This KFC commercial for grilled chicken is foul fowl.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Sunday, June 09, 2013
11197: Dawn Chambers’ Triple Play.
In the latest episode of AMC series Mad Men Season 6, Dawn Chambers made three appearances, welcoming Don Draper into the office in the morning. To commemorate the occasion, here are three more appearances:
Teyonah Parris talked to Rolling Stone about her role in the program.
And she also attended the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Meanwhile, illustrator Andrea Sparacio presented her take on the character.
11196: Denny’s Needs Rand McNally.
This Denny’s commercial hypes the Red, White & Blue Plate Specials that are as American as apple pie—especially the Apple Pie French Toast.
11195: Heineken Voyages To New Areas.
The Voyage from Heineken travels in a slightly different direction than the last two spots in the campaign. Whereas the others featured heroes hooking up with exotic beauties in China and around the world, the latest commercial presents the main character in India. But there’s no overt sexuality here—and the guy is actually respectful towards the local ladies. Is Heineken showing sensitivity to the disturbing rape problem in the country? Hell, the man’s closest relationships are with a goat and elephant. Plus, he seems far more interested in Heineken than hotties.
Saturday, June 08, 2013
11194: Good Cheer, Bad Career Move.
The New York Daily News reported on a study showing cheerful women have more difficulties advancing in business. Could this account for the alleged dearth of dames in the advertising industry?
Cheerful businesswomen seen as less willing to lead: study
Leaders are ‘assertive, dominant and hard-lined,’ so females who want to be promoted to top positions should appear proud without looking too cheerful, new research suggests.
By Victoria Taylor / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The secret to a successful woman may be a proud but serious demeanor.
New research from Germany's Technische Universitat Munchen suggested that cheerful women are seen as less willing to assume a leadership role than their male counterparts.
Women seeking higher positions in a company are expected to demonstrate excellent negotiation skills, networking capabilities and the ability to develop a strategic career ladder. However, economic researchers found that these attributes aren't always enough.
“They ignore the fact that there are stereotypes that on a subconscious level play a decisive role in the assessment of high achievers,” Isabell Welpe, TUM's Chair for Strategy and Organization, said in a press release. “Leaders should be assertive, dominant and hard-lined; women are seen as mediators, friendly, social.”
Researchers showed survey participants a number of scenarios involving potential leaders and their employees. They then asked them about their expectations and perceptions.
Participants expected better performance when a man had delegated the work, according to the study.
Also, in cases where neither the male nor the female managers delegated the decision making when it made sense to do so, women participants were bias against bosses of their own gender.
“There is still the belief that men in leadership positions show more assertiveness towards their staff,” Welpe said. “The surprising thing is that some female stereotypes are more reinforced in the minds of women themselves — for example their tendency to accept a dominant leadership style in men.”
The study suggested that ambitious women looking to climb the corporate ladder may have to smile less.
“Women who looked cheerful were judged to less willing to lead,” Welpe said. “Pride, on the other hand, is positively associated with leadership qualities.”
Friday, June 07, 2013
11193: OWN Versus BET.
BET gets OWNed — Tyler Perry series beef up flailing network
Tyler helps Oprah’s network beef up its ratings
By Claire Atkinson
Maybe Oprah’s OWN network should be renamed Tyler TV.
Thanks to two new series from prolific producer Tyler Perry, the 2-year-old network is not only finding its audience but is challenging Viacom’s BET, which has had a near-monopoly on African-American audiences for 30 years.
Perry’s first two shows for OWN under their exclusive partnership generated the network’s best ratings since it launched to much fanfare in January 2011.
Tuesday night’s “The Haves and the Have Nots,” a drama about a rich family from Savannah, Ga., drew 1.82 million viewers in its second outing, up from 1.77 million in its premiere.
Wednesday night comedy “Love Thy Neighbor” attracted 1.8 million, an increase from 1.65 million viewers for its debut.
Both shows have put OWN within striking distance of BET.
Last week, OWN was the No. 2 network among African-American women ages 25 to 54 years in primetime, — behind only TNT, which was airing the NBA playoffs, according to Nielsen data. BET came in third place.
Last year, Perry agreed to produce shows for Winfrey’s struggling network instead of launching his own cable venture, called Tyler TV, with Lionsgate. He got a small equity stake in OWN as part of the deal.
Best known for his role of tough grandmother Madea, Perry has a loyal African-American audience that follows him across film, movies and the stage.
While OWN wasn’t initially aimed at African-American viewers, it has found its footing among that audience with “Welcome to Sweetie Pies,” a reality show set in a soul food restaurant, and “Iyanla Fix My Life,” a self-help documentary series.
