st century.

5930: Hanging With The Homeboys. And Hos.

Pre-trial news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• What will 50 Cent do before the custody trial over his 11-year-old son? “I’m going to hang out with some hos, make some movies, make some music, and continue to kick it,” declared Fiddy. Gee, we wonder how this trial will turn out.

• O.J. Simpson can’t catch a break. He was pulled over in Nevada after stopping at a gas station because a customer called the cops to say Juice was juiced. As it turned out, Simpson was sober. Just goes to show that the man is occasionally innocent.

• Mickey D’s worldwide sales jumped 14.5 percent in August. Um, does the planet Earth have a weight limit?

5929: Must Be Skilled With Sword.

Um, is this actual job listing seeking an Asian candidate?

Creative Director

Description:
The Creative Director is the Shogun warlord who rules over his or her creative fiefdom with a fist made of iron. The CD is the visionary at the head of all creative teams and is the key contributor to the creative direction of the ZAAZ brand. The CD is a natural, authoritative communicator with an inside line on design trends, marketing principals, cultural issues, technologies and opportunities in online communication, and provides thought leadership through his or her writing, blogs and/or speaking engagements. The CD sets the company vision for creative excellence and collaborative engagement with ZAAZ clients and internal project teams, and takes a hands-on approach with our key AOR (agency of record) accounts to ensure we are achieving potential wrt creative solutions. The CD maintains general oversight on all of the agency’s creative work to ensure quality, accuracy and excellence. In addition to overseeing the Art Directors, Designers and Writers responsible for understanding, conceptualizing, and executing both the client-based and ZAAZ internal projects, the CD also acts as mentor and helps to develop their growth within the company.

5928: Cream, With No Coffee.

AMC series Mad Men continues to exhibit clumsiness with racial and ethnic depictions. Is it rooted in trying too hard to make minorities “invisible” for historical accuracy—or are the program’s creators simply culturally clueless themselves? Everything seems so forced and staged.

At the office, a Black woman served coffee to staffers. Although she was placed in the foreground, she never made eye contact with the characters, staring intently at the floor while pouring joe. Even copywriter Paul Kinsey—who’s got a Black girlfriend—wouldn’t acknowledge the vendor, except to place his order.

Mad Men attempts to bring depth to topics like sexism and religion, albeit in exaggerated fashion. This week’s episode also furthered generational differences with Sterling Cooper’s young turks team. And is art director Salvatore Romano about to introduce a gay subplot? Overall, the program’s creators closely examine subjects where they can relate or have personal insight. But rarely in the racial and ethnic categories.

It makes you wonder about the diversity of the AMC creative team.

5927: Heading To Court. Again.

Selected news items in a MultiCultClassics Monologue….

• Jury selection for the latest O.J. Simpson trial is scheduled to start today. After the November 2007 preliminary hearing, Simpson had remarked, “If I have any disappointment it’s that I wish a jury was here. … As always, I rely on the jury system.” Does Simpson make a distinction between the jury system and the justice system?

• Gary Coleman got into a spat with a fan over pictures taken at a Utah bowling alley. An irate Coleman allegedly hit the fan with his truck while pulling out of a parking space. Police are still trying to determine if the act was deliberate. Not sure how Coleman feels about the jury system.

5926: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—6. History Repeats Itself Again And Again.

A New York advertising agency executive declared, “My belief in giving [Blacks] the business opportunities to which they are entitled is not a matter of ‘tolerance.’ It’s just a better way to do business. It gives you that many more people from which you can choose the best. Send me applicants for jobs and I’ll judge them side by side with applicants of any other color, on their merits.”

The executive also conducted a study to determine the number of Blacks in advertising. Within 10 New York shops comprised of 20,000 total employees, only 21 workers were Black—of which 11 were mailroom attendants, receptionists or janitors.

In response to the findings, industry organizations established a placement service to recruit qualified Black candidates. A training program was set up to help folks gain experience, along with initiatives to hype advertising as a viable career.

When did these events take place?

In the 1940s and early 1950s.

The scenario repeated in 1963, when the Urban League of Greater New York polled the top 10 Madison Avenue agencies—J. Walter Thompson, McCann-Erickson, Young & Rubicam, BBDO, Ted Bates, FCB, Benton & Bowles, Compton Advertising, Grey and Kenyon and Eckhardt—and discovered fewer than 25 Blacks in leadership roles amid 25,000 employees. This time, the 4As disputed the findings, arguing the industry actually had up to 100 Black employees. But the organization later confessed including mailroom attendants, maids and janitors, ultimately confirming the accuracy of the Urban League’s figures.

Oh, and similar actions happened in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 21st century too.

Read all about it and a whole lot more historical reruns in the third chapter of Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers. If you hope to understand what’s going on now, study what took place back in the day. There’s no time like the present to buy the book. Or if you’re a lazy cheapskate, Chapter 3 can be acquired online for FREE right here.

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

5925: Farting, Peeing And Pooping.

Farting Teddy Bear and Discreet Home Delivery of Depend: Questionable media placement or the total gift package for loved ones?

5924: Olympic Shilling.

Does anyone believe Olympic champions eat any of the products they hype?

5923: LPGA Says Oops. In English.

It’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. And the LPGA has done just that, rethinking its English-language mandate. AdAge.com reported the latest details…

LPGA Revises English-Only Policy for Players After Protests
California Was Looking Into Whether Policy Violated Laws

By Michael Bush

NEW YORK -- The Ladies Professional Golf Association is taking a mulligan. The league, obviously feeling the mounting pressure from sponsors, its own players, fans, politicians and community groups, issued a statement today announcing that it was taking another shot at its English-proficiency policy issued earlier this week. The group has amended the policy by rescinding the penalty provisions.

