MultiCultClassics

9753: BHM 2012—Someecards.

2012-02-03T00:11:00.002-06:00

Via Someecards

9752: Racists Really Are Stupid.

2012-02-02T17:23:00.001-06:00

From The Huffington Post…

Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. To Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism

The Huffington Post | Rebecca Searles

Are racists dumb? Do conservatives tend to be less intelligent than liberals? A provocative new study from Brock University in Ontario suggests the answer to both questions may be a qualified yes.

The study, published in Psychological Science, showed that people who score low on I.Q. tests in childhood are more likely to develop prejudiced beliefs and socially conservative politics in adulthood.

I.Q., or intelligence quotient, is a score determined by standardized tests, but whether the tests truly reveal intelligence remains a topic of hot debate among psychologists.

Dr. Gordon Hodson, a professor of psychology at the university and the study’s lead author, said the finding represented evidence of a vicious cycle: People of low intelligence gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, which stress resistance to change and, in turn, prejudice, he told LiveScience.

Why might less intelligent people be drawn to conservative ideologies? Because such ideologies feature “structure and order” that make it easier to comprehend a complicated world, Dodson said. “Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice,” he added.

Dr. Brian Nosek, a University of Virginia psychologist, echoed those sentiments.

“Reality is complicated and messy,” he told The Huffington Post in an email. “Ideologies get rid of the messiness and impose a simpler solution. So, it may not be surprising that people with less cognitive capacity will be attracted to simplifying ideologies.”

But Nosek said less intelligent types might be attracted to liberal “simplifying ideologies” as well as conservative ones.

In any case, the study has taken the Internet by storm, with some outspoken liberals saying that it validates their suspicions about conservatives and conservatives arguing that the research has been misinterpreted.

9751: Corporate Cultural Collusion Kool-Aid.

2012-02-02T13:18:00.002-06:00

Advertising Age reported that Kraft is shifting its Kool-Aid account from Ogilvy to Saatchi & Saatchi, citing the need for a “fresh perspective” on the brand. Right. First of all, everyone knows that minorities comprise a key audience for Kool-Aid (MultiCultClassics addressed this topic last year). So moving the work from one outdated White agency to another outdated White agency will hardly lead to freshness. Once again, Kraft is showing its commitment to supplier diversity is total bullshit. And the food company’s business sense—in terms of partnering with experts capable of sparking sales—is pathetic too. It seems like “fresh perspective” is code for Corporate Cultural Collusion.

Saatchi Snags Kraft’s Kool-Aid, Capri Sun

Marketer Cites Need for ‘Fresh Perspective’ on Beverage Brands

By Rupal Parekh

Kraft is once again rejiggering its roster, handing Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi creative duties for Kool-Aid and Capri Sun. Those beverage brands were previously handled by WPP’s Ogilvy.

Agency representatives either declined to comment or referred calls to Kraft Foods. Bridget A. MacConnell, Kraft ‘s senior manager-corporate affairs for beverages, told Ad Age that Saatchi’s New York office will be responsible for handling the two accounts and said the impetus was a desire for new creative thinking.

“While we appreciate our long partnership with Ogilvy, we needed a fresh perspective as we drive our refreshment beverage brands forward,” she said via email.

The pace with which Kraft continues to make changes to its agency roster is astounding. A Wall Street analyst recently found that between 2009 and 2010 Kraft had switched ad agency assignments on brands accounting for a whopping 48% of its total U.S. measured media spending.

The changes in the company’s agency relationships are part and parcel of a much larger wave of organizational changes at Kraft, which is in the midst of splitting into two companies—one focused on the North American grocery business, and another that concentrates on snacks. As a result of the split, Kraft has announced that it will slash up to 1,600 jobs. Meanwhile, the company is in the thick of ushering in a barrage of new products.

For Saatchi, the win expands its place on Kraft’s roster of agencies after winning creative duties last October for the world’s largest gum brand, Trident.

It also provides a continuation of some good momentum to kick off 2012, helpful on the heels of its late December loss of the JC Penney account after a five-year relationship. In the past month alone, Saatchi has picked up these additional Kraft assignments, a new creative assignment for the Sapphire credit card by Chase, and has been called in to help out on Miller Lite with a new brand campaign.

Between January and November of 2011, Kraft, which is the 32nd biggest national advertiser per the Ad Age DataCenter, devoted between $35 million and $40 million in domestic measured media to Capri Sun, and about $20 million on Kool-Aid, Kantar data shows.

For Ogilvy it means a further reduction of its Kraft business. The agency once handled a broad array of brands for the packaged-goods giant, but over the past few years it has gradually seen many of its Kraft accounts flee to other agencies. It continues to have two big global pieces of Kraft business, Tang and Cadbury chocolate, and also does work for Honeymaid graham crackers.

Contributing: E.J. Schultz

9750: Riding Soul Train Memories.

2012-02-02T10:23:00.002-06:00

From USA TODAY…

‘Soul Train’ laid the rails of a cultural revolution

By Marco R. della Cava and Steve Jones, USA TODAY

Armed with sharp suits and a mesmerizing voice, Don Cornelius set out in 1970 to entertain viewers of Chicago’s WCIU with a song-and-dance TV show called Soul Train. Turns out, America wanted in on the party.

Cornelius, 75, died Wednesday at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif., from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said. The music maverick struck financial and cultural gold with Soul Train, whose 35 years on the air made it the longest first-run syndicated show in history, with an effect that crossed generations and races.

“Soul Train gave the black community reason to be proud,” says Kenneth Gamble, half of the fabled songwriting team Gamble & Huff, who wrote the show’s chugging theme song, known as T.S.O.P (The Sound of Philadelphia). “It was so rare at the time to see someone black doing anything like that.”

If Dick Clark’s American Bandstand was Saturday morning’s placid place to play, Soul Train, with its driving music and innovative dancers rooted in the urban scene, was the coolest party you could hope to crash. Its minimalist stage played host to everyone from the Jackson 5 to Elton John.

“That show was the centerpiece of my Saturdays,” says hip-hop artist Terius “The-Dream” Nash, who co-wrote the Beyoncé hit Single Ladies (Put A Ring on It) and performed on the program in 2005. “Don reminded me of my old band teacher. He could look you in the eye and you felt like he knew what you were going to be.”

Soul Train “had a substantial impact and was very much a part of contemporary music history,” says Clive Davis, chief creative officer of Sony Music Worldwide and the record mogul who nurtured the careers of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Dionne Warwick. “His show reached a sizable and devoted audience, and every major artist of the time did it and did it willingly.”

The music industry mourns
News of Cornelius’ death rippled through the entertainment industry and the blogosphere, where fans famous and anonymous alike were eager to pay tribute to a man whose signature sign-off — “We wish you peace, love and soul!” — became as familiar as family.

“Don Cornelius! It’s so shocking and stunning,” Aretha Franklin said in a statement. “A young, progressive brother set the pace and worldwide standard for young aspiring African-American men.”

Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the basketball legend and chairman of Soul Train Holdings, recalled being glued to the television on Saturdays: “Soul Train taught the world to dance” and gave musicians and dancers “the ultimate platform to showcase their talents when no one else would.”

When Arash Shirazi came to the USA from Iran, he watched Soul Train to learn English and wound up going into show business as a booking agent. He tweeted his condolences, adding that the show “opened the door to R&B dance culture. … It shaped my musical tastes and added a visual element to a song.”

Actor Omar Epps thanked the man for “creating a platform which helped uplift me through my childhood,” and rapper MC Hammer wrote: “It meant more to me to perform on #SoulTrain than to win a Grammy … Loved U So Much Don.”

With his smooth, resonant baritone, Cornelius introduced hundreds of stars to the nation’s multicultural TV audience, including James Brown, Jerry Butler, Marvin Gaye, The O’Jays and Barry White. In the background were a colorful menagerie of partiers who influenced dance and fashion and opened a window onto black culture that had received scant media exposure.

“Back then, there was no targeted television and I just had the sense that television shouldn’t be that way,” Cornelius told USA TODAY in a rare interview in 2010, when the show was celebrated with a VH1 documentary. “The primary mission of the show was to provide TV exposure for people who would not get it otherwise. People who didn’t get invited to The Mike Douglas Show, or (Johnny) Carson. There was no ethnic television, just general-market television, which meant mostly white people.”

Soul Train’s role in pushing black culture into the mainstream cannot be underestimated, says Mark Anthony Neal, professor of black popular culture at Duke University.

“Motown had laid down the sonic groundwork, but Don Cornelius let you visualize it,” he says. “Black power was visible on Soul Train. It’s what led to the love affair between black and white culture, and why eventually you started seeing white musicians like Boz Scaggs on Don’s show. That show filled a gap.”

Read the full story here.

9749: Alcoholic Art Direction…?

2012-02-02T07:31:00.002-06:00

After your sixth sip, Stalin will look like Santa, and Hitler will look like the Easter Bunny...?

From Ads of the World.

9748: BHM 2012—Museum of Science + Industry.

2012-02-02T00:00:00.002-06:00

If the Museum of Science + Industry Chicago celebrates Black Creativity every year, does that demonstrate a lack of creativity?

9747: Microsoft’s Truth In Advertising.

2012-02-01T15:58:00.000-06:00

To politely bash Google, Microsoft is running the ad above featuring the headline, “Putting people first.” Advertising Age just reported Microsoft canned 200 in its marketing department, including Chief Creative Officer Gayle Troberman. Putting people first indeed.

9746: Denny’s Latest Comedy Killer.

2012-02-01T10:37:00.002-06:00

Advertising Age reported on Denny’s latest effort to woo Latinos with a campaign created in conjunction with comedy site Funny of Die. Based on the videos, this endeavor definitely falls into the “Die” category.

Denny’s Partners With Dog Whisperer and Funny or Die to Connect With Hispanics

Campaign Targets Restaurant’s Fastest-Growing Consumer Base

By Maureen Morrison

Though many would be surprised to hear Denny’s and Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan uttered in the same sentence, the two are teaming up for Denny’s first Hispanic branded-content effort.

The move is part of the chain’s initial branded-content effort aimed at Hispanics, and is its first work by new Hispanic agency Casanova Pendrill, which partnered with lead agency Gotham for the effort. Dubbed “Skillet Whisperer,” the video is a spoof on National Geographic Wild’s reality show “Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan.” On the show, Mr. Millan works with owners of aggressive dogs and teaches them how to display their dominance to calm the animals.

In “Skillet Whisperer,” which has English- and Spanish-language versions and was produced by comedy site Funny or Die, Denny’s limited-time-offer Sizzling Skillets take the place of dogs, and Mr. Millan is called upon to tame skillets that are described in a voice-over as “too aggressive to enjoy.” The Spanish version is on YouTube and the English one is on Funny or Die; both will be promoted through a social-media push on Denny’s and Mr. Millan’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

Denny’s CMO Frances Allen said the campaign was intended to connect with Hispanics, Denny’s fastest-growing customer base. “We thought it was time to engage a little more with [the Hispanic] audience,” said Ms. Allen. “This year we’ll be making a concerted push.” The Hispanic campaign is part of Denny’s ongoing “America’s Diner Is Always Open” platform, introduced in January 2011. From January through October 2011, Denny’s spent $55.2 million in measured media; the chain spent about $71 million in 2010.

Bringing in Mr. Millan to do a spoof on the Dog Whisperer was the idea of Casanova Pendrill, which won Denny’s Hispanic account in September. In addition to seeking someone unexpected for the Denny’s brand, “we were looking for someone energetic and who would connect with English-speaking Latinos but also the Spanish-preferred Latinos,” said Ingrid Otero-Smart, the agency’s president-CEO. “He has a really great connection with our target.”

The two versions have separate casts because “we wanted to make sure it was authentic,” Ms. Allen said. Mr. Millan’s 13-year-old son is featured in the Spanish-language version.

