10859: Jerry Della Femina Is Mad, Man.

The New York Post printed a rant from Jerry Della Femina, where the iconic adman whined about having to sell his Hamptons estate and pay higher taxes because of President Barack Obama. Looks like yet another political conservative has emerged to dispute Carl Warner’s contentions. However, Della Femina has displayed his Republican leanings before this latest complaint. In 2007, he defended Don Imus with a culturally clueless perspective. In 2008, Della Femina apologized for a racist column (not written by Della Femina) on Obama that appeared in a newspaper he published. Grumbling about unloading a $25 million home completes the trilogy of stupidity.

Ad guru reveals why he sold Hamptons estate

I’m paying unfair price for working hard

By Jerry Della Femina

Jerry Della Femina was a poor kid from Brooklyn who went on to create one of the world’s most famous advertising agencies, Della Femina Travisano & Partners. He recently sold his 8,000-square-foot oceanfront Hamptons estate for $25 million, just in time to avoid next year’s rise in capital-gains taxes. He estimates he would have had to pay an additional 8.6 percent — for a total capital-gains tax bill of $3.7 million — if he had sold it after Jan. 1.

I’m happy to pay my fair share — which is whatever the tax is right now.

The thing about capital gains is, I made the investment. I put in the original money. The house cost $3 million and then I put in an additional $6 million because the house was in terrible shape. We added rooms, sections, areas, and basically it was my investment.

When I bought that house I think Obama was in high school, and I certainly have paid taxes ever since.

I don’t come from a lot of money. In fact, I don’t come from any money.

So I literally started with zero. I worked very hard. And I’ve been very good to the people who worked for me. At one point I had over 800 employees, and I always paid all health care for my people — including a man who was my assistant who got HIV. I wound up paying his medical bills, which went into the hundreds of thousands. I’m not making myself out to be a saint. I did the right thing.

Now I’m being told the right thing is to do more. And because I can afford it, I have to pay more.

At this stage of my life, I want to have money to leave to my five kids and seven grandkids. Why would I want to give that additional 8 percent from capital gains to Obama instead?

God knows how that money would be spent.

I made the investment while Obama might have been in high school or smoking dope in college or whatever he was doing. He didn’t make the investment; I did. He didn’t take the risk; I did. He didn’t improve the house; I did. And then in the end, he’s saying I must pay him more.

I always was happy to pay my fair share of taxes. I’m careful to pay every single penny on my taxes. I don’t have any money offshore. But the fact is that at this stage the general feeling in the country is, “You have it, give it to us.”

And I worked too hard to get it. I spent too much time, working too hard, to get it. Where was President Obama when I was working until 1, 2 in the morning and basically not spending as much time with my kids as I would have liked to? Where was he when I worked on Saturdays and Sundays?

Well, he’s here now. And what he’s saying is: “OK, you made the money, now you have to pay your fair share.”

I think my fair share can be what it’s been all along.

I work hard and I pay my taxes. No matter what the administration.

This is an administration that is spending more money than any administration in history. To spend more money, they need more money.

That’s where I object.

It’s a case of a president who really wants to redistribute wealth.

10858: Tots & Tribal Rights.

From The New York Times…

Case Pits Adoptive Parents Against Tribal Rights

By Adam Liptak

WASHINGTON — “What has been the toughest decision for you?” Charlie Rose asked Justice Antonin Scalia in a television interview a few weeks ago. He meant the most personally wrenching.

Justice Scalia has served on the Supreme Court for more than a quarter of a century, and he has seen his share of difficult cases. But one stuck out.

“It was pretty early on in my time on this court,” he said. “We had a case in which a very wealthy rancher and his wife had adopted a child of a young man and woman on an Indian reservation who had had the child out of wedlock. And they gave the child to the rancher to raise.”

A state court in Mississippi had approved the arrangement. But a federal law, the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, required tribal courts rather than state ones to decide.

“The kid was, I think, 5 years old or so” by the time the case reached the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia recalled. “And we had to turn that child over to the tribal council. I found that very hard. But that’s what the law said, without a doubt.”

Justice Scalia’s recollection of the case, from 1989, was understandably a little hazy. It involved 3-year-old twins, and their adoptive father had died by the time the case was decided.

But he had the main point right. In various ways, the 1978 law he cited makes it hard to remove American Indian children from their parents, their tribes and their heritage.

The case that troubled Justice Scalia now has a sequel, and at their private conference next week, the justices will consider whether to hear it.

The new case involves a South Carolina couple who were ordered to turn over a 27-month-old girl they had cared for since birth to her biological father, an Indian, whom the little girl had never met.

The South Carolina Supreme Court, saying it did so “with a heavy heart,” ruled for the father even as it acknowledged that the adoptive couple, Matt and Melanie Capobianco, were “ideal parents who have exhibited the ability to provide a loving family environment.” He works as a technician at Boeing; she has a doctorate in developmental psychology.

Under South Carolina law, the child, Veronica, would have stayed with the Capobiancos. Under the federal law, she was sent to live with her biological father, Dusten Brown, a member of the Cherokee Nation.

The federal law was a reaction to a dark history of abusive child welfare practices involving Indian children and was sensitive to distinctive aspects of Native American culture. But the Capobiancos and their supporters say the law may have gone too far, by intruding on domestic decisions traditionally governed by state law and by putting a thumb on the legal scale based on the race of one of the parties.

