6147: I Have A Copyright.

From The New York Times…

King Estate Considering Suit Over Unlicensed Obama Items

By Robbie Brown

ATLANTA — Since Barack Obama’s election last week as the nation’s first black president, street vendors and online stores have been hawking T-shirts, buttons and posters juxtaposing images of him with those of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as twin pillars of racial progress.

Mr. Obama will not be profiting from those sales, but Dr. King’s family is considering whether it can.

Isaac Newton Farris Jr., a nephew of Dr. King and president of the King Center in Atlanta, said the family was considering several options, including lawsuits against sellers of unauthorized merchandise linking Mr. Obama and Dr. King under slogans like “The Dream Is Reality.”

“It’s not about the money,” Mr. Farris said. “The law says that if you don’t assert and protect the right to an image, you can lose that right.” But he added, “We do feel that if somebody’s out there making a dollar, we should make a dime.”

The King family celebrates Mr. Obama’s election but wants to protect Dr. King’s name and estate, Mr. Farris said, adding that the family would probably wait 30 or 45 days before suing, to allow vendors to stop selling the items.

“We don’t want to sue people,” he said. “We’re not looking for a fight. It would be our last move to sue anyone.”

But the King estate may be entitled to hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in licensing fees, Mr. Farris said, and the proceeds should benefit the King Center, a nonprofit organization and memorial.

Joseph M. Beck, a lawyer who represents the King estate, said courts have repeatedly defended the right of public figures to control the commercial use of their copyrighted words and image.

But critics say lawsuits against vendors would be difficult to enforce and could dampen the spirit of Mr. Obama’s victory.

“This is the King estate piggybacking on the success of Obama,” said David J. Garrow, a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Dr. King. “The family says they don’t want their brand tarnished, but they seem blind to how much reputational damage they’re doing.”

In recent years, the King family has come under criticism from Mr. Garrow and other scholars who believe that the family is being overprotective of Dr. King’s legacy, in particular for suing news organizations and historians who use excerpts from his speeches without paying the family.

After The Associated Press reported the possibility of lawsuits against vendors Thursday, online stores began removing items with Dr. King’s likeness. Karen DeMarco, a spokeswoman for Zazzle, an online clothing store, said the Web site was taking down all King-related items.

But on street corners and in clothing stores across the country, the merchandise remained popular, and it is likely to be difficult to stop.

Stopping every vendor will be nearly impossible, said Paul Goldstein, a professor at Stanford Law School. “These things pop up like mushrooms,” he said.

Curtis Garmon, a salesman at ATL Fashion in Atlanta, said shirts with images of Mr. Obama and Dr. King were selling quickly.

“Everybody’s just going crazy about them,” Mr. Garmon said, holding a shirt with their images and the phrases “I have a dream” and “Yes, we can.”

6146: Fishy Comparisons.

It’s always odd to see advertisers compare themselves favorably versus something bizarre. Why not just say you’re better than a bowl of shit?

6145: Mad Ave Discovers Growing Market.

Not much to say about this ridiculous Adweek story. Except if it does turn out to become a profit source for advertising agencies, rest assured that Omnicom will recruit obese people to set up a specialized shop.

Marketers Set Sights on Obese Americans

By NielsenWire

NEW YORK Obesity is more prevalent in the U.S. than ever before, and marketers are taking notice. Many are actively changing their strategies to create products and messages that appeal to this segment of the population.

According to NielsenHealth, U.S. households with at least one obese member spend 9 percent more than the average American household on over-the-counter medications, 10 percent more on health and beauty care products, and almost 17 percent more on total medications and remedies.

Obesity sufferers tend to live in low-income households, with incomes of less than $20,000 per year, and are more likely to be middle-aged (45 to 64 years old). These households tend to be located in less affluent towns and rural areas (39 percent).

On average, households with obese members are more willing to buy generic or private label brands. They also purchase 20 percent more low calorie carbonated soft drinks than the average U.S. household, and are more willing to buy prescription drugs from outside the U.S. in order to save money.

As marketers turn their attention to this once overlooked demographic, Americans are also turning an eye inward to examine the causes of the country’s obesity epidemic.

According to a 2008 Nielsen survey, 81 percent of U.S. consumers “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that weight gain can be attributed to eating too much and not exercising enough.

What’s more, 68 percent of consumers “disagreed” or “disagreed strongly” with the statement that they cannot find healthy food in their grocery store.

Consumers also told Nielsen they hold food companies and their advertising partially responsible for America’s obesity epidemic. Almost three-quarters of consumers believe that advertising by food companies encourages people to eat less-healthy food, and that these companies should provide healthier food. In comparison, consumers did not identify the fast-food industry as a major player in the obesity blame game.

6144: Número Uno, Número Dos.

Latinos must over-index with peeing and pooping.

6143: What The Devil Is Going On?

Adweek reported that Omnicom Group CEO John Wren won some type of humanitarian award. Um, this guy runs a conglomerate that has displayed homophobia, racism, diversity adversity, shady culture-based political maneuvers and more. Never mind the deal inked with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Wren has obviously signed a pact with Satan.

Wren Among Reisenbach Honorees
Foundation honors trio with Distinguished Citizenship Awards

By Adweek Staff

NEW YORK Omnicom Group CEO John Wren, ESPN sales and marketing president Ed Erhardt and New York City film commissioner Katherine Oliver will receive John A. Reisenbach Distinguished Citizenship Awards on Dec. 4 at the organization’s 17th annual Gala Tribute for a Better and Safe New York.

The ceremony will be held at the University Club here.

“We remain committed to paying tribute to members in different areas of our industry who demonstrate a real dedication to making public service an integral part of their work, and who contribute to an overall improved quality of life in New York City,” said Nielsen Business Media’s Gerry Byrne, this year’s gala chair. (Adweek and Nielsen Business Media are units of the Nielsen Co.)

Honorary chairs for the 2007 event are last year’s recipients: John Hayes, Wenda Harris Millard and Charlie Rutman. Previous Distinguished Citizenship Awards have gone to Bill Cella, Irwin Gotlieb, Judy McGrath, Dennis Swanson, Dick Wolf and the first honoree, Gerald Levin.

The Reisenbach Foundation focuses on programs that help areas such as safety and education as well as community relations. It was named for John Reisenbach, an ad syndication executive shot in a never-solved murder in New York in 1990. He was 33 at the time.

6142: Gunning For Trouble.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Obama win triggers run on guns
Buyers said to fear crackdown on their rights, civil unrest

By Howard Witt, Tribune correspondent

HOUSTON — A week after the election of Barack Obama, gun buyers across the country are voting with their feet, flocking to gun stores to stock up on assault rifles, handguns and ammunition.

Some say they are worried that the incoming Obama administration will attempt to reimpose the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Others fear the loss of their right to own handguns. A few say they are preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war.

But whatever the reason, gun dealers in red and blue states alike say they’ve never seen anything like the run on weaponry they’ve been experiencing since Election Day— surpassing even the panic buying in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“People are terrified of losing their right to protect themselves,” said DeWayne Irwin, owner of Cheaper Than Dirt, a large gun store in Ft. Worth. “The volume is 10 times what we ever expected. It started with assault rifles, but at this point people are buying ammunition, high-capacity magazines, Glocks—it’s all flying off the shelf. With the economy the way it is, people are worried about instability. They are scared of civil unrest.”