Mr. Millan has done other sponsorships, including deals with Swiffer and Best Western, but this is his first restaurant sponsorship. Part of the appeal of this project was that Denny’s is a brand everyone recognizes, it ties in naturally with family and the script was humorous, he said. “People are already familiar with Denny’s,” he said. “My goal for this joke, in a way, is to create communication and to create engagement.”

Also part of “America’s Diner Is Always Open” was Denny’s first foray into branded-content territory, “Always Open,” a talk show that ran on IAC’s College Humor last year. Aimed at millennials, the show was written and produced by DumbDumb, a company founded by actors Jason Bateman and Will Arnett with help from Interpublic’s Gotham.

The current push is Denny’s first work with Funny or Die on branded content. Chris Bruss, head of branded entertainment at Funny or Die, said that the video strikes a balance between content and advertising. It also isn’t too product-heavy or trying to mask the branding altogether.

“What is strong about this video is that the whole idea is based around the world of Denny’s,” Mr. Bruss said. “It takes place in a Denny’s, and it’s about a Denny’s product. There’s no pulling the wool over the audience’s eyes.”

Ms. Allen said that “branded content has done well for Denny’s. Our job is to entertain [consumers] in a way that’s relevant for the brand. … It’s important that we find new and interesting ways to connect.”

There are no immediate plans to make the spots into a series, but Mr. Millan said he’d be interested in the opportunity—as long as it’s something that carries on with new content so that “people don’t get bored.”

9745: When Stock Photo Models Attack.

2012-02-01T10:02:00.001-06:00

From The New York Times…

Model in Anti-Obesity Ad Criticizes the Campaign

By Patrick McGeehan

Another of the overweight models appearing in ads from New York City’s health department — one who did not have a limb edited off — criticized the campaign, saying that the ads will not have the desired effect.

After reading about the virtual amputation of the leg of another model, Beth Anne Sacks said she felt misled when she saw herself in one of the ads in a subway car. Not only did she not like being one of the “poster people for obesity,” but she also said the message was too negative to inspire overweight people to change their eating habits.

“This is so negative,” Ms. Sacks said in an interview. “If they think they’re going to reach overweight people with these ads, they’re not going to do it. I don’t think they would make someone go, ‘You’re right, I need to change.’”

Ms. Sacks, a 43-year-old actress and singer (see video below) who lives in Manhattan, said the health department was trying to frighten people into changing their habits, but “the ad of me doesn’t scare me.” She is shown climbing the stairs of a subway station, with containers of French fries arrayed in front of her, to warn of the dangers of growing portions of fast food and sugary drinks.

“I look at it and think ‘Oh, it’s just a big girl walking up the subway stairs,’” she said referring to one of three ads the health department is placing in the transit system. “None of those scare me,” she said, not even the one of Cleo Berry, an able-bodied actor whose right leg was made to appear partly amputated to represent the devastating effects of diabetes.

John Kelly, a spokesman for the health department, said, “Our smoking cessation ads have helped drive smoking in New York City down to historic lows, and our other public health campaigns have been essential to the progress we’ve made helping New Yorkers live longer and healthier lives.”

Unlike Mr. Berry, whose image was captured by a stock photo agency several years ago, Ms. Sacks knew she was posing for a city-sponsored campaign. She said that she answered an ad on Craigslist in mid-December that was placed by the health department’s ad agency. It was seeking an “overweight actress” for a photo shoot within the next two days and offering $250, she said.

The next day, she was taken to a subway station downtown and photographed climbing the steps — not her favorite activity. “I’ve never been a stair person,” she said.

She said she was pleasantly surprised when she was paid $300 at the end of the day because it helped pay her rent. But now, she said, she has some regrets. “The 300 has come and gone, and now I’m all over the subway system,” she said.

9744: Don Cornelius (1936-2012).

2012-02-01T09:23:00.001-06:00

From The Los Angeles Times…

‘Soul Train’ creator Don Cornelius dead in apparent suicide

“Soul Train” creator Don Cornelius was found dead at his Sherman Oaks on home Wednesday morning.

Law enforcement sources said police arrived at Cornelius' home around 4 a.m. He apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.

The sources said there was no sign of foul play, but the Los Angeles Police Department was investigating.

In a 2010 interview with The Times, he said he was excited about a movie project he was developing about “Soul Train.”

“We’ve been in discussions with several people about getting a movie off the ground. It wouldn’t be the ‘Soul Train’ dance show, it would be more of a biographical look at the project,” he said. “It’s going to be about some of the things that really happened on the show.”

According to a Times article, Cornelius’ “Soul Train” became the longest-running first-run nationally syndicated show in television history, bringing African American music and style to the world for 35 years.

Cornelius stopped hosting the show in 1993, and “Soul Train” ceased production in 2006.

9743: BHM 2012—AT&T.

2012-02-01T08:14:00.000-06:00

AT&T reruns its 28 Days promotion for Black History Month. Um, somebody call AT&T and tell them there are 29 days in February 2012.

9742: Is TBWA Director Of Talent Biased?

2012-02-01T01:18:00.003-06:00

Admittedly did not closely read the lengthy Advertising Age ageism story, and missed the following gem:

“The job market is pretty rotten,” said Nancee Martin, director-talent at Omnicom Group’s TBWA Worldwide. “Opportunities are limited. Agencies aren’t doing the same kind of hiring they were five years ago, and there’s no denying that those closer to 55 are going to have a harder time,” she said, particularly creatives vs. those in sales or strategic planning.

Ms. Martin then spoke bluntly. “For a creative, pardon my French, but good fucking luck. There’s a commonly held conception that to be a creative, you need to know what’s hot, what music is cool, what website is all the rage—and [with age] you become less aware of those things by and large.”

Wow. That is pure, unadulterated, blatant ignorance straight from the mouth of an executive charged with hiring talent on Madison Avenue. Plus, the moron misused conception for perception. What’s next? Blacks aren’t smart enough to handle the intellectual challenges of life in an advertising agency? Latinos are too lazy to work alongside the privileged White people? Asians can’t… oh, wait a minute. Those Asian folks are really good with computers—and most of them are awesome designers. Somebody call Omnicom Chief Diversity Officer Tiffany R. Warren pronto. Or Cyrus Mehri. It sounds like Martin openly and literally admitted that older candidates are fucked when applying at TBWA. As elder adman Dan Wieden might say, “Now that’s fucked up.”

9741: BHM 2012—Colgate.

2012-02-01T00:09:00.002-06:00

Smile! Colgate-Palmolive presents the annual contribution to UNCF.

9740: Tecate Mimics General Motors…?

2012-01-31T23:23:00.003-06:00

Advertising Age reported Heineken’s Tecate consolidated its U.S. advertising account with an agency in Mexico. ¡Ay Caramba! Last week, General Motors consolidated its $3 billion media and planning duties with a U.K. firm. Now Tecate has pulled a similar move. It’s outrageous! Scandalous! Oh, wait a minute. Tecate yanked its billings from a faux Latino shop backed by a White agency in New York City? Um, never mind.

Tecate Consolidates U.S. Advertising With Mexican Agency

Cost-Cutting Move Follows Other Global Consolidation Efforts

By E.J. Schultz

In a cost-cutting move, Heineken’s Tecate beer brand is moving U.S. advertising from Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners’ U.S. Hispanic unit Ramona to its longtime Mexican agency, Olabuenaga Chemistri, the brewer told Ad Age.

The consolidation means all Tecate and Tecate Light U.S. advertising—including digital—will be run from south of the border, an unusual arrangement for a brand sold in the U.S. Tecate, a Mexican import, was already an oddity among advertisers for focusing its entire U.S. account on the Hispanic market, particularly Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans. However, the brand lately had been testing a limited number of English-language ads.

It is the loss of a key account or Ramona. The agency did not return a call for comment this afternoon. Olabuenaga Chemistri, on the other hand, gains its first foothold in the U.S. market. The agency, based in Mexico City, has experience with several high-profile accounts, including work in Mexico for Bacardi and General Motors, as well as Mexican milk brand Leche Lala.

While Heineken’s push for global synergies drove the move, Tecate considered the creative consequences, said Tecate VP-Marketing Felix Palau. “If we found out there was any risk in switching to a single creative approach coming from Mexico, we [were] not going to conduct [the] move,” Mr. Palau said. “But that was not the case.”

Indeed, Heineken reviewed new proposals from both Olabuenaga Chemistri and Ramona before making the switch, he said. Under the new arrangement, the same Spanish-language ads will air in Mexico and the U.S. But Olabuenaga Chemistri will also create English language ads to air in several U.S. markets in the Southwest.

Tecate is the fourth-largest U.S. import behind Corona Extra, Heineken and Modelo Especial, according to 2010 rankings from Beer Marketer’s Insights, the latest available. But the brand has been slipping, with grocery-store sales down 8.38% in the year ending Dec. 25, according to SymphonyIRI, which excludes Walmart Stores and liquor stores. Heineken USA spent $17 million in measured media on Tecate and Tecate Light in the U.S. in 2010, according to Kantar Media.

Ramona has had Tecate since 2007, when it was called Adrenalina and partly owned by MDC Partners. The agency was formed specifically for the Tecate pitch and all three partners at the time had worked with Eduardo Casas, the then-Heineken USA executive leading the review. In 2010, the agency was absorbed by MDC Partners sibling Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners following the departure of the last of Adrenalina’s three founders, Manuel Wernicky. Adrenalina was renamed Ramona in 2010 when Sandra Alfaro, a management partner and director of account management at Vidal Partnership, was hired as general manager.

Under Ramona, Tecate last year sought to expand from its traditional base of new U.S. immigrants to more acculturated Hispanics by adding humor to its ads.

Going forward, Tecate will keep its “con caracter” tagline, which positions it as the drink for men “with character,” Mr. Palau said. But ads will be tweaked to ensure they work in Mexico and the U.S. For instance, U.S. ads now tend to overtly play up Hispanic notions of character that Mr. Palau said even border on U.S. stereotypes of Hispanic men. “This new campaign and this new creative approach doesn’t necessarily talk about the difference between a Hispanic manifestation of character and a more universal manifestation of character. Now we are talking to a broader base of Hispanics [so] it’s less relevant to say ‘I’m Hispanic.’ The fact that Tecate is a Mexican beer and they will see Hispanic talent in the ads, that’s more than enough.”
The agency switch follows other maneuvers by Amsterdam-based Heineken to seek synergies. In November, the brewer launched a review to consolidate its global media planning and buying under one shop, pitting roster shops Starcom MediaVest of Publicis Groupe and WPP’s Mindshare against each other. Heineken has also streamlined procurement. And last year it appointed independent shop Wieden & Kennedy as global creative agency for its flagship Heineken brand.

Olabuenaga Chemistri is co-owned by Ana Maria Olabuenaga and Jorge Cuchi, who is the chief creative officer. The agency has a partnership with Publicis Groupe that gives it access to some of the company’s resources, including agencies such as Leo Burnett Hispanic shop Lapiz, which is based in Chicago. Olabuenaga Chemistri is said to be considering hiring people from Ramona to help service the account, and might keep some presence in New York.

9739: Old Advice From TBWA.

2012-01-31T15:13:00.001-06:00

As a companion piece to its ageism story, Advertising Age also published ~~patronizing~~ helpful advice from TBWA Worldwide Director of Talent Nancee Martin titled, “Six Tips for Older Job Hunters.” The keen instructions stressed things like “include your cell number in all communications.” Gee, wonder how many new hires at TBWA would fall into the category of “older” employees.

9738: Jim Edwards Is Alive.

2012-01-31T12:49:00.000-06:00

MultiCultClassics had wondered whatever happened to Jim Edwards, last seen posting advertising columns for BNET. Well, Edwards resurfaced last November as a senior editor for Business Insider. Check out Edwards’ perspective on the Advertising Age ageism story—appearing alongside a banner for new bareMinerals® Active Cell Renewal Night Serum to make you look younger.

9737: Ida Chacon Says Adios To P&G.