The central question for the justices, the Capobiancos say, is whether an absent father should have the right to thwart a mother’s wishes about the fate of her child simply because he happens to be an Indian. The vote in the State Supreme Court was 3 to 2, and the dissenters were not impressed with Mr. Brown. According to one dissenting judge, Mr. Brown had “turned his back on the joys and responsibilities of fatherhood at every turn.” Another said Mr. Brown’s “vanishing act triggered the adoption in the first instance.”

Here is a piece of evidence that may color your view of Mr. Brown: before his daughter was born, he renounced his parental rights by text message. In fairness, the child’s mother also used text messages to break off their engagement and to ask for child support.

Mr. Brown changed his mind when he heard that his former fiancée, who is not an Indian, had put their daughter up for adoption. He invoked the 1978 law, and he has so far succeeded in blocking the adoption, despite opposition not only from the Capobiancos but also from the girl’s biological mother and the girl’s court-appointed guardian.

Family courts ordinarily base their decisions on the best interests of the child before them. But the 1978 law says other factors must be considered. “The tribe has an interest in the child which is distinct from but on a parity with the interest of the parents,” Justice William J. Brennan Jr., writing for himself, Justice Scalia and four other justices, explained in the 1989 decision, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians v. Holyfield. This was, Justice Brennan added, “a relationship that many non-Indians find difficult to understand.”

Justice Brennan recognized that the law sometimes produced heartbreak. “Three years’ development of family ties cannot be undone,” he wrote, “and a separation at this point would doubtless cause considerable pain.” But the 1978 law, he said, required that the tribal court make the decision.

The questions in the new case, Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, No. 12-399, concern other parts of the law. But the larger issue is similar, and how it is answered could affect thousands of adoptions every year.

In the 1989 case that Justice Scalia discussed with Mr. Rose, there was, though the justice did not seem to know it, something of a happy ending. The tribal court allowed the children to remain with their adoptive family, saying that “it would have been cruel to take them from the only mother they knew.” At the same time, the court ordered that the children stay in contact with their extended family and tribe.

There does not seem to be such a middle ground in the new case, and it is not clear whether the justices will want to take on the burden of a decision with the potential to weigh on them for decades.

10857: U.K. Ad Diversity Is Forgettable.

Campaign published “Top 10 things to forget” for 2012, including the BBC’s ‘Savilegate’ omnishambles, the ‘Shicklegate’ resignation, Rupert Murdoch and controversial media judging at Cannes. Whatever. Not on the list is the U.K. advertising industry’s appalling dearth of diversity—which shall surely be ignored and forgotten like the identical dilemma in the U.S. Why, diversity champion Sir John Hegarty has probably already forgotten his patronizing, lame and hypocritical support for inclusive reform.

10856: Report From FTC Is BS.

Adweek spotlighted the FTC report showing food marketing to kids dropped 19.5% from 2006 to 2009. Um, it’s a few days shy of 2013. Where’s the latest big data? Regardless, there are at least three points to consider about the findings:

First, the advertising reduction did not ignite an equal result for childhood obesity—i.e., fewer ads did not lead to more healthy kids.

Second, it appears that the sly marketers simply shifted tactics from national TV commercials to digital and promotions. Let’s be honest. A regulated TV spot will not outperform tie-ins with video games, recording artists and movies.

Third, the food marketers are executing the same maneuvers as Big Tobacco. Specifically, they know that getting kids hooked on cigarettes/Big Macs starts by getting parents hooked. So rather than aim messages directly at youngsters, the food companies increase advertising with adults. Just survey the growing number of grown-up campaigns for fast food, slow food, soft drinks, etc. Ronald McDonald is the new Marlboro Man.

FTC Reports Food Marketing to Children Down 19.5%

Commission urges holdout companies and media to self-regulate

By Katy Bachman

Nutrition watchdogs should be pleased. Food companies are spending less money marketing to children and youth, a new Federal Trade Commission report found. Compared to 2006, food marketing targeting 2- to 17-year-olds dropped 19.5 percent to $1.79 billion in 2009.

Most of the decrease came from fewer ads on TV. At the same time, food companies increased by 50 percent spending in new media, such as online, mobile and viral marketing, which are cheaper than TV. Companies have also stepped up integrated marketing and cross-promotion campaigns that combine traditional media with other platforms, from digital to movies to packaging to toy premiums.

For the first time, the report, released today, also analyzed the nutritional profile of foods marketed to youth, finding that self-regulation by the food industry has resulted in “modest nutritional improvements,” particularly in heavily-marketed categories such as cereals, drinks and fast-food kids’ meals.

The FTC’s follow-up report, “A Review of Food Marketing to Children and Adolescents,” was anticipated for the better part of a year, but the controversy over the federal government’s attempt to establish voluntary food guidelines for marketing to children may have sidelined the update. By the end of next year, the 16 member companies of the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative—which represents 90 percent of all food marketing to children—committed to stricter nutrition guidelines for children under 12.

“More companies have joined, hundreds of foods have been improved or newly created to meet science-based nutrition criteria, and the CFBAI itself has expanded and become even more rigorous,” said Elaine Kolish, director and vp of the CFBAI, which operates under the Better Business Bureau.

While FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz gave due recognition to the food industry’s efforts to help reduce the nation’s obesity epidemic, he noted that there were still a few food company holdouts and media companies that need to step up.