There are no nationwide figures on gun sales available yet to document a post-election trend, and the number of pre-purchase background checks conducted by the FBI—a major barometer of national gun sales—actually rose more slowly through Oct. 31 of this year than during comparable periods in 2007 and 2006.

But anecdotal reports from around the nation suggest the sudden surge of November gun-buying is far surpassing the normal hunting-season spike that often occurs this time of year.

At the Memorial Shooting Center in Houston, which shares a building with a church, managers said they sold out of assault weapons a day after the election and are now adding new orders, at more than $1,000 each, to a monthlong waiting list. In Colorado, state authorities said they set a record for background checks on gun purchasers on the Saturday before the election—and the requests have been growing ever since.

And in Obama’s home state of Illinois, business at gun stores is brisk.

“We’ve had a lot of people concerned because our president-elect is extremely anti-gun and so is his running mate,” said Jerry Bricco, owner of 1st Class Firearms in north suburban Zion. “They’re afraid of future gun bans and what you will be allowed to get.”

Not every gun enthusiast is so worried. Mark Greene, a hunter and member of Gun Owners for Obama who led a grass-roots campaign for the Democrat in Tarrant County, Texas, said he regarded fears of a looming ban on assault weapons as unfounded.

“People are being pretty reactionary,” Greene said. “There’s a small contingent of folks in and out of the gun-owning community concerned that Obama’s election is such a revolutionary change that it could portend mayhem. I think it’s hysteria.”

Obama’s record on gun rights is conflicting enough to give ammunition to either side.

His campaign Web site said he “respects the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms” and promised that he would “protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport and use guns.”

Seeking to reassure gun owners, Obama told a campaign audience in Ohio in October: “I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun away.”

But Obama also has said he favors “common sense” gun laws, and as an Illinois state legislator he voted to support a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons and tighter restrictions on all firearms. He has said in the past that he opposes allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons.

And Obama’s controversial comment last April that some rural Americans “cling to guns or religion” in difficult times suggested to many gun owners that he was fundamentally hostile toward them.

The sum of those positions prompted the National Rifle Association to warn its members during the campaign that Obama “would be the most anti-gun president in American history.”

Obama “says he’s in favor of common-sense gun laws,” Irwin said. “Well, what people up north think is common sense is something different from us down here in Texas. The criminals have all this illegal stuff. I don’t want to fight them with a handgun if I can get an AK. I’m entitled to that. I should be able to defend my home.”

One expert sees a darker motive driving some post-election gun purchasers.

“Why are white people buying assault weapons?” said Ben Agger, a sociology professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who wrote a book about the Virginia Tech slayings. “I almost hate to say it, but there is a deep-seated fear of the armed black man, because Obama now commands the military and other instruments of the justice system. They are afraid Obama will exact retribution for the very deep-seated legacy of slavery.”

Tribune reporter James Kimberly contributed to this report from Chicago.

6141: Riding The Subway.

The letters below were published at AdAge.com in response to the Subway post by Karl Carter. A brief MultiCultClassics response immediately follows.

Subway ads prompt race discussion

RE: “You Might Be a Racist When…” (AdAge.com, Oct. 31). There is no objective reality called “racist.” There is only what I see and what you see and they are equally real. For me, the Subway ad is racist because it is sloppy and indifferent and incompetent in its use of black/urban cultural cues to promote its product. The problem with the ad was not that it sucked. The problem with the ad was that it never tried to be good. It never cared enough about the audience to try to be genuinely interesting, relevant or persuasive.

Could a more diverse creative team have done a better job? Undoubtedly. But so could an all-white team, as long as they cared enough to learn their audience, as long as they respected their audience enough not to assume they already knew everything they needed to know.

Contrary to popular opinion, the best advertising does not come from brilliant creative minds. (None were in evidence here.) It comes from well-informed creative minds. And if you don’t have enough respect for your subject and your audience to become well-informed, then perhaps you’re being racist, and so is your work.

Mark Robinson
Ridgefield, Conn.


Recently, at an Orlando Advertising Federation Ad2 event, I enjoyed a spirited and informative discussion with a young African-American professional who said that her culture possessed so many nuances, more than any other culture, that the only people who could truly understand and market to the segment were African-Americans. I have been thinking about that a lot since we spoke, and while I am not sure if she was 100% right, wrong or somewhere in the middle, this article rekindled the discussion in my mind and got me thinking.

According to the definition used in this post, racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. By saying that you have to be African-American, for example, to market to African-Americans, aren’t you racist? Or is that cultural bias?

With all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience, is it truly necessary to “be from” to “market to”?

Larry Meador
Evok
Lake Mary, Fla.

These discussions tend to roll out the same way, presenting the same points of view.

Robinson does a decent job of playing his role. Meador does likewise. So MultiCultClassics will complete the clichéd conversation by examining Meador’s observations and inquiries.

Regarding “all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience,” well, it just ain’t out there. Even the minority shops struggle to find the funding to probe for real insights. In many instances, clients expect their minority partners to inherently “understand a target audience.”

Meador should watch what usually unfolds at traditional big (i.e., White) advertising agencies when a minority project appears. Rest assured, nobody taps into mystical research. Rather, every minority in the building—from staffers to mailroom attendants to cafeteria workers—is summoned into a conference room and frisked for cultural clues. Or like the Subway incident, the matter isn’t considered from a fresh perspective at all. Besides, having research rarely translates to having legitimate understanding.

As for wondering if a minority who believes they are best suited to address other minorities is a racist, well, let’s not get too wrapped up in technicalities. Maybe the minority is demonstrating bias. Whatever.

Then again, one could argue Madison Avenue is filled with Whites who believed—and continue to believe—they are most qualified to communicate to any audience on Earth. What other explanation would account for the lack of diversity? Should we question the possibility of racism in that scenario too?

6140: Diversity Arrives At DDB.

Adweek.com reported DDB New York named a new chief diversity officer. Read the full story below—it’s immediately followed by two actual comments posted at the site that speak volumes on the state of the industry regarding diversity…

DDB Names Diversity Chief

By Andrew McMains

NEW YORK DDB here has named human resources manager Minerva Garcia to the new position of chief diversity officer. Garcia is tasked with recruiting, retaining and promoting minority staffers. In her new role, she reports to president Peter Hempel.

“In keeping with the DDB spirit that the best ideas can come from anywhere, we must go everywhere to get those best ideas,” Hempel said in a statement. “With Minerva’s energy and smarts focused in this area, we will be able to increase our diverse talent pool, sharpen our consumer insights and better our creative product.”

Omnicom Group’s DDB is among several agencies that have created diversity leadership positions since New York City’s Human Rights Commission criticized the industry for its lack of minorities in late 2007. Sixteen agencies, including DDB, subsequently signed agreements with the commission that required them to meet certain annual hiring, retention and promotion goals when it comes to minorities and women.

