8653: Branded Bullshit.

Badvertising in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Denny’s and new AOR Gotham recently launched a “branded entertainment” campaign. Ironically, the work does a poor job of branding and it’s not very entertaining. Denny’s Chief Marketing Officer Frances Allen gushed, “The ‘Always Open’ series utilizes celebrities to draw attention to the kinds of dialogue you’ll overhear all the time at Denny’s—sometimes funny, sometimes heartwarming, but always authentic.” Right. Can’t wait to see the episode featuring a Black celebrity. Given the restaurant chain’s history of racial discrimination, the “authentic” dialogue should be hilarious.

• The Shack should change its name to The Rack—gun rack, that is. A Radio Shack in Montana is offering customers a pistol or shotgun with special Dish Network packages. The storeowner claims that since launching the promotion last October, business has tripled. Ditto the threat of his store being held up by armed robbers with Dish Network.

8652: Collecting Chica Chica Cards.

From The New York Daily News…

‘Chica Chica’ cards pimp hookers and prostitution, says state senator who wants to make them illegal

By Kenneth Lovett, Daily News Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY - They’re called “Chica Chica” cards - and they’re flooding Corona and Jackson Heights, Queens.

They look like baseball cards. But instead of featuring A-Rod or Derek Jeter, they have graphic pictures of naked or half-naked women — with a phone number offering free delivery.

They’re really the business cards of prostitutes and pimps who operate along a stretch of Roosevelt Ave. in Queens — and a move is afoot to make them illegal.

Queens Democratic Sen. Jose Peralta wants to make it a crime to distribute the raunchy cards. He and his Assembly counterpart Francisco Moyo have introduced a bill making distribution of the cards a misdemeanor, categorizing them as obscene material.

“Is this going to eliminate prostitution? It’s not,” Peralta said. “It’s the first step toward improving the quality of life on Roosevelt Ave.”

The lawmakers say that on a nighttime walk down Roosevelt Ave., there will be men uttering the words, “chicas, chicas,” which means “girls, girls” — and they’ll thrust forward one of the cards.

Residents are fed up.

“It’s infuriating,” said Nuala O’Doherty, a 42-year-old mother of three who lives near Roosevelt Ave. “They’re all over the streets in the morning. You can’t get rid of them.”

The cards have led to some awkward questions from her three young kids.

“The kids pick them up,” said O’Doherty. “They’ll ask, ‘Mommy, what are the cards for? Why are the women standing like that? Why do they have no clothes?’

“I don’t have good answers.”

O’Doherty said her husband called the number on one of the cards and was asked all sorts of questions in Spanish about what kind of woman he wants.

“They’ll come to you,” she said. “They’ll bring the girl to you so they don’t have to pay for a room.”

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown calls the “Chica” cards “a vexing problem that is plaguing our communities.”

But he said a law to ban them raises “difficult legal questions under the court’s interpretation of the First Amendment.”

8651: Overreaction Of The Week.

Ford Motor Company reportedly cut orders for Black trucks and SUVs, claiming the earthquakes in Japan resulted in problems getting the paint ingredient. Sure, use a disaster as an excuse for cutting Blacks.

Ford cuts new orders for Tuxedo Black paint

Chicago Sun-Times Staff

Ford Motor Co. has temporarily stopped ordering new full-size pickups and SUVs in so-called Tuxedo Black because of problems getting the paint ingredient from earthquake-devastated Japan. Ford is also scaling back orders of certain vehicles in three shades of red.

8650: Don Imus’ Favorite Burger Joint…?

From The New York Daily News…

‘Fat Ho Burgers’ causes uproar from Christian neighbors; owner says people are missing the humor

By Nina Mandell, Daily News Staff Writer

Fat Ho Burgers is stacking up the controversy.

The slangily-named burger joint made a splash when it opened in the conservative town of Waco, Tex., down the street from Gospel Café – a volunteer-run religious cafe and bookstore.

The menu’s items include Supa Fly Ho with Cheese, Fat Chicken Ho or the Sloppy Ho Brisket. And for the younger Fat Ho customers, there’s Tiny Ho Meals.

But not everyone is getting the joke.

“Would’ve been nice to think a little more sensitively,” Pastor Marsha Martie told local television station myFoxDFW.

There’s also a Facebook group asking Evans to change the restaurant’s name.

But Fat Ho Burgers’ owner Lakita Evans, who opened the joint, said critics are misinterpreting the name.

“It’s not calling people a ho. It’s just like they say, ‘Oooh, that ho is big,’ or, ‘That ho is tight!’” she said. “Look what’s going on in Japan,” she added. “It’s like clear this world is not gonna get any better. Why cry and be depressed? The economy is bad. Somebody gotta keep a sense of humor around here.”

She said the name came to her while she was watching a movie.

“I was watching ‘Phat Girlz’ … and they had like a fat a—burger and skinny a—fries,” she told KWTX.com.

Luckily for Evans, the publicity surrounding her controversial burger joint has reportedly been great for business. On Wednesday, the cash-only business ran out of cash – and the its supply of beef, KWTX.com reported.

8649: Love, American Apparel Style.

American Apparel CEO Dov Charney has been hit by a second lawsuit charging the style guru with sexual harassment. It’s safe to predict that before this is over, Charney will make Charlie Sheen and Tiger Woods look like choirboys.

8648: Hennessy Seeks White Rap Experts.

Advertising Age reported Hennessy is seeking a new advertising agency. Despite recognizing the brand’s popularity in the hip-hop community, the contenders for AOR status are all White agencies. Hey, everyone knows Whites are masters at producing awesome rap videos.

LVMH: Hennessy’s Getting a New Creative Shop Next Month

Three Shops Pitch Cognac Account; Incumbent Berlin Cameron Declined to Participate

By E.J. Schultz

The luxury conglomerate that owns Hennessy plans to pick a new U.S. creative agency for the leading cognac brand in April, the company told Ad Age.

“Hennessy has [a request for proposal] out to three creative agencies,” said a spokesperson for parent LVMH Moet Hennessy. “We are making a greater investment in our advertising campaigns this year and are considering agencies that will help the Hennessy brand make an imprint in a new and innovative way.”