“The encouraging news is that we’re seeing promising signs that food companies are reformulating their products and marketing more nutritious foods to kids, especially among companies participating in industry self-regulatory efforts. But there is still room for improvement. We will look for continued progress by the food industry and greater participation by the entertainment industry,” Leibowitz said in a statement.

Some of the food companies that have not joined the CFBAI include Chuck E. Cheese’s, Topps Candy, and IHOP. Among media companies, Disney, for example, won accolades for its commitment to adopt strict in-house nutritional standards for children’s ads, but Viacom has yet to adopt a similar policy and has often faced criticism from nutrition watchdogs.

Nutrition advocates are still left with plenty to advocate, especially since self-regulation fails to cover the full range of marketing strategies, like packaging and toy giveaways.

“Self-regulation as its currently structured isn’t working yet. The CFBAI still doesn’t cover packaging and that’s the biggest spending category after TV or the toy,” said Margo Wootan, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The Center for Digital Democracy, alarmed at marketing shift towards new digital techniques, such as peer-to-peer viral campaigns and neuromarketing, suggested the FTC convene stakeholders to develop “fair digital marketing practices for children and teens.”

Even with a generally positive report, advertisers are bracing for a fight. “This will bring attention back onto the food advertising issue, adding new fuel to the fire for 2013,” said Dan Jaffe, evp of the Association of National Advertisers. “The advertising and media community have done more than any other sector to respond to the obesity issue. The question is, what is enough?”

At least one advertising attorney believes the FTC is on shaky ground as it tries to nudge the food and beverage industry to do more. “It’s policy-making masquerading as exercising enforcement authority…. Companies should not be led to believe that further compromise and cut back on spending and marketing will satisfy the FTC or the food industry critics,” said John Feldman, a partner with Reed Smith, in a statement. “They will not be satisfied until there is a ban on kids advertising altogether.”

The kids food fight heats up even as there is emerging evidence suggesting that the nation has begun to slowly turn the corner on the nation’s childhood obesity problem. A study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that a number of places, including Philadelphia, New York, Mississippi and California, are showing small declines in childhood obesity rates.

10855: Making Credit Cards Cool…?

Not sure what the concept is here, but it doesn’t appear to be very cool.

10854: Quaker Oats Gives Crumbs To Latinos.

The New York Times reported Quaker Oats is launching a new campaign targeting “younger, more diverse moms.” Let’s see if the work corroborates Susan Dobscha’s theory that marketers are ignorant when it comes to making authentic connections with women. The NY Times story also claims Quaker created a concept that includes appealing to acculturated Latinos. According to the article, “It is the first time Quaker has done an integrated campaign for a Hispanic audience”—and Quaker Foods North America Chief Marketing Officer Justin Lambeth declared, “We’re not just doing one Hispanic TV ad.” Gee, such a trailblazing initiative. It’s actually astonishing to realize a brand like Quaker has never done more than “one Hispanic TV ad” when wooing non-White audiences. Of course, the cross-cultural collaboration is the result of the White agency (Energy BBDO) and the Latino agency (Alma) being in the same network. Heaven forbid Larry should ever venture beyond the Omnicom empire.

Quaker Oats Prepares to Court Younger, More Diverse Moms

By Tanzina Vega

THE Quaker Oats Company, in its quest to refresh the company’s 135-year-old image, could borrow the phrase “everything old is new again” for a new campaign that makes subtle tweaks to the company’s tried and true marketing approach in hopes of appealing to modern mothers, a new target for the brand.

The campaign, and its related elements like new packaging, bolder colors, in-store displays, coupons and a slightly modified look for “Larry” the Quaker man, are geared toward mothers under 35, said Justin Lambeth, chief marketing officer for Quaker Foods North America.

“Their affinity to the brand was very much rooted in memory,” Mr. Lambeth said of research the company conducted on mothers. “But they weren’t to the point where they said, ‘Quaker is my brand.’”

Targeting young mothers is critical, Mr. Lambeth said, because “those moms are raising 6-year-olds and 5-year-olds who will go out and raise the next group of consumers.” Refreshing the brand, a division of PepsiCo, is also important because American parents today are much more likely to be employed, are more ethnically diverse, more mobile and more connected to technology than ever before, he said.

The advertising will help the company fulfill two additional strategic objectives — promoting new products and connecting all of the Quaker food products under the Quaker “master brand.” Earlier this year, Quaker announced its portable oatmeal product called Real Medleys and a new line of cookies. New products for the coming year will include Perfect Portions, a hot oatmeal product, and Big Chewy, a soft oat bar.

The tag line for the new campaign, “Quaker Up,” takes the name of the brand and turns it into a verb meant to invoke the energy, or fuel, needed to get through the day, said Dan Fietsam, chief creative officer at Energy BBDO, the agency that worked on the television and print ads for the campaign.

Other creative agencies include Organic for digital media, including banner ads and a Facebook application,; Alma, for Hispanic marketing; and Hornall Anderson for package design.

“People know the brand, people love the brand, but we needed to forge a stronger connection with contemporary moms,” Mr. Fietsam said. “Quaker Up” was a way of making the brand “more active” by “phrasing it in a way people talk.”

The slogan is also a way to prepare for “the epic adventures of everyday life,” said Mr. Lambeth.