Other shops with similar roles include WPP Group’s Ogilvy & Mather and Interpublic Group’s McCann Erickson.

Garcia, 33, has worked in the office’s human resources department since 1998 and will continue to contribute to employee relations and staffing efforts. In that capacity, she reports to Wendy Raye, the shop’s human resources director.

Garcia also will serve on a worldwide diversity committee that Hempel described as “far-reaching.” He declined to identify its members or say how many staffers sit on the committee, however.

Here are the comments, which were likely left by Omnicom employees:

“Yessir, it sure doesn’t pay to be a white male. You’re guilty of every sin committed including the crucifixion of Christ. Too bad none of these agencies had enough **** to tell the NYC Human Rights Commission to butt out and mind its own business.”
Proletarian

“Well, Proletarian, at least she is good-looking.”
Major Minor

6139: Not Playing Around.

Cutthroat competition in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• The Barbie vs. Bratz catfight continues to get ugly, with Mattel now seeking to shut down all future Bratz manufacturing. Mattel recently won a copyright-infringement court battle against the hipper rival dollmaker, but still wants to completely eliminate the competitor. Who would’ve thought Barbie was capable of doll genocide?

• Starbucks reported 4Q profits dropped 97 percent. However, CEO Howard Schultz thinks the worst is over. The guy needs to wake up and smell the overpriced coffee.

• Mickey D’s continues to experience sales spikes, mostly because the economy is forcing people to seek cheap food. Look for Howard Schultz to be ordering a Happy Meal and large McCoffee soon.

6138: Feeling The Pressure.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Study says lack of blood pressure control leads to deaths of 8,000 black Americans each year

By Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA – The lives of nearly 8,000 black Americans could be saved each year if doctors could figure out a way to bring their average blood pressure down to the average level of whites, a surprising new study found. The gap between the races in controlling blood pressure is well-known, but the resulting number of lives lost startled some scientists.

“We expected it to be big, but it was even larger than we anticipated,” said the lead author, Dr. Kevin Fiscella of the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry.

The study, released Monday in the Annals of Family Medicine, is being called the first to calculate the lives lost due to racial disparities in blood pressure control.

Fiscella said he believes steps can be taken to erase that gap. But a second article in the same journal found that racial differences in blood pressure treatment persisted in England despite a national health system that provides equal access to care.

Doctors may not be providing proper care, but some black patients may not be taking prescribed medicines or following medical advice, said Christopher Millett of the Imperial College of London.

However, another researcher said it is unfair to blame the patient.

“‘Compliance’ to me is a hateful word. It says, ‘I the great doctor and we the great health care service inform you what needs to be done and you don’t do it because you’re stupid, you’re incompetent’… I don’t accept that at all,” said Dr. Jeremiah Stamler, professor emeritus of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

High blood pressure — often called the “silent killer” because it has no symptoms — increases a person’s chances for heart disease, stroke and other serious problems. But it’s easy to check for and usually can be controlled through exercise, diet and medicine.

For decades, doctors have noted that a higher percentages of black Americans have high blood pressure than whites. The reasons for that include poverty and cultural habits. Both can prevent people from exercising, eating healthy foods and getting in to see a good doctor.

The study suggesting 8,000 black lives are lost due to uncontrolled blood pressure is based on earlier research that finds that about 40 percent of black adults have high blood pressure, compared with about 30 percent of whites.

Fiscella and his colleague, Kathleen Holt, made a series of calculations. They took estimates of how each point of increased blood pressure affects the likelihood of death, and put it in a formula that included the difference in black and white blood pressure readings.

Those differences caused about 5,500 extra deaths from heart disease and about 2,200 deaths from stroke each year.

The second study, done in England, looked at the electronic medical records of about 8,900 patients in southwest London, who are covered by that country’s national health insurance system.

Researchers found black patients with high blood pressure had significantly higher readings than white or Asian patients, even though blacks were prescribed more medications.

The researchers also looked at patients who were sick with one or more conditions like heart disease, kidney disease and diabetes. They found that blood pressure control was much worse in blacks than whites.

Patients’ failure to regularly take their medicine may be one factor. Another may be that certain medications work better for blacks, but some doctors may be overlooking that difference, said Millett, a consultant in public health for Imperial College.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher said changes need to be made to make sure minority patients can get good medical care when they need it. But there also needs to be more done to make sure patients understand medical directions and feel comfortable asking questions when they don’t.

“It’s very clear we need to target our efforts to differences in” how well patients follow medical advice, said Satcher, who is now an administrator at Atlanta’s Morehouse School of Medicine.

6137: Check Out Mercedes-Benz.

Click on image to enlarge. Click here for more details.

6136: Fried Circuits And Fast Deliveries.

Going out of bad business with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy. How come the struggling airlines, automakers and financial institutions are quick to beg for bailouts, but no one’s extending any money help to Circuit City? Oh, wait a minute. It’s because Circuit City sucks. Never mind.

• DHL is DOA, with plans to cut up to 9,500 jobs. They will probably guarantee fast delivery of the pink slips—perhaps even overnight.

6135: Judging A Book By Its Cover Subtitle.

From The New York Times…

‘Why Obama Can’t Win’ Author Defends Analysis

By Noam Cohen

Make room on the bookshelf — perhaps somewhere between “Dow 36,000” by Glassman and Hassett or “The End of History and the Last Man” by Fukuyama — for the unfortunately named “A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win” by Shelby Steele.

Many an author has come to incorrect conclusions, but only a few have had the courage to make a prediction in a title that could be directly contradicted.

Mr. Steele, a prolific author on racial issues in America and a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, said he had had plenty of time to get used to the snickering about the title of his book, which was published late last year by the Free Press, part of Simon & Schuster, and officially contradicted last week.

“My feeling is that I stand by every word of the analysis — what is between the covers of the book,” he said in a telephone interview. “For the year I have had to apologize for the stupid, silly subtitle that was slapped on to the book.”

He made it clear that he was the one who slapped the subtitle onto the book — “in about 30 seconds” when Barack Obama was trailing Hillary Rodham Clinton by about 25 percentage points. But, he added, “subtitles are marketing devices — I hate them. I’ve always hated them.”

He said that for “White Guilt,” his book before “A Bound Man,” he tried not to have a subtitle, to no avail. In that case, Mr. Steele went with another provocative subtitle: “How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era.”

The editor in chief of the Free Press, Dominick Anfuso, disputed the idea that there was overriding pressure to come up with the most extreme subtitle to sell books. “It is the handful of largely successful books that do that, and that gives the impression that is what we seek,” he said. What publishers want, he said, are “good titles and good subtitles. Subtitles can make best sellers, but they don’t have to be provocative to do that. It is a package. They go together.”

The argument in “Bound Man” is about the challenge a black politician faces in finding a way between being a “challenger” to white voters and a “bargainer” who assures whites that racism is becoming less important in society. In an opinion piece in The Los Angeles Times after the election, Mr. Steele, who supported John McCain, wrote that Mr. Obama was offering typical liberal policies “freshened up — given an air of ‘change’ — by the dreamy post-racial and post-ideological kitsch he dressed it in.”