The incumbent agency, WPP’s Berlin Cameron, was invited, but declined to participate in the review, LVHM said. According to people familiar with the pitch, the contenders vying for the business are Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann Erickson; MDC Partners’ Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners; and an agency team compiled by Havas. Hennessy’s media agency is Havas’ MPG and its public relations agency is Publicis Groupe’s MSL Group.

In 2010, Hennessy spent $9 million on domestic measured media on its various cognac lines, including Hennessy, Hennessy Black and Hennessy Paradis, up from $4 million the year before, according to Kantar Media. The brand calls itself the No. 1 cognac worldwide, selling 50 million bottles a year. In the U.S., sales were up 2.4% in 2010 to $57.4 million, according to SymphonyIRI.

Founded in 1765 by Irish aristocrat Richard Hennessy, the cognac has been bolstered in recent years by its popularity in the hip-hop community. Hennessy Black, which carries the tagline “Done different,” is billed as a lighter, fresher cognac and promotes its own lineup of DJs, including “DJ Vice” and “D-Nice.”

Contributing: Rupal Parekh

8647: The New Promised Land.

From The New York Times…

Many U.S. Blacks Moving to South, Reversing Trend

By Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff

WASHINGTON — The percentage of the nation’s black population living in the South has hit its highest point in half a century, according to census data released Thursday, as younger and more educated black residents move out of declining cities in the Northeast and Midwest in search of better opportunities.

The share of black population growth that has occurred in the South over the past decade — the highest since 1910, before the Great Migration of blacks to the North — has upended some long-held assumptions.

Both Michigan and Illinois, whose cities have rich black cultural traditions, showed an overall loss of blacks for the first time, said William Frey, the chief demographer at the Brookings Institution.

And Atlanta, for the first time, has replaced Chicago as the metro area with the largest number of African-Americans after New York. About 17 percent of blacks who moved to the South in the past decade left New York State, far more than from any other state, the census data show.

At the same time, blacks have begun leaving cities for more affluent suburbs in large numbers, much like generations of whites before them.

“The notion of the North and its cities as the promised land has been a powerful part of African-American life, culture and history, and now it all seems to be passing by,” said Clement Price, a professor of history at Rutgers-Newark. “The black urban experience has essentially lost its appeal with blacks in America.”

During the turbulent 1960s, black population growth ground to a halt in the South, and Southern states claimed less than 10 percent of the national increase then. The South has increasingly claimed a greater share of black population growth since — about half the country’s total in the 1970s, two-thirds in the 1990s and three-quarters in the decade that just ended.

The percentage of black Americans living in the South is still far lower than before the Great Migration in the earlier part of the last century, when 90 percent did. Today it is 57 percent, the highest since 1960.

“This is the decade of black flight,” said Mr. Frey. “It’s a new age for African-Americans. It’s long overdue, but it seems to be happening.”

Read the full story here.

8646: Hispanics Hit 50,000,000.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Hispanic population tops 50 million in U.S.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports the Hispanic population has surpassed 50 million and accounted for more than half of the 27.3-million population increase in the last decade.

By Stephen Ceasar, Los Angeles Times

The Hispanic population in the United States grew by 43% in the last decade, surpassing 50 million and accounting for about 1 out of 6 Americans, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

Analysts seized on data showing that the growth was propelled by a surge in births in the U.S., rather than immigration, pointing to a growing generational shift in which Hispanics continue to gain political clout and, by 2050, could make up a third of the U.S. population.

“In the adult population, many immigrants helped the increase, but the child population is increasingly more Hispanic,” said D’Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.

In 2010, Hispanics made up 23% of people under the age 18, compared with 17% in 2000. In California, 51% of children are Hispanic, up from 44% in 2000.

Overall, Hispanics accounted for more than half of the 27.3 million U.S. population increase since 2000.

About 75% of Hispanics live in the nine states that have long-standing Hispanic populations — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

That figure is down from 81% in 2000, indicating the population has begun dispersing to other parts of the country, particularly in the Southeast, Cohn said.

New Mexico has the largest percentage of Hispanic residents (46.3%), followed by Texas and California (37.6%).

The Hispanic population more than doubled in Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.

“This is a sign that the Hispanic population is spreading out more widely than in the past,” Cohn said. “You now see Hispanic communities in many places that hadn’t had them a decade or two ago.”

The population growth among Hispanics also kept the population steady in states that would have shown a decline or no growth, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana.

The non-Hispanic population grew at a slower pace in the last decade, at about 5%. Within that population, those who reported their race as only white grew by 1%.

While the population of those who reported only as white grew in number in that time, from 196.6 million to 196.8 million, its proportion of the total U.S. population declined to 64% from 69%.

As in the 2000 census, individuals were asked to identify their ethnic or racial background. As guidance, the Census Bureau said the term Hispanic refers to people who trace the origin of their parents or ancestors to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spanish-speaking Central and South America countries and other Spanish cultures.

A 2008 Census Bureau projection estimated that ethnic and racial minorities will become the majority in the United States by 2050 and that about 1 in 3 U.S. residents will be Hispanic by then.

“Our country is becoming racially and ethnically more diverse over time, as is clear in the growth rates of minority populations,” said Robert Groves, director of the Census Bureau.

Michael A. Memoli in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.

8645: Remaking Lemonade.

Maybe Mickey D’s calls it 365 Black because the fast feeder runs the same contrived ads over and over, 24/7/365.

8644: Stuff White Ad People Like.

This shitty Snapple video has managed to attract over 400,000 wiggers viewers.

8643: Adweek Writes Its Own Obituary…?

People have criticized Alex Bogusky for arguing that the trade press is comprised of clueless hacks who lean toward sensationalism. But the man has a point. Adweek provides more evidence to support Bogusky with its piece on Elizabeth Taylor. See below for a new level of ignorance and insensitivity from a publication that makes Agency Spy look like a Pulitzer Prize winner. Perhaps this story actually signals the death of Adweek.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Bad Timing

Weekly mags’ issues already closed; star’s death unlikely to get much print coverage

By Lucia Moses

Film legend Elizabeth Taylor sold many a magazine during her seven-decade career, but she made it difficult for them to capitalize on her death.

While some of the weeklies threw up the obligatory photo slide shows, obits and commentaries on their Web sites, Taylor died too late in the week to get substantial coverage in print, much less the kind of cover treatments that would normally be done about the death of a star of her magnitude. Most of the magazines send their issues to the printer Monday or Tuesday.