OWN is backed by Oprah’s Harpo and Discovery Communications, which promises OWN will hit profitability by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, OWN is giving BET a run for its money.
Over the past 12 months, BET has lost primetime viewers while OWN has gained, according to an analysis by Horizon Media research chief Brad Adgate.
BET averaged 714,000 viewers in primetime, down from 816,000 in the period spanning June 2011 to May 2012. Over the same time, Oprah’s average audience rose from 250,000 to 315,000.
BET didn’t return requests for comment.
And OWN isn’t far behind Viacom’s BET when it comes to affiliate fees, either.
BET is expected to bag $220.8 million in fees from cable and satellite-TV operators this year, versus OWN’s $197.6 million, according to SNL Kagan. Both collect around 20 cents a subscriber per month from distributors.
BET, acquired by Sumner Redstone’s Viacom for $2.3 billion in 2000, is still ahead in ad revenue, raking in $360.7 million compared with OWN’s projected $128.1 million.
Adgate said it remains to be seen if Perry’s shows continue their ratings momentum after their big premieres.
“But it’s very encouraging,” he said. “It’s very smart to bring in another strong, successful entrepreneur. That’s a great way to grow the network.”
11192: Cheerios Commercial Effectively Exposes Ad Industry.
Advertising Age and Business Insider posted stories on the “controversial” Cheerios ad featuring an interracial couple and their daughter. Apparently, the General Mills and Saatchi & Saatchi PR machines have presented data showing Americans liked the spot. Whatever. The interesting part is that the Ad Age and Business Insider posts garnered a high number of responses—including culturally clueless commentary. Additionally, both trade sources injected editorial slants: Ad Age’s subhead read, “Perhaps Racist YouTubers Not Representative of Country as a Whole”; meanwhile, Business Insider’s headline read, “Statistical Proof That People Who Hate The Mixed-Race Cheerios Ad Are Idiots.” MultiCultClassics wonders how the public would feel about the lack of diversity present at places like Saatchi & Saatchi, the oh-so-progressive advertising agency behind the Cheerios commercial. Hey, the Ad Age subtitle could be accurately rewritten to read, “Perhaps Racist Advertising Agencies Like Saatchi & Saatchi Not Representative of Country as a Whole.” And it could be argued that the idiotic comments at Business Insider are representative of a faction within the advertising industry—there is statistical proof that people who hate the mixed-race Cheerios ad are working in ad agencies nationwide. BTW, Business Insider noted, “There was one negative aspect to the ad, Ace Metrix noted. White people and men over 50 liked the ad least of all the demographic groups.” Um, White people—and especially men over 50—must be key targets for the spot’s heart healthy message. So maybe the commercial is not too effective after all.
Turns Out Americans Love ‘Controversial’ Cheerios Ad
Perhaps Racist YouTubers Not Representative of Country as a Whole
By Ken Wheaton
Last week, a new ad from Cheerios was deemed controversial when media outlets discovered that the racist contingent of the idiocracy known as the YouTube comment section trashed the ad for featuring a mixed-race couple and a biracial child.
But according to data from Ace Metrix, Americans like the ad. In fact, “Good for Your Heart” (called “Just Checking” on YouTube) tested the highest of six new Cheerios ads this year and garnered attention and likeability scores 9% and 11% “above the current 90-day norm for cereals.”
General Mills rightly decided not to be swayed by the rantings of deranged internet comments, telling USA Today that the supposed uproar would not affect future casting decisions.
According to Ace Metrix, the ad—created by Saatchi & Saatchi, New York—“appealed to all age/gender demographics with the exception of males over 50.” While that could be taken as a statement on racial attitudes, Ace Metrix noted that ads with babies tend to perform poorly with this demographic regardless of the race of the child.
The report, which surveyed over 500 consumers, went on to note: “The ad scored best with African-Americans, who collectively scored the ad a 721, followed by Asian Americans and Hispanics. While African Americans and Hispanics generally award advertising higher scores than their ethnic counterparts—the 721 score is 100 higher than average for African-Americans.”
And filtering verbatim commentary from those surveyed, those who specifically mentioned “couple” did so in a positive manner.
“I liked that the couple is mixed race,” wrote one respondent. “Good to see that on TV, but in a subtle manner.”
Thursday, June 06, 2013
11191: Havas Runs On Nepotism.