Barbara Meade, co-owner of the Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, recalled that when Mr. Steele spoke there it “sparked a lot of controversy among the audience.” She viewed the book as part of a trend that “mostly people buy books that they already agree with — very few people are going to be swayed by what they read.”

She said that the store sold two copies the week before the election and none after.

Both Mr. Steele and Mr. Anfuso agreed that if “Bound Man” appeared in paperback, it would carry a new subtitle.

6134: Change Has Not Come To America’s Automakers. Or Ad Agencies.

MultiCultClassics has presented the following perspective in the past. But it seems appropriate to revisit the notion in light of the financial crisis threatening to drive automakers into bankruptcy.

As car companies continue to spin their wheels seeking profits, disturbing trends regarding multicultural advertising agencies have accelerated. Specifically, minority shops are seeing assignments disappear and/or get shifted to White agencies.

Yet marketers continue to run messages like the one above, hyping alleged commitments to diverse suppliers and vendors. Exactly how do you make good on these promises while diminishing minority partnerships and increasing relationships with advertising agencies that have steadfastly refused to integrate?

There’s a simple solution to avoid appearing hypocritical: Award lead AOR status to a minority shop. There are plenty of Hispanic, Black and Asian shops qualified to deliver.

Such a move would be easy for a corporation like General Motors, which has numerous brands to offer. GM wouldn’t have to completely hand over the reins; rather, it could assign any of its smaller nameplates.

Why not?

The White agencies haven’t succeeded in selling vehicles. In fact, it’s pretty obvious that they’ve failed. Miserably.

Additionally, if the automakers really hope to win the emotional and financial support of the government—and ultimately, the public—it’s time to show a willingness to try something different. Nobody wants to bail out a consistent, inflexible loser.

There’s no better moment than now to execute the proposal. After all, the nation is still basking in the glow of having elected its first Black president. Think of the positive PR opportunities. Plus, minority shops are far more frugal and fiscally responsible than their bloated BDA counterparts.

Change has come to America. Will the auto and advertising industries join the revolution?

6133: Another Black President.

Congratulations, President Dupri. Except you didn’t exactly assume office via a national election.

6132: Crying For Change.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Jackson’s Eloquent Tears

By Clarence Page

Was Rev. Jesse Jackson crying tears of joy at President-elect Barack Obama’s victory celebration in Grant Park? Or was the civil rights leader weeping in regret that he might now be out of a job?

Caught by television cameras, Jackson’s tears spoke volumes. It is important to remember that Jackson helped to pave the way for Obama. But, like some other old-school leaders, Jackson has been slow to recognize when to step out of the way.

For example, his most memorable contribution to Obama’s presidential campaign came when Jackson’s whispered wish to “cut his nuts off” was caught by a hot Fox News microphone. Jackson apologized profusely. No problem. His gaffe undoubtedly reassured skeptical whites that Obama was not a Jackson clone.

Much was said about how Obama was opening a “post-racial” era, although “multiracial” is more appropriate. Race and racism have not evaporated. Nor has the need for diversity to be respected, not just tolerated. Jackson’s not out of a job yet. But Obama’s victory moves our old baseline of racial expectations to a higher and happier level. It’s hard to argue that our society is irredeemably racist when our multiracial electorate just elected a man with African roots and an Arabic-sounding name to be commander in chief.

Yes, we did.

No, Obama did not win over a majority of white males, according to exit polls. Neither have the previous five Democratic nominees. But with 41 percent of white men and about half of all white women and independents, Obama outperformed the other five among those groups.

He also did better than John Kerry and Al Gore among Hispanics and all income brackets, including a 5 percent gain since 2004 among those who earn less than $50,000 a year and an 8 percent gain in the over-$100,000-a-year income group, according to the Pew Research Center. Sorry, Joe the Plumber.

Pew also reports that Obama increased voter turnout since 2004 among self-identified Republicans (up 3 percent), moderates (up 6 percent) and conservatives (up 5 percent).

But that doesn’t mean that Obama’s contest with Sen. John McCain was the “referendum on the goodness of America,” that conservative MSNBC commentator Tucker Carlson sarcastically complained that the media portrayed it.

“I just resent the implication that America is a better country if it voted for Barack Obama,” he grumped on Election Night. “That’s a slur on people who voted against Obama.” Agreed. Yet, as one McCain voter who joined the celebration of Obama’s victory told me, he was not happy that his man lost but that “our country has won.” America is a better country, in other words, not because so many of us voted for Obama but because many more of us have made a place where Obama’s victory is possible.

In Kenya, by contrast, Obama’s father’s minority Luo tribe celebrated, but with a bitter knowledge that it is easier for a Luo to be elected president in America than in Kenya.

“Only in America,” Americans said with a new sense of pride. It certainly was better to see folks overseas happily waving our flag instead of burning it.

Back here at home, Pew found the only major group that went the other way, giving fewer votes to this year’s Democratic nominee, was voters who were older than 65. Significantly, that generation includes much of our 1960s-era civil rights leadership. When skeptical black political and civil rights leaders questioned Obama’s “blackness,” Obama persevered, forcing some black leaders, like Jackson, to catch up with the masses whom they were trying to lead.

Obama had an advantage in his quest, I suspect, in his lack of a family ancestry in American slavery, a defining characteristic of most African-Americans. Being raised by his white mother and grandparents in multiracial Hawaii and Indonesia, he was spared the post-slavery traumatic syndrome that for many of us African-Americans has been a cultural crippler. Many of us older folks were conditioned at an early era about our “place” in a white-dominated society in ways that culturally cripple many of our offspring, if the young’uns bother to listen to us at all.

Obama was spared all that, judging by his autobiographies. Although he was born an American, his multiracial view, energized with optimism, is characteristic of immigrants. While others rail relentlessly about America’s limitations, he remains resolutely focused on our possibilities. He has enlisted us, his fellow Americans, in his cause and given all of us a good reason to feel like winners.

6131: Don’t Pick Up The Phone.

Fact: This ad is ill.

6130: Change Has Come To America’s Hip Hop…?

From The Chicago Tribune…

Barack Obama, first president to come of age in hip-hop era

By Greg Kot, Tribune critic

Barack Obama was in his last year of high school in 1979 when hip-hop broke out of the ghettos of New York on its way to becoming a national phenomenon.

He is in many ways a child of hip-hop, but sometimes a reluctant one. Even as the president-elect claims to “love hip-hop” he has spoken out against its more explicit lyrics. When Ludacris released “Obama’s Here” a few months ago, the Southern rapper extolled the future president’s credentials while viciously putting down Obama’s rivals. An Obama spokesman issued a stinging rebuke: “While Ludacris is a talented rapper he should be ashamed of these lyrics.”

Yet Obama has been embraced by the hip-hop community like no presidential candidate in history. Bill Clinton was the first president to forge a bond with the ‘60s and ‘70s classic-rock generation (even persuading Fleetwood Mac to reunite and perform at his inaugural ball in 1993). Obama now commands the respect of the voters who came of age when hip-hop transformed pop culture.