The statement, from Commissioner Carolyn F. Bivens, stated that the league has received “valuable feedback from a variety of constituents” and “decided to rescind those penalty provisions.”

No ‘future success’ talk
The statement went on to say: “After hearing the concerns, we believe there are other ways to achieve our shared objective of supporting and enhancing the business opportunities for every tour player. In that spirit, we will continue communicating with our diverse tour players to develop a better alternative. The LPGA will announce a revised approach, absent playing penalties, by the end of 2008. During that time we will continue to provide support under the 3-year-old Kolon-LPGA Cross Cultural Program. This popular program provides all LPGA members with the best cross-cultural training in the form of tutors, translators, Rosetta Stone, the official language-learning system of the LPGA, as well as assistance from LPGA staff and consultants.”

Conspicuously absent from this statement is anything regarding the “future success” or “long-term business” success of the league. When the LPGA issued a statement earlier this week trying to explain its position and reasoning for the policy, the success of the league was mentioned a number of times, making the policy seem very self-serving.

The LPGA’s language-policy provision drew fire from State Farm, a general sponsor of the league as well as of the State Farm Classic Tournament in Springfield, Ill.

“You can see what’s intended,” Kip Diggs, media-relations specialist at the insurer, had said of the statement. “There’s no way I would allow one of my executives to make a statement like this or implement this policy.”

Libba Galloway, deputy commissioner of the LPGA, told Ad Age she felt there was nothing wrong with the initial statement.

Light bulb has gone off
“I don’t see any problems with it, and we have had a number of people respond to it, and now they say the light bulb has gone off,” she said.

Yesterday, Sen. Leland Yee of the California State Senate said he was looking into a legal option to determine whether the LPGA Tour’s language requirement for players violates state or federal law, the AP reported.

State Farm blasted the policy earlier in the week . Speaking to Ad Age, Mr. Diggs said: “It’s something we are dumfounded by. We don’t understand this and don’t know why they have done it, and we have strongly encouraged them to take another look at this.”

Apparently it has.

5922: Grande Moron.

Such a heartwarming moment, as Dad serves coffee to his six-year-old son.

5921: FCC OK W/AHAA+PPMC.

From Adweek.com…

FCC to Address PPM Petition
The groups claim that Arbitron’s methodology does not adequately sample ethnic audiences

By Katy Bachman, Mediaweek

WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission may not have authority to investigate Arbitron, but it set comment dates to address the emergency petition filed by the PPM Coalition and the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies.

The two groups, made up of a number of Hispanic broadcasters, as well as urban broadcaster ICBC Broadcast Holdings and the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, filed a petition earlier this week requesting the FCC investigate the accuracy of Arbitron’s portable people meter technology.

In addition to its PPM markets in Houston and Philadelphia, Arbitron plans to commercialize eight markets Oct. 8, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The two petitioning groups claim that Arbitron’s PPM methodology does not adequately sample ethnic audiences and that subsequent ratings will seriously harm minority broadcasters.

“A Section 403 inquiry is the only way the commission can shed light on the methodological problems identified in early PPM markets and avert harm to minority broadcasters from a rollout of PPM with a flawed methodology that undercounts minority audiences,” the groups wrote in their petition.

The commission moved at lightning speed. Comments on the petition are due to the FCC by Sept. 24, and reply comments are due Oct. 6.

Arbitron continues to maintain the FCC, which regulates the nation’s airwaves, does not have jurisdiction over media research firms.

--with additional reporting by Julie Gidlow Radio and Records

5920: The Humane Society Is Full Of Dogshit.

As noted in a previous post, Governor Sarah Palin made a derogatory comment that has actually been embraced by the media. During her speech at the Republican National Convention, Palin quipped, “Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

Seems like a pretty innocent joke. Yet when Verizon Wireless presented a commercial depicting pit bulls as brutal beasts requiring chains, the Humane Society, the ASPCA and PETA viciously attacked the advertiser, forcing the removal of the spot. Plus, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society went so far as to post comments at Adrants defending the disdain.

So where’s the moral outrage now? Sarah Palin has negatively labeled pit bulls—and created far more publicity than Verizon Wireless could ever hope to match—but the animal activists are quiet as a mouse. Although not the screeching mice used in obscene lab experiments that immediately receive support from the Humane Society and others. Besides a vague blog entry at a site called fetchdog.com, there are virtually zero complaints from the typically irate dog fans.

Maybe the animal lovers are plotting upcoming strikes, and we can expect to see protestors at the next Palin campaign stop. Or PETA will run print ads comparing Palin’s words to slurs and atrocities against women. The possibilities are endless.

Or more likely, the groups realize that confronting Palin would be a bad political move, potentially leading to a backlash that might adversely affect donations.

Slamming an advertiser is easy game, like shooting fish in a barrel. But the Humane Society, the ASPCA and PETA are not about to bite the hands that feed them.

Which just makes them full of shit—excreted from all animal buttholes.

Cartoon above by Dana Summers, Orlando Sentinel.

5919: Oprah! Oprah! Oprah!

An Oprah-filled MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Oprah officially announced she won’t invite Sarah Palin to be a guest on her iconic TV show until after the election. A statement read, “There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.” Wonder if Ellen DeGeneres will be dancing with Palin anytime soon.

• Marion Jones was released from federal prison, after serving a six-month sentence for lying to federal agents investigating doping charges. Now she has to complete 800 hours of community service. Wonder if Jones will appear on Oprah’s show anytime soon.