2012-01-31T07:35:00.002-06:00

From Advertising Age…

P&G Multicultural Exec Ida Chacon Joins Latinum

As VP-Marketing at Hispanic Business Network, She’ll Help Marketers Grow in Latino Market

By Laurel Wentz

A well-known Procter & Gamble multicultural executive, Ida Chacon, is joining the Latinum Network in the newly created role of VP-marketing and commercial solutions. Ms. Chacon was P&G’s multicultural marketing capabilities manager, working with the marketer to develop its ethnic strategy, manage relationships with U.S. Hispanic agencies, and consult on Hispanic efforts for individual brands.

Latinum is a business network that helps marketing executives understand and take advantage of the U.S. Hispanic market through research, analysis and collaboration. About 85 companies, including P&G, have joined so far.

“Ida will be responsible for three things,” said David Wellisch, Latinum’s founder. “We generate a lot of insights and strategies, and then work individually with our [member] companies to make sure they get incremental ROI. That’s not that different from what she was doing at P&G.”

Ms. Chacon will also help facilitate member companies’ sharing best practices, Mr. Wellisch said. In addition, she’ll assist companies in finding the right partners for commercial collaborations, in which two marketers team up on an initiative in order to “decrease costs and increase ROI,” he said.

Ms. Chacon spent 13 years at Procter & Gamble, the biggest U.S. Hispanic advertiser. The marketer used to have a separate U.S. Hispanic business unit, based in Puerto Rico, but made a major shift a few years ago to disband the unit and put more of the responsibility for Hispanic marketing at the individual brand level, with advice and guidance from a Center of Expertise.

Because P&G invests so much money in so many brands in the U.S. Hispanic market, its multicultural executives are highly regarded. Graciela Eleta, who headed P&G’s U.S. Hispanic efforts for many years and left the company in 2007, was snapped up by Univision Communications. Ms. Eleta has been Univision’s SVP-brand solutions for four years, helping the Spanish-language media group to attract more advertisers to the U.S. Hispanic market.

P&G’s multicultural efforts are led by Alexandra “Alita” Vegas, director of multicultural business development for North America since December 2009. Ms. Vegas joined P&G in her native Venezuela in 1994. Before taking the U.S. Hispanic role two years ago, she was managing director-hair care in Greater China.

9736: Tuesday With Taraji P. Henson.

2012-01-31T00:17:00.002-06:00

9735: Ovaltine Campaign Comes Up Short.

2012-01-30T19:24:00.002-06:00

Not sure what Y&R in Vietnam was thinking with this campaign—especially since 5’5” is the average height for Vietnamese men.

From Ads of the World.

9734: Oh, Man! Draftfcb Is Fucked.

2012-01-30T17:30:00.000-06:00

Advertising Age reported Miller Lite is tapping Saatchi & Saatchi to “assist” Draftfcb on a new campaign. Man up, Draftfcb!

Miller Lite Looks Beyond DraftFCB

Saatchi & Saatchi Will Work Alongside Draft on MillerCoors Brand

By E.J. Schultz

MillerCoors is bringing in roster agency Saatchi & Saatchi to assist DraftFCB on a new campaign for the struggling Miller Lite brand, Ad Age has learned. DraftFCB has been the brand’s lead creative agency since 2009.

The move is a boost for Saatchi, which has other MillerCoors brands including Keystone, Miller High Life and MGD 64, now known as Miller 64. For DraftFCB, the roster expansion is another setback following a tough 2011 in which it lost one of its largest global accounts, SC Johnson, after nearly 58 years. On the positive side, the decision secures DraftFCB’s place on Miller Lite’s roster through the summer, squashing speculation that it was in danger of losing the account. DraftFCB remains the lead agency for Coors Light, which is enjoying a solid run that recently propelled it past Budweiser as the nation’s second best-selling beer. Lite ranks No. 4.

Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, and DraftFCB, Chicago, are working separately on different ads that will be part of the same Miller Lite campaign expected to debut in the spring. The new ads are expected to replace DraftFCB’s “Man Up” campaign that mocks men who choose other brands. The ads have not been finalized, but have been through consumer testing and will be shown in March to MillerCoors distributors at the brewer’s annual spring convention, the brewer said.

“We are excited about the consumer reaction to new Miller Lite creative from both DraftFCB and Saatchi, and they are in the process of producing complimentary work from both agencies that we will first share with our distributor system in March,” MillerCoors spokesman Pete Marino told Ad Age. “We said we would leave no stone unturned to develop the best Miller Lite creative. We broadened the tent a bit and offered Saatchi, who is already a roster agency, a chance to participate in this Miller Lite creative assignment.”

A DraftFCB spokesman said: “Our ongoing commitment to MillerCoors couldn’t be stronger, and we’re happy to have helped make Coors Light the No. 2 beer in the USA. We’re also really proud of our latest work for Miller Lite and eager to show it at the upcoming convention in March.”

Saatchi declined comment, referring calls to MillerCoors.

Like most big beer brands, Miller Lite has struggled in the face of less spending by blue-collar drinkers and more competition from spirits and smaller craft beers. Lite’s drop has been pronounced and particularly concerning for MillerCoors, which has made reversing the slide a top priority. Shipments fell by 4.3% in 2011, while market share dropped from 7.4% to 7.2%, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.

The brewer did not reveal specifics of the new campaign. But Miller Lite is expected to continue to seek differentiation from other light beers by pushing a message that emphasizes quality taste.

9733: Digital Is Cool; Ad Age, Not So Much.

2012-01-30T16:58:00.000-06:00

This banner hyping Advertising Age’s upcoming digital issue must be the handiwork of a non-digital hack.

9732: Is Ageism Getting Old?

2012-01-30T15:28:00.002-06:00

Advertising Age published a lengthy piece titled, “Aging in Adland: The Gray-Hair Phobia That’s Hindering Older Execs.” The piece spotlights the trials and tribulations of 56-year-old adman Dave Shea, essentially hinting at the ageism rampant on Madison Avenue. It’s an old story that increasingly gains media attention with the graying of Mad Men. And of course, these tales inspire comment threads featuring lots of anger and frustration.

Can’t help but think Shea is hurting his cause by posing with a copy of Ogilvy On Advertising, surrounded by classic campaign paraphernalia. He may as well have been clutching James Webb Young’s How To Become An Advertising Man while clacking away on a Corona Sterling typewriter and humming jingle concepts.

Back in 2008, MultiCultClassics presented a series titled, “Until The Boomers Die.” Ironically, the effort was short-lived, with only two entries here and here. Yet the goal was to examine the generational-rooted issues that are snowballing in an industry purporting to be on the cutting edge of culture. Like it or not, Madison Avenue isn’t just a Boy’s Club—it’s a Young Boy’s Club. Hell, add “White” to the list of adjectives too.

One stereotypical comment left at the Ad Age story reads, “…[Ageism] is code for discrimination. People who shudder at sexism or racism are often quite comfortable with ageism. Why?”

Well, mostly because the overwhelming majority of alleged ageism victims comprise the primary source of our industry’s sexism and racism—as well as the full spectrum of isms that have stifled progress for several decades. The proverbial shoe is on the other foot, turnabout is fair play, what goes around comes around, etc. Although the new casualties prefer to label it reverse discrimination.

Cultural cluelessness can lead to flawed reasoning and peculiar terminology.

9731: You Say Potato, I Say Bullshit.

2012-01-30T00:09:00.001-06:00

Mickey D’s spent a ton of money hyping its suppliers via documentary-style videos. But how did “the best potatoes in the world” get approved by the McLegal Department?

9730: Robitussin Monkeying Around.

2012-01-29T20:36:00.003-06:00

If PETA and Anjelica Huston are going after CareerBuilder for the advertiser’s use of live chimps, what would they think about Robitussin depicting an orangutan selling drugs? Oh, wait a minute, PETA already weighed in on the matter.

9729: Depend On Diversity.

2012-01-29T20:04:00.003-06:00

The only time that “Color is in” and “White is out” in the advertising industry is when discussing adult incontinence underwear.

9728: Herman Cain Endorses Fellow Adulterer.

2012-01-29T11:47:00.002-06:00

Hey, look! Herman Cain is back and endorsing Newt Gingrich.

“I hereby officially and enthusiastically endorse Newt Gingrich,” declared Cain. “There are several reasons as to why I have reached this public decision. One of the biggest reasons is the fact that I know Speaker Gingrich is a patriot, Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas.”

Plus, Cain and Gingrich share a lot of the same positions on women and marriage.

9727: The Latest Oily BP Spot.

2012-01-29T11:33:00.006-06:00

Guess this tourism commercial serves as an official apology from BP.

Look! The birdies are no longer soaked in oil!

9726: King-Sized Overconsumption.

2012-01-28T22:10:00.002-06:00

There’s something disturbing about this Burger King commercial touting the new thick-cut fries—especially the shot of the dude choking down a handful. Talk about promoting gluttony fit for a king.

9725: Sundancing With Zoe Saldana.

2012-01-28T16:11:00.001-06:00

9724: Greenpeace Is Cold.

2012-01-28T15:21:00.003-06:00

Leave it to Greenpeace to present a message on climate change with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. But did anyone else initially think the polar bears might have suffered death from drinking too much Coca-Cola?

From Ads of the World.

9723: Just For Bearded Babies.

2012-01-28T00:14:00.001-06:00

Just For Men tries to be creative with its advertising. Fails.

9722: Chicken McBites McSucks.

2012-01-28T00:10:00.002-06:00

This Mickey D’s Chicken McBites commercial demonstrates why multicultural advertising agencies should avoid doing vignette-style spots. It’s like, why are all the Asian Americans getting more excited over fried chicken than, say, African Americans?

9721: Just Say Noooooooooooooooo!

2012-01-27T21:17:00.004-06:00

Was this annoying JCPenney commercial produced by ex-AOR Saatchi & Saatchi before the retailer and agency broke up, or is it the work of a new partnership? Regardless of the creator, the spot—like most of JCPenney’s merchandise—totally sucks.

9720: The Patriots Of Madison Avenue.

2012-01-27T17:02:00.003-06:00

A number of advertising sources—including MultiCultClassics—have noted the outrageousness of General Motors’ decision to consolidate its $3 billion media and planning duties with U.K.-based Carat. The gripes are basically the same; i.e., how dare the automaker that needed a federal bailout to stay in business now take its business overseas? The added pro-American sentiment, however, sounds slightly silly coming from Madison Avenue practitioners.

For starters, many U.S. agencies are currently tied to holding companies based in Europe and abroad. Why, Dentsu of Japan owns the Agency of the Year. And JWT fancies itself a true international agency—at least when producing propaganda on its commitment to diversity. Admakers love to stage commercial shoots in foreign lands under the guise of saving clients production dollars. Of course, all of these shops woo potential new accounts with real and imagined global capabilities. (On an ironic side note, one of the few networks headquartered in this country, IPG, reportedly didn’t pay taxes from 2008 through 2010.)

Oh, and when a U.S. agency is seeking new creative or organizational leadership, the top candidates are Brits with strong English accents and weak American experience.

9719: The Colonel Meets Crocodile Dundee.

2012-01-27T10:25:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was Australia Day, prompting this KFC ad from the Land Down Under. Not familiar with Australian culture—outside of Crocodile Dundee references—so it’s tough to comment on the image here. Then again, there are unintentional ties for Aussies who celebrate Invasion Day, as the Kentucky-rooted fast feeder tries to replace Vegemite sandwiches.

From Ads of the World.

9718: KFC Stamp-Lickin’ Good.

2012-01-27T00:17:00.001-06:00

KFC is running an actual promotion to persuade the U.S. Postal Service to create a commemorative stamp for Colonel Sanders. Wow. Maybe the fast feeder should petition the Social Security Administration to put the old man’s face on food stamps.

9717: Racy Rosario Dawson.

2012-01-26T10:17:00.004-06:00

9716: C’MON WHITE MAN! Episode 17.

2012-01-26T10:13:00.003-06:00

(MultiCultClassics credits ESPN’s C’MON MAN! for sparking this semi-regular blog series.)

Advertising Age honored mcgarrybowen as Agency of the Year, so MultiCultClassics decided to jump on the bandwagon too.