The non-partisan group Hip-Hop Caucus and rappers T.I., Jay-Z, T Pain and others spearheaded the “Respect My Vote” campaign, which registered voters between the ages of 18 and 29, most of whom voted for Obama. Will.i.am wrote and produced no fewer than three songs in recent months extolling the Obama campaign, including the YouTube hit video “Yes We Can.” Rappers such as Common, a native of Chicago’s South Side, and New York’s Talib Kweli were dropping Obama references into their songs as early as 2007. The video for Common’s ‘07 hit “The People” flashed on an “Obama ‘08” bumper sticker. At the time, it seemed like wishful thinking: A black man in the White House?

But hip-hop, at its best, has always functioned on two levels: as a reflection of what’s happening now (“the black CNN,” as Public Enemy’s Chuck D once called it) and as a window into the future (rap songs by Ice Cube and Ice-T, among others, presaged the riots that broke out after the 1992 verdict in the Rodney King beating).

Though hip-hop initially emerged as an art form primarily developed by African-Americans, it soon became a shared language for youth that cut across racial lines. Just as rock ‘n’ roll galvanized teenagers in the ‘50s, hip-hop in the ‘80s and ‘90s linked inner-city b-boys with listeners living in soccer-mom households in the suburbs. By the end of the last decade, together with contemporary R&B, hip-hop had become the biggest selling genre in the $14 billion-a-year music industry.

Obama has embraced hip-hop whenever he has been asked about the subject in interviews, specifically citing Jay-Z, Kanye West and Common as personal favorites. But he also has been outspoken in his disgust for rap lyrics that go too far.

“There are times, even on the artists I’ve named, the artists that I love, that there is a message that’s sometimes degrading to women, uses the ‘n’ word a little too frequently,” he said in an interview on BET. “But also something that I’m really concerned about is [they’re] always talking about material things, about how I can get something; more money, more cars.”

In the wake of racially charged remarks by talk show host Don Imus last year, Obama said rap wasn’t blameless because it too contained derogatory language. Hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons called Obama “a mouse, too, like everyone else,” and urged him to take a closer look at the social conditions that made such lyrics commonplace.

In the wake of Obama’s victory, Simmons struck a more conciliatory tone, calling it a “glorious” affirmation of “the hip-hop generation and its young people.”

“I was just defending hip-hop,” he told the Tribune of his earlier criticism of Obama. “It’s good for politicians to say they’re against hip-hop. But hip-hop’s job is to tell the truth, and the truth can be shocking.”

Though many older activists didn’t believe Obama could win the presidency, convinced that his race was too big of a barrier, the “hip-hop generation said, ‘Why not?’ “ Simmons said. “It’s like when Run-DMC first appeared on MTV. There really hadn’t been any black artists on MTV offering a real depiction of inner-city life, and hip-hop broke that barrier. Hip-hop’s attitude has always been, ‘Why not?’”

But activist Rev. Al Sharpton told the Tribune Obama’s victory will force hip-hop to change its tune. “You can’t be using the ‘b’ word, the ‘n’ word, the ‘h’ word when you have Barack Obama redefining overnight the image that black people want to have. Here’s the greatest political victory in the history of black America, and the thug rappers can’t come near it. They will have to change or become irrelevant.”

Simmons says that’s hogwash. “Young people will use their language the way they want,” he said. “If it’s in their heart, they will express it.”

Hip-hop has always been far too diverse to ever be so narrowly defined. Even before Obama became a serious candidate, the more thuggish brands of hip-hop were already in commercial decline, while some of rap’s biggest recent successes—Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Common, OutKast—have been notable for their more high-minded lyricism.

As Obama said in the BET interview: “The potential for [rappers] to deliver a message of extraordinary power, that gets people thinking [is there]. The thing about hip-hop today is it’s smart, it’s insightful. The way they can communicate a complex message in a very short space is remarkable.”

It’s also sometimes reckless and irresponsible. And why would anyone who values creative expression want it any other way? Art that tries to conform to a vision of what it is or what it should say instantly dies. President-elect Obama will have far bigger problems to address than the content of rap lyrics when he takes office. Meanwhile, rappers will begin confronting a new reality starting Jan. 20: How rebellious can they be when one of their fans occupies the most powerful office in the world?

6129: MLB Striking Out With Diversity.

Major League Baseball is promoting its supplier diversity program by hyping Jackie Robinson. Um, somebody tell MLB it should refocus on the lack of playing field diversity.

6128: Bullies And Bullshit.

Assorted bull in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A new study from the University of Chicago showed male bullies may actually feel pleasure from watching their victims suffer. “[Bullies are] not only indifferent to the pain, they love it—maybe,” said the co-author of the study. “They’re responding to others being hurt, but in a way that’s self-reinforcing.” Another researcher remarked about the findings, “It just dumbfounded us.” Dumbfounded? Somebody ought to beat up these weenie researchers for discovering the obvious.

• The Naked Cowboy bullied the Mars candy company into settling his $4 million lawsuit over trademark infringement. The popular Times Square performer took offense when the candy maker ran advertising featuring a blue M&M character sporting his famous cowboy hat, boots and white undies. Maybe Mars was actually doing a tribute to Brokeback Mountain. Then again, probably not.

6127: Behind The 8 Ball.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Gays, blacks divided on Proposition 8
For many African Americans, it’s not a civil rights issue.

By Cara Mia DiMassa and Jessica Garrison

For Trebor Healey, a 46-year-old gay man from Glendora, Tuesday’s election was bittersweet.

He was thrilled that the nation elected its first African American president. But he was disappointed that black voters, traditionally among the most reliably liberal in the state, voted overwhelmingly to ban same-sex marriage.

He understands that there are differences between the civil rights battles of blacks and gays: For one thing, he notes, gay people have a much easier time blending in. Still, he says, he thinks it’s sad that “people do not equate one civil rights struggle with another.”

Many black voters didn’t see it that way.

“I was born black. I can’t change that,” said Culver City resident Bilson Davis, 57, who voted for Proposition 8. “They weren’t born gay; they chose it,” he added, reflecting a commonly held belief that many researchers dispute.

Although many of the state’s black political leaders spoke out against Proposition 8, an exit poll of California voters showed that black voters favored the measure by a ratio of more than 2 to 1. Not only was the black vote weighted heavily in favor of Proposition 8, but black turnout—spurred by Barack Obama’s historic campaign for president—was unusually large, with African Americans making up roughly 10% of the state electorate.

The exit poll didn’t ask voters why they voted the way they did. But Madison Shockley, pastor of Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad and among the roughly one-third of blacks who opposed Proposition 8, said the vote was understandable. “Black folks go to church, probably more than the Caucasian population, and the churches they go to tend to be very traditional.”

Los Angeles resident Christopher Hill, 50, said he was motivated by religion in supporting Proposition 8. Civil rights, he said, “are about getting a job, employment.”

Gay marriage, he said, is not: “It’s an abomination against God.”

One complicating factor was that both sides in the campaign had plausible reason to claim Obama’s support. The president-elect strongly stated his opposition to the proposition, calling it “divisive and discriminatory.”