Television spots for the campaign rely heavily on the theme of a child’s “epic” imagination. In one spot, called “The Hill,” which will make its debut on Friday on ABC and NBC, a boy is seen on his bicycle in front of his house, looking up at a hill with anticipation. Once he begins his ascent, the hill transforms into a snow-capped Mount Everest. The boy jumps off his bike and sprints to the top of the mountain, where he shakes his fist in the air triumphantly.

Children, Mr. Fietsam said, “don’t have to go to Tanzania to see the world. They can walk out in the driveway and their whole universe is there.”

A second spot will feature a young girl about to swim in a lake. When she jumps into the water she is surrounded by dolphins, baby whales and ships.

The campaign, estimated to cost more than $100 million, is similar to the last major campaign from Quaker in 2009, called “Go Humans Go,” which included images of people using packages of Quaker Oats as jet packs.

According to Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, Quaker from 2010 to 2011 increased the amount it spent on television, digital and outdoor advertising, while decreasing the amount spent on radio, newspaper and magazine advertising. The company spent $99.6 million on television advertising in 2010 and $132 million in 2011. Spending on digital advertising increased to $8.3 million in 2011 from $5.7 million in 2010.

Print ads will appear in March in weekly magazines like People and in April in monthly magazines like Parenting, Redbook and InStyle. On Jan. 7, banner ads will make their debut on Web sites like Hulu. The company has also created an application for Facebook that will allow parents to share their own everyday “epic adventures.”

Quaker will begin a similar campaign in Spanish, geared toward acculturated Hispanics who are bilingual but use Spanish as a dominant language. It is the first time Quaker has done an integrated campaign for a Hispanic audience, Mr. Lambeth said. “We’re not just doing one Hispanic TV ad,” he added.

Spanish-language television ads will make their debut on Dec. 31 and will be seen on networks including Univision, Telemundo, TeleFutura and Azteca. Newspaper coupon inserts will be delivered in ZIP codes that have large Spanish-speaking communities, Mr. Lambeth said.

10853: Turkish Airlines’ Mona Lisa Mashup.

If Turkish Airlines produces a companion TV commercial for its African Mona Lisa, will the company use Nat King Cole for the music track?

From Ads of the World.

10852: More Lies From General Motors.

Advertising Age reported on the inevitable downfall of Commonwealth, as General Motors shifted its Chevy Silverado advertising duties from Goodby Silverstein & Partners to Leo Burnett. It looks like another example of Corporate Cultural Collusion between clients and agencies, although Omnicom wasn’t able to keep the business within the network. When former GM Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanick was replaced by Alan Batey in August, the new CMO insisted there would be no changes regarding Commonwealth or other agencies. Batey is clearly a graduate of the Mark LaNeve School of Fucking Liars. But that’s to be expected from glorified car salesmen.

GM Moves Chevy Silverado Ad Duties to Publicis’ Leo Burnett

First Big Ad Move Since Ewanick Departure Shifts Big Brand Out of Commonwealth Fold

By Rupal Parekh, Mike Colias

General Motors Co. is taking lead advertising duties for the Chevy Silverado, currently handled by Commonwealth—the new Detroit-based structure composed of teams from Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group of Cos.—and moving those responsibilities to Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett in Chicago. The shift is expected to take effect as of January.

As a result, all creative advertising duties for trucks is now aligned under Leo Burnett, which has long handled ad duties for the GMC and Buick brands. The move could allow GM to more effectively market trucks as a category.

At the same time, the change under Mr. Batey, who was formerly Chevy’s VP-sales and service, begs the question of whether cracks are beginning to show in a structure that Omnicom and Interpublic created for GM back in March. More specifically, that GM is unhappy with a portion of the work on Chevy from Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which had been brought in by previous marketing chief Joel Ewanick.

When he took the reins from Mr. Ewanick back in August, Mr. Batey insisted that there’d be no impact on Commonwealth or any other agency relationships.

GM Director-Product and Brand Communications Pat Morrissey said the shift was being made to alleviate some of the workload for Commonwealth, which will launch about 24 new or significantly enhanced vehicles next year. “Chevrolet will launch more than 20 products globally in 2013. That is an incredible amount of work for any advertising agency, especially a newly formed entity that is responsible for global campaigns in 140 markets. Therefore, Chevrolet will leverage General Motors’ existing agency network to support the 2014 Silverado launch next year,” Mr. Morrisey said.

He added that GM wanted to “leverage General Motors’ existing agency network” by having Leo Burnett do the creative on both pickups. “We believe having Leo Burnett work on both Silverado and Sierra will provide great synergies and result in creative campaigns that clearly differentiate the brands and engage truck customers.” He stressed that Commonwealth remains Chevy’s global creative agency of record and will “continue to aggressively work on global campaigns.”

For its part, Burnett seemed to consider the shift a lot more momentous. “Leo Burnett is thrilled to expand its relationship with General Motors, take on responsibility for the very important Chevrolet Silverado brand and build our highly awarded and proven Detroit office,” the company said in a statement. “Although our relationship with GM dates all the way back to 1967, this day will certainly go down in the history of this very important partnership.” Representatives from McCann and GSP either referred calls for comment to GM or were unable to comment at press time. It is unclear to what degree the loss of the Silverado business might have on staffing levels of the shop, but according to industry executives, GSP has picked up some new accounts that might allow the absorption of some positions at Commonwealth.