Time and TV Guide, which have yet to close their print issues this week, will still be able to include stories. Reps for People and Entertainment Weekly said their plans were still up in the air.

Of course, there could be another reason for the dearth of weekly print coverage planned so far. The celeb rags are chasing younger readers, so the 79-year-old Taylor’s death, as one weekly’s rep put it, is not “something that would warrant a special edition conversation.” Taylor’s July 2010 cover of Vanity Fair, whose readers skew older, sold just 361,485 print copies, below the magazine’s 396,167 average for the period.

8642: FCC To Fight Radio Racism.

From Adweek…

FCC Promises Action on Discrimination in Ads, But Can It Deliver?

Regulator targets broadcasters, not advertisers on “no Urban,” “no Hispanic” buys

By Katy Bachman

For some time now, advertisers’ practice of making radio buys that come with “no Urban” and “no Hispanic” strings attached has been the industry’s dirty little secret. Now, after years of inaction, the Federal Communications Commission is picking up its cudgel and threatening to get tough with broadcasters who allow that kind of discrimination when they sell airtime.

The commission's enforcement bureau will now require stations to include a non-discrimination clause in their ad contracts, and certify during their license renewal that advertisers did not place a buy that intentionally bypassed Urban or Latino stations.

The issue has been around since the late 1990’s, thanks to the leak of a damning internal memo from a Katz Radio sales rep that called Urban listeners "suspects," not "prospects.” Around the same time, "When Being No. 1 is Not Enough," a report delivered to the FCC, showed that minority stations don't earn as much revenue per listener as general market stations, at least in part because of the industry practice of making ad buys that specifically exclude radio stations that cater to a minority audience.

The FCC doesn’t have any power over advertisers, and can’t control the way they target their buys. But it does have authority over stations, so in 2008—nearly a decade after the Katz memo and landmark study— it adopted a rule that required stations to include nondiscrimination clauses in sales contracts.

The enforcement action for the rule, which came this week, was long overdue, a point minority groups had made last month in a scathing letter sent to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

But the rule might be more of a feel-good thing than anything else. It’s not clear that the FCC can really do much to stop the practice—nor is it clear that the problem is still as widespread as it was when it was first brought to the regulator’s attention.

“Trying to use the FCC’s authority over broadcasters as a method to modify the conduct of advertisers (who are generally beyond the FCC's authority) is a futile approach,” Scott Flick, a partner with Pillsbury Law, wrote on the firm’s CommLawCenter blog.

“I don't know if anyone figured out if it would actually accomplish anything,” Flick told Adweek.

But minority groups see the FCC’s enforcement action as a big step forward. “This [will ensure] that the buy was created without discrimination,” said David Honig, executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.

8641: The Incredible Shrinking Napkin.

The Chicago Tribune reported on a potential reason why the advertising industry is suffering from a lack of big ideas: the restaurant napkins often used to document concepts are shrinking as well.

Napkins shrink as restaurants economize

By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal

The dinner napkin today is a fraction of its former self.

The 30-inch square, which was considered suitable as lately as 25 years ago, is now likely to be 20 to 22 inches square in a restaurant, and 18 to 22 inches at home. In a reverse trend, lunch napkins, which used to stay a respectful step behind, at 14 to 20 inches, are getting larger — even on the best laps — so that you don’t have to own more than one set of napkins to get through the day.

“We used to stock 27 inches,” said Patty Forrest, manager of the E. Braun store in New York, which sells fine linens. “It’s moving down to 24; 20 was always the luncheon. Twenty-two has become the norm for lunch and dinner.”

E. Braun continues to sell 27-inch napkins to clients who are “a bit more old-fashioned,” Forrest said, “people with a more formal view of dining.” E. Braun, as well as Leron, another fine linens business, will also make napkins to order in any size.

What happened? Cathy Kaufman, a food historian who wrote the entry on napkins in “The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink,” said she thought gradual acceptance of the fork (a process not complete until the 20th century), general economizing on things like fabric and the fact that people no longer dressed elaborately for dinner, all contributed to the Great Shrink.

“That’s kind of an odd question,” said Bettina Fisher, kitchen manager at Del Posto in Manhattan, when asked the size of the restaurant’s dinner napkins. (It’s 20 inches square, as is Babbo’s.)

“You have touched on one of my favorite subjects, and a very sore spot,” wrote chef and author Jeremiah Tower, of napkin size, in an email. “Nothing is more uplifting than a napkin that you can tuck into your coat and which falls over your knees, because it says loudly and clearly that this is a good place, people care, people know.”

Tower mentioned favorite hold-outs in Europe: Le Comptoir in Paris, where they also give you a lap blanket if you sit outside on a brisk day; L’Arnsbourg in Baerenthal, Alsace; Dal Pescatore outside of Milan.

Twenty-four inches square was his Maginot Line. Tower said he travels with his own napkin, stateside.

His former employer, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., uses a 22 inch square in both the dining room and cafe. Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago is 19. Prime Meats in Brooklyn uses 16 3/4 square paper because, as co-owner Frank Falcinelli explained, it’s recyclable and doesn’t engender the water waste and pollution of laundering.

The White House uses 20-by-20-inch napkins for state dinners. Buckingham Palace declined to answer, saying it “does not disclose housekeeping information” on the Royal Household. The Palais de l’Elysee didn’t return calls.

But the descending scale of dinner napkin size is not necessarily a descent into savagery.

“It’s always about proportion,” said Charles Masson, owner of La Grenouille in Manhattan. “Smaller, intimate tables and large napkins is ridiculous.” Masson uses a 21 3/4-inch square, folded into three-ply, presented as square on the plate and then square when opened. His staff wears latex gloves when they fold them in the afternoon. As for waiters presenting the napkins to guests, they don’t. “I don’t like the idea of being obsequious,” he said. “My fundamental philosophy is that the best service quality is one of discretion.”

Masson said he thought Harry Cipriani had the most impeccable table linens in Manhattan. “I don’t know how they do it,” he said. “Chapeau,” he added, which in French, vernacularly, means “I tip my hat.”

Floursacks have become popular and are available in a variety of sizes, colors and weights, online. Martha Stewart uses dish towels or antique linen hand towels as large napkins, which she calls “lapkins.”