But he has also said in public speeches that he opposes same-sex marriage. In the days leading up to the election, some Democrats received “robo-calls” on their cellphones containing an excerpt from such a speech.

“Here is Barack Obama in his own words on the definition of marriage,” the call began.

Then the voice of Obama speaking to a crowd comes on: “I believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian, it is also a sacred union. God is in the mix.”

A narrator then urged a yes vote on Proposition 8.

California Democratic Party consultant Roger Salazar was among the recipients of the call.

“They saw the Obama tide coming and they were trying to capitalize on it,” Salazar said, adding that the call was “manipulative and deceitful,” given the candidate’s stated opposition to the amendment.

Still, those efforts, combined with a push by dozens of African American ministers and commercials and mailers arguing that children would be subjected to a pro-gay curriculum should the measure pass, had an effect on voters like Pasadena resident Doris Tucker.

Tucker, who is African American, said she voted for “all the good things,” especially Obama and Proposition 8. “I don’t think it’s right,” Tucker said of gay marriage. “They shouldn’t let it go on.”

On Friday, four leaders of the No-on-8 campaign put out a statement urging cooperation among groups around the issue. “We achieve nothing if we isolate the people who did not stand with us in this fight,” the statement said. “We only further divide our state if we attempt to blame people of faith, African American voters, rural communities and others for this loss.”

In conversations this week, organizers of the campaign against Proposition 8 discussed the racial divide on the measure. Said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights: “One cannot underestimate the effect that … the robo-calls had where people heard Barack Obama’s voice and then they were told to vote yes on 8.”

Still, she added, the campaign could have done a better job reaching out to black voters. “The way you really move votes in the African American community is with conversations, with [real-life] experience … making sure that people see there are African American lesbian and gay people who will be affected by this. That is something we intend to assist our community leaders in doing more of,” she added. “That is a real lesson learned.”

Ron Buckmire, who heads the Barbara Jordan/Bayard Rustin Coalition, a black gay-rights group in Los Angeles, said the vote shows that “there is a lot of work to be done in the black community.”

Buckmire said the campaign should also have emphasized that, at its core, the proposition was about stripping a minority of a right that they had enjoyed. “The civil rights of people should not be put to a vote,” he said. “Period. I would have thought that that message would have gotten through.”

Shockley agreed. Civil rights, he said, has come to mean “one thing in the popular culture”: the empowerment of black people.

But “what people don’t realize is that King said over and over that the victories of civil rights were won for everyone,” he added, referring to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Political strategist Darry Sragow said that the success of Proposition 8 shows that several assumptions about California voters, particularly black voters, proved to be false—namely, that “because you are for civil rights and equality, you are liberal on everything.”

Cara Mia DiMassa and Jessica Garrison are Times staff writers.
Times reporter Dan Morain contributed to this story.

6126: Injustice Denied.

Running out of options with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A Nevada judge denied O.J. Simpson a new trial. Simpson’s next move: requesting a presidential pardon once Barack Obama takes office.

• General Motors and Ford Motor Company reported big 3Q losses. The automaker’s next move: requesting financial assistance from Barack Obama once he takes office. Or maybe not even waiting that long.

• Sprint Nextel reported 3Q losses at 1.3 million customers. CEO Dan Hesse announced plans to increase the company’s marketing efforts. Great solution. More commercials starring the annoyingly boring Hesse.

6125: Assorted Losers.

TGIF with a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer won’t face any legal problems for his escapades with prostitutes. A federal probe revealed Spitzer did not use public or campaign money for his call girls, so he won’t be charged. However, hookers will continue to charge him big time.

• The head honcho of the new Delta-Northwest Airlines recently declared customers could expect business as usual after the merger. Now the airline announced a fresh $15 fee to check one bag. Yep, business as usual.

• Wendy’s reported a 3Q profits loss, attributing the drop to its takeover by the owner of Arby’s. Regardless, the results are waaaaay worse than fast food rivals’ profits.

• Fidelity announced intentions to cut 1,300 jobs. Wonder if the employees know how to rollover their 401(k) plans.

• Anheuser-Busch reported a 3Q profit loss, attributing the drop to its pending sale to InBev. It’s also probably related to constantly running those annoyingly shitty “Drinkability” commercials.

6124: What McCain Means To Mad Ave.

In the end, Senator John McCain offered powerful lessons for the ruling majority on Madison Avenue:

• The standard advertising methods are outdated and no longer effective.

• Inconsistent, unfocused campaign messages won’t stick with the public, and they’ll inevitably ignore or reject you.

• Ultimately selecting a contrived and patronizing slogan—America First—doesn’t work either. Folks see right through it.

• Scare tactics don’t motivate people to embrace you. Ditto negative ads.

• You’ll never connect with the “Average Joe” audience when you’re a multimillionaire and multi-homeowner.

• Irrelevant line extensions (e.g., Governor Sarah Palin) usually fail big time and diminish the main brand.

• Building your position on past heroics may inspire feelings of nostalgia, yet rarely leads to sales.

But even after royally fucking things up, if you’re an Old White Man with political connections, you’ll still be allowed to keep your cushy job, obscenely huge salary and eight mansions.

6123: Rolling With The Changes.

Tired news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Tire maker Bridgestone reported profits slid 40 percent over the last nine months. Maybe the people viewed Bridgestone’s ads and realized they’d get along just fine without tires.

• Circuit City announced plans to close 155 underperforming stores. Didn’t realize the retailer had any over-performing stores. Or even performing stores.

• Joining John McCain and Sarah Palin in the loss column were gay-rights advocates who sought to stop California’s Proposition 8, a measure banning same-sex marriage. The measure passed by a margin of about 52 percent. Executives are undoubtedly celebrating at Omnicom.

6122: “Change Has Come To America.”

Yes We Can.

6121: What Obama Means To Mad Ave.

MultiCultClassics has addressed this topic before, but it seems fitting to revisit the matter on Election Day.

Last week, The Big Tent staged a battle between Ken Wheaton and Karl Carter over a recent Subway promotion that certain folks deemed racist. More provocative than the dueling posts were the comments they inspired. Specifically, it’s becoming a trend for people to confront today’s racist episodes by offering Barack Obama as a lecturing point.

The typical perspective (usually delivered by non-minorities and/or neo-conservatives) runs something like, “Sure, racism exists, and it always will. But the right approach—as witnessed by Obama’s success—is not to whine and pick apart every little nuance and cry, ‘Life’s unfair!’ Rather, you should rise above it all ala the Democratic presidential candidate. You should emulate Obama.”

This position is particularly peculiar when coming from an advertising industry denizen.

For starters, let’s recognize the specter of racism has hardly been inconspicuous during Obama’s campaign. From death threats to cultural dissing, the bigots have been quite vocal and visible. Even the moderately clueless types have fumbled inappropriate words and actions. So it’s premature to declare the dream is no longer deferred.

Obama’s accomplishments to date may be evidence that we’re moving closer towards equal opportunities for everyone. But Obama also exposes how Madison Avenue lags far behind the collective society. Obama represents the supposed post-racial America, while Madison Avenue is still stuck in a pre-Civil Rights time warp.