Advertising Age reported Havas Chairman Vincent Bollore recommended his successor, who just happens to be his son—plus, Bollore wants another son to succeed the one who will succeed him. The Bollore Group is the single biggest Havas shareholder with a 37 percent stake; plus, they’ve been family-owned and operated since 1822. So the historically exclusive advertising industry is the perfect place for this clan. It should be noted, however, that the Havas website features a section titled, “The Havas group’s six commitments to progress.” The third commitment reads, “To promote diversity and expand health insurance and employee benefits internationally.” Diversity for Bollore probably means integrating cousins into the enterprise.
Bollore Says Son Yannick Will Follow Him As Havas Chairman
French Business Dynasty Prepares Way For Seventh Generation
By Emma Hall
Havas Chairman Vincent Bollore is making it clear he wants his son Yannick to soon replace him as chairman of the Paris-based global ad group, and has also proposed that another son, Cyrille, take on Yannick’s current role as VP and deputy CEO of Havas.
As Havas’ directeur general delegue, his title in French, Yannick Bollore is involved in the running of the group on a day-to-day basis, particularly in the media operations where his expertise lies. He ran Bollore Group’s TV channels before moving to Havas about a year ago.
At the annual shareholder’s meeting on Wednesday, Vincent Bollore concluded his comments on the company’s financial results and strategies by saying that Havas is an innovative young company with an innovative young leadership. He cited as examples a number of executives who are all in their forties, including Global CEO David Jones, 46, and Dominique Delport, 44, managing director of Havas Media.
Vincent Bollore, who is 61, went on to say that now is the time to give space to his 33-year-old son Yannick to step up and replace him. He did not specify exactly when this will happen, but said that the proposal will be raised at a future meeting of the Havas board of directors (half of Havas’ 12 directors are Bollores or Havas employees). The next board meeting is scheduled for the end of August, and another one will take place before the end of 2013.
The senior Mr. Bollore announced years ago that he will retire as chairman of the vast Bollore Group on Feb. 17, 2022, when the family-controlled Bollore Group, founded in 1822, begins its third century. Mr. Bollore takes great pride in being the sixth generation to run the family enterprise, and preparing the seventh generation to take up their roles in Bollore-owned enterprises.
Cyrille Bollore, 27, is currently vice chairman and managing director of the Bollore Group. Vincent Bollore also has another son, Sebastien, 34, and a daughter, Marie, 24, both of whom are in the family business.
The Bollore Group is the single biggest shareholder in Havas with a 37% stake in the company. Mr. Bollore became its chairman in 2005 after staging a boardroom coup to depose chairman and CEO Alain de Pouzilhac.
11190: Ad Age’s Girlfriend Get-Together.
Advertising Age presented its 2013 Women to Watch list. As always, the group is predominately White—and the collection doesn’t exactly support the ADC position of gross gender inequality in the industry.
11189: I Hate Qantas Ads.
Anybody else think it would have been more memorable—and adorable—to have dressed up the Qantas koala bear in cultural outfits from around the world?
11188: IPG Not Discriminatory…?
Advertising Age reported a jury ruled in favor of IPG in the $50 million race discrimination lawsuit. Hey, juries have also ruled in favor of O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony, the LAPD, and Claus von Bülow. The IPG statement included, “In light of the hard work so many of us have done…to advance diversity and inclusion at IPG and in our industry, we’re very pleased to have this trial behind us.” By golly, let’s get back to demonstrating our tireless commitment to eliminating exclusivity in Adland. Right after we team up with O.J. to find Nicole’s real killer.
Jury Rules in Favor of Interpublic Group in Race Discrimination Suit
After 11-Minute Deliberation, Verdict Found Ad Holding Company Not Liable
By Rupal Parekh
A jury has ruled against a Trinidadian employee of U.S. ad holding company Interpublic Group of Cos. who sued the company alleging race discrimination in April 2012.
The suit, in which Joy C. Noel sought $50 million in damages in Manhattan federal court, alleged that Ms. Noel was treated “like a servant” for the many years that she worked under her manager, that she was consistently denied opportunities for career advancement and that she didn’t get a job she wanted—the position of executive assistant to the general counsel—because of her race.
During the course of the proceedings that followed, Interpublic Chairman-CEO Michael Roth’s name was removed from the suit and several claims were thrown out. One claim—that Interpublic refused to promote Ms. Noel, who has worked at Interpublic since 1993, due to skin color—proceeded to trial.
Interpublic argued in its defense that Ms. Noel has been treated in a professional and respectful manner during her eighteen years with the company. It said she never raised the issue of race discrimination to any of her managers prior to filing this claim, and that her manager offered to send Ms. Noel to paralegal school at company expense but she declined. Interpublic also argued that she didn’t get the executive assistant job because she wasn’t qualified in comparison to another candidate.
After more than a year of proceedings, it was an incredibly swift trial.
Opening arguments began Monday; closing arguments and a verdict came on Wednesday. A jury deliberated for just 11 minutes before deciding that Ms. Noel’s claims were meritless and that the accusations didn’t hold ground on a state or federal level.
“We’re pleased that justice prevailed,” Interpublic said in a statement. “We always believed in our position, and are glad the jury has agreed. As you can imagine, the accusations by Ms. Noel against our company and several long-serving employees have been incredibly hurtful on both professional and personal levels. Having the jury come back so quickly with a ruling in our favor on all counts provides complete vindication for our company and our people, especially [Global Director of Talent] Marge Hoey. In light of the hard work so many of us have done, including Marge, to advance diversity and inclusion at IPG and in our industry, we’re very pleased to have this trial behind us.”
Eric Sanders, an attorney for the Ms. Noel, said he and the plaintiff disagree with the jury’s findings but respect the process. “Mrs. Noel is an honorable woman and is to be commended for asserting her employment rights where others have not,” Mr. Sanders said. “Unfortunately, this verdict does nothing to tamper down the long-standing belief as expressed by Mrs. Noel and others long before her lawsuit was filed that meaningful occupations in the advertising industry are foreclosed to ‘people of color.’”
Asked if Ms. Noel might appeal, Mr. Sanders said: “Maybe.” In the meantime, she’ll be reporting back to her job at Interpublic on Monday morning.
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
11187: Diversifying Sans Diversity.
Advertising Age published a lame perspective on hiring by an HR wonk from a media agency. A cursory scan will reveal there’s absolutely no new thinking in the piece. What’s most outrageous is the column subhead—The Industry Must Find People of Diverse Backgrounds to Serve Diverse Client Needs—as well as the writer’s references to our diversifying industry. Of course, there is no mention of racial, ethnic or cultural diversity. Heaven forbid such things might be considerations for a managing partner for HR and talent management. Oh, and the idiot admitted to historically embracing exclusivity in hiring practices. Brilliant.
Hiring New Talent: A Traditional Resume Doesn’t Always Cut It Anymore
The Industry Must Find People of Diverse Backgrounds to Serve Diverse Client Needs
By Michelle Guglielmelli
Even as our industry diversifies rapidly and offers more exciting opportunities for people to cultivate lasting and meaningful careers—with specialties like social media, mobile, performance marketing and integrated planning—attracting and retaining talent continues to be one of our biggest challenges.
Just as Facebook, Google, and the enticing world of start-ups and tech firms have created more opportunities for advertising messages, these companies have also caused a mass exodus of top candidates from our industry by promising young professionals a world of greater possibilities and new horizons.
It’s time to take a closer look at how we identify new talent. As the media landscape becomes more data-driven and fragmented, we need to concentrate on attracting talent that can bring a balance of left- and right-brain thinking to solve our clients’ problems.
Historically we recruited people with cookie-cutter backgrounds, hiring graduates from schools with recognized advertising/media programs. Each entry-level hire had had at least one internship at a Madison Avenue agency. Over a career, an employee had to show continued growth, spending the requisite number of years in each position and winning highly-coveted awards.
Today, finding and cultivating top talent is much different. While we need people with the traditional pedigrees, we also must find hires with diverse backgrounds: scientists, engineers, psychologists. While undergraduate internships are still a wonderful learning opportunity, there’s can be real value in hiring a doctoral student with a keen eye for analyzing and presenting data.
I recently hired a planner who had pursued a carpentry and design career after earning a bachelor’s in history, but had decided to keep carpentry as a hobby. I was a bit skeptical about what he would bring to the table, but he proved me wrong. While we would need to invest in training and development, he had a natural ability to clearly and concisely communicate his vision for a position at our agency. He attributed these skills to his work in carpentry; his job was to understand a customer’s need or vision, and provide a beautiful and useful solution. Isn’t that exactly what our clients are expecting from us?
As you browse LinkedIn profiles and line up interviews, here are five “intangibles” to keep in mind when hiring this year’s new talent:
Natural Curiosity. Hire people with a desire to investigate, who are eager to learn from others across disciplines and are constantly discovering, creating and innovating. I’m more interested in hearing about what a student learned while backpacking through Europe or volunteering in South America than the internship they checked off the list during their four-year college career. If they aren’t comfortable challenging the status quo, they won’t challenge yours or your client’s.
Problem Solvers. Hire people who can adapt quickly and change course to deliver smarter and more effective solutions. A military “brat” who moved around a lot as a child and can tell me about how he adapted to new schools and learned to make new friends will probably make an excellent account person. These are transferable skills, and in a client-centric business, they are of the upmost importance.
Fun Under Pressure. Look for people who can find the fun in discovering a new insight after analyzing pages of data, learning everything about a client’s new product in a single day or brainstorming late at night with colleagues. These people help create an atmosphere that encourages engagement, eliminates fear and produces better results for clients.
Excellent Storytelling Skills. This may seem like a given, but as communicating in 140 characters has become the norm, many new grads have lost the ability to tell a story. If a candidate has a hard time explaining why he or she is right for the job, chances are he or she will have trouble explaining why a strategy or idea is right for a client. Communication can be honed, to be sure, but basic skills must be there from the start.
Jugglers. I sometimes want to post a sign on my office door, “Wanted—Multi-taskers!” Agency careers are not for the faint of heart. We need people who can jump on an airplane at a moment’s notice and while they are on their way to the airport, answer e-mails, take a call and tweet their client’s latest news.
Great talent is right under our noses, and they are the key to the future of our industry. Let’s find them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michelle Guglielmelli is managing partner for HR and talent management at MEC.
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
11185: Hollywood Fades To Black.
Coming Soon: A Breakout Year for Black Films
By Michael Cieply
LOS ANGELES — Musical. Romance. Epic history. Social drama. Christmas comedy.
After years of complaint and self-criticism about the shortage of prominent movies by and about black Americans, film companies are poised to release an extraordinary cluster of them across an array of genres in the last five months of 2013.
At least 10 new films will be released, including several awards contenders, from both independent and major distributors, like the Weinstein Company, Fox Searchlight and Universal Pictures.
Even some of those who made this year’s movies have been caught by surprise.
“You tell me!” said the director and screenwriter Lee Daniels, when asked how so many black-driven films had materialized at once. His historical drama “The Butler” — based on a real-life White House butler who served eight presidents — is to be released by Weinstein on Aug. 16.
“I’m working in my own bubble, I come up for air, and there they are,” Mr. Daniels said.
Black filmmakers say the wave of 2013 releases was built in large part on the creativity that has flourished on the independent-film circuit, which has become a laboratory of sorts for more prominent African-American-themed productions. Writers and directors have been sharpening their skills on indie films the last several years while waiting for big distributors to regain interest.
Studio executives also say there is a growing audience with more multicultural tastes that gives these films a broader appeal. “There’s a genre audience out there, but it’s no longer quite so segregated,” said Stephen Gilula, a president of Fox Searchlight. African-American-themed films, when they do find mainstream distributors, are often playing at more theaters in more cities than in the past, Mr. Gilula said.
In addition, a cohort of black cultural figures, including directors, actors, writers and playwrights, has fostered a shared spirit that has sustained black filmmakers, even when studios were paying less attention.
“I would have to liken this to the Harlem Renaissance,” said David E. Talbert, who wrote and directed “Baggage Claim,” a romance that is based on his novel of the same title and will be released in September.
Mr. Talbert, also a playwright, compared the support system among black filmmakers to the time when black musicians and writers buoyed one another in the early 20th century.
The 2013 releases are also notable for their range. While black-themed films have never disappeared, the interest of distributors has waned when the movies stuck to more singular genres like urban dramas, about, say, the problems of a drug culture or family dysfunction. Now there is a varied mix that has some filmmakers talking about a cultural rebirth.
“It’s what I always wished for,” said Kasi Lemmons, who directed “Black Nativity,” a musical with a libretto by Langston Hughes, scheduled for release in November.
“I always thought it would be an indicator of success, when we had a full spectrum of films,” Ms. Lemmons added.
Monday, June 03, 2013
11184: Offensive Karma In NBA Playoffs.
It looks like Offensive Karma applies to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
To review, Offensive Karma is defined by a team’s display of offensiveness in the form of words or actions rooted in bigotry, discrimination and ignorance—which then leads to the team’s ultimate demise in the competition.
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert clearly sunk his team with the “No Homo” and “Y’all Motherfuckers” press conference commentary.
Unless the Pacers pull off the greatest comeback in recorded history within the next six minutes, the Miami Heat will advance to face the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
11183: Comical Fact-Checking.
The masthead at Adweek.com hypes a story on chemotherapy rebranded as a “Marvel of a Campaign”—except the tie-in is with DC characters, not Marvel.
11182: Miller Lite Bottle Bullshit.
Sorry, but the creatives responsible for this Miller Lite commercial should have new bottles broken over their heads.
11181: To And Fro With Negrito.
Laura Martinez examined the experiential and evolutionary marketing for Negrito candy. Gee, it’s like taking a stroll down memory lane. MultiCultClassics first encountered Martinez while debating the controversies surrounding MemÃn PinguÃn in 2005.
11180: Live Más? No, Lick Más.
The Consumerist posted the image above—which gives Latinos and White folks more reasons to hate Taco Bell.
Sunday, June 02, 2013
11177: Drawing Out Dawn Chambers.
In the latest installment of AMC series Mad Men Season 6, Dawn Chambers made a brief appearance, welcoming Don Draper back from a trip to California. Nothing else of interest occurred in the episode. A Google search for an image to accompany this post uncovered the illustration below by Adam Osgood in Ohio.
11176: Brazilian Ads Hard To Stomach.
Somebody ought to teach the advertising creatives in Brazil about appetite appeal—as well as the need for a decent concept.
11175: Roy Hibbert Fouls Out.
Pacers’ Hibbert Fined $75K For ‘Inappropriate And Vulgar’ Language
By Sekou Smith
Not all speech is free.
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert found out the hard way on the eve of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, when the NBA fined him $75,000 for using “inappropriate and vulgar language” during postgame interviews after the Pacers’ Game 6 win over the Miami Heat Saturday night in Indianapolis.
“While Roy has issued an apology, which is no doubt sincere, a fine is necessary to reinforce that such offensive comments will not be tolerated by the NBA,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern in a statement released by the league.
Hibbert’s apology, issued via Pacers.com earlier Sunday, summed up the big man’s feeling after realizing that he might have offended some people with his remarks:
“I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night. They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television. I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers’ organization. I sincerely have deep regret over my choice of words last night.”
11174: Misty Copeland On Center Stage.
Dancer Misty Copeland has broken barriers to bring ballet center stage
By Maureen Callahan
When Misty Copeland was discovered at age 13 by a ballet instructor at her local Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, Calif., she was so poor that she’d never seen a ballet, heard of ballet or knew what a ballerina looked like. She spent part of her teen years living in a single motel room with her mother and five siblings, hungry and afraid and just trying to make the hours-long commute to and from school each day.
“I had no introduction to the arts in any way — definitely not the fine arts,” she says. “Survival was our Number 1 priority, not extracurriculars, or a career. These were not things we thought about.”
Today, at 30 years old, Misty Copeland is the first black female in two decades to be a soloist at the American Ballet Theatre. This week, she stars in the Met’s production of “Le Corsaire,” just eight months after suffering a nearly career-ending injury. She has danced with Prince, become an advocate for opening up ballet to minorities and the underprivileged and has come to represent the future of ballet in America: more modern, inclusive, elastic.
She’s always been a fighter, and as hard as it is for her to revisit certain parts of her life — more than once during this interview, she visibly fought back tears — she feels compelled to share her story.
“For young African-Americans to feel that they have a chance to see a brown face on the stage, that ballet isn’t this white world that’s untouchable to them — I think having that visual does so much,” she says. “I think it’s so important for them to see me and to hear me.”
Aside from her origins, so much of Misty Copeland’s story is unprecedented. Most ballet dancers begin at age 5, studying in schools that serve as factory lines into the world’s most prestigious companies: the Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi, the Paris Opera Ballet. Most ballerinas are lithe and lean; Misty is 5-foot-2 1/2, muscular and curvaceous. Most study through their childhood and adolescence in a fugue state, ballet the sole focus; Misty was discovered so late that she had only a four-year window to complete 17 years’ worth of training.
She also had no desire to become a ballerina.
“I was pushed into it,” she says. “I was just a very nervous, fearful child, afraid of anything new.”
Her mother, Sylvia DelaCerna, had been a dancer and a professional cheerleader with the Kansas City Chiefs, but Misty didn’t realize that she, too, was a natural until she was 12 years old, auditioning for the drill team. “I choreographed a dance number to George Michael’s ‘I Want Your Sex,’ ” she says, laughing. “They made me captain, so I thought, ‘Oh, I can do this!’ Even though I had no idea what I was doing.”
Misty’s drill-team teacher sent her over to the local Boys & Girls Club, where a ballet instructor named Cynthia Bradley recognized her as special. “She told me, ‘You are the most gifted dancer I’ve ever seen, and this could be a path to have a career,’” Misty says. “And I was like, ‘That’s possible? There are people who do this and make money?’”
To compress nearly two decades of training into four years, Cynthia suggested Misty move in with her and her husband, Patrick, and their son in San Pedro on weekends. Misty could commute back to the motel. “It was really hard on my mom,” Misty says. “She was terrified to let me go. But she knew she had to.”
Three years on, Misty’s mother was alarmed: Her daughter was no longer coming to visit every weekend, and she felt Cynthia’s involvement in Misty’s life was out of control. In 1998, Misty won the Spotlight Award for best young dancer in Los Angeles, and as she was coming to national prominence, her mother and her teacher engaged in a nasty custody battle.
“It was a lot for a 15-year-old to go through,” Misty says. “It was everywhere. My life story was plastered on national television.”
Sylvia wanted her daughter back, and so Cynthia took Misty to an attorney, who suggested that Misty file for emancipation. “It was like: ‘This is what’s going to happen. Everything’s going to be better.’ I really had no idea what was going on.”
In September 1998, after much legal wrangling, Misty went back to live with her mom at the motel. She was devastated.
“Overnight, I was pulled from their home and their studio, and it was just, like, this world that I finally felt a part of was being taken from me.”
She was petrified that without Cynthia, she’d lose the tenuous momentum she had to become a professional ballerina. “That was my Number 1 fear: ballet. That was the one thing that was stable in my life. Ever.”
Soon enough, things settled down: Misty’s mother was able to move the family back to San Pedro, and she enrolled Misty in ballet classes in Torrance. It was eight years before she resumed any contact with the Bradleys, and today she says she’s grateful for the decisions her mother made, most especially because she was able to develop emotionally in ways most other professionals don’t, or can’t. “My mom said, ‘I want you to be a normal child, living at home, going to school.’ There are people who are completely ahead of me in terms of technique and experience, but I think, naturally, I was always a performer.”
She was so gifted, in fact, that once she got to ABT, she was chastised for coasting. “I kept saying to her, ‘I don’t think you realize the importance of what you could symbolize,’ ” says artistic director Kevin McKenzie. “‘So the bars and the levels will get raised much higher for you.’”
Not since Mikhail Baryshnikov — who, as a Soviet defector in the 1970s, represented so much more than the art form — has a ballet dancer exhibited demographic-smashing pop-cultural appeal. Google “Misty Copeland” and you’ll find a slew of YouTube videos, fans and casual observers alike. “Holy crud!” wrote one fan. “I started at 12. I’m now 13. I don’t have the perfect stereotyped dancer body! Neither does she! She is inspiration that I can make it!”
It’s that unusual body type that initially sent Misty into paroxysms of self-doubt: Like most dancers, she didn’t hit puberty until very late — she was 19 — and when she began to develop breasts, she freaked out. “All of a sudden, my body started changing,” she says. “It was terrifying.”
Today, her sex appeal is yet another quality that sets her apart: hired as a part-time dancer by Prince, who is so enamored he sees every performance he can; posing for her own calendar; creating her own line of dance wear for similarly shaped women. She is a ballerina for the modern age, a multiplatform brand beyond the Met. “Everything is odd about what I do,” she says.
Misty’s greatest priority remains racial integration, and she says it’s easy for the Obama generation to underestimate how difficult it remains to be a young, gifted, black ballerina. “People say, ‘It’s 2013, you live in New York City, you’re [being] dramatic’ — but they don’t understand the way the ballet world works,” she says. “We’re completely behind the way the world has evolved. Ballet is just kind of staid.”
Last fall, Misty was in rehearsals for the lead in “Firebird” when she began to feel weakness in her left shin. She suspected it was a stress reaction — the beginnings of a fracture — yet decided to dance through the pain. She was afraid to admit something was wrong, afraid she’d lose the part, and hoped to at least get through opening night. “I knew how important the night was, beyond me, for African-American women in ballet,” she says. “For the first time ever, half the audience was full of African-Americans. I’d never, ever seen that.”
After the show, she pulled out and went to the doctor, who diagnosed her with the “dreaded black-line fracture” — a near-complete break. She was told she needed surgery, and was in denial about it for months. In October, Misty underwent a new procedure at the Hospital for Special Surgery, getting a plate screwed into her tibia and bone marrow extracted from her hip and injected into the fractures. She spent weeks learning how to walk again.
Today, she estimates she’s at 80 percent; she performed for the first time a week ago. “It’s terrifying,” she says. “I don’t think I danced the way I wanted to, and I was very disappointed.” Her voice breaks. “It’s rare that this late in the game, you get opportunities to be pushed. I’ve had such a different path that I try not to compare myself to anyone else. Because I’m not like anyone else.”
11173: Skating Towards A Milestone?
Seth Jones, son of ex-NBA player Popeye Jones, could be first African-American taken No. 1 in the NHL draft
Whoever could’ve fathomed an African-American kid from Texas being the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft? Whoever heard of the son of an 11-year NBA veteran eschewing backboards for sideboards?
By Wayne Coffey / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
TORONTO - As 1999 turned to 2000 and both the world and the millennium were about to end, a 5-year-old kid from Denver began an unprecedented journey, not that anybody knew it at the time. To celebrate the New Year, the kid’s parents took him and his two brothers to nearby Beaver Creek. The kid decided to try something new.
He put on a pair of rental ice skates, waved off his parents’ attempt to get him to use one of those stabilizing walkers, and off Seth Jones went, ’round and ’round the Beaver Creek rink, drawn to ice like a bee to honey.
“You could see what a blast he was having, right from the start. He was pretty good on skates even then,” his father says.
Eighteen months later, Seth Jones had another little epiphany, pounding on the glass behind the goal of Pepsi Arena, celebrating the Colorado Avalanche and its Game 7, Stanley Cup clinching victory over the Devils, mesmerized by the speed and intensity and the virtuoso skills of the likes of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg.
Hockey had stolen his heart, no matter what line of work his dad was in.
“It just kind of took off from there,” Seth Jones says.
Where exactly it has taken off to, in the dozen years since that June night in Denver, amounts to perhaps the most remarkable story in the annals of the NHL draft. Whoever could’ve fathomed an African-American kid from Texas being the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft, as projected by NHL Central Scouting? Whoever heard of the son of an 11-year NBA veteran, Nets assistant coach Ronald (Popeye) Jones, eschewing backboards for sideboards?
But here is Seth Jones, a 6-4, 208-pound defenseman, duded up in a gray suit and striped tie on interview day at the NHL Combine, fielding hundreds of questions from 17 NHL teams over two days last week, not one of them about his ability to get to the rim.
“It’s kind of weird that it happened this way,” Seth Jones says.
Nate Mackinnon, a 17-year-old center from Nova Scotia who also could turn out to be the top pick, agrees.
“It’s not the way it usually breaks,” Mackinnon says.
* * *
Popeye Jones, all 6-8 and 265 pounds of him, wowed nobody with mid-air theatrics or dazzling offensive moves in his basketball career, but made himself enough of a low-post presence to play for six NBA teams, averaging 7.0 points and 7.4 boards. His most memorable performance, though, may have come as a Murray State Racer in the Southeast Regional of the NCAA Tournament in 1990, when he put up 37 points and 11 rebounds against Michigan State, which needed overtime to avoid becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed.
“He never told me anything about it,” Seth says.
Popeye Jones wasn’t going to lord his playing pedigree over his kids, and wasn’t going to dictate to them, either. If Seth and his brothers, Justin, 22, and Caleb, 15, a rising star himself (in September he will move to Ann Arbor, Mich. to be part of the same USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program that Seth went through), wanted to play hockey — and they all did — well, then they should play hockey. A lefthanded jump shooter with striking quickness and agility, Seth played basketball at home and in pickup games, but ice turns out to be much thicker than blood.
“Seth loves playing basketball,” says mother, Amy. “When he gets home from the Combine, I guarantee you he and his brothers will be at the gym playing the next day. But he was adamant about not doing anything organized. It probably killed Popeye, because he saw the talent he had.”
Seth was a hockey kid to the core. Not long after that first foray on the ice at Beaver Creek, Popeye ran into Sakic, then the Avalanche captain, in the weight room of the Pepsi Center. Popeye introduced himself and told Sakic that his three boys loved hockey and wanted to play.
“From the looks of you they are going to be huge,” Sakic told him. “Just make sure they know how to skate.”
The boys started taking lessons from a figure-skating coach in the area. Seth was a quick study, making his way through the youth ranks, standing out at every level, playing for the Midget Dallas Stars after the Joneses moved back to Texas in 2007. Before long Jones was off to Ann Arbor at age 15, playing for USA Hockey’s U-17 and U-18 U.S. national teams, where he was joined by his longtime friend and teammate, Quentin Shore, now a rising sophomore at the University of Denver.
“He’s one of the quickest 6-4 kids I’ve ever met,” Shore says. “You can be forechecking him and he’ll give you a quick shoulder fake and be by you before you finish the check.”
But Jones’ most notable quality, according to Shore, is an almost preternatural poise. It is something