The move to a new agency to handle the Silverado nameplate comes a week after GM unveiled the next-generation pickup, along with the Sierra, at a press event in Detroit. GM is seeking to wrest back market share its lost to Ford and Ram in recent years with a vastly improved interior and more-powerful and fuel-efficient engines, coupled with more muscular but traditional exterior styling.

Measured-media spending was not available for Silverado, but GM spent more than $1 billion in total marketing spending in 2011, according to Ad Age DataCenter.

The pickups launch will be GM’s biggest since it emerged from bankruptcy in July 2009. The Silverado and Sierra are the company’s most-lucrative vehicle lines—bringing in around $12,000 in profit per unit, analysts estimate—and together are GM’s highest-volume U.S. products.

Analysts estimate GM has invested $3 billion to $4 billion to develop the new pickups and engines, and to retool assembly and powertrain plants. Citi expects the new Silverado and Sierra to boost GM’s 2013 and 2014 operating earnings by $1 billion.

GM execs hope the second-quarter launch of the trucks, delayed by the company’s 2009 bankruptcy, will help reverse a steady slide in its share of the full-sized pickup market. It has declined to 35.7% this year from 42.2% in 2002, its lowest level during that decade, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Before the launches, GM will be scrambling to clear dealers’ lots of swollen pickup inventory that has forced the automaker to offer big discounts on 2013 Silverados and Sierras (some dealers are offering discounts of as much as $10,000 off).

On Dec. 1, GM had a 139-day supply of the full-sized pickups, its highest level of the year. GM is hurrying to meet its year-end target of 220,000 pickups, or an 85-day supply, after assuring analysts for months that it would bring its stocks under control. High inventories can dent GM’s profits by forcing the automaker to spend money on incentives or to cut production.

Through November, industrywide sales of full-sized pickups rose 10%, trailing the 14% sales growth for all light vehicles. Silverado sales were flat while Sierra sales rose 4%.

The major markets for the Silverado are the U.S. and the Middle East. One innovation that Chevy has introduced as part of its move to offer more clean, efficient vehicles is all-new bi-fuel Silverado 2500HD that seamlessly switches between gasoline and compressed natural gas.

~~

Mike Colias is a reporter for Automotive News.

10851: Lovely Lakshmi Menon.

10850: Unisex Easy-Bake Ovens.

From The New York Daily News…

Hasbro Easy-Bake Oven to be marketed to girls AND boys in 2013 following petition for change by 13-year-old girl

Acting on behalf of her 4-year-old brother, New Jersey girl McKenna Pope, 13, petitioned the maker of the Easy-Bake Oven to make a version aimed at aspiring chefs of both sexes.

By Victoria Cavaliere / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The Easy-Bake Oven, a toy marketed only to girls over its 50-year history, will go gender neutral starting in 2013.

McKenna Pope, 13, had petitioned manufacturer Hasbro for an Easy-Bake suitable for both aspiring boy and girl cooks, saying her 4-year-old brother Gavyn Boscio loves to bake but balks at playing with the “girl” toy.

Pope, of Garfield, N.J., met with the toymaker Monday at their headquarters in Rhode Island and was told that her little brother will get his wish starting in the fall of 2013.

A silver and black Easy-Bake Oven featuring both boys and girls in the marketing and packaging will be sold alongside the current purple version of the toy. Since 1963, a dozen different Easy-Bake models have been introduced in colors like teal, yellow, green and pink. Packaging and advertisements for the working oven, which originally baked tiny treats under an incandescent lightbulb, has only ever featured girls.

Hasbro says the gender neutral prototype, which it showed to Pope, has been in development for 18 months and will debut at the New York Toy Fair in February.

Pope said she was thrilled Hasbro paid attention to her Change.org petition that garnered an impressive 44,000 signatures and the support of celebrity chefs, including Bobby Flay and “Top Chef” star Manuel Trevino.

“I’m very excited. It’s validation that what I’ve done has made a difference,” Pope told the Daily News on Tuesday.

Brother Gavyn was with her during the tour of Hasbro and gave the prototype a boy’s stamp of approval. “He was ecstatic,” she said. “It was amazing to him.”

Hasbro said it wanted McKenna and her family to get a look at the new design because of the reach of her Change.org campaign.

“Consumers can look forward to it becoming available in fall of 2013,” the company said in a statement.

10849: Bullshit, Overinflated.

Three-word explanation for the awfulness of this campaign: Draftfcb in Brazil.

From Ads of the World.

10848: Momz N The Hood.

“The Motherhood” from Fiat in the U.K. essentially ripped off “Swagger Wagon” from Toyota—which is like cow manure ripping off horse manure. Guess the U.K. advertising industry is mirroring the U.S. with its dearth of diversity, cultural cluelessness and love of hip hop. Truly pathetic.

10847: Admen Don’t Get Women.

Advertising Age published a perspective on gender-based marketing missteps. Susan Dobscha, an associate professor of marketing at Bentley University, theorized that marketers don’t know how to properly depict or communicate to women due to ignorance. Gee, what a breakthrough discovery. Actually, the bulk of the blame lies with the marketers’ advertising agencies—where there is an underrepresentation of women and an overflowing of cultural cluelessness.