We should definitely celebrate the historic achievements, regardless of the final vote tally. However, please don’t insist minorities ought to pattern themselves after Obama. Why not request Madison Avenue reflect the general population instead? Additionally, let’s demand that the advertising industry’s ruling majority start acting like Obama too.

6120: M+P = MB+BS+WTF.

There’s a rumor on the road that says Mercedes-Benz dumped its multicultural advertising agencies, allowing its White shop to drive off with the minority assignments. Apparently, the automaker currently has no multicultural projects or minority agencies on retainer for 2008 or 2009. This accelerates a disturbing trend rolled out by clients like General Motors. Apparently, the fact that Blacks, Latinos and Asian Americans account for 30 percent of Mercedes-Benz sales doesn’t translate to needing marketing expertise with the audiences. Or perhaps it’s cosmic compensation for the probable Barack Obama victory.

What makes this rumor particularly obscene is the White shop rides in the Omnicom network—where racism, homophobia, diversity adversity and biased scheming run full throttle.

But wait, there’s more.

The White shop is none other than Merkley + Partners. This agency holds the distinction of recording the worst results after signing a hiring pact with the New York City Commission on Human Rights. According to the official report, in the first year of the agreement, Merkley + Partners recruited a whopping zero minorities.

But hey, maybe the rumor is false. In which case, please disregard everything in this post. Except for the stuff about racism, homophobia, diversity adversity, biased scheming and hiring zero minorities.

6119: Bagel Pizza Versus PB&J.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have been taking a beating lately. Wait until everyone hears about peanut butter and jelly pizza.

6118: Omnicom Racing Strong With Racism.

Check out this story from The Guardian. A brief MultiCultClassics commentary immediately follows…

Website used to abuse Lewis Hamilton owned by global ad agency

By Giles Tremlett and Matthew Taylor

The website at the centre of controversy over racist abuse of British formula one driver Lewis Hamilton is owned by a New York-based advertising agency, TWBA, which is part of the world’s largest media services group, Omnicom, the Guardian can reveal.

The site belongs to the Spanish branch of the advertising firm. It was closed down last night after hundreds of abusive messages were posted, some of which referred to Hamilton as a “half-breed” and others which used the n-word. He hopes to become youngest ever world champion at the final race of the season tomorrow.

Last night cabinet minister Andy Burnham led calls for action against the abuse. TBWA operates in 77 countries with 12,000 staff in 258 offices. Its clients include Absolut Vodka, Apple, Adidas, McDonald’s, Michelin, Sony PlayStation, and Singapore Airlines. Last year, Omnicom’s revenue was $12.7bn.

A spokesman in the New York office said it did not know why the site, designed and owned by its interactive marketing branch in Spain, had not been monitored to stop racists using it to abuse Hamilton.

Among comments on the site was someone calling himself Carillo, telling Hamilton: “Kill yourself in your car.” A message from Alberto says: “I hope you run over your dad in the first pitstop, Hamilton.”

“This is not what we condone as a company,” said TBWA spokesman Jeremy Miller; it would take “appropriate action” once it identified who was responsible for the website.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso last night condemned the racist supporters. “If it’s true, obviously this is not possible [acceptable],” the Spaniard told reporters at the Brazilian Grand Prix. “In 2008 we cannot have these kind of people in our world. It’s not only formula one, not only sport, it’s normal life as well.”

Burnham, the culture, media and sport secretary, said: “This is a crucial race and the whole country will be behind him. I’m very concerned to hear reports of sites potentially fuelling racist abuse. The authorities must take the toughest possible action against racism in sport.”

Keith Vaz, chairman of Labour’s ethnic minority taskforce, urged foreign secretary David Miliband to lodge a formal protest, saying it was clear the site – Pincha la Rueda de Hamilton, or Burst Hamilton’s Tyre – was set up to destabilise the driver. “The Spanish government cannot allow this organised and systematic racism to continue. These people must be widely condemned and the websites they use shut down immediately.”

The sport’s governing body, the FIA, and Hamilton’s McLaren team condemned the attacks as “abusive and hateful.”

Okey-doke.

Here’s the most outrageous excerpt from the story:

“This is not what we condone as a company,” said TBWA spokesman Jeremy Miller; it would take “appropriate action” once it identified who was responsible for the website.

Really? When you consider Omnicom’s history with homophobia, diversity and multicultural marketing, well, this latest scenario seems to exemplify exactly what they condone as a company. Can’t wait to see the appropriate action. Probably involves an immediate promotion and salary boost.

6117: Overreaction Of The Week.

The latest cover of Ad Age presents the banner headline, “Days growing darker for media” — right above a big photo of media mogul Oprah.

6116: Dude, You’re Getting A Discrimination Suit.

From The Associated Press. And perhaps it’s an opportunity for Enfatico to produce a new diversity recruitment campaign.

Former HR manager at Dell claims discrimination in second such complaint this week

By Associated Press

AUSTIN (AP) — A former human resources manager at Dell Inc. has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against the computer company, the second such complaint this week.

Jill Hubley, who worked until September 2007 as a senior strategist in the Dell Americas human resources group, filed the lawsuit claiming gender discrimination Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Austin.

In the lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, Hubley accuses Dell of engaging in “a pattern and practice of gender discrimination with respect to compensating and promoting female employees,” the Austin American-Statesman reported in Friday’s online edition.

Dell spokesman David Frink said he was not familiar with the Austin filing.

Four former human-resources managers at Dell also filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, asking a judge to turn it into a class action covering thousands of former and current workers at Dell, which is based in Round Rock, Texas.

The former managers, Mildred Chapman, Angela Hopkins, Julia Mahaffey and Bethany Riches, accuse the company of paying men higher wages for equal work and failing to fairly promote women to higher positions. Austin resident Chapman, 59, also accused the company of disproportionately laying off workers older than 40 after it began cutting 9,000 jobs last year.

Dell denied the accusations.

The lawsuit noted there are no women in the company’s highest tier of executives. Frink has said the San Francisco lawsuit was “without merit” and said the company doesn’t tolerate discrimination in any form.

“We take any claim against our recognized efforts to embrace diversity and equal employment seriously,” Frink has said.

Dell employs about 80,000 people worldwide.

6115: Say Uncle.

Wonder if Masterfoods will ever recognize Uncle Ben is a controversial spokesman. He’s only been offensive to Blacks for over 60 years.

6114: At Last, Affordable PCR Systems.

Guess the subprime mortgage crisis has adversely affected the Polymerase Chain Reaction Systems market too.

6113: Life Is Fair.

From AdAge.com…

Giving Fairness Creams a Fair Shake
How the Messaging Surrounding the Controversial Product Has Evolved

By Mythili Chandrasekar

Women’s fairness creams -- which work to lighten skin color -- is a large product category in India and has from time to time attracted the attention of feminists as being a regressive offering that perpetuates fair skin as a yardstick of beauty, a symptom of our “colonial hangover.”