• Hip hop artist Ludacris is embracing his real name for film roles. “[Acting] is a different business, and I do want to be taken seriously, so it’s back to being Chris Bridges,” explained Chris Bridges. Funny, most Hollywood actors change their real names to something flashier, yet hip hop artists feel the need to go the opposite direction. Also, definitely don’t expect Ludaris/Chris Bridges to appear on Oprah’s show anytime soon.

5918: Some Of My Best Friends Are Stock Photos.

Daily Koz noted stock photos were used to depict diversity in John McCain’s introductory bio video at the Republican National Convention. It’s amazing that the campaign missed the opportunity to use this guy.

Hat tip to Danny G.

5917: Smoothie Operator.

To sell smoothies to Latinos, Jack In The Box salutes Carmen Miranda…?

5916: Doing More For Less.

As this actual job listing shows, employers aren’t shy about telling candidates they’ll be expected to assume responsibilities traditionally handled by multiple employees. Although seeking an art director/designer with proofreading capabilities is, well, stupid. But is the trend toward dynamic workers an indicator of evolving basic skill sets or just basically cheap employers?

QC/proofreader/typography guru

Description:
We are looking for a hands-on QC/Proofreader/Typography Guru for our night shift. Hours are from 4pm to 12am. Ideal candidate must be able to build InDesign print mechanicals, adhere to strict brand guidelines and make aesthetic judgment calls. Must be expert with Adobe InDesign CS3. 6-plus years Agency background is preferred.

5915: The Good Hands Colored People.

Buenas Manos doesn’t translate to Buenas Layouts.

5914: Time To Jet.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Publisher of Ebony and Jet steps down

By Associated Press

The publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines has stepped down.

Kenard Gibbs left the magazines’ Chicago-based parent company, Johnson Publishing, on Wednesday.

Company spokeswoman Staci R. Collins Jackson says “it was an amicable parting.” She did not offer further details.

According to Johnson Publishing, Gibbs was appointed publisher in June of last year. He also oversaw the Ebony/Jet Entertainment Group.

The 44-year-old is a former president of Vibe magazine. He also co-founded Madvision Entertainment, which has purchased the “Soul Train” franchise.

Messages left for Gibbs were not immediately returned Thursday.

5913: Monstrous Optimism.

Monster.com presents a job listing for a New York Creative Director. And the corresponding photo depicts a Black woman. What. Ever.

5912: Drinking and Driving In Runs.

Keep Walking doesn’t seem like a good pitch for a baseball theme.

5911: Don’t Know What You Did Last Summer.

The Franklin Blog is back up and running after taking off most of the summer.

5910: CUL8R, Mayor Kilpatrick.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigns

By Tim Jones, Chicago Tribune correspondent

Mired in a sex scandal that crippled the governance of Detroit all year, the city’s troubled mayor chose Thursday to walk out of office, rather than run the increasing risk of being heaved out.

The tawdry drama of Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick, the once-promising 38-year-old mayor of the nation’s 11th largest city, ended in a wood-paneled courtroom when a subdued Kilpatrick, after months of defiant claims of innocence, meekly pleaded guilty to reduced felony charges and agreed to serve 4 months in jail and pay up to $1 million in restitution.

“I lied under oath,” Kilpatrick told the court, conceding what growing numbers of Detroiters have suspected for months — he covered up an affair with his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, that was at the center of a lawsuit settled by the city for $8.4 million.

In live remarks broadcast by Detroit TV stations Thursday night, Kilpatrick said he takes full responsibility for his “poor judgment.”

Kilpatrick, sometimes called the “hip-hop mayor” first elected amid great fanfare in 2001, is scheduled to leave office no later than Sept. 18. But in a city whose residents are well aware of the steamy details of text messages between Kilpatrick and Beatty, widely reported in the media, the mayor is already history.

“I think there is a giant sense of relief in the city and the entire state over the events of today,” said Larry Dubin, a professor at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. “This is like opening up an artery and permitting the blood to flow again for the city.”

Kilpatrick will be succeeded by Ken Cockrel Jr., 42, the city council president.

In recent weeks it became clear that time was running out for Kilpatrick. Business and religious leaders and the city’s African-American newspaper said Kilpatrick should quit. The prurient interest of the scandal made Detroit the butt of late night talk show jokes. Sales transactions aimed at balancing the city’s budget were stalled. And Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm began expulsion hearings, fanning a flurry of activity aimed at a plea bargain.

Granholm, who halted Thursday’s scheduled hearing after Kilpatrick’s plea, called the events of the day “a sad but historic story” that is coming to an end.

Michigan Atty. Gen. Mike Cox, attending the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, called Kilpatrick’s exit “a great day for the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan.”

Such a scenario did not seem likely seven years ago, when the charismatic 31-year-old state legislator and son of a powerful congresswoman took over the reigns of the shrinking city and seemed to energize the city by force of will. Spending irregularities began to multiply and reports circulated of a wild party at the mayor’s mansion, involving strippers and members of the mayor’s security detail. While Kilpatrick was re-elected in 2005, he had earned a reputation of political immaturity.

When the Detroit Free Press published texts of salacious messages between Kilpatrick, married and the father of three children, and Beatty, a divorced mother, contradicting courtroom claims that there was no romantic relationship, the reservoir of goodwill toward the mayor began to dry up.

Although his mother, U.S. Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, chairs the influential Congressional Black Caucus, Kilpatrick became a political pariah. Assault charges last month resulted in his being fitted with a court-ordered electronic tether. He was prevented from leaving the city, much to the relief of Democrats uncomfortable with the prospect of Kilpatrick attending last month’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

His political capital spent and his electoral promise squandered, Kilpatrick struck the plea deal as Granholm was preparing the second day of expulsion hearings.