Why Most Marketers (Continue to) Get Gender So Wrong

Women’s Gender Roles Have Changed, But You’d Never Know It

By Susan Dobscha

Why do marketers continue to get gender wrong? While many women’s gender roles have changed in the past 50 years, you would never know it from the types of ad appeals and product innovations companies are rolling out in order to capture the lucrative women’s market.

My work on motherhood in particular has uncovered several difficult truths about women and the marketplace. Impending motherhood is a liminal state between identities where consumers are particularly vulnerable. Yet, marketers continue to market goods and services to these new mothers using fear appeals. What new mother will choose the cheaper, less-safe child car seat?

This multibillion-dollar industry feeds off the fears of new parents with buzzwords such as “safety,” “security” and “protection.” Yet fear is only one way in which marketers appeal to women. Marketers use self-esteem, motivation and values to appeal to all consumers. But it is women who are more negatively impacted by these appeals, as evidenced by the disproportionate amount of self-esteem-related conditions, such as eating disorders and getting excessive plastic surgery.

Three recent examples show that marketers continue to get gender-based targeting wrong. Honda recently revealed a pink car with special window tinting to combat wrinkles. Bic released Pens for Her, which were subsequently skewered by Ellen DeGeneres and clever commenters on Amazon. And an amazing array of Halloween costumes are themed for men and women, with the female version being “slutty” or “sexy,” everything from professional themes such as “sexy police officer” to the more obscure themes such as “sexy banana.”

There are many theories as to why marketers continue to get gender wrong. Pat Flynn—a trustee professor of economics and management at Bentley University and an expert on women and business—and her team would probably argue it’s because of the lack of women on corporate boards and the C-suite. Other scholars would point to the patriarchal nature of capitalism.

I have another theory: ignorance.

First, marketers are constantly conflating the separate constructs of sex, gender and sexuality. They assume female means feminine means heterosexual or male means masculine means heterosexual. They assume all women are feminine and would like a pink car. They assume women’s hands are daintier and would need an anatomically correct pen, and they assume women want to dress up as slutty versions of virtually anything for Halloween.

Second, marketers continue to drop gender stereotypes into ads because they fail to see that these stereotypes are, by and large, outdated and untrue (if they ever were true). While there are women who prefer pink, and it has become the official color of breast cancer, the NFL has since created more realistic jerseys for its female clientele.

Third, marketers are ignorant about the diversity of preferences among women because they have long used male and female as catchall categories for segmentation. While fashion marketers have further segmented the consumer using additional demographic categories, such as age and income, other industries have not followed suit. The automobile industry habitually misfires when it tries to use sex as a demographic category, but does much better when it uses lifestyle and social-class classifications.

The gender gap in the recent election, particularly among unmarried women, demonstrates that marketers aren’t the only ones getting gender wrong. To stay relevant, marketers, along with political parties, must learn to adapt to modern female consumer/citizens, whose wants and needs reflect a new set of gender roles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan Dobscha is an associate professor of marketing at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass.

10846: Jamie Foxx On Race.

From The New York Daily News…

‘Django Unchained’ star Jamie Foxx: ‘Every single thing in my life is built around race’

The new film is already generating controversy for its indelicate, and at times campy, treatment of slavery, as well as the amount of times the N word is used (by some counts, the word is used more than 100 times throughout the film).

By Adam Edelman / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx, snubbed this week during the Golden Globe nominations for his leading role in the upcoming slavery-era revenge fantasy “Django Unchained” says “every single thing in my life is built around race.”

“Django Unchained,” directed by Quentin Tarantino, features Foxx as a freed gun-toting slave on a revenge mission to hunt the men who sold his wife (played by Kerry Washington) to an evil slave owner (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). The movie, scheduled to open Christmas Day, is already generating controversy for its indelicate, and at times campy, treatment of slavery, as well as the amount of times the N word is used (by some counts, the word is used more than 100 times throughout the film).

In an interview in the December-January issue of Vibe, Foxx discussed how race plays into his job as an actor and how the movie is likely to be perceived among different racial communities.

“When I get home my other homies are like how was your day? Well, I only had to be white for at least eight hours today (or) I only had to be white for four hours,” Foxx told Vibe. “Everything we do is that. When you’re talking about the script, of course it’s going to be controversy,” he added.

Foxx says he’s anticipating some pretty sharp reactions to the movie, especially from the black community.

“As black folks we’re always sensitive,” Foxx said. “As a black person it’s always racial. I come into this place to do a photo shoot and they got Ritz crackers and cheese — I’ll be like, ain’t this a b----. Y’all didn’t know black people was coming. What’s with all this white s---? By the same token, if there is fried chicken and watermelon I’ll say ain’t this a b----? So, no matter what we do as black people it’s always gonna be that. Every single thing in my life is built around race. I don’t necessarily speak it because you can’t.”

The movie, conceptually at least, is not unlike Tarantino’s last revenge fantasy, “Inglourious Basterds,” in which a group of Jewish American soldiers hunt down Nazis. But Foxx is certain “Django Unchained” will be received differently.

“I told (Tarantino), black people watch a movie different than white folks. When you watch (‘Inglourious Basterds’), Jewish people have a more quiet response. [WHISPERS] ‘I can’t believe they did that.’ When black people don’t like something it’s like: [LOUDER] ‘Ay dawg, why Olivia Pope went down like that. That s--- is f----- up.’

“Because there’s certain things that we watch as black people that if we don’t agree with it, we not only turn off the movie but we turn off that person,” Foxx added. “When we feel like the character was compromised by the white establishment.”