The shop has undeniably enjoyed great success in recent years, and is often recognized for its old-school ways. Well, the throwback style goes beyond client services and rainmaking. The agency website boasts having a diverse staff—alongside a company portrait debunking the claim. And glancing at the people section reveals mostly White people in charge. But the biggest example of maintaining Mad Men traditions is Chief Digital Officer John McGarry III, who happens to be the son of CEO John P. McGarry, Jr. Congratulations to the McGarry clan for proudly perpetuating the industry’s storied White male dominance and nepotism.

C’MON WHITE MEN!

9715: Big, Fat Liars.

2012-01-25T10:11:00.004-06:00

From The New York Times…

Blame Photoshop, Not Diabetes, for This Amputation

By Patrick McGeehan

New York City’s health watchdogs warn that drinking too much sugary soda could cost you a leg. But you also might lose a limb if you appear in one of their ads.

A blunt new poster from the Bloomberg administration shows an overweight man on a stool, his right leg missing below the knee. A pair of crutches leans against a wall beside him. The advertisement, being placed throughout the subway system, warns that ever-growing portions of fast food and sodas could cause diabetes, which could lead to amputations.

But it turns out that the person shown in the advertisement did not need crutches because his legs were intact. The health department confirmed on Tuesday that its advertising agency had removed the lower half of the man’s leg from the picture to make its point: the headline over the image reads “Portions have grown. So has Type 2 diabetes, which can lead to amputations.”

When city officials announced the campaign on Jan. 9, they did not let on that the man shown — whose photo came from a company that supplies stock images to advertising firms and others — was not an amputee and may not have had diabetes. The city did not identify the man, and efforts to reach the agency that supplied the photo were unsuccessful. The photographer who took the picture, Morten Smidt, said he did not know the man’s name.

Mr. Smidt said on Tuesday that he had not seen the advertisement. In response to a description of it, he said, “Well, it is an illustration now, clearly not the picture I did.”

In a news release about the campaign, the health department said that in 2006, nearly 3,000 New Yorkers with diabetes were hospitalized for amputations. The advertisements are the latest in a series of attention-grabbing messages about the dangers of smoking, drinking and consuming too many sweets and fatty foods. Other advertisements that the health department sponsored featured a grizzled smoker who talked through a voice box and a woman named “Marie” from the Bronx who showed off what appeared to be fingers whose tips had been lost to smoking.

City officials said those advertisements were testimonials that showed real people and real consequences. But they said that doing so was not always feasible. “Sometimes we use individuals who are suffering from the particular disease; other times we have to use actors,” said John Kelly, a health department spokesman. “We might stop using actors in our ads if the food industry stops using actors in theirs.”

The American Beverage Association, which opposes the city’s efforts against sodas and fast food, called the advertisement overwrought. “This is another example of the ‘What can we get away with?’ approach that shapes these taxpayer-funded ad campaigns,” Chris Gindlesperger, the association’s director of communications, said in a statement.

Bob Garfield, a commentator for Advertising Age and National Public Radio, said that the misrepresentation “was lazy or cheap or silly, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.” Still, he said, “Why people lie when there’s no penalty for telling the truth is an absolute mystery to me.”

9714: It’s The Sleaziest Cheesiest.

2012-01-25T00:02:00.003-06:00

Sociological Images spotlighted this anti-obesity campaign that attacks cheese and people with cottage cheese thighs. It’s another ineffective example of shaming the victim versus naming the villain.

Meanwhile, the media weight behind this effort likely appears anorexic when compared to pro-cheese propaganda.

9713: GM Moves From Bailout To Bullshit.

2012-01-24T17:38:00.002-06:00

Advertising Age reported on an event that has ties to the recent MultiCultClassics rant spotlighting the Chevrolet Route 66 crowdsourcing contest. One gripe about the Chevy promotion involved the hypocrisy of a corporation taking advantage of desperate people in a rough economy—despite having begged for a federal bailout to remain in business. Now General Motors announced consolidating its $3 billion media and planning duties with a firm based in the U.K. The U.S. saves GM’s ass from financial ruin, and the company responds by taking its business overseas. Brilliant. It seems like the automaker spends more time producing lies than lemons.

Ewanick on GM Media Review: ‘Should Have Done This Many Years Ago’

Quality as Well as Efficiency Drove Decision

By Stephen Williams

General Motors’ Joel Ewanick insists that it wasn’t only money but quality that drove his decision to place GM’s $3 billion global media-buying and -planning account with Aegis’ Carat agency.

“We scrutinized the presentations” during the review process, which began months ago, said Mr. Ewanick, GM’s global chief marketing officer. “I really want to compliment Carat . I went back and forth on this in the past nine weeks. At the end of the day, it was definitely about finding efficiencies, but at the same time we wanted to raise the quality.

“We saw ways to grow with Carat , and we’re willing to establish a new culture,” Mr. Ewanick said. “We probably should have done this many years ago, and that became painfully clear during the presentations.” The consolidation reduces the number to one from 50. Still, he said, “it’s going to take a couple of years for this to seed in.”

The other shoe in the agency review, which formally began last August and involved Chevrolet creative globally, will not drop for several weeks, Mr. Ewanick said. “The creative side is even more complicated than the media,” he said. As of now, Goodby Silverstein & Partners handles North American creative duties for Chevrolet.

Mr. Ewanick said his attention for the immediate future is focused on ad buys for the Super Bowl. He said that this past Sunday he decided to air a 30-second version of a contest-winning, consumer-generated Camaro commercial called “Happy Grads.” It ran during that night’s NFC Championship game on Fox.

The company plans five spots for next week’s game. “It’s almost like running a political campaign,” Mr. Ewanick said.

9712: Women & Washers.

2012-01-24T00:20:00.000-06:00

If this Bosch ad had been produced for the U.S., would the Darwinian chart have included slaves and Black maids?

From Sociological Images

9711: McTweets Bashtags.

2012-01-23T22:52:00.000-06:00

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

McDonald’s #McDStories Twitter marketing effort goes awry

By Tiffany Hsu

McDonald’s latest marketing campaign was supposed to deliver social media praise via the hashtag #McDStories. Instead, in a classic example of the risks of Twitter-based advertising, tweeters with a much snarkier intent commandeered the effort.

The campaign started out as a wholesome, feel-good exercise. There were two hashtags, #McDStories and #meetthefarmers, that launched Thursday and were intended to highlight the fast-food giant’s commitment to fresh produce and meats.

Initially, tweets came in warm and fuzzy, like this one fromMcDonald’s itself: “When u make something w/ pride, people can taste it,” – McD potato supplier #McDStories.”

But then more Twitter users got wind of the campaign and began offering their own, usually backhanded interpretations.

To wit: “I only eatMcDonald’swhen I am ill because it makes me feel sick anyway. #McDStories,” tweeted Parker Stafford through the knightps handle.

Another user, tweeting as nelo_taylor, wrote: “These #McDStories never get old, kinda like a box of McDonald’s 10 piece Chicken McNuggets left in the sun for a week.”

Within two hours, McDonalds pulled #McDStories, saying that the effort “did not go as planned.” The #meetthefarmers hashtag, which escaped the Twitter thrashing and instead drew mostly positive tweets, remained.

“As Twitter continues to evolve its platform and engagement opportunities, we’re learning from our experiences,” Rick Wion, McDonald’s social media director, said in a statement today.

9710: Chevrolet Route 66 Is A Bad Trip.

2012-01-23T00:51:00.002-06:00

Chevrolet Route 66 is one of those crowdsourcing promotions whereby people submit commercial concepts for prizes and the chance to see their big idea play during the Super Bowl. The tired formula actually ran out of gas years ago, yet lazy advertisers continue to ride with it annually.

The Chevy contest is obscene for a host of reasons.

First, the car company opened the field to everyone, including independent directors and filmmakers. This allowed D- and F-level production houses to essentially expel ~~fecal matter~~ spec work.

Second, Chevy presented cash prizes starting at $1,000 and topping at $25,000. Um, the average cost to create a television spot is over $300,000. It’s a safe bet that the typical Chevy commercial shoot spends more than $1,000 just for craft services.

Third, while the winning commercial is OK, does anyone believe Chevy’s lead advertising agency, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, couldn’t come up with something much, much better?

Finally, it’s appalling that Chevy would take advantage of the desperation fueled by a lousy economy—especially when the automaker needed a federal bailout to avoid complete financial collapse.

9709: The 3% Conference Is 100% Silly.

2012-01-23T00:01:00.003-06:00

The 3% Conference is out to address the dearth of female creative directors in the advertising industry. While the event doesn’t yet have a time, place or participants, the initial hype includes:

Women control 80% of consumer spending, yet don’t feel advertisers understand them. Could it be because only 3% of advertising creative directors are women?

The official website also features a contrived and clichéd video that, if produced by female creative directors, might explain why there are so few of them. But seriously, the conference appears to be an attempt to stage a live rehash of Tiffany Rolfe’s perspective published in Advertising Age last year. MultiCultClassics has repeatedly weighed in on the topic. Besides, if women comprise 3 percent of the creative directors, what do the minority figures look like? Anybody interested in a Less-Than-1% Conference?

9708: More Walgreens News And Comedy.

2012-01-22T10:57:00.000-06:00

As MultiCultClassics predicted, the Walgreens saga is producing comedy already. While Adweek reported the creative portion of the account is up for grabs, Advertising Age claims the drugstore chain is simply fishing for more ideas. According to Ad Age, “It’s possible that the marketer might retain [incumbent agency] Downtown Partners and be looking for additional creative help. The review does not include multicultural or media services, or digital-media planning or buying.” Of course the multicultural players aren’t included in the review. It’s also a safe bet that the minorities will not be allowed to participate in the competition. And once a White agency has been selected, look for the owning network to pitch its resident colored agencies to handle the multicultural duties—probably without a formal review. BTW, the Walgreens website boasts a deep commitment to diversity.

9707: Carla Unplugged.

2012-01-22T02:06:00.005-06:00

The only prominent Black character on AMC series Mad Men—Carla the housekeeper—was portrayed by Deborah Lacey. Here’s a pictorial peek at the actress.

9706: Walgreens Review Is Rx For Comedy.

2012-01-22T00:31:00.002-06:00

Adweek reported the creative portion of the Walgreens account is going into review. Can’t help but believe the upcoming competition will provide comedy galore. For starters, the incumbent agency, Downtown Partners, is an Omnicom unit. And everyone knows Omnicom is masterful at keeping unhappy clients in the network by serving up sister agencies as replacements. Second, Walgreens’ digital agency is Publicis Groupe’s Digitas, which recently “won” the Sprint account via old-fashioned cronyism. It all sounds like a prescription for Corporate Cultural Collusion.

Walgreens Reviews Creative Business

Annual media spend approaches $200 million

By Andrew McMains

Add Walgreens to the list of restless retailers.

The drugstore chain, which has more than 8,200 locations, has contacted agencies about its creative business via a request for information that’s due back next week.

The document asks agencies about their experience in retail, healthcare and with Fortune 500 companies. The RFI also identifies potential conflicts, listing Walmart, Target, CVS, Rite Aid and Amazon as direct competitors.

Walgreens spent more than $192 million in media in 2010 and about $164 million in the first 10 months of 2011, according to Nielsen. Those figures don’t include online spending.

The chain’s lead creative agency is Downtown Partners in Chicago, a unit of Omnicom Group. Publicis Groupe’s Digitas handles digital creative efforts. Calls to each agency and Walgreens were not immediately returned.

Not in play, according to the RFI, are media planning and buying (both traditional and digital), search engine marketing/optimization and multicultural efforts.

Other retailers who have reviewed or shifted creative business in the past three months include Radio Shack, JCPenney, Staples and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Retail, of course, is among the business sectors hardest hit by the economic downturn, so the restlessness is understandable. As consumer confidence (and buying power) wanes, so do sales at many retailers. What’s more, many stores offer the same merchandise, which puts the onus on marketing to develop brand distinctions beyond the price points.