“This has been a great distraction. Now we can begin to rebuild the image of the city,” said John Mogk, who ran for mayor of Detroit in the 1970’s and now teaches law at Wayne State University. “Everyone at all levels is relieved that the mayor has resigned.”

5909: Banning Stereotypes In Advertising.

From Adweek.com…

Euro Parliament Targets ‘Stereotyping’
Votes to ban sexist images in advertising, media

By Leo Cendrowicz, The Hollywood Reporter

BRUSSELS National media monitoring bodies should be set up to deal with stereotypes in advertising and media, particularly degrading depictions of women, the European Parliament said Wednesday.

The Parliament, meeting in Brussels, voted on a program to ban sexist images of women and men in advertising, broadcasting, video games and other media.

The monitoring bodies would handle complaints from the public, study and report on the question of women in the media and grant gender equality awards to media and advertising professionals.

The Parliament said images such as women cleaning the kitchen and men polishing their cars simply play up stereotypes, undermining efforts to achieve equality between the sexes.

“Advertising and marketing create culture rather than just reflect it,” the Parliament said. “Gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting individuals to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumbed down for both sexes.”

Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson, who drafted most of the program, said that gender stereotyping affects the self-esteem of women and men, particularly teenagers and those susceptible to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. One area of particular concern was the use of extremely thin women to advertise products.

5908: Painful Polaroids.

Viewing this ad induces pain that Advil Liqui-Gels can’t relieve.

5907: Dogging Out Sarah Palin.

During her speech at the Republican National Convention, Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin joked, “Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

Look for the Humane Society, the ASPCA, PETA and Avon sales representatives to demand Palin’s resignation.

5906: LPGA Speaks Bullshit. In Plain English.

Adage.com published an interview with Libba Galloway, deputy commissioner of the LPGA, discussing the organization’s new English policy. For someone trying to mandate English, Galloway appears to demonstrate extraordinary proficiency in PR jargon and corporate bullshit.

LPGA Stands By Its Decision on English Skills for Golfers
Official Welcomes Debate, Says Critics Need to Understand Group’s Business Model

By Michael Bush

NEW YORK -- The LPGA is taking a lot of heat from sports commentators, community groups and now a major sponsor, State Farm, for its controversial new policy to require English-language proficiency for its players. State Farm has been publicly critical of the policy and said if the LPGA does not reconsider, the insurer may not renew its tour sponsorship.

Today, Libba Galloway, deputy commissioner of the LPGA, spoke with Advertising Age about its policy and the concerns of its sponsors.

Ad Age: How do you respond to State Farm?

Ms. Galloway: We have been in communications with State Farm since last week and had a number of conversations with them and will continue that dialogue with them.

Ad Age: Do you disagree with what State Farm has said?

Ms. Galloway: That’s a conversation between us and State Farm, and our conversations with our sponsors are just that: conversations between us and them.

Ad Age: Do you think LPGA’s statement issued yesterday comes off the exact way you wanted it to?

Ms. Galloway: Absolutely. I don’t see any problems with it, and we have had a number of people respond to it, and now they say the light bulb has gone off.

Ad Age: Have you been contacted by other sponsors?

Ms. Galloway: We’ve talked with a number of them, yes.

Ad Age: What kinds of things have they said?

Ms. Galloway: We’ve had dialogues with sponsors, but we haven’t been keeping a tally of people in favor or against the policy. But the reactions are extremely varied, and we have some in total agreement, some sponsors who want more information and some who disagree.

Ad Age: If you had it to do over again, would you [announce the policy] differently and alert sponsors before the fact?

Ms. Galloway: This was always only intended to be an internal member [matter]. We’re a membership organization, and this is a matter between the LPGA and our members, and just like other matters of membership regulation, we never intended to have a public announcement of it.

Ad Age: Should the LPGA have realized there would be such a backlash?

Ms. Galloway: We know different people have different opinions on things, and we didn’t anticipate the depth and the variance of the reaction that we received, particularly considering this is an internal membership regulation. But as we’re getting feedback, it’s running from total agreement with it to people who disagree with the position. And we find that the more we explain our business model, the more likely people will be in agreement with us. We welcome this dialogue.

Ad Age: Are you concerned and possibly rethinking this, or do you plan to forge ahead regardless of what your sponsors and others think?

Ms. Galloway: This is a program that didn’t happen overnight. We’ve been working on it for three years now, and we intend to continue with it. That having been said, we are listening to the feedback and engaging in dialogue with [those who gave us feedback], and we have had useful exchanges of information.

Ad Age: What is your reasoning for the policy?

Ms. Galloway: The reason is that this policy is vital to LPGA business and tour membership. Our focus on effective communication in English is fundamental to our business model.

Ad Age: What is your response to the community groups that believe this is racist?

Ms. Galloway: We’ve been in dialogue with some of those [groups] and find that the dialogue gets to be more beneficial once we explain some very key points of our program. Once we explain this, we learn a lot from each other.

5905: Undressed And Possessed.

The bed of your dreams… will have you levitating like Linda Blair.

5904: AHAA+PPMC C FCC 4 Arbitron BS.

From Adweek.com…

AHAA, Coalition File FCC Petition Over PPM
The groups disagree with Arbitron about the representation of the Hispanic audience sample

By Katy Bachman, Mediaweek

NEW YORK The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies and the PPM Coalition, a group of minority radio broadcasters, filed an emergency petition late Tuesday with the Federal Communications Commission requesting an investigation into the accuracy of Arbitron’s portable people meter methodology.