But despite the controversy, Foxx maintained that it’s important for Hollywood to continue to make movies about slavery.

“Every two, three years there is a movie about the Holocaust because they want you to remember and they want you to be reminded of what it was,” Foxx said. “When was the last time you seen a movie about slavery?”

10845: CÎROC’s Weekend In Vegas.

Just spotted this one-year-old CÎROC Ultra Premium commercial from Sean Combs’ Blue Flame Agency—starring Combs playing himself in a piece that feels like a Las Vegas tourism spot. What happened in Vegas should have stayed in Vegas. Combs follows other hip hop artists with delusions of marketing grandeur, attempting to conceal the lack of a concept with celebrities, slick production values and copyrighted music. In explaining the Rat Pack tribute, Brand Manager Combs said, “The Rat Pack defined the art of celebrating in style. I cannot imagine a Spirit more suitable for commemorating life with family and friends than CÎROC; a brand that has become synonymous with celebratory occasions.” Frank Sinatra probably would have punched Combs in the face for using his song to advertise fruity vodka.

10844: At A Floss For Words.

This campaign from Guatemala goes a tad overboard to sell dental floss.

From Ads of the World.

10843: UC Logo Drops Out.

From The Los Angeles Times…

UC drops controversial new logo

The University of California, responding to criticism from alumni and students, will suspend further use of the logo and continue using the century-old seal.

By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times

The new University of California logo is a no-go.

Responding to a wave of revulsion in the last week over the symbol’s modern design, officials announced Friday that they would suspend further use of the logo and remove it where possible.

“While I believe the design element in question would win wide acceptance over time, it also is important that we listen to and respect what has been a significant negative response by students, alumni and other members of our community,” Daniel M. Dooley, UC’s senior vice president for external relations, said in a statement.

Opponents had complained that the large “U” — which surrounded a fading “C” — was ugly, incomprehensible and made the university seem like a crass PR machine. They lobbied for the restoration of UC’s century-old seal, with its “Let There Be Light” motto, a drawing of an open book and the 1868 date of the system’s founding.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a voting member of the UC Board of Regents, had joined that chorus — as did whoever tweets for Gov. Jerry Brown’s dog, Sutter.

“Awesome victory,” wrote one contributor to a Facebook petition formed to oppose the logo. “For once in government, common sense prevailed,” another petitioner wrote Friday.

Tomo Hirai, a 2010 UC Davis graduate, had mocked the new logo by posting his own online version with a spinning “C” — resembling a computer operating system that was endlessly stalled. On Friday, he said he was surprised by UC’s retreat. “In my four years at UC, it was really hard to get the administration to listen to anything the students wanted,” he said. So the reversal, he said, “was pleasant news.”

Dooley defended the contemporary logo, which was designed by an in-house team and started appearing six months ago. Critics had latched onto “an unfortunate and false narrative, which framed the matter as an either-or choice between a venerated UC seal and a newly designed monogram,” he said. The graphic would not have replaced the official seal on diplomas or official letterhead, but was meant to bring a more modern look to websites and publications in UC’s fundraising, recruiting and public affairs campaigns. The symbol was accompanied by the text “University of California,” a fact its critics ignored, officials complained.

But the controversial logo will not disappear immediately. The changeover has begun on websites, although the modern graphic will remain on paper materials already printed and those in production. The change “is not going to happen overnight. It’s not like we can flip a switch,” said Jason Simon, the UC system’s director of marketing communication.

Simon said that though he was disappointed by the negative reaction to the logo, “it was time to move on” and focus on more important issues facing the 10-campus university system.

UC has not decided what the next step will be: designing a new logo, expanding use of the traditional seal or, Simon said, coming up with a compromise that freshens the old seal in ways that “honor our traditions and the past and also the amazing and incredible innovations that are happening on our campuses every day.”

Cinthia Flores, a UC Irvine law student who is designated to become the student regent on the system’s governing board next year, said she thought Friday’s decision was “the appropriate thing to do, especially given how much attention the logo brought in such a short time.” One positive outcome, she said, was that the debate showed how students and alumni “identify very closely with the UC system and what it represents for their lives.”

10842: ESPN Unplugs Rob Parker.

From The New York Times…

ESPN Suspends Commentator Over Racial Comments About Quarterback

By Bill Carter

ESPN announced on Friday that it had suspended Rob Parker, a commentator on the network’s program “First Take,” because of his racially oriented comments about the rookie quarterback for the Washington Redskins, Robert Griffin III.

During a planned discussion on Thursday’s show about whether Mr. Griffin, who is black and wears his hair in braids, was a “post-racial figure,” Mr. Parker, who is himself black, asked the question: “Is he a brother, or is he a ‘cornball’ brother?”

Pressed to explain, Mr. Parker said: “He’s black; he kind of does his thing. But he’s not really down with the cause. He’s not one of us.”

He also said that Mr. Griffin was engaged to a white woman and referred to “all this talk” that the quarterback may be a Republican. The subject of Mr. Griffin’s hair being in braids also came up, and Mr. Parker said that this gave him pause because “that’s very urban” and “wearing braids is pure brother.”

The comments were immediately countered by one of the other panelists on the show, Stephen A. Smith, who is also black. He said he was uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken about Mr. Griffin.