Last year, Walgreens developed its first national campaign for its namesake line of health and wellness products. The effort included TV spots, online videos, Web banner ads and blogging.

Walgreens posted a 6 percent increase in sales in 2011 to $73.1 billion. In December alone, sales grew nearly 3 percent to $6.98 billion, according to the Deerfield, Ill.-based company.

9705: Hospital Branding Ad Is Sick.

2012-01-21T21:54:00.000-06:00

This scenario is overly staged—and Dad looks like he’s about to seriously beat his daughter. Plus, if Dad’s flipping over his kid’s phone bills, how will he react to hospital bills from Children’s of Alabama?

From Ads of the World.

9704: Miami Ad School Degree = 7-Eleven Job.

2012-01-21T21:44:00.003-06:00

This campaign is another example of Miami Ad School students receiving poor guidance from instructors. It’s bad enough that the students think glorifying the client’s logo is a big idea. But to do so while promoting food items in a thoroughly unappetizing way is, well, nauseating.

From Ads of the World.

9703: Etta James (1938-2012).

2012-01-21T14:46:00.000-06:00

From The New York Times…

Etta James Dies at 73; Voice Behind ‘At Last’

By Peter Keepnews

Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died on Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73.

Her manager, Lupe De Leon, said that the cause was complications of leukemia. Ms. James, who died at Riverside Community Hospital, had been undergoing treatment for some time for a number of conditions, including leukemia and dementia. She also lived in Riverside.

Ms. James was not easy to pigeonhole. She is most often referred to as a rhythm and blues singer, and that is how she made her name in the 1950s with records like “Good Rockin’ Daddy.” She is in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame.

She was also comfortable, and convincing, singing pop standards, as she did in 1961 with “At Last,” which was written in 1941 and originally recorded by Glenn Miller’s orchestra. And among her four Grammy Awards (including a lifetime-achievement honor in 2003) was one for best jazz vocal performance, which she won in 1995 for the album “Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday.”

Regardless of how she was categorized, she was admired. Expressing a common sentiment, Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote in 1990 that she had “one of the great voices in American popular music, with a huge range, a multiplicity of tones and vast reserves of volume.”

For all her accomplishments, Ms. James had an up-and-down career, partly because of changing audience tastes but largely because of drug problems. She developed a heroin habit in the 1960s; after she overcame it in the 1970s, she began using cocaine. She candidly described her struggles with addiction and her many trips to rehab in her autobiography, “Rage to Survive,” written with David Ritz (1995).

Etta James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 1938. Her mother, Dorothy Hawkins, was 14 at the time; her father was long gone, and Ms. James never knew for sure who he was, although she recalled her mother telling her that he was the celebrated pool player Rudolf Wanderone, better known as Minnesota Fats. She was reared by foster parents and moved to San Francisco with her mother when she was 12.

She began singing at the St. Paul Baptist Church in Los Angeles at 5 and turned to secular music as a teenager, forming a vocal group with two friends. She was 15 when she made her first record, “Roll With Me Henry,” which set her own lyrics to the tune of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ recent hit “Work With Me Annie.” When some disc jockeys complained that the title was too suggestive, it was changed to “The Wallflower,” although the record itself was not.

“The Wallflower” rose to No. 2 on the rhythm-and-blues charts in 1954. As was often the case in those days with records by black performers, a toned-down version was soon recorded by a white singer and found a wider audience: Georgia Gibbs’s version, with the title and lyric changed to “Dance With Me, Henry,” was a No. 1 pop hit in 1955. (Its success was not entirely bad news for Ms. James. She shared the songwriting royalties with Mr. Ballard and the bandleader and talent scout Johnny Otis, who had arranged for her recording session. Mr. Otis died on Tuesday.)

In 1960 Ms. James was signed by Chess Records, the Chicago label that was home to Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and other leading lights of black music. She quickly had a string of hits, including “All I Could Do Was Cry,” “Trust in Me” and “At Last,” which established her as Chess’s first major female star.

She remained with Chess well into the 1970s, reappearing on the charts after a long absence in 1967 with the funky and high-spirited “Tell Mama.” In the late ’70s and early ’80s she was an opening act for the Rolling Stones.

After decades of touring, recording for various labels and drifting in and out of the public eye, Ms. James found herself in the news in 2009 after Beyoncé Knowles recorded a version of “At Last” closely modeled on hers. (Ms. Knowles played Ms. James in the 2008 movie “Cadillac Records,” a fictionalized account of the rise and fall of Chess.) Ms. Knowles also performed “At Last” at an inaugural ball for President Obama in Washington.

When the movie was released, Ms. James had kind words for Ms. Knowles’s portrayal. But in February 2009, referring specifically to the Washington performance, she told an audience, “I can’t stand Beyoncé,” and threatened to “whip” the younger singer for doing “At Last.” She later said she had been joking, but she did add that she wished she had been invited to sing the song herself for the new president.

Ms. James’s survivors include her husband of 42 years, Artis Mills; two sons, Donto and Sametto James; and four grandchildren.

Though her life had its share of troubles to the end — her husband and sons were locked in a long-running battle over control of her estate, which was resolved in her husband’s favor only weeks before her death — Ms. James said she wanted her music to transcend unhappiness rather than reflect it.

“A lot of people think the blues is depressing,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 1992, “but that’s not the blues I’m singing. When I’m singing blues, I’m singing life. People that can’t stand to listen to the blues, they’ve got to be phonies.”

9702: Black Bankruptcy Bias…?

2012-01-21T14:45:00.002-06:00

From The New York Times…

Blacks Face Bias in Bankruptcy, Study Suggests

By Tara Siegel Bernard

Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to wind up in the more onerous and costly form of consumer bankruptcy as they try to dig out from their debts, a new study has found.

The disparity persisted even when the researchers adjusted for income, homeownership, assets and education. The evidence suggested that lawyers were disproportionately steering blacks into a process that was not as good for them financially, in part because of biases, whether conscious or unconscious.

The vast majority of debtors file under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, which typically allows them to erase most debts in a matter of months. It tends to have a higher success rate and is less expensive than the alternative, Chapter 13, which requires debtors to dedicate their disposable income to paying back their debts for several years.

The study of racial differences in bankruptcy filings was written by Robert M. Lawless, a bankruptcy expert and law professor, and Dov Cohen, a psychology professor, both with the University of Illinois; and Jean Braucher, a law professor at the University of Arizona.

A survey conducted as part of their research found that bankruptcy lawyers were much more likely to steer black debtors into a Chapter 13 than white filers even when they had identical financial situations. The lawyers, the survey found, were also more likely to view blacks as having “good values” when they expressed a preference for Chapter 13.

“Unfortunately I’m not surprised with these results,” said Neil Ellington, executive vice president of Consumer Education Services, a credit counseling agency in Raleigh, N.C. “The same underlying issues that created the problem in mortgage lending, with minorities paying higher interest rates than their white counterparts having the same loan qualifications, are present in all financial fields.”

The findings, which will be published in The Journal of Empirical Legal Studies later this year, did not suggest that there was any obvious evidence of discrimination in the bankruptcy process. “I don’t think there is any overt conspiracy,” Professor Lawless said. “But when you have a complex system, these biases can play out and the people within the system don’t see the pattern because nobody is in charge of looking at these big issues.”

Read the full story here.

9701: Sam’s Club No Longer White Boy’s Club.

2012-01-21T08:59:00.003-06:00

From USA TODAY…

Wal-Mart makes executive changes; woman to head Sam’s Club

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) – Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), the world’s biggest retailer, said Friday that it has named Rosalind Brewer CEO of Sam’s Club— the first woman and the first African-American to hold a CEO position at one of the company’s business units.

Brewer, 49, is replacing Brian Cornell, 52, who is leaving the company so he can return to the Northeast for family reasons.

Brewer, who will also be president of Sam’s Club, was previously president of the retailer’s U.S. East business unit. She will report to Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke. The moves are effective Feb. 1.

Wal-Mart has in recent years has been battered by a combination of the slow-growing economy and its own decisions that caused U.S. customers to flee to competitors. But it has refocused on offering the lowest prices and shoppers’ favorite goods and that strategy has been paying off.

In its third fiscal quarter ended Oct. 28, its net income fell 2.9% but it reversed a slump in U.S. namesake business.

Its Sam’s Club warehouse club business has outperformed its namesake stores. Revenue in stores open at least one year rose 5.7% at Sam’s Club and 1.3% at Walmart U.S. stores in its third quarter.

Before joining Wal-Mart, Brewer held a number of executive positions at Kimberly-Clark.

Wal-Mart also said Friday that it is promoting Gisel Ruiz, 41, to executive vice president and chief operating officer for its U.S. operations. Ruiz has been an executive vice president working on human relations and store innovation issues.

Wal-Mart is also promoting Rollin Ford, 49, to chief administrative officer. Ford was chief information officer. He will be replaced as CIO by Karenann Terrell, 50.

9700: Overreaction Of The Week.

2012-01-21T02:40:00.003-06:00

Another futile search for the KFC Hot Wings/Wingman commercial drew a bunch of fried chicken videos—and a banner ad featuring Dennis Haysbert.

9699: Saluting Buffalo Soldiers.

2012-01-20T21:35:00.004-06:00

Here’s a comment left at a previous post by Buffalo Soldier 9:

Keep history alive by telling that history.

Read the greatest ‘historical novel’—Rescue at Pine Ridge—the first generation of Buffalo Soldiers. The website is: http://www.rescueatpineridge.com

This is the greatest story of Black Military History…5 stars Amazon Internationally and Barnes & Noble. YouTube commercials are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD66NUKmZPs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVslyHmDy9A&feature=related

Rescue at Pine Ridge is the story of the rescue of the famed 7th Cavalry by the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers. The 7th Cavalry was entrapped again after the Little Big Horn Massacre, fourteen years later, the day after the Wounded Knee Massacre. If it wasn’t for the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, there would [have] been a second massacre of the 7th Cavalry. This story is about brutality, compassion, reprisal, bravery, heroism, redemption and gallantry.

You’ll enjoy the novel that embodies the Native Americans, Outlaws and African-American/Black soldiers, from the south to the north, in the days of the Native American Wars with the approaching United States of America.

The novel was taken from my mini-series movie with the same title, “RaPR”, to keep the story alive. The movie so far has the interest of Mr. Bill Duke, Hill Harper, Glynn Turman, James Whitmore Jr., Reginald T. Dorsey and a host of other major actors in which we are in talks with, in starring in this epic American story.

When you get a chance, also please visit our Alpha Wolf Productions website at http://www.alphawolfprods.com and see our other productions, like Stagecoach Mary, the first Black Woman to deliver mail for the US Postal System in Montana, in the 1890’s. Spread the word.

Peace.

9698: Bacardi Revisionist History Party.

2012-01-20T00:00:00.002-06:00

This party seems uncommonly integrated for circa 1957. Perhaps the concept creators drank too much Bacardi.

9697: Illinois Lottery Account Is Rigged.

2012-01-19T23:40:00.001-06:00

Advertising Age reported the Illinois Lottery named new agencies to handle branding and digital duties. However, the new agencies and the ex-agency are all within the Omnicom network. So it looks like Corporate Cultural Collusion is the winning ticket.

Critical Mass, Downtown Partners Set to Win Illinois Lottery

Account Previously Handled by Energy BBDO

By Maureen Morrison

Omnicom siblings Critical Mass and Downtown Partners are set to pick up advertising duties for the Illinois Lottery.

The account was previously handled by Energy BBDO, which had originally won the Lottery account in 2009. It was put into review in November, less than six months after a private consortium, the Northstar Lottery Group (which included Energy BBDO), took over day-to-day marketing and management as part of a 10-year state contract. The lottery was previously run by the Illinois Department of Revenue, but the state put the management contract up for bid in 2010.

The unexpected move to conduct a review happened about a month after Michael Jones was named superintendent of the Illinois Lottery, the agency that oversees Northstar. Mr. Jones is not new to the Lottery, having run it in the 1980s.