Over the years, the promise of these creams has moved from you can find a husband if you are fair to the idea that a lighter skin tone will get you a job. Progressive ads have shown women having the upper hand in choosing partners, and the jobs they can get have moved from air hostesses (traditionally a “modern” profession according to the large Indian middle class) to cricket commentators, reflecting a more recent male bastion that the Indian woman has stormed! Meanwhile, realizing that a fair (pun unintended!) percentage of users were men, the market has seen the launch of new brands of fairness creams for men, like Unilever’s Fair & Handsome.

Lowe’s latest ad for Fair & Lovely, the largest brand in the women’s fairness creams category, has moved the needle further. The story revolves around a man who is pushed to extreme measures to get his bulging waistline into shape because of the effect the woman has on him, with the tagline “The power of beauty.” Surely, a telling comment on the changing status of women in Indian society. From “I’m worried about whether the man will accept me” to “See what an effect I have on the man.”

You really have come a long way, baby!

6112: Antibodies R Us.

When you care enough to send the very best antibodies.

6111: Hollywood Hustle.

From AdAge.com…

Hollywood’s Views on Race May Be in for a Change
Q&A: Producer Joe Pichirallo on Marketing Black Films to White Audiences, Box-Office Success and the ‘Bradley Effect’

By Claude Brodesser-Akner

LOS ANGELES -- Is there a “Bradley Effect” when it comes to the box office?

For those perhaps not paying close attention to the presidential election, with Sen. Barack Obama ahead in every national poll, political pundits have been feverishly inserting the words “Bradley Effect” into articles and sound bites in an effort to ratchet up the election-eve drama.

The expression explains in racial terms the 1982 defeat of Tom Bradley, a black Democrat who was at the time the mayor of Los Angeles, by his white Republican rival, George Deukmejian, in their quest for the governorship of California: The theory goes that despite polls predicting a Bradley win, white voters pulled the lever for Mr. Deukmejian.

A quick look at Hollywood’s box office results would seem to let some air out of the theory, at least when it comes to how Americans elect to entertain themselves: The success of two new films with largely black casts – “The Secret Life of Bees” and the thriller “Lakeview Terrace” – suggests that marketers’ conventional wisdom about how race influences purchasing decisions may be in need of re-examination. Having served as a producer on both movies, Joe Pichirallo has gained a firsthand understanding of how Americans consider – or ignore – race.

Each film has over-performed, with “Lakeview Terrace” cresting $40 million domestically, having opened at No. 1 at the box office last month, and “The Secret Life of Bees” cruising past $20 million, having opened at No. 3.

Mr. Pichirallo oversees film for The Gold Co., a production venture headed by talent manager Eric Gold, whose clients include Jim Carrey and Ellen DeGeneres. But before joining The Gold Co., Mr. Pichirallo was head of feature film production and development for Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment. He’s also been a senior executive at Fox Searchlight Pictures, where he oversaw “Antwone Fisher,” and at Universal’s Focus Features, where he supervised both “Hollywoodland” and “Something New.’

Madison & Vine: Settle this for us: Is there a Bradley Effect at the box office, too?

Joe Pichirallo: Let me put it this way: The conventional wisdom of the Hollywood studios is that films that have primarily African-American themes or actors in them are not are not going to do well, because they don’t do well overseas. And in the last few years, the rule of thumb is that 60% of box office is actually going to come from outside the U.S. So if you look at even the most successful films that cross over, like “Barbershop,” its domestic gross was $70 million, but its foreign box office was, like, $1.2 million. … So if [black films] get made, you’re forced to do them at independent [movie] budget levels, on the theory that you have to make most of your revenue on the domestic side.

M&V: How does that affect how we portray black America on the big screen?

Mr. Pichirallo: If you’re looking at something like “The Secret Life of Bees,” on one level if you didn’t know the business, you’d say, “Well, here’s a best-selling novel. This should be made for the standard Hollywood budgets of $40 million, $50 million, $60 million.” But the concern would be that you’ll never hit those levels in box office, so you’re immediately put into a situation of seeing it made in the $12 million range.

M&V: How soon did race enter the making and marketing of “The Secret Life of Bees”?

Mr. Pichirallo: You start thinking about it right off the bat. Who are going to be the leads? Are we going to be able to get people with name value to play those leads? … We also knew we had two things going for us: The book was a best-seller for a very long time, and the book was not perceived as an exclusively African-American book. The underlying material had an existing appeal to a white audience.

M&V: And so “Bees” isn’t behaving like a typical film with a black cast, is it?

Mr. Pichirallo: No. And let me just say something about the second weekend of the film, that shows it’s playing both ways: In Los Angeles, at The Grove – which couldn’t be more of a white, upscale, affluent theater – it out-grossed the Magic Johnson theater, which is the leading African-American theater in Los Angeles. And so that tells you right there that the movie is really playing. Most theaters aimed at predominantly whiter audiences actually held [onto their “Bees” audiences] better in the second weekend than those with African-American audiences. Seattle had just a 12% drop. Those are phenomenal holds for any kind of movie, and give indication that it’s reaching a diverse audience.

M&V: What can we learn about Americans’ racial attitudes from “Lakeview Terrace”?

Mr. Pichirallo: We knew we had to walk a fine line, because it’s not often that the so-called bad guy in a movie is an African-American. Sam Jackson ultimately is terrorizing this interracial couple who lives next door to him. It’s headed toward $40 million because white [audiences] went to see it, and we didn’t get any real serious complaints from the African-American audience. They embraced the film and saw the film. The danger would have been that they would say, “You’re holding up a negative stereotype.”

M&V: So if all it takes is some forethought about making a movie that’s relatable to everyone, why not make more money by making black films that appeal to white audiences, too?

Mr. Pichirallo: [Studios] don’t want to restrict their gross, but when they sense that the material is not going to cross over – and they may often be wrong about this – they’re not going to waste their money chasing an audience that they don’t think is coming out. And that’s when it gets to be circular: What is the chicken, and what is the egg? Are the audiences not responding because they’re not marketing to them and so they’re not turning out, or are they right that the audience is not finding it appealing, and so was never coming out?

M&V: We’ve talked about how the box office reveals the racial attitudes of moviegoers, but has the marketing of Sen. Barack Obama as a post-racial candidate changed anything about Hollywood’s attitude toward the marketing of black films?

Mr. Pichirallo: You’re going to see that as we get more sophisticated and evolved as a culture, we’re going to have multicultural-themed movies that are going to cross over more. What we’re tying to do is break conventional perception that if you have a black-focused story that it’s only going to appeal to blacks and therefore you should only market to blacks.

M&V: Is the lesson, then, that film ghettos are bad for show business?

Mr. Pichirallo: I think we have to work hard from a cultural and social standpoint to break that, but from an economic standpoint it doesn’t make any sense, either: You don’t want to limit your audience. If you’re going to limit your audience, you end up having to do the films for lower budgets, and therefore it gets harder to get those movies made, because some of the bigger actors won’t do them.

M&V: So, what is the marketing lesson from Obama ‘08?

Mr. Pichirallo: The lesson is, Don’t assume past performance dictates future results. Obama has not run as a “black” candidate. The world is changing. Our culture is changing. You have to change with it.