“The ethnicity or the color of his fiancée is none of our business,” Mr. Smith said. “It’s irrelevant. He can live his life in whatever what he chooses. The braids that he has in his hair, that’s his business. That’s his life.”

ESPN did not take any action in the immediate aftermath of the show, which was broadcast at 10 a.m. on Thursday. It was not until much later in the day, after the issue had been taken up on various Web sites, including one called “Awful Announcing,” that the network issued a first statement labeling the comments inappropriate.

On Friday, ESPN released another official statement: “Following yesterday’s comments, Rob Parker has been suspended until further notice. We are conducting a full review.”

A network spokesman, Mike Soltys, said ESPN would have no further comment pending its review.

Mr. Parker is a former columnist for The Detroit News.

The incident was instantly connected to other racially oriented comments made on ESPN. In 2003, the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who then appeared on ESPN’s weekend NFL pregame coverage, said that the Philadelphia Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated by a media that was “very desirous that a black quarterback do well.”

An ESPN executive first defended Mr. Limbaugh. But three days later, after a storm of criticism over what many labeled a racist remark, the network released a statement saying it had told Mr. Limbaugh that his comments were “insensitive and inappropriate.”

He resigned from ESPN that evening, saying he did not want to be “a distraction” to the network because of the McNabb comments.

Mr. Parker has declined comment since the program was broadcast, though he did respond via Twitter, calling his critics misinformed.

10841: Top 20 Dearth Of Diversity.

Campaign unintentionally underscored the dearth of diversity in the U.K. advertising industry with its “Top 20 creative directors” list.

10840: Advertising, Ideas & Diversity.

10839: Welcome, Salma Hayek Fans.

From Harper’s Bazaar U.K. November 2012

10838: Census Figures? Go Figure.

News sources reported the U.S. Census projected Whites will no longer be a majority in the U.S. by 2043. Of course, this forecast does not apply to the advertising industry at all, where Census data and common knowledge show Whites will maintain their exclusive positions well beyond the year 3000.

Census: Whites no longer a majority in U.S. by 2043

WASHINGTON (AP) — White people will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043.

The new government projection is a year later than previous estimates, made before the impact of the recent economic downturn was known.

The nation continues to grow and become more diverse due to higher birth rates among minorities, but no longer at a torrid pace as immigration wanes.

The total U.S. population should climb to 420 million by 2060, with whites making up 43% Hispanics, currently 17% of the population, will jump to 31%, or nearly 1 in 3 residents. Blacks will make up 14.7%, up slightly.

The point when minority children become the majority is expected to occur in 2019; last year, minorities became the majority among U.S. newborns.

10837: AOL Hearts Hip Hop…?

You’ve got controversy. Advertising Age reported AOL has delayed the launch of its new “Hip-Hop-Inspired TV Commercial” due to internal conflict at the client. An AOL spokeswoman said, “Where we are today with the campaign is not great and we want to move it from good to great.” Maybe every White agency and White client doesn’t love hip hop after all.

AOL Postpones Premiere of Hip-Hop-Inspired TV Commercial

Split Over Ad’s Creative Direction Led to Departure of CMO

By Jason Del Rey

It was supposed to have it all: a wardrobe from the stylist of the “Mo Money Mo Problems” music video, a Jonah Hill voiceover, and prime ad spots tonight during the telecasts of Monday Night Football and “The Voice.”

But the first AOL TV commercial of CEO Tim Armstrong’s reign has been postponed until the new year, multiple people familiar with the campaign told Ad Age. AOL spokeswoman Caroline Campbell confirmed that the company’s brand campaign will not launch today, as expected, but that it will launch sometime in 2013.

“Where we are today with the campaign is not great and we want to move it from good to great,” she said.

She would not comment on whether the campaign will end up including TV commercials. McCann, the lead agency working on the campaign, referred all questions to AOL.

The Wall Street Journal last week reported that AOL was due to launch a $10 million campaign this week, and that there were some creative disagreements that arose during the process when Mr. Armstrong pushed to end the 60-second spots with video of people dancing next to an AOL logo. Ad Age has confirmed those disagreements and has learned some more details about the process from multiple people familiar with the planning.

While McCann was hired to produce the commercial, Mr. Armstrong became highly involved in its creative direction. It was his intent to incorporate dancers into the ending of the 60-second spots and shorter 15-second spots, these people said. Mr. Armstrong attended auditions for the dancers, two of which happened at AOL’s own studio.

That process was run independently of McCann, with AOL bringing on celebrity stylist June Ambrose, who has done wardrobe styling for hip-hop videos such as the one for Notorious B.I.G.’s song “Mo Money Mo Problems.” (Ms. Ambrose posted several photos from the shoot to her Twitter and Instagram accounts.) People familiar with the process said Mr. Armstrong was in favor of having parts of the commercials take cues from the “Mo Money Mo Problems” music video, which featured hip-hop artists Diddy and Mase rapping in shiny suits.

These people also told Ad Age that former AOL Chief Marketing Officer Jolie Hunt didn’t favor the creative direction Mr. Armstrong was pushing for, and that disagreements between the two over the creative process contributed to her exit from the company. Last week, Tim Armstrong told Ad Age that Ms. Hunt’s departure was part of the company’s push to decentralize marketing and make the individual content and product brands within AOL more responsible for their own marketing projects and budgets.

Contributing: Ann-Christine Diaz