Since Downtown Partners and Critical Mass are also owned by Omnicom, the account essentially stays within the same company. A number of Illinois agencies had been invited to participate in the review, with five making the cut for the second round of the review: Downtown Partners (which partnered with Critical Mass), sibling agencies DDB, Chicago, and Element 79; Interpublic’s DraftFCB; and WPP’s Y&R , Chicago, which opted out of the review. According to Northstar’s website, the decision came down to Downtown Partners and DDB. The Lottery is expected to keep Omnicom’s OMD on for media services. Energy BBDO did not participate.

“The caliber of work and strategic thinking we received during this selection process was off the charts impressive,” said Jessica Powell, VP-Northstar Lottery Group, in a statement. “We challenged agencies to radically redefine our brand and they delivered.”

Mr. Jones said in a statement that the Lottery “looks forward for ways to work closely with Critical Mass/Downtown Partners to maximize revenue to the state in an ethical and socially responsible manner.”

Downtown Partners did not return calls, Critical Mass could not be immediately reached and DDB did not comment.

According to the request for proposal, the Lottery typically spends “between 1.0%-1.2% of sales in advertising, production and related agency fees. The aggregate amount has ranged from $20M-$35M per year with the highest level during [fiscal year] 2012.” A person familiar with the business said the agency fee was an estimated $4 million a year.

Downtown Partners counts Walgreens among its largest clients. It also works with the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. Critical Mass clients include Nissan and AT&T .

9696: Zowie Zoe Saldana.

2012-01-19T23:19:00.006-06:00

9695: Seeking A Plain Copywriter.

2012-01-19T21:58:00.001-06:00

This actual job listing is seeking copywriters with experience writing for the Amish community. And candidates must provide at least three relevant samples. Goddamn.

Position: OFFSITE Lifestyle Writer – Experience with Amish Audience
Location: Offsite
Status: Freelance
Estimated Duration: Weeks
Starts: Within a Couple Weeks
Rate: Up top $40/hour; DOE

Job Description:
If you are a writer with experience writing for an Amish audience, we want to hear from you!

Our client is looking for a talented writer to help them with a project aimed toward the Amish community.

You will be responsible for writing content for two lifestyle publications, one is focused on household hints and tips and the other is about gardening. Work can be done OFFSITE.

You must be familiar with the Amish culture or have experience writing for an Amish audience. Please send at least 3 relevant samples.

If you feel you are qualified for this position please send your resume (and samples if applicable) to: chicago30@jobalert.creativecircle.com

Best wishes!

Creative Circle

9694: This Is Not How We Do It.

2012-01-19T20:18:00.004-06:00

What’s the only thing worse than a contrived, stereotypical Jackson Hewitt commercial? A contrived, stereotypical Jackson Hewitt commercial playing in slow motion. Please make it stop.

9693: Meagan Good & Plenty.

2012-01-19T00:38:00.004-06:00

9692: Goodbye, GoodWorks.

2012-01-17T22:29:00.000-06:00

Advertising Age announced its GoodWorks blog is going on hiatus. Guess Madison Avenue has decided pro-bono efforts are no longer affordable—unless there’s a sure-win award involved. Wonder where the annual press releases for minority internships and inner-city youth outreach programs will be posted.

GoodWorks Goes on Hiatus

Creativity to Carry Best Cause-Related Work

Ad Age’s GoodWorks blog is on hiatus. If you have cause-related creative work, please share it with the editors of Creativity (Creativityeds@creativity-online.com), who will continue to highlight the best of the best. If you’re interested in finding out more about cause and green marketing issues, please check these blogs:

• Ad Council’s AdLibbing blog

• Cause Marketing Forum’s Companies and Causes blog

• Causecast’s CSR blog

• Jacquie Ottman’s Green Marketing blog

Ad Age will also continue to support the GoodWorks Effie Award. Stay tuned to see who wins this year’s Goodworks Effie.

9691: Beyoncé Not Black Enough…?

2012-01-17T06:16:00.002-06:00

From The New York Daily News…

Beyonce taking heat for new pale-skinned photo promoting latest album

Milky complexion could simply be the result of bright lighting and not Photoshop flourishes

By Michael J. Feeney and Nancy Dillon / New York Daily News

White-hot superstar Beyoncé Knowles is taking fresh heat for a new pale-skinned photo promoting her last album.

The new mom, who weathered similar accusations of photo snow jobs in 2008 and 2011, is shown lying on a leopard print couch in a slinky black monokini, with straight blond hair, bleached eyebrows and nearly alabaster skin.

The milky complexion could simply be the result of extremely bright lighting and not Photoshop flourishes, critics conceded. But either way, some believe any amount of whitewashing sends a damaging message — and the star should know better by now.

"It’s like, Again? Are we here again? I think in a lot of ways shes culpable because there’s history there," said Lincoln Anthony Blades, founder of the popular race-conscious blog ThisIsYourConscience.com.

"She's not saying explicitly you have to lighten your skin, but it does carry that inherent message," he said.

It was summer 2008 when beauty behemoth L’Oreal denied accusations it digitally lightened Beyoncés honey-colored skin in an ad for hair dye. Last year, she faced criticism for the blond, unusually light-skinned photos accompanying her fourth solo album, simply titled “4.”

Ugandan-born British writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown blasted Beyoncé for turning her back on her African-American roots.

"I despair for the youngsters who see those images," she wrote in London's Daily Mail.

Filmmaker D. Channsin Berry, whose documentary “Dark Girls” looks at issues facing black women with darker skin than their peers, told The News Beyoncé is “doing what she needs to do to be accepted worldwide and keep those sponsors happy.”

“I wish she had people around her telling her that God doesn’t make mistakes, that you are beautiful the way you are,” Berry said. “What does something like this do for a young girl who’s so impressionable and … says ‘Mommy, I want my skin to look like Beyoncé’s,’ that’s dangerous.”

Blades agreed and said he’s concerned about the rise in popularity of skin-bleaching creams.

In Harlem, Rochelle Mosley, the owner of Salon 804, said the singer is being given a hard time.

“That has been around since the beginning of time. Lighter has always gotten over,” said Mosley, a dark-skin woman. “I don’t think she’s trying to be a white woman. I think she’s trying to be herself.”

But stylist Ayanna Lockett, who also works at the same salon, disagreed:

“It bothers me,” she said, looking at the photo. “I think she went a little too far.”

Beyoncé’s publicist did not respond to a request for comment.

9690: Buffalo Soldiers Ride On.

2012-01-17T06:08:00.002-06:00

From The Los Angeles Times…

Buffalo Soldiers tell their stories

Two Buffalo Soldiers speak at the Autry museum, recalling their experiences as black men in the then-segregated Army. It was one of many L.A.-area events honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Ari Bloomekatz, Los Angeles Times

When James Cooper was a teenager in segregated Louisiana, he worked at a factory for $2 a day and didn’t see a bright future.

So he entered the military, attracted by such benefits as free lodging and meals, and eventually joined the ranks of one of the first African American regiments in the U.S. Army, becoming what was known as a Buffalo Soldier.

“Why did I join the Army? Survival. At 17, I looked at the Army and it was better than what I had,” Cooper, now 89, told a small audience Sunday at the Autry National Center of the American West, in one of many events commemorating the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

A program in Culver City featured a panel discussion, poetry, choral and jazz music and a staged reading of a play called “The Dreamers” featuring Margaret Avery, an actress best known for her role in “The Color Purple.” In Exposition Park, the California African American Museum kicked off a two-day program with a celebration called One Dream, a National Influence, a World of People.

At the Autry, Cooper spoke of the need to tell younger people about the Buffalo Soldiers as time rapidly shrinks their ranks.

“I want them to remember what we accomplished as a black people … and that we’re still marching on,” he said.

The first African American regiments in the Army were authorized by an act of Congress in 1866.

Buffalo Soldiers guarded the Western frontier and fought in the Spanish-American War, both world wars and other conflicts. The all-black regiments disbanded in the early 1950s as the military desegregated.

Cooper and fellow Buffalo Soldier Andrew Aaron spoke in front of the Autry museum’s exhibit on Henry O. Flipper, the first African American cadet to graduate from West Point. The two men talked about their experiences fighting in Korea, Japan and Italy, and they wore high blue hats, blue jackets adorned with medals and yellow ties decorated with images of Buffalo Soldiers.

Their audience of about two dozen included children — some squirmy and some eager to take photos. One child asked whether Cooper and Aaron were the first Buffalo Soldiers, to which the 80-year-old Aaron replied: “Weren’t the first, one of the last.”

It is unclear how many Buffalo Soldiers are still alive. Charles L. Davis, who helps organize some of their public appearances, called their story “a treasure that we’re letting fade away.”

“If you don’t keep that bandwagon going,” Davis said, “people will throw dirt over your history.”

9689: Paula Patton Pleasing Protocol.

2012-01-17T00:00:00.004-06:00

Presenting more pictures for Paula Patton fans.

9688: I Have A Tweet.

2012-01-16T00:01:00.002-06:00

9687: Think Again, Sears, Think Again.

2012-01-15T19:52:00.002-06:00

Anybody else think these Sears spots with the Black guy calling from a sink and a cupboard really suck?

Oh yeah, this guy does.

9686: How To Spend MLK Day.

2012-01-15T19:17:00.003-06:00

9685: Bud Light NFL Spot Fumbles.

2012-01-15T16:07:00.003-06:00

Hate this Bud Light commercial celebrating NFL fans. The Afro scene is corny—as is the final line, “Looking good, dawg.”

9684: North Dakota—Multicultural Matchmaker.

2012-01-15T14:26:00.003-06:00

Came across this North Dakota tourism ad at copyranter. Was the state boasting about its diverse hook-up selections? White men, come find your multicultural maiden! The ad was pulled for a variety of other complaints.

9683: Dove Real Beauty Redux…?

2012-01-15T09:32:00.003-06:00

From The New York Daily News…

Plus Model magazine shows beautiful, naked women displaying their ample curves

Pictures show the heavier models with the skinny women usually favored by fashion magazines

By Nina Mandell / New York Daily News

One New York magazine editor is looking to help fashion gain a little weight.

PLUS Model Magazine, a virtual publication aimed at larger ladies, is making waves with a provocative photo spread.

The eye-popping shots show nude plus-sized models hugging runway models in this month’s issue. The point: Decrying the shrinking size of the women who work in the modeling industry.

Models have shrunk to 23% smaller than the average American woman. The disparity was 8% two decades ago, the mag said.

Plus-sized models are also getting tinier. Madeline Figueroa-Jones, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, said the fashion industry had leaned toward plus-sized models wearing a size 6, making it impossible for normal-sized women to pick the right outfit.

“This is not a health issue, this is about fashion,” said Figueroa-Jones, a former plus-sized model who lives in Battery Park.

Major magazines rejected the photo concept, Figueroa-Jones said, but Katya Zharkova and photographer Victoria Janashvili kept pushing to find a home for the images.

“They said we love them, but we can’t run them,” the edgy editor said.

The series seems to have hit a nerve. “We’ve gotten some negative comments like we’re advocating eating disorders, it looks like porn, but the majority of comments – even the ones we got this morning from Norway, Australia, Malaysia, husbands and even teens – are overwhelmingly positive,” she said.

Plus-sized women across the country have flocked to the magazine’s Facebook page to cheer for the campaign.

“I love what you are doing for our community!!” one fan wrote. “Its about time that the fashion world sees what opportunities they are missing!”

9682: No Wingman Needed.

2012-01-15T01:25:00.001-06:00

These 2009 KFC cross-cultural “True Friends” commercials for Caribbeans and Latinos are true bullshit.

9681: Cross-Cultural Wingmen.

2012-01-14T18:55:00.003-06:00

Still seeking the KFC wingman commercial, but came across a 2009 cross-cultural campaign targeting the Caribbean market and Latin American market.

9680: The Black Groupon.