Unfolded cotton diapers also work, if you’re willing to go there. Cottonbabies.com sells “Birdseye Flats,” which are 27 inches square. A monogram might help you forget.

::

NAPKIN SIZE INDEX

Applebee’s uses a two-ply paper napkin that is 15 by 17 inches.
Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Ala., uses a 19-inch square.
Eleven Madison Parkin Manhattan uses a 20-inch square.
Olive Garden restaurants use 20×20-inch cloth napkins for dinner service.
Daniel, as well as Boulud’s other restaurants, uses a 20 1/2-inch square.
The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., uses a 25-inch square.

8640: Always Awful.

The Ultimate Pad Battle had to be a bloody fight. However, someone should have sent the responsible creatives back to their corners to punch out another round of ideas.

8639: Zero Diversity In Propel Zero Pitch.

Advertising Age reported on another faux pitch for PepsiCo’s Propel Zero. Omnicom has once again managed to stack the deck by literally filling the field with its own shops, ensuring a victory for the network. In other words, the battle for Propel Zero features zero competition. And less than zero minority agencies. It’s another example of Corporate Cultural Collusion that’s as clear as bottled water.

PepsiCo’s Propel Account Goes Into Review

Incumbent Goodby, Which Worked on Brand’s Repositioning, Is Not Part of Agency Pitch

By Natalie Zmuda and Maureen Morrison

PepsiCo has confirmed its Propel Zero business is in review.

Omnicom Group agencies Fathom, New York; 180 Amsterdam; and TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, are said to be pitching the business. Left out of the pitch is the incumbent, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, also an Omnicom agency, which was recently taken off the marketer’s Sierra Mist business.

Propel has just repositioned itself as Propel Zero, eliminating the calories and targeting an active, older group rather than the competitive athletes it used to seek. The brand is about to break a new campaign as part of that repositioning and expects to significantly boost ad spending. In 2010, Propel spent only $330,000, a massive drop from the $8 million it spent in 2009, and a figure that pales in comparison to its 2008 spending levels of $40 million. Goodby handled the new campaign.

The loss of Propel is a blow to Goodby, as the agency is no longer the lead on any of PepsiCo’s beverage brands. Goodby won Propel in early 2008, a year when PepsiCo plucked its accounts from another Omnicom shop, Element 79, Chicago, which was formed in 2001 primarily to house PepsiCo brands. Goodby still works on PepsiCo’s Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos and Rold Gold. Goodby did not return calls by press time.

Of the shops believed to be in on the pitch, TBWA, already handles several PepsiCo beverage brands, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max and Gatorade.

Omnicom’s DDB, Chicago, earlier this month snagged the Sierra Mist account from Goodby, just as PepsiCo started pushing the brand as Sierra Mist Natural—another rebranding that Goodby did but it still subsequently lost the account. The win was a triumph for DDB, allowing the agency to nudge its way further onto the PepsiCo roster beyond digital work Tribal DDB does for Amp and the African-American marketing Spike DDB does for PepsiCo’s beverages. Goodby added Sierra Mist to its roster in 2009. Sibling BBDO previously handled Sierra Mist.

Shuffling account work among Omnicom agencies is nothing new for Pepsi. In October 2008, for example, the marketer handed Goodby its $120 million Quaker portfolio after pulling it from Element 79. The Quaker portfolio now resides at Omnicom’s Juniper Park, Toronto.

8638: Black Population Shrinkage.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Black population shrinking in major cities

By Haya El Nasser

The black population is declining in a growing number of major cities, ¬ more evidence that the settlement pattern of African Americans is changing as they disperse to suburbia and warmer parts of the nation.

2010 Census data released so far this year show that 20 of the 25 cities that have at least 250,000 people and a 20 percent black population either lost more blacks or gained fewer in the past decade than during the 1990s.

The declines happened in some traditional black strongholds: Chicago, Oakland, Atlanta, Cleveland and St. Louis.

Chicago lost more than 200,000 residents, and more than 180,000 of them were African American. In the metropolitan area, the black population fell 3.5 percent to 1.6 million, pushing it 66,000 below metro Atlanta’s.

In America’s big cities, the loss is fueled by three trends:

• Blacks — many in the middle or upper-middle class — leaving cities for suburbs.

• Blacks leaving Northern cities for thriving centers in the South.

• The aging of the African-American population, whose growth rate has dropped from more than 16 percent in the 1990s to about 10 percent since 2000.

“Sadly for Chicago, I think in large part it’s the weather,” says Chinwe Onyeagoro, CEO of O-H Community Partners, a Chicago-based economic development consulting firm.

Sunny skies and warm temperatures are luring not only retirees but also young professionals who may have friends or relatives in the Sun Belt — Atlanta and Houston in particular, she says.

Suburbs anywhere are a huge draw.

“Typically, middle-class African-American families make the same kind of choices that white families have made for some time,” Onyeagoro says. “As soon as kids are school age, they move to the suburbs.”

Atlanta’s loss of blacks tripled since 2000 to almost 30,000. The percentage of blacks in the city shrank to 53 percent from 61 percent. But in Atlanta’s vast metropolitan area, the black population soared 40 percent to 1.7 million, a clear indication that many spread out to suburban counties.

The drop also can be partially attributed to a declining black fertility rate and the aging of the black population, says John Logan, director of US 2010 Project at Brown University, which studies trends in American society. “We’re starting to see the graying not only of the white population but of the black population,” he says.

Gannett News Service

8637: Quacking Casting Call.

The New York Times reported Aflac and Monster.com are teaming up with a contest to find the new duck voice to replace Gilbert Gottfried. Two quick suggestions: Ted Williams or any Japanese actor.

8636: Wonder Woman for Wonderbra…?

Somebody should organize a tie-in with the babe and bra brand now.

8635: Weekend Shots.

Hit by the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Wyclef Jean insists he was shot in the hand while campaigning in Haiti for presidential candidate Michel Martelly. But local police claim he was injured by glass. In addition to being denied the opportunity to run for president of Haiti, the recording artist is ineligible to be a gunshot victim as well.

• Snoop Dogg will team up with Colt 45 to launch a new label called Blast by Colt 45, containing fruit flavors and twice the alcohol level of original Colt 45. It works every time—in half the time.

8634: Too Many Chiefs.

Advertising Age published a ridiculous column titled, “Want to Retain Talent? Time to Appoint a Chief Culture Officer.” Can’t knock author Lorraine Lockhart for capitalizing on the recent talent management crisis that surfaced at the 4As 2011 Transformation Conference to hype her book—which happens to be a semi-new release in the 4As Management Series. But her basic premise displays a culture cluelessness, likely rooted in an unfamiliarity with agencies today. Otherwise, Lockhart would realize that it will only be beneficial to hire a Chief Culture Officer if agencies simultaneously fire the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Creative Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Diversity Officer and all the other Chiefs who make life unbearable for the “Indians” doing the work.

8633: The Smell Of Whiteness.

To truly experience The White Collection, simply visit the advertising agency responsible for this Air Wick® campaign.

8632: Guess Who’s Coming To Deep South.

From The New York Times…

Black and White and Married in the Deep South: A Shifting Image

By Susan Saulny

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — For generations here in the deepest South, there had been a great taboo: publicly crossing the color line for love. Less than 45 years ago, marriage between blacks and whites was illegal, and it has been frowned upon for much of the time since.

So when a great job beckoned about an hour’s drive north of the Gulf Coast, Jeffrey Norwood, a black college basketball coach, had reservations. He was in a serious relationship with a woman who was white and Asian.

“You’re thinking about a life in South Mississippi?” his father said in a skeptical voice, recalling days when a black man could face mortal danger just being seen with a woman of another race, regardless of intentions. “Are you sure?”

But on visits to Hattiesburg, the younger Mr. Norwood said he liked what he saw: growing diversity. So he moved, married, and, with his wife, had a baby girl who was counted on the last census as black, white and Asian. Taylor Rae Norwood, 3, is one of thousands of mixed-race children who have made this state home to one of the country’s most rapidly expanding multiracial populations, up 70 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to new data from the Census Bureau.

In the first comprehensive accounting of multiracial Americans since statistics were first collected about them in 2000, reporting from the 2010 census, made public in recent days, shows that the nation’s mixed-race population is growing far more quickly than many demographers had estimated, particularly in the South and parts of the Midwest. That conclusion is based on the bureau’s analysis of 42 states; the data from the remaining eight states will be released this week.

In North Carolina, the mixed-race population doubled. In Georgia, it expanded by more than 80 percent, and by nearly as much in Kentucky and Tennessee. In Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, the multiracial population increased by about 70 percent.

“Anything over 50 percent is impressive,” said William H. Frey, a sociologist and demographer at the Brookings Institution. “The fact that even states like Mississippi were able to see a large explosion of residents identifying as both black and white tells us something that people would not have predicted 10 or 20 years ago.”

Census officials were expecting a national multiracial growth rate of about 35 percent since 2000, when seven million people — 2.4 percent of the population — chose more than one race. Officials have not yet announced a national growth rate, but it seems sure to be closer to 50 percent.

The contour and the shade of the change are not uniform. In states like California, Hawaii and Oklahoma, where people of mixed race already made up a significant percentage of the total, the increases were smaller than in places like Mississippi, where there were far fewer mixed-race people to start with. In Hawaii, for instance — where the multiracial group accounts for 23 percent of the population, highest of any state — the growth since 2000 was 23.6 percent.

Also, in Hawaii, the predominant mix is Asian and white and native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, while in Oklahoma, it is American Indian and white. In Mississippi, the most common mix is black and white — historically and today the two groups least likely to intermarry, sociologists say, because of the enduring social and economic distance between them. (It was also against the law until 1967.)

Read the full story here.

8631: Junk In The Trunk.

Just caught this Cars.com commercial that ran during the 2011 Super Bowl. Besides being lame, it’s sexist and racist. The convertible named Sheila is ogled for being topless, while the spot closes with a car shopper checking out a minivan and remarking, “See, just like the review said: big rear end”—which gets an “Excuse me?!” response from the vehicle’s sassy Black female voice.

8630: Burger King Leaves Its White Agency.

In 2010, Burger King dumped its minority advertising agencies, awarding the assignments typically handled by multicultural shops to its White agency. Now Advertising Age reported the fast feeder split from White agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. The move is likely tied to the departure of Burger King Global CMO Natalia Franco. Perhaps Burger King CEO Bernardo Hees thought she was too unattractive for the role. Plus, Alex Bogusky had bailed out as well. Look for the next CMO to quietly reinstate the minority shops. The exclusivity is bad business—and bad karma.

Burger King and Crispin Split After Seven-Year Run

Move Comes After Global CMO Natalia Franco Departs

By Rupal Parekh, Maureen Morrison

In the wake of a marketing shakeup and new ownership at Burger King, the fast-food chain and its lead creative shop, MDC Partners’ CP&B, are splitting up. The move comes after a more than seven-year partnership.

Said the companies in a joint statement: “Burger King Corp. and Crispin Porter & Bogusky have enjoyed a tremendously successful relationship over the past seven and a half years. During that time, our creative partnership resulted in countless innovative and engaging campaigns for the BK brand. We are incredibly proud of all that we have accomplished together, but have mutually decided that now is the right time to part ways. We are fans of each other’s work and wish each other much success in the future.”

The split follows major churn in the marketing suite at Burger King. In February the chain announced the departure of Exec VP-Global Chief Marketing Officer Natalia Franco, only nine months after she joined the fast feeder. Her predecessor, Russ Klein, took a leave of absence in September 2009, and the company confirmed his departure in November.

The news about Ms. Franco came in conjunction with changes to the company’s global brand management and operations, as well as to its North American marketing structure. Burger King has aligned the company’s global brand marketing and global operations teams to create a single function. Burger King’s North American CMO, Mike Kappitt, who reported to Ms. Franco, left the company in December.

Burger King has been pulling back on its marketing budget slightly over the past three years; according to Kantar Media, it spent $301 million on domestic measured media in 2010, down from $308 million in 2009 and $327 million in 2008.

It wasn’t immediately clear what impact the end of Burger King’s partnership with its lead creative shop will have on its relationships with other agencies on its roster, such as WPP’s Wunderman and independent Edelman.

Crispin, whose work for Burger King has ranged from the much talked-about Subservient Chicken web experiment to a Facebook stunt dubbed Whopper Sacrifice, is behind the restaurant’s longtime (and some call creepy) “King” character. Whether the King will survive the chain’s marketing changes isn’t clear but recent executions have been more product-focused and have not featured the brand’s spokes-character.

The split is a blow to CP&B because it means the loss of one of its biggest clients, and, along with Microsoft and Kraft, one of the few truly global pieces of business it works on as the agency tries to expand its footprint around the world.

8629: Madison Avenue Ethics An Oxymoron…?

Last June, ad wonk Wally Snyder announced the formation of an Institute for Advertising Ethics whose primary goal was to draft a code of ethics for the industry. Advertising Age published a follow-up, and here is the much-anticipated result:

Principles and Practices of Advertising

• Advertising, public relations, marketing communications, news, and editorial all share a common objective of truth and high ethical standards in serving the public.

• Advertising, public relations, and all marketing communications professionals have an obligation to exercise the highest personal ethics in the creation and dissemination of commercial information to consumers.

• Advertisers should clearly distinguish advertising, public relations and corporate communications from news and editorial content and entertainment, both online and offline.

• Advertisers should clearly disclose all material conditions, such as payment or receipt of a free product, affecting endorsements in social and traditional channels, as well as the identity of endorsers, all in the interest of full disclosure and transparency.

• Advertisers should treat consumers fairly based on the nature of the audience to whom the ads are directed and the nature of the product or service advertised.

• Advertisers should never compromise consumers' personal privacy in marketing communications, and their choices as to whether to participate in providing their information should be transparent and easily made.

• Advertisers should follow federal, state and local advertising laws, and cooperate with industry self-regulatory programs for the resolution of advertising practices.

• Advertisers and their agencies, and online and offline media, should discuss privately potential ethical concerns, and members of the team creating ads should be given permission to express internally their ethical concerns.

Wow. Wonder how many boxes of Dunkin’ Munchkins® the committee consumed to create this gem. The vague manifesto doesn’t even rival ex-con/adwoman Shona Seifert’s Proposed Code of Ethics for the Advertising Industry. Snyder gushed, “I believe [the code] will lead to a new way of thinking about ethics from, ‘Well, we should be ethical’ to ‘We’ve got to be ethical to build our business better.’” It would have been more efficient and effective to simply provide a link to The Golden Rule.

8628: Client-Approved Insensitivity.

At The Big Tent, Bill Imada commended Aflac for firing comedian Gilbert Gottfried over his tweet jokes about the tragedy in Japan. Of course, Gottfried continues to find defenders in Joan Rivers, Howard Stern and other assorted idiots. The supporters’ asinine arguments include, “That’s what comedians do!!! We react to tragedy by making jokes to help people in tough times feel better through laughter.” Um, not really. Professional comics realize there are “comedy killers”—topics that must be avoided as sources of humor—like the Holocaust, JFK assassination and more. Hence, Gottfried should have known better. One can’t help but wonder if latent racism led Gottfried and his backers to think everything was hunky-dory.

One also can’t help but wonder why advertisers are quick to hit the termination button in these scenarios, yet reluctant to execute the same maneuver with partners on Madison Avenue. For example, when Groupon took heat for its Super Bowl commercial that made light of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, why wasn’t CP+B axed? When MetroPCS offended citizens with commercials starring the stereotypical Chad and Ranjit, why didn’t The Richards Group receive a pink slip? When Verizon insulted Italian-Americans with an ignorant spot, why didn’t McCann get canned? Draftfcb and Omnicom routinely piss off the public via client-sponsored obscenities. The list goes on. And so does the consequence-free cultural cluelessness.

Somebody ask Donald Trump to holler his trademark line: “You’re fired!”

8627: Retracting Jokes.

Sorry Morons in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Comedian and former Aflac duck voiceover Gilbert Gottfried apologized for his joke tweets about the disaster in Japan. “I sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my attempt at humor regarding the tragedy in Japan,” wrote Gottfried. “I meant no disrespect, and my thoughts are with the victims and their families.” Hey, if Gottfried visits a Japanese restaurant, the chef should prepare crispy duck. Meanwhile, Joan Rivers came to Gottfried’s defense by tweeting, “Oh come on people—this is just outrageous! Gilbert Gottfried was FIRED from Aflac for making jokes about the tsunami in Japan.” Rivers added, “That’s what comedians do!!! We react to tragedy by making jokes to help people in tough times feel better through laughter.” Hey, Rivers should confine her jokes to the tragedy created by her plastic surgeon.

• Rep. Virgil Peck from Kansas apologized for his suggestion that snipers in helicopters should shoot illegal immigrants, declaring his remarks were “regrettable” and intended as jokes. Hey, look for this asshole in the front row at the next Gilbert Gottfried comedy club appearance.

8626: Unbelievably Dull.

Mickey D’s declares, “We believe in quality.” But apparently not when producing recruitment advertising.

8625: Main Street Mimics Bourbon Street.

How authentic are Applebee’s new Bourbon Street flavors? After the meal, you’ll feel the need to vomit in public.

8624: Massive Aggressive Behavior.

Tough acts to follow in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Supermodel Jessica White rejected a plea deal for her role in a fistfight over a New York City cab. By turning down a deal for two days of community service, anger management training and about $450 in fees, White will be taking her battle to court—and giving Naomi Campbell some serious competition.

• State Rep. Virgil Peck of Kansas sparked controversy after suggesting illegal immigrants should be shot like wild hogs by snipers in helicopters. “Looks like to me, if shooting these immigrating feral hogs works, maybe we have found a (solution) to our illegal immigration problem,” said Peck. When condemned by his fellow legislators, the moron replied, “I was just speaking like a southeast Kansas person.” Well, that explains everything.

8623: Not UNCF.

From The Los Angeles Times…

‘Whites-only’ isn’t diversity

A Texas scholarship that excludes nonwhites betrays ignorance of the point of minority aid: an attempt to counter centuries of white privilege.

If there are scholarships and loan programs and government contracts set aside for blacks and Latinos, can there be similar set-asides for whites?

That’s one of the questions raised by a small organization in Texas that has decided to offer white men $500 college scholarships. “In a country that proclaims equality for all,” says the Former Majority Assn. for Equality, “we provide monetary aid to those that have found the scholarship application process difficult because they do not fit into certain categories or any ethnic group.”

Aware that a whites-only policy would inspire questions about racism, the organization insists: “We do not advocate white supremacy, nor do we enable any individual that does. We do not accept donations from organizations affiliated with any sort of white supremacy or hate group.”

We accept the organization’s assurances that it is not motivated by racism. But we still find the idea of whites-only scholarships offensive (even if they are legal), and the organization’s underlying understanding of race is even more so.

That understanding is sometimes called the “symmetrical view” of race. It holds that whites and minorities are similarly situated and that programs that exclusively benefit whites are as legitimate as those that serve minorities. Sometimes, as with the Texas scholarship, there is an additional argument that changing demographics have reduced the advantage of being white in this society.

This symmetrical view ignores history. Scholarships and other arrangements that favor racial minorities are generally an attempt to counter the effects of centuries of white privilege. And despite what some people might believe, those effects haven’t gone away. This country has done much to overcome its history of racism, but gaping disparities in education and wealth persist. Scholarships and other programs seeking to close those gaps naturally will focus on blacks and Latinos.

Many Americans cringe at the phrase “whites only,” and for good reason. Historically the exclusion of nonwhites was inextricably tied to notions of white supremacy. The time hasn’t arrived when “whites only,” or any policy predicated on it, can be regarded as just another patch in the quilt of diversity.

We don’t begrudge any young men scholarship aid from the Former Majority Assn. for Equality. But we wish the organization would offer its largesse on a nonracial basis.

8622: Aflac Ducks From Gottfried’s Tweets.

From USA TODAY…

Aflac dumps Gilbert Gottfried, voice of its duck, for tasteless tweets

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Aflac Inc. said Monday it has fired Gilbert Gottfried, the abrasive voice of the insurer’s quacking duck in the U.S., after the comedian posted a string of mocking jokes about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on Twitter over the weekend.

The tasteless tweets are particularly problematic for Aflac because it does 75% of its business in Japan. One in four homes in Japan buys health insurance from Aflac. The insurer’s CEO, Daniel Amos, flew to Japan on Sunday to show support for the company’s employees and agents.

Aflac said in a statement Monday that Gottfried’s jokes do not represent the feelings of the company, which previously announced it would donate 100 million yen ($1.2 million) to the International Red Cross to help with disaster assistance.

“There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times,” Chief Marketing Officer Michael Zuna said.

Gottfried has voiced the duck in numerous Aflac commercials since 2000. His career includes a run as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and a role as the voice of the parrot in Disney’s Aladdin. He has also recorded a 50-minute show of dirty jokes.

The insurer said it will start a casting search for his replacement. The company also noted that Gottfried is not the voice of the duck in Japan. Aflac’s mascot has a softer, sweeter voice in Japanese commercials.

Aflac is gearing up for an influx of claims in the wake of the disaster, though it expects only a minimal financial effect on total results. The company, which has been doing business in Japan since 1974, said less than 5% of Aflac Japan’s new sales and in-force premiums come from the hard-hit Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures there.

8621: Let’s Do It For The Children.

Concluded the previous post predicting a spike in inner-city internship programs, and sure enough, the press releases appeared. Advertising Age published a piece once again spotlighting Torch, with Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners Chairman Richard Kirshenbaum gushing, “Having founded the agency 23 years ago, I felt it was really time to encourage underserved teens and create a platform for more diverse voices in the creative community. There’s a lot of lip service in the industry to it. At a certain point, I said I really want to get involved.” Well, it took 23 years to move beyond lip service, but it’s a gosh-darned, swell start. Meanwhile, Agency Spy noted Free Throw, which offers a $40,000 scholarship to Compton High School students who can sink a shot on the basketball court. The comments left at the ad blog tell the story here. This endeavor is the brainchild of adman Court Crandall, who also hopes to raise funds via Kickstarter and turn the event into a documentary for the Sundance Film Festival. Um, wasn’t this topic already covered by the 1994 Oscar-nominated Hoop Dreams? Crandall is determined to “highlight the positive changes within Compton and help the good people who live and work there redefine the NWA ‘Straight Outta Compton’ image that has defined the city since the early nineties.” ‘Nuff said.

8620: Diversity Transformed To Disinterest.

The 4As 2011 Transformation Conference certainly lived up to its name—at least in regards to diversity. That is, the trade soiree successfully transformed the issue into, well, a non-issue.

Only in advertising could there be so many conversations surrounding talent management with virtually zero mentions of the biggest talent-related problem in Madison Avenue’s history. Oh, sure, IPG CEO Michael Roth coughed up the obligatory “Our industry has to do a better job…” line before quickly turning the discussion focus back to the dearth of White talent. And Coltrane Curtis of Team Epiphany reportedly stressed “the importance of diversity as it relates to being able to influence pop culture,” as minority agency representatives are wont to do. But that pretty much covered the public display of affection for inclusion.

Arnold Worldwide Global CEO Andrew Benett drew a small audience to his speech on talent, prompting the executive to quip, “This is about right. About 1/3 of the industry cares.” Hey, that figure significantly beats the number of adpeople who give a shit about integrating colored folks into the fold. MDC CEO Miles Nadel shared his tactic of hosting “four kosher dinners” in an attempt to persuade a Jewish creative to return to CP+B. However, Nadel made no references to “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner.” Draftfcb Chairman Howard Draft announced that if he launched a new agency today, it would be a digital shop whose roster never exceeded 50 employees. Gee, wonder how diverse Draft’s dream enterprise might be.

Perhaps conference attendees held high-level powwows on diversity behind closed doors. In fact, teams of the best and brightest were probably brainstorming breakthrough concepts for The MultiCultClassics Cultural Competence Contest that was presented at the inaugural Transformation shindig.

Look forward to a fresh batch of inner-city internship programs in the weeks ahead.

8619: This Glade Ad, Well, Stinks.

If this Glade ad were into social networking, it would have zero Friends.

8618: Mike Rowe? More Like Mike Ho.

When did Mike Rowe become Fabio? He’s starring in nearly every clichéd, contrived commercial campaign out there. It’s only a matter of time before he’s breakdancing too.

8617: New Ebony Is A Work-In-Progress.

Picked up a copy of the allegedly new and improved Ebony. There’s definitely potential here, but the editorial staff must continue refining the publication.

For starters, the type is too small. Or maybe it’s too light. Or both. Grandma and Grandpa are gonna struggle reading it—guaranteed. Some of the blurbs are damn near microscopic. And the typography overall is busier than necessary. It feels like the magazine is averaging eight fonts per page.

Don’t mean to sound conservative, but it wouldn’t hurt to graphically calm things down too. Simplify your grid, folks. The cover should have one dominant visual and fewer subheads. Stick with single versus group portraits. The interior spreads with Chris Rock, Mo’Nique and Steve Harvey work well. Others, not so much.

Love the idea of featuring guest editors. However, Ebony can do a lot better than Kevin Hart. He’s not funny in the 2011 Ford Explorer campaign, and even less so in an edition boasting to be “The Biggest, Baddest Comedy Issue Ever.” Sorry.

Again, there’s definitely potential here. Keep it simple. Less is more. Blah, blah. blah.

8616: 110 Percent Insanity.

Percentages and pinheads in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Add this statistic to the 46 percent of Republicans who think President Obama is a Muslim: In the U.K., nearly 20 percent of adults believe light sabers exist, and 25 percent believe people can be teleported. Maybe Burger King’s CEO was onto something.

• 50 Cent and Gilbert Gottfried are taking heat for tweets that made light of the disaster in Japan. Fiddy’s comments included, “Look this is very serious people. I had to evacuate all my hoe’s from LA, Hawaii and Japan. I had to do it. Lol.” Gottfried chipped in, “I just split up with my girlfriend, but like the Japanese say, ‘They’ll be another one floating by any minute now.’” Wow, these guys should be writing for Groupon.

• A new survey showed 42 percent of millionaires don’t feel wealthy. Maybe that explains why so many of them consistently fuck up their tax returns.

8615: Tiny Packet, No Big Idea.

This Kleenex ad ran in British magazines. It would have been more truthful—and breakthrough—if they had used Prince Charles.

8614: BK CEO H8 UK.

The New York Daily News reported Burger King CEO Bernardo Hees thinks British women are “not very attractive,” and U.K. food is “terrible.” Um, has this moron eaten at a BK and seen the typical female crew member?

CEO of Burger King slammed after calling British women ugly, saying U.K. food is ‘terrible’

By Philip Caulfield, Daily News Staff Writer

The CEO of Burger King is getting grilled for telling a group of students that British women are ugly and that food in the U.K. is “terrible.”

Bernardo Hees, who was named the head of worldwide fast food chain in September, was speaking to a group of students in Chicago late last week when he unfondly recalled his days as a young scholar working on and MBA at the University of Warwick in England.

“The food is terrible and the women are not very attractive,” Hees said, according to the University of Chicago’s student paper, the Chicago Maroon. “Here in Chicago, the food is good and you are known for your good-looking women.”

Hees was trying to make a point that his MBA experience was a breeze because he wasn’t worried about wining and dining, but officials and chefs in the U.K. have pounced on his remarks.

“If he views women as potential distractions in academia, I wonder how he views them in the workplace?” Charli Fritzner, a women’s campaigns officer at Warwick University’s student union, asked the Guardian. “It doesn’t make Burger King an attractive employer for women.”

Michelin-starred English chef Marcus Wareing, who runs a restaurant at the posh Berkeley hotel in London, mused that the comments seemed pretty rich coming from the head of a fast food chain whose Whoppers and fries have been blamed for helping turn America into a nation of fatties.

“It’s an insult to British gastronomy,” Wareing told the Guardian.

Burger King said its new chief regretted the gaffe.

“Mr. Hees apologizes if his comment has offended anyone,” a spokesperson said. “It… was intended as a humorous anecdote to connect with his audience.”

Burger King turned heads in the fall by announcing the Brazilian-born Hees, who is 40, would serve as its new CEO. Hees had been the head of America Latina Logistica, Latin America’s largest railroad and logistics company.

The restaurant chain has 11,500 outlets worldwide.

8613: Fully Amateurish.

The copywriter behind this ad is full of himself. Full of shit, too.

8612: Wooing White Talent.

Advertising Age published an editorial in response to the hand-wringing over talent management issues that surfaced at the 4As 2011 Transformation Conference. In stereotypical fashion, initial solutions include enhancing student recruitment. No one, however, suggested targeting inner-city or low-income youth—probably because all of the industry executives at the conference were focused on wooing White talent.

Quit Complaining About Talent and Do Something

An Ad Age Editorial

At the 4A’s conference in Austin, Texas, perhaps the only thing more prolific than the barbecue and TexMex was the talk of an industry talent crisis.

Three of the Big Four holding-company chiefs lamented that the advertising sector sucks at recruitment—it doesn’t have the presence on the major college campuses that a McKinsey or an Accenture does and, thus, doesn’t get the kind of people entering the industry those firms do. They lamented the lack of diversity, the piddly incentives and the relatively small commitment to continuing training. As Interpublic CEO Michael Roth put it: “No one wakes up in the morning and says, ‘I want to be in the advertising business.’”

Meanwhile, Arnold CEO Andrew Benett revealed an industry churn level that makes banks look good.

But it all felt so familiar.

We heard the talent tune last year from Nick Brien and Rishad Tobaccowala, who called for a greater diversity of skill sets and giving up the traditional rites-of-passage model. At the 2007 4A’s management conference, hallway chatter focused on the dearth of digital talent. And in 2004, attracting new talent was cited as a major case for launching the annual Advertising Week.

So why haven’t things changed? For one, agencies don’t pay enough to lure smart, entry-level talent from more-lucrative jobs in the consulting, financial or technology fields. There’s the lack of continuing education, always the first thing cut when margins get tight.

Finally, some questioned whether we’re fostering the kind of inspiration and excitement the industry needs to attract the best and brightest. Just gaze out into the sea of white, middle-age faces in the audience at any industry conference for the answer.

How about next year loading the stage—and the audience—with young, ambitious, tech-savvy folk? How about supporting teaching institutions the way other industries—such as medicine or law do—with endowments to help ensure a broad range of qualified candidates?

All are good ideas. In short, it’s time to stop talking and start making progress. Said Omnicom CEO John Wren: “The industry has spent very little time educating its staff … and I think you’ll see a renewed commitment, certainly by Omnicom and also by others, in terms of educating people.”

We’ll hold you to that.