Arbitron has two portable people meter markets in Houston and Philadelphia and plans to commercialize the PPM service in eight markets by the end of the year. Among those markets: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

AHAA’s and the PPM Coalition’s decision to turn to the FCC, which regulates the airwaves, follows several months of meetings between Arbitron and minority broadcasters, who fear lower ratings and dwindling ad dollars. Last week, the Spanish Radio Association issued a statement expressing its disappointment with Arbitron’s PPM methodology.

While supporting electronic measurement, AHAA said it is in “sharp disagreement” with Arbitron about the representation of the Hispanic audience sample. “It could have a devastating impact on the industry, wiping out nearly half of the minority broadcasters,” the group said in a statement.

Arbitron countered that the PPM is more accurate than the diary and that the petitioning groups have failed to acknowledge improvements in the quality of Arbitron’s minority samples.

Arbitron said: “Our PPM samples are designed to effectively represent the diversity of the African-American and Spanish-language radio marketplace and of all the markets we measure in terms of age, sex, race, ethnicity and Spanish-language preference.”

Whether the FCC, which regulates the airwaves, has any jurisdiction may reduce the current controversy to a battle of press releases and statements.

“Arbitron does not believe that the FCC has jurisdiction over the company or its operations and assets and consequently lacks the authority to commence a Section 403 investigation. Nevertheless, we are committed to continue our voluntary meetings with the FCC,” Arbitron said.

5903: LPGA Needs Policy Interpreter.

The LPGA insisted its English policy is intended to help players enhance sponsorship opportunities. But according to AdAge.com, now sponsors are questioning the move…

State Farm Blasts LPGA English Proficiency Policy
Insurer Tells Golf Group It May ‘Re-Examine’ Sponsorship

By Michael Bush

NEW YORK -- Saying it was “flabbergasted” by the Ladies Professional Golf Association’s new policy requiring “effective communication in English on the part of all of our Tour members,” State Farm is urging the group to reconsider -- or the insurer may reconsider its sponsorship.

“It’s something we are dumfounded by,” said Kip Biggs, media-relations specialist at the insurer, which is a general sponsor of the league as well as of the State Farm Classic Tournament in Springfield, Ill. “We don’t understand this and don’t know why they have done it, and we have strongly encouraged them to take another look at this.”

LPGA defends position
The LPGA claims that the language barrier facing a number of its players is causing problems on many fronts, including the players’ dealings with the media as well as the league’s sponsors and the customers of those sponsors.

Mr. Biggs, however, said State Farm was unaware that the LPGA was contemplating any such policy. While he would not disclose the value of State Farm’s LPGA sponsorship, which runs through next year, he said the policy was something that the company would take into consideration when deciding whether to continue its relationship with the league when its contract expires.

“We’re looking at all of our options, but we would hope it would not come to [ending the partnership],” he said. “But this policy does concern us greatly, and as you could imagine, when [the sponsorship] comes up for review, it's something we’ll take into account when we look at either re-upping or walking away. We made that commitment, and we’re going to honor it, but we reserve the right to re-examine our sponsorships. Right now we have just let them know that this is something we are not pleased with.”

State Farm isn’t the only sponsor taking note. David Peikin, senior director-corporate communications at Choice Hotels International, said, “We have a great deal of interest in the intentions of the LPGA on this subject. Based on our understanding, this policy is currently under review by the LPGA, and a final decision and any related details will be determined over the next four months. Until that time, we will be closely monitoring LPGA news and announcements.”

While the LPGA has issued a statement defending its policy, the group did not return calls at press time regarding the comments of State Farm or other sponsors.

Questionable approach
Ann Wool, senior VP-director at Ketchum Sports network, said it was a mistake for the LPGA not to talk to its sponsors before announcing the policy. “When making a major policy decision it’s always wise to notify your sponsors,” Ms. Wool said. “I can only speculate that [the LPGA] didn’t think this was going to be such a controversial issue, otherwise they probably would have. It was probably a bad move not to notify their sponsors.”

Ms. Wool said she understands the intent of the league but that its execution was wrong. “The fact that they are calling it a policy is a problem,” she said. “From a PR standpoint that's the fundamental problem. Offering and encouraging players to improve their English so they help themselves and the league be more media-friendly is great. But when you make it a policy and threaten people it turns the whole thing on its head.”

Since its announcement, the league has been catching heat from a number of sources including sports writers, community groups and AdAge.com readers. The statement that the league issued today hoped to clarify the group’s position on the matter by saying it has worked for many years to improve the language skills of its players through tutors and translators. Instead, the statement seemed to add credence to the argument that the policy is self-serving and only being issued because the league is afraid of losing sponsorship dollars.

“It is imperative for the future success of the LPGA as well as the success of each LPGA player that our members effectively communicate in English at tournaments inside the United States with those who provide for the existence of the tournaments and the opportunities for professional women golfers to make a living doing what they love,” the statement reads. “Much of the criticism of our policy has centered around the LPGA’s penalty for players who do not meet the minimum language threshold. The penalty is meant to underscore the importance of this issue to the LPGA’s long-term business success.”

LPGA may need better communication skills
Mr. Biggs doesn’t believe the statement is going to accomplish what the league is hoping it will. “There are ways to communicate things and it really sounds like the commissioner [Carolyn F. Bivens] did not listen to what the communications people around her might have encouraged her to [say] or to communicate this in a different way,” he said.

“You can see what’s intended,” Mr. Biggs said, adding, “There’s no way I would allow one of my executives to make a statement like this or implement this policy. The policy is troubling. It’s one thing to want to be able to promote your product and have players communicate to your sponsors. But when you start to require that people do something and then back it up with penalties, that goes a mighty long way and that’s troubling.”

According to the LPGA’s site, there are 478 LPGA tour members. The Associated Press reported that there are 121 international players from 26 countries on the tour, including 45 players from South Korea.

5902: Viva Las Vegas.

Maybe this is why those guys keep singing, “Viva Viagra!”

5901: VP=Very Pretty…?

From The Chicago Tribune…

Palin faces a cultural crucible
As VP hopeful prepares to take center stage, Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller weighs the role of sexism in the national conversation

By Julia Keller, Cultural Critic

She’s hunted moose at midnight without batting an eyelash, but Sarah Palin now finds herself up against the biggest beast of all: cultural expectations for women.

The Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential hopeful is expected to address her party’s national convention Wednesday night. But that’s not her toughest challenge.

Unlike a previous generation of female politicians—such as Nancy Pelosi, 68, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, or even Sen. Hillary Clinton, 60, runner-up to Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination—the 44-year-old Palin is beset by questions, apprehensions, opinions, assumptions and accusations that her older countrywomen rarely faced.

Palin has won a beauty pageant and caught salmon. She runs and she hunts and she races snowmobiles. She’s at home on a rifle range—and in front of a kitchen range. She and her husband, Todd Palin, are raising five children, including one with Down syndrome. She’s part Annie Oakley, part Anita Bryant.

And Palin is young and pretty, in what some commentators have referred to as a “sexy librarian” sort of way. But does pointing that out constitute sexism?

“How do you talk about women candidates without mentioning that they’re—well, women?” muses Nancy Pearl, Seattle-based librarian and author of “Book Lust” (2003) who writes often about images of professional women.

“And then,” she adds, “how can you not talk about how sexy they are or aren’t?”

Once Sen. John McCain’s pick was confirmed Friday, blogs began to twitch and burble with descriptions such as “smokin’ hot” and “easy on the eyes.” Then came the backlash: How dare Palin seek such a demanding office while being responsible for five children? When news broke this week that Bristol, Palin’s unmarried 17-year-old daughter, is five months pregnant, the cyber-scythes began to swing higher and wider.

Never mind that many male politicians have large families and are rarely challenged about their ability to balance work and family. Or that many American families have dealt with the pregnancies of teenage daughters.

‘Role reversal’
With the Palin pick, the nation is entering unknown territory—and not just because she hails from Alaska.

Carol Felsenthal, Chicago-based author of this year’s “Clinton in Exile,” points out that Palin is turning traditional ideological stances upside down—another measure of the unprecedented nature of what the aspiring vice president represents.

“There’s such a role reversa” Felsenthal says. “You have this conservative, pro-life Republican woman—but it’s the liberal Democrats who are saying, ‘But who’s going to take care of the children?’”

Felsenthal also notes that both Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, a Republican said to have been on McCain’s short list for the VP spot, have mentioned their wives’ physical attractiveness in public, along with chuckling references to their own homeliness.

How comfortable would we be with a female candidate who referred to a hunky husband and her own dowdiness?

To be or not to be pretty
Physical beauty has been a significant issue in political campaigns since the advent of television. As many historians note, a skinny, unkempt, horse-faced fellow named Abraham Lincoln probably would not fare very well in electoral politics in this age of “Larry King Live” and the endless open faucet known as YouTube. In previous centuries, few people knew what a public figure actually looked like. Today, however, it’s hard to escape the constant images of candidates.

And that cuts both ways for female politicians. Being attractive is generally better than being unattractive, but women often find their appearance listed ahead of their ambitions or accomplishments.

“When a woman’s looks are mentioned, some people say, ‘Well, that’s just life,’” says Leonard Kniffel, editor in chief of American Libraries, the magazine of the Chicago-based American Library Association. “But women, many times, are judged first on their looks.” Indeed, bloggers elbowed each other out of the way to be the first to note Palin’s resemblance to actor and writer Tina Fey—another smart, accomplished woman who wears glasses.

Kniffel said he wasn’t bothered by those who cited Palin’s “sexy librarian” look. “I was delighted and I laughed.”

New and different roles for women can induce discomfort and anxiety in some people—just as does, sadly, the prospect of an African-American president. But this is, by most accounts, an election year in which the hunger for change is a crucial factor. And with the Palin pick, both political parties are now offering a vigorous variation of the same old thing.

What if Palin proves to be a great vice president—but a lousy mother? It sounds like a reasonable question — until you realize that it would rarely, if ever, be asked about a man.

5900: Turkey Tagger.

Reynolds Wrap goes revolutionary.

5899: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—5. Don’t Judge A Book By Its Color.

MultiCultClassics wonders if Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers could capture a wider (i.e., Whiter) audience by sporting a different cover. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the current cover. The image was drawn from an actual advertisement for Zebra Associates, a Black ad agency that launched in 1969 and closed in 1976.


Yet when you consider the covers of most Black-related advertising books, you’ll see the words and imagery sometimes present a political or even militant vibe that may be polarizing for non-Black folks.


As stated in previous posts, Madison Avenue and the Color Line should be read by everyone in the industry, especially given the continued diversity drama. The book really does offer an incredible historical perspective on the business, detailing how things evolved into the current situation. To quote the standard Black History Month headline, “It’s not Black history—it’s American history.” So here are a few alternative covers that might provide greater crossover appeal.

Not completely sure what this means, but it has a friendly urban feel.


This concept turns the tome into a handy educational guide.


This final idea taps into the popular AMC Mad Men series, with a nod to Ralph Ellison and Lowell Thompson.


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

5898: Hallmark Moments.

Not sure how Hallmark gets away with using these images. Are politicians in the public domain? Anyway, guess we can expect McCain and Palin cards soon—for retirement and new baby, respectively.

5897: Warning Signs Of Assimilation…?

Someday you’ll be in credit card debt just like your gringo peers.

5896: Where’s The Political Party At?

From USA TODAY…

Study: Sharp drop in black GOP delegates

By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY

ST. PAUL — There are 36 black delegates at the Republican convention here — fewer than 2% of the total and a sharp drop-off from 2004, a think tank reports.

The GOP record was set with 6.7% black delegates in 2004.

The Democratic Party, which has targets for minority representation, said a record 24.5% of delegates at its convention last week were black. That’s about twice the percentage of blacks in the U.S. population, according to the Census Bureau.

Joanna Burgos, a spokeswoman for the GOP convention, said 13% of delegates this year are minorities. She said that’s double the total in 1996, and “we look forward to continuing and expanding these relationships.”

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, which specializes in black issues and released the report, said Republican John McCain likely will end up with a historically low share of the black vote despite his outreach to groups such as the NAACP.

The chief reasons, the group said, are Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s enormous appeal to black voters and McCain’s “association with President Bush, an exceptionally unpopular figure” among blacks.

The report said McCain also is hurt because his home state of Arizona has few blacks and there are no well-known black elected officials to make his case.

GOPAC Chairman Michael Steele, whose group helps elect Republicans to state and local office, said the black community “has to get out of the mind-set that anything the Republican Party says is bad for them.” But Steele, who is black, also said that “black folks aren’t going to flock to the GOP unless they have something to flock to.” He said his party should build coalitions and relationships with black voters.

One black convention delegate, Robert Smith of Little Rock, said he was amused but not surprised at the tiny number of blacks. He said he is on a personal mission to win back blacks he says are “voting for Barack Obama out of ethnicity rather than principle.” If he’s successful, he said, “this will be the last time you see so few” blacks at a GOP convention.

5895: The Siren Song Of Soccer.

Despite the arguments that Latino advertising is evolving—and in some areas, it is—soccer (or fútbol) remains an overused theme. State Farm attempts to be progressive, yet amid a baby’s room filled with toys and accessories for newborns, there’s a soccer ball. Visa also tries to depict contemporary lifestyle images, but still feels the need to stick a soccer ball decal on the family ride.


Other advertisers don’t even bother being subtle.

5894: Heartburn-Inducing Testimonial.

Where do ad people find these celebrity endorsers? Is there some sort of career graveyard of washed-up stars that advertisers can dig from?

5893: Mad Mention.

AMC series Mad Men seems to be losing its edge. And the show never had much of an edge to begin with, despite the contentions of its adoring fans and critics.

In the beginning, creator Matthew Weiner appeared intent on presenting an authentic period piece, a 360-degree view of life in the 1960s. There was an attempt to tap every angle, from the set designs, hairstyles and wardrobe to the societal morals and attitudes.

The visuals remain true to the original objectives. But Mad Men continues acting uncomfortable—or at least uncertain—in the emotional drama area. The series ultimately settles on pushing the easy buttons of sex and sexism.

Peggy Olson is the resident guinea pig for the chauvinistic pigs writing the episodes. She’s gone from secretary to mistress to cub copywriter to unwed mother to dysfunctional daughter to priest pal to Don Draper’s confidante and bail provider to disrespected teammate to getting her ass slapped by a coworker to showing up at a strip club and sitting in the lap of a client.

Mad Men isn’t mad or about Mad Ave. It’s just about men.

5892: Reacting To Tropic Thunder Overreactions.

Tropic Thunder, the latest Ben Stiller flick, faced protests from at least two camps. The first group expressed outrage over the disrespect shown to intellectually disabled people via a character Stiller portrayed in the film, as well as multiple utterances of the word “retard.” Another group griped about the Blackface character portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr.

On the one hand, no one can ever dictate whether or not anyone should be offended about anything. These matters are very personal, based on individuals’ perspectives and experiences. So the people appalled by Tropic Thunder are completely within their rights to be angry.

But here’s the lowdown, IMHO (In MultiCultClassics’ Humble Opinion).

Tropic Thunder uses both broad humor and dark humor to essentially blast Hollywood. Stiller skewers the stereotypes via stereotypes, ultimately slapping the shallow, self-absorbed folks in the movie industry. If anyone should be insulted, it’s the real-life stars, producers, directors, screenwriters, agents, moguls and more. Don’t bet on that happening. The rest of us can laugh along with and/or at Stiller and his compatriots.

The intellectually disabled and Blackface caricatures are literally poking fun (or disgust) at the A-list actors and actresses who’ve transformed themselves to collect awards. For the intellectually disabled, think of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Sean Penn in I Am Sam, Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade, Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Radio, etc. For roles incorporating physical changes, think of Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, Charlize Theron in Monster, George Clooney in Syriana, Matt Damon in Courage Under Fire, Nicole Kidman in The Hours, etc. Hell, the movie’s most outrageous chameleon isn’t even credited in the advertisements (MultiCultClassics won’t play spoiler here).

Ben Stiller in Tropic Thunder isn’t like Johnny Knoxville in The Ringer—indeed, Knoxville’s movie appeared to anticipate and address its politically-incorrect nature by being overly reverent, depicting the Special Olympians as savvy heroes. Besides, Stiller’s main character, Tugg Speedman, is arguably a dimmer bulb than the intellectually disabled Simple Jack secondary character. Go figure.

As for Robert Downey, Jr.’s Blackface Kirk Lazarus/Sgt. Osiris, well, they’re on the same level as Stiller’s Tugg Speedman/Simple Jack characters. Plus, another cartoonish character—hip-hop artist Alpa Chino played by Brandon T. Jackson—keeps Downey, Jr./Lazarus/Osiris in check by constantly dissing the Blackface act.

Oh, yeah, there are Tropic Thunder characters that insult Asians too. And armed services veterans. And GLBT activists. And animal-rights backers. And others we were probably too insensitive to notice.

You’ll need a stereotype scorecard to keep everything straight in this movie. Better yet, simply enjoy the guilty pleasures of laughing out loud at Tropic Thunder. Unless you tend to be offended by such things, in which case you should stay away.

5891: Jacko And Wacko.

Laboring through the news with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Happy Belated Birthday to Michael Jackson, who turned 50 on August 29. The Jacko timeline above was created by the BBC. In a telephone interview, Jacko revealed he celebrated quietly at home with his family. The King of Pop also hinted at plans for the future. “People see some of the things I do and they say, ‘Why don’t you show this to the world? People don’t know you do these things.’ And maybe I will,” revealed Jacko. Um, if it involves more plastic surgery, we’ll take a pass.

• Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s lawyers have reportedly offered a plea deal, where Kilpatrick would plead guilty to two felony charges, make financial restitution and serve five years’ probation in lieu of prison time. Wonder if prosecutors will send their response via text message.

5890: Overreaction Of The Week.

Office Depot presents an advertisement celebrating its Vendor Diversity Program. The products featured include Stride Security DNA Solutions, designed to “keep tabs on office equipment, locate stolen property” and more. Um, is the implication that hiring minorities will require extra anti-theft security?

5889: Madison Avenue And The Color Line—4.

Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Jason Chambers focuses its second chapter—titled “The Jackie Robinsons”—on the innovators who really started things moving for Blacks in the advertising industry. While previous pioneers like Claude Barnett and John H. Johnson helped to define and sell the Black consumer market, the next wave of ad people proceeded to create messages that actually targeted and depicted the audience.

Chambers continues to deliver an incredibly thorough view of the key players and events—spanning the 1930s through the 1950s—while highlighting the historical happenings that shaped and influenced it all. The chapter initially chronicles the “Brown Hucksters,” Black salesmen who worked directly with American corporations to woo consumers. Next, Chambers features the early Black advertising agencies, disputing the popular belief that Vince Cullers was the first. The author then spotlights Blacks employed by general market agencies as experts for Black consumers and mainstream consumers too. In 54 pages, Chambers sketches out the foundations for the segregated slots that still exist today to pigeonhole Madison Avenue’s minorities. To see it up close, simply buy the book.

A chapter topic deserving a few tangential observations involves David J. Sullivan, who schooled many culturally clueless advertisers on Black consumers during the 1940s. In one noteworthy article, Sullivan offered the following list of don’ts:

• Don’t exaggerate Negro characters with flat noses, thick lips, kinky hair and owl eyes.
• Avoid Negro minstrels. Avoid even the use of white people with blackface and a kinky wig for hire to depict a Negro.
• Don’t constantly name the Negro porter or waiter “George.” Nothing makes Negroes angrier than to be called George.
• Avoid incorrect English usage, grammar and dialect…get away from “Yas suh,” “sho,” “dese,” “dem,” “dat,” or “dat ’ere,” “gwine,” “you all.”
• Don’t picture colored women as buxom, broad-faced, grinning mammies and Aunt Jemimas.
• Don’t refer to Negro women as “Negresses.”
• Avoid, even by suggestion, “There’s a nigger in the woodpile,” or “coon,” “shine,” and “darky.”
• Don’t illustrate…any…advertising piece showing a Negro eating watermelon, chasing chickens, or crap shooting.
• Don’t picture the “Uncle Mose” type. He is characterized by kinking hair and a stooped, tall, lean and grayed sharecropper, always in rags.
• Avoid using the word “Pickaninny,” or lampooning illustrations of Negro children.
• Don’t insult the clergy.

It would be interesting to learn if CMOs had the list taped near their desks for handy reference. The book’s author also wrote that Sullivan didn’t provide advertisers with a similar collection of things to do. Well, the stuff generated by Black advertising agencies in the decades after Sullivan’s heyday might inspire the following conceptual catalog:

To reach Black consumers, do use celebrities, jazz, blues, R&B, anything related to hip hop, doo wop singers on brownstone stoops, gospel choirs, clergy, inventors, comedians, athletes, fly girls, smooth operators, entrepreneurs, successful business people, sassy sistahs, double-dutch, family reunions, extended family, students in caps and gowns, soul food, barbecues, barbershops, beauty salons, basketball, drumlines, HBCUs, spoken word, rhymes, tricked-out rides, rims, the word style, the word pimp (except in reference to actual pimps), the slang of the minute, keeping it real, urban neighborhoods, block parties, bid whist, the electric slide, break-dancing, stepping, tap dancing (carefully and preferably with Savion Glover), fist bumps, variations on Black Power fists, dance clubs, DJs, graffiti, kente cloth, African art, Civil Rights activists, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Snoop Dogg, inspirational quotes, afros/afro picks, braids, dreadlocks, fades, grills (respectfully), tattoos, nails, boomboxes, baseball caps, bling or this dude.

But seriously, contrary to anything anyone says, there are no secret formulas for reaching Black consumers. Building a relationship with the Black consumer market—as well as any special market—requires embracing a fundamental advertising tenet: Know Your Target. While U.S. advertising agencies adopted account planning in the 1990s to better connect with consumers, minority advertising professionals have been utilizing their own versions of the discipline since the 1900s. Of course, Whites take full credit for having invented it.

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

5888: I Love Latinos.

Wouldn’t this ad have appealed to more Latinos by including Desi Arnaz too?