2012-01-14T08:35:00.003-06:00

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

An ‘African-American Groupon’

By Sandra Guy

Christopher Nolen, an independent film director and producer, enjoys using Groupon coupons to get half-off deals at restaurants. So when he found out about a new deals website dedicated to black-owned businesses, he signed up.

“This is the African-American community’s Groupon — it’s a great way to give African-American business owners some notoriety and help them in this economy,” said Nolen, a Roseland native who teaches eighth-grade algebra in addition to running Nferno Productions, Inc., in Calumet City.

The site, Blackmark-it.com, whose name is a play off of the idea of marking an event and the black community’s often-hidden marketplaces, launches Monday (January 16).

Its first discount is for a 40 percent off tax-preparation service by Chicago accountant Emerging Business Solutions Group, LLC.

The first deal will run for one week, as will the next three.

After the first month, the website’s creators intend to offer two deals per week and gradually ramp up to daily deals.

The deals extend beyond spas and nail salons, with discounts ranging from professional photography services to 50-percent off the price of “The Veil of Victory,” a non-fiction book by author Yorli Huff about her experience as an undercover cop.

“As a business owner and filmmaker, it’s incredible when I see other African-Americans helping each other in business,” Nolen said. “We need more of that.”

Blackmark-it.com is the work of Oak Lawn couple Jamel and Natasha Williams, both 33, who financed the web startup on their own after they grew disappointed that so few offers from Groupon and LivingSocial featured black-owned companies. Jamel, a truck driver who manages the couple’s catering business, Covenant Café, and Natasha, a marketing consultant at The Nielsen Company, aim to keep the deals manageable for merchants, and to help strategize other ways the businesses can grow.

“We’re setting maximums (of deals) as low as 25 to 50 to make sure the merchants can meet the demand, and then we can revisit growth strategies,” Natasha Williams said. “For many minority-owned businesses, advertising feels like more risk than a gain.”

Delandon Mason, 34, a jazz and classical-music trumpet player and friend and former college classmate of the Williames at Northern Illinois University, is recruiting subscribers and helping implement strategy. He is using the experience to inform his own entrepreneurial ambitions and to learn how to build a personal brand.

The Williamses are only too aware of the widely publicized missteps of daily deal giant Groupon, including the latest dispute in which a contractor-bidding company alleges that Groupon changed the terms of their deal after both parties had signed off on it.

The Williamses frequent their clients’ businesses and tweak discounts so the merchants maintain their profits.

They’re also cognizant of Groupon’s elaborate list of merchant-help tools, including a scheduler, a rewards program and location-based offers that alert consumers to deals at places near where they are standing and at times the merchant needs more customers.

Compared with most daily deal sites that take half of the cut, Blackmark-it.com takes 20 percent to 40 percent of the revenue from each deal, depending on the deal’s amount, the quantity sold and other factors.

To track each coupon as it is redeemed, merchants may log in to a Blackmark-it web portal; scan coupons set up with their preference of barcodes or QR codes to update the redemptions at checkout in real time, and keep up-to-date with spreadsheets that the Williamses create.

Blackmark-it also will offer for an extra fee a one-minute video commercial, which the merchants may use for their own marketing, Jamel Williams said.

Some analysts say the ability of smaller players to offer better terms poses a threat to the Groupons of the industry, while others say the market affords massive opportunities for all players.

Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note to investors, “While we believe Groupon taps primarily into the $500 billion (worldwide) advertising market, of which $100 billion is local advertising, with Groupon’s expansion into travel, goods and events, the total addressable market is well more than $10 trillion.”

9679: Defining Latinos.

2012-01-14T08:28:00.001-06:00

From The New York Times…

For Many Latinos, Racial Identity Is More Culture Than Color

By Mireya Navarro

Every decade, the Census Bureau spends billions of dollars and deploys hundreds of thousands of workers to get an accurate portrait of the American population. Among the questions on the census form is one about race, with 15 choices, including “some other race.”

More than 18 million Latinos checked this “other” box in the 2010 census, up from 14.9 million in 2000. It was an indicator of the sharp disconnect between how Latinos view themselves and how the government wants to count them. Many Latinos argue that the country’s race categories — indeed, the government’s very conception of identity — do not fit them.

The main reason for the split is that the census categorizes people by race, which typically refers to a set of common physical traits. But Latinos, as a group in this country, tend to identify themselves more by their ethnicity, meaning a shared set of cultural traits, like language or customs.

So when they encounter the census, they see one question that asks them whether they identify themselves as having Hispanic ethnic origins and many answer it as their main identifier. But then there is another question, asking them about their race, because, as the census guide notes, “people of Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin may be of any race,” and more than a third of Latinos check “other.”

This argument over identity has gained momentum with the growth of the Latino population, which in 2010 stood at more than 50 million. Census Bureau officials have acknowledged that the questionnaire has a problem, and say they are wrestling with how to get more Latinos to pick a race. In 2010, they tested different wording in questions and last year they held focus groups, with a report on the research scheduled to be released by this summer.

Some experts say officials are right to go back to the drawing table. “Whenever you have people who can’t find themselves in the question, it’s a bad question,” said Mary C. Waters, a sociology professor at Harvard who specializes in the challenges of measuring race and ethnicity.

The problem is more than academic — the census data on race serves many purposes, including determining the makeup of voting districts, and monitoring discriminatory practices in hiring and racial disparities in education and health. When respondents do not choose a race, the Census Bureau assigns them one, based on factors like the racial makeup of their neighborhood, inevitably leading to a less accurate count.

Latinos, who make up close to 20 percent of the American population, generally hold a fundamentally different view of race. Many Latinos say they are too racially mixed to settle on one of the government-sanctioned standard races — white, black, American Indian, Alaska native, native Hawaiian, and a collection of Asian and Pacific Island backgrounds.

Some regard white or black as separate demographic groups from Latino. Still others say Latinos are already the equivalent of another race in this country, defined by a shared set of challenges.

“The issues within the Latino community — language, immigration status — do not take into account race,” said Peter L. Cedeño, 43, a lawyer and native New Yorker born to Dominican immigrants. “We share the same hurdles.”

Read the full story here.

9678: I Have A Revision.

2012-01-14T08:20:00.002-06:00

From The New York Daily News…

Quote on MLK memorial will be changed after accusations that inscription skewed King’s words

Maya Angelou said shortened quote made MLK look like an ‘arrogant twit’

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A quote carved in stone on the new Martin Luther King memorial in Washington will be changed after the inscription was criticized for not accurately reflecting the civil rights leader’s words.

The Washington Post first reported on Friday the decision to change the inscription, which currently reads: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” The phrase is chiseled into one side of a massive block of granite that includes King’s likeness emerging from the stone. It became a point of controversy after the memorial opened in August.

The phrase is modified from a sermon known as the “Drum Major Instinct,” in which the 39-year-old King explained to his Atlanta congregation how he would like to be remembered at his funeral. He made the February 1968 speech just two months before he was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn.

In the speech, King’s words seem more modest than the paraphrased inscription: “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

Poet Maya Angelou previously said the truncated version made King sound like “an arrogant twit” because it was out of context.

A spokesman for the U.S Department of the Interior confirmed on Friday that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar decided to have the quote changed. It’s not clear how much the cost of any change might be or how it would be paid for.

Salazar gave the National Park Service, which the U.S Department of the Interior oversees, a month to consult with the King Memorial Foundation, which led the effort to build the memorial, as well as family members and other interested parties. The committee is supposed to come up with a more accurate alternative to the quote.

Harry Johnson, president of the King Memorial Foundation, said it wasn’t yet clear what the alternatives might be. The group would look at all the ways a change could be made, he said.

The executive architect of the $120 million project, Ed Jackson Jr., had previously said he stood by the paraphrased line and that there was no way it could be altered. King’s words were shortened for space reasons, Jackson said. He did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment Friday evening.

Angelou was named among the memorial’s Council of Historians tasked with selecting the inscriptions for the memorial. But she did not attend meetings about the inscriptions, Jackson said. Project planners also explained the shortened quote to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which ultimately approved the memorial’s design.

At least one other recent memorial has undergone changes after being opened to the public. After the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial opened in 1997, advocates for the disabled campaigned to have a statue added portraying Roosevelt in his wheelchair. Originally, only one statue in the memorial alluded to the fact Roosevelt lost the use of his legs after contracting polio as an adult. That statue portrayed him seated with small wheels on the back of his chair.

In 2001, a bronze sculpture depicting Roosevelt in his self-designed wheelchair was added to the entrance of the memorial. Disability groups raised $1.65 million for the addition.

9677: Red Tails At White House.

2012-01-13T07:13:00.001-06:00

From USA TODAY…

White House showing ‘Red Tails’ movie about airmen

WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s a night at the movies for President Obama and the first lady — and they won’t have to leave the White House.

The Obamas will be hosting Tuskegee Airmen along with cast and crew members of the movie Red Tails, about the legendary African-American fighter pilots during World War II.

Screening of the military drama will cap a day in which the president is scheduled to hold private meetings with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama will also take time out to attend a campaign event at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington.

9676: Safe To Say That SafeAuto Is Racist.

2012-01-12T00:00:00.001-06:00

SafeAuto has consistently displayed cultural cluelessness with colored people, but this commercial is simply unbelievable.

9675: Shucking And Diving At Golden Corral.

2012-01-11T22:18:00.003-06:00

Golden Corral would have us believe that Black people will jump out of a moving car for the restaurant’s 2 for $20 appetizers. Um, maybe the colored couple simply sought to ditch the White folks. Even more pathetic is the behind-the-scenes video showing the production of the spot, as the Black actors shamelessly shill for the menu items.

9674: Anti-Obesity Ads Are The Biggest Losers.

2012-01-11T13:39:00.003-06:00

Advertising Age published the following piece regarding the advertisement depicted above:

Bloomberg to Critics of Anti-Obesity Ad: ‘Take Your Poison’

Some Call Campaign Featuring Amputee Too Graphic

By Ken Wheaton

According to NY1, Michael Bloomberg today defended the current crop of anti-obesity ads. It seems that some people find the ad featuring a person with an amputated leg too graphic. (It’s unclear who “some people” are, however.)

Bloomberg offered a supersized portion of smackdown: “What do you want to do? Do you want to have people lose their legs or do you want to show them what happens so that they won’t lose their legs? Take your poison. Which do you want? You can’t have it both ways.”

It’s important to realize that Bloomberg is a politician, which might explain his ignorant and uninformed rhetoric. And because the advertisement ran in New York City, perhaps the mayor is simply defending having approved a supersized waste of taxpayers’ dollars. Like the awful campaign from morons in Atlanta, this NYC effort is a misguided mess which will probably fail to persuade anyone to do anything.

As MultiCultClassics has repeatedly pointed out, the fast food industry operates remarkably similarly to Big Tobacco—including the deployment of lobbyists and PR hacks to push greedy agendas and sleazy tactics. Plus, just as Big Tobacco knows shock value and threats of death and dismemberment won’t dissuade smokers, the McIndustry is completely aware that scary ads won’t dramatically alter bad eating habits. Additionally, any PSA-style initiatives to combat obesity are greatly outweighed by the marketing firepower of fast feeders.

So does that mean battling unhealthy food creators is a hopeless endeavor? Au contraire, fellow citizens! To succeed, justice fighters must employ the maneuvers that have been proven effective versus Big Tobacco:

Stop attacking the victims. Start annoying the culprits. For example, the iconic Truth campaign gained traction by forgoing stereotypical images of diseased lungs, opting to focus attention directly on irresponsible tobacco executives and their companies. In other words, don’t show fatties and amputees. Expose the fat cats and corporate honchos behind the deadly menu items instead.

Restrict marketing and apply warning labels. Big Tobacco is not allowed to hawk its products to kids. Big Mac should be equally regulated and prohibited. Imagine placing Surgeon General’s warnings on Happy Meals too. Honestly, what’s the real difference between Ronald McDonald and Joe Camel?

Raise McTaxes. Big Tobacco doesn’t want to admit it, but smoking decreases when pricing increases. The same may hold true with fast food. When people realize they can’t afford—literally and figuratively—to eat the shit, they may turn to better alternatives.

Mayor Bloomberg ought to reconsider his statements. “You can’t have it both ways” is a feeble attempt to justify doing things the wrong way.

9673: George Lucas Goes To The Dark Side.

2012-01-11T13:37:00.002-06:00

From The Huffington Post…

George Lucas: Hollywood Didn’t Want To Fund ‘Red Tails’ Because Of Its Black Cast

In an appearance on The Daily Show last night, George Lucas said that he had trouble getting funding for his new movie, “Red Tails,” because of its black cast.

“This has been held up for release since 1942 since it was shot, I’ve been trying to get released ever since,” Lucas told Jon Stewart. “It’s because it’s an all-black movie. There’s no major white roles in it at all...I showed it to all of them and they said no. We don’t know how to market a movie like this.”

“Red Tails,” which stars Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Terrence Howard, is based on the Tuskegee Airmen, the group of pioneering black pilots who fought in the United States’ segregated armed forces during World War II. The movie is directed by Anthony Hemingway, the rare black director getting a chance to direct a big-budget feature.

Last week, Lucas told USA Today that he was worried that if Red Tails was a failure, it could have negative repercussions for black filmmakers. “I realize that by accident I’ve now put the black film community at risk [with Red Tails, whose $58 million budget far exceeds typical all-black productions],” he said. “I’m saying, if this doesn’t work, there’s a good chance you’ll stay where you are for quite a while. It’ll be harder for you guys to break out of that [lower-budget] mold. But if I can break through with this movie, then hopefully there will be someone else out there saying let’s make a prequel and sequel, and soon you have more Tyler Perrys out there.”

9672: Kross-Kultural Kicks.

2012-01-10T00:02:00.001-06:00

Are these sneaker ads targeting minorities by kicking a piñata and watermelon?

From Ads of the World.

9671: Animated Annie The Chicken Queen.

2012-01-09T00:44:00.001-06:00

Popeyes and advertising agency GSD&M seem to prohibit posting videos of Annie the Chicken Queen. But that didn’t stop someone from creating this animated Popeyes Chicken Commercial parody co-starring Uncle Ben and other stereotypical characters.

9670: Friend Of Jennifer Aniston…?

2012-01-09T00:43:00.001-06:00

Is this alumna really a success story—or is it just that she’s a celebrity lookalike?

9669: 20% Black Representation In Advertising…?

2012-01-08T19:37:00.001-06:00

Advertising Age presented an article titled, “Hats Off to These 10 Forward-Thinking Clients”—and two of the executives are Black! American Express CEO and Chairman Ken Chenault and former Kraft Foods Executive VP Ann Fudge were the sole minorities among the White people saluted by the trade journal. In fact, Ad Age went so far as to write that Fudge “is still probably the most important [Black] executive the advertising industry has ever seen.” It’s interesting that a list of top ten innovative clients can include two Blacks, yet such a diverse representation is never seen in collections of advertising agency superstars.

9668: Frito Bandito Burrito.

2012-01-08T16:37:00.002-06:00

Considering that Pepsico hatched Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands and also own Fritos parent company Frito-Lay Brands, there’s something inherently lazy about the Beefy Crunch Burrito. Look for Beefy Doritos Gorditas and Beefy Cheetos Chalupas soon.

9667: Saints Alive, Club Med!

2012-01-08T16:15:00.002-06:00

Um, there is an easier way—and lots of better ways—to advertise vacation resorts.

From Ads of the World.

9666: Subliminal Images In Bottles.

2012-01-08T11:26:00.000-06:00

Are these ads demeaning to women and flight attendants?

From Ads of the World.

9665: Sunday With Sofia Vergara.

2012-01-08T10:21:00.004-06:00

9664: Schooling The Clueless.

2012-01-08T10:15:00.001-06:00

From The Root…

Mrs. YoMama Controversy: Not Again

By Mary C. Curtis

It should be common sense; here are some helpful hints for how to avoid forwarding racist emails.

One thing I hate to do is act as teacher to the clueless. But it’s clear, after the speaker of the Kansas House, Republican Mike O’Neal, forwarded an email with pictures making fun of first lady Michelle Obama’s appearance and calling her “Mrs. YoMama,” that school is once again in session.

You would think these folks—including Wisconsin GOP Rep. James Sensenbrenner, with his unhealthy obsession with what he called the first lady’s “large posterior”; the South Carolina Republican activist who once compared her to a zoo’s escaped gorilla; and all the other offenders—would have at least learned self-control. But since they can’t seem to help themselves, some lessons bear repeating. Read and learn.

1. When people who aren’t black use slang that purports to be “black,” it just makes them look incredibly foolish. To all who thought the email O’Neal sent was hilarious, you need to know that black people don’t go around saying “YoMama” in conversation. (After holiday visits with family, I can report that the term did not come up once.) Use the term around anyone, particularly your actual mother, and random black people within earshot will make that circle-around-the-head motion and slowly back away. (Hint: Black people call other black people by their names.)

Words such as “YoMama” are used by people who don’t know anything about black people to mock them. It’s how they imagine black folks speak, and the fact that they spend so much time imagining such things is something they probably should discuss with a doctor. Either that, or spend some time with black people.

2. The cartoon in O’Neal’s email showed Mrs. Obama’s hair blowing in the wind and compared it to an image of Dr. Seuss’ Grinch. Hair is hair. A black person’s hair is no exception. It comes in all different textures and styles. We wash it, dry it, curl it, straighten it or leave it be—and sometimes it even blows in the wind. Our hair is not a secret weapon or a hiding place for one.

3. An apology goes something like this: “I messed up; I’m sorry.” In O’Neal’s apology, first reported in the Lawrence Journal-World, he said he didn’t read the email before he forwarded it and had no idea it labeled Mrs. Obama with a racist slur. He made clear that he did indeed intend to share the cartoon, which he thought was a real thigh-slapper.

In a statement, O’Neal said, “I’ve had bad hair days too … To those I have offended, I am sorry. That was not at all my intent.” Did you write that statement—the one that repeats one part of your insult before implying that anyone who had a problem with the email might be too thin-skinned—with a straight face, Mr. O’Neal? No apology at all would have been better.

4. No woman likes to be insulted and demeaned or compared to cartoon characters. Just because black women are used to such treatment (and worse) in America does not mean they think it’s OK. Would your wife or mother, daughter or sister, like it? What would you do to the guy who spread insults about them? Keep it up, and even no-drama Obama might be tempted to punch you in the mouth.

5. A little history and geography lesson is also in order for those who continue to grumble that the president and first lady took a Hawaiian vacation on the taxpayers’ dime. All presidents take well-deserved breaks; many Americans, for that matter, return home for the holidays. For me, that meant seeing hubby’s mom in New York and my family in Baltimore. President Bush loved to clear brush in Crawford, Texas.
President Obama returns to Hawaii because he was born and mostly grew up there. (Yes, it is a state.) It’s where the grandmother who helped raise him lived until her death in 2008. He can’t help it if his home has beaches, warm weather and killer optics.

In November 2012 there will be an election when all those who want a new family in the White House will have the chance to make their dreams a reality. It’s how America works. Until then, the first family we have is the image the United States presents to the world. Some respect, or at least good sense, is in order.

And one final lesson: When you receive a nasty email, “delete” works so much better than “forward.”

Mary C. Curtis, an award-winning Charlotte, N.C.-based journalist, is a contributor to the Washington Post’s She the People blog, The Root, NPR, Fox News Charlotte, Creative Loafing and the Nieman Watchdog blog, and she was national correspondent for Politics Daily.

9663: Better Intolerance. Papa John’s.

2012-01-07T20:09:00.002-06:00

From The Huffington Post…

‘Lady Chinky Eyes’: Papa John’s Store Calls Woman Racial Slur In Receipt

The Huffington Post | Laura Hibbard

Minhee Cho went to Papa John’s for some fast food goodness. Little did she know, she would get it served with a side of racism.

At around 12:30 p.m. today, Papa John’s customer Minhee Cho tweeted a photo of a receipt she received at a Papa John’s restaurant in uptown, New York City.

In it, under the customer’s name section, the restaurant employee who rang up the order used the racial slur “lady chinky eyes” to describe her.

Cho posted the photo to her Twitter page, where it was quickly retweeted by hundreds of people. By 3 p.m., the photo had been viewed over 25,000 times.

When The Huffington Post reached the Papa John’s in question for comment, the assistant manager—who only gave her first name as Marjani—said she was unaware of the incident.

“I apologize,” she said in a phone interview. “I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm but some people will take it offensive.” She added that she “had an idea of who it was,” based on the time of the receipt.

Marjani went on to say that this was the kind of behavior that would result in disciplinary action, but declined to go into further detail on what she planned to do.

Papa John’s has yet to respond to the incident in a statement or its Facebook and Twitter accounts, but with such a PR disaster on their hands, they most likely will soon.

UPDATE: Papa John’s has responded to the incident on Facebook. A post on its official page reads:

We were extremely concerned to learn of the receipt issue in New York. This act goes against our company values, and we’ve confirmed with the franchisee that this matter was addressed immediately and that the employee is being terminated. We are truly sorry for this customer’s experience.

The company has also addressed the matter on its Twitter feed, tweeting to multiple people that “We have issued an apology, are reaching out to customer & franchise employee is being terminated.”

9662: French Fries And Fluffy Towels.

2012-01-07T08:59:00.004-06:00

Apparently, McCain Frozen French Fries make French women imagine that they’re locker room towels being used to wipe off naked men. Yep, seems like a typical female fantasy.

From Ads of the World.

9661: Cardinal Sorry For Gays-KKK Remark.

2012-01-07T08:40:00.002-06:00

From The New York Daily News...

Chicago cardinal apologizes for comparing gay rights activists to Ku Klux Klan

Satisfied with apology, gay and civil rights activists call off protest in front of Cardinal Francis George’s church planned for Sunday

By Roque Planas / New York Daily News

Chicago Cardinal Francis George is sorry for comparing gay activists to the Ku Klux Klan in an interview on Christmas Day.

“I am truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have caused,” George said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune published Friday.

“When I was talking, I was speaking out of fear that I have for the church’s liberty and I was reaching for an analogy which was very inappropriate, for which I’m sorry.”

The controversy erupted back in October when George objected to next summer’s Gay Pride Parade passing by his Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on a Sunday during mass. Organizers agreed to push the start time of the parade to noon to avoid bothering morning worshippers, according to the Chicago Tribune.

But the compromise didn’t solve the dispute for George, who continued to rail against segments of the Chicago gay rights movement, arguing that they view Catholics as an enemy—which reminded George of the KKK.

“You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism,” George told Fox Chicago in an interview broadcast on Christmas day.

“That’s a little strong analogy, don’t you think? Ku Klux Klan?” the host asked George.

“It is, but you take a look at the rhetoric—the rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people. Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church.”

Days later, the cardinal doubled down, defending his comparison in a public statement.

“Organizers (of the pride parade) invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church,” the cardinal said, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.”

The comments sparked a firestorm of criticism, while few leaders came forward to back George up. The Rainbow Sash Movement—a Catholic group that supports gay rights—demanded the Chicago cardinal to step down. Several gay and civil rights groups planned to show up at George’s Sunday mass for a protest if they didn’t get an apology.

But George’s apology satisfied most and the organizers called off Sunday’s protest, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

George’s public relations fiasco came just a month after he landed himself in hot water by blasting Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn for agreeing to present an award to rape survivor Jennie Goodman on behalf of pro-choice organization Personal PAC.

“Governor Quinn has gone beyond a political alignment with those supporting the legal right to kill children in their mother’s wombs to rewarding those deemed successful at this terrible work,” the Illinois bishops said in a public statement.

It turned out Goodman had never had an abortion, so the Catholic leaders backed down.

9660: Impossibly Gorgeous Paula Patton.

2012-01-06T22:55:00.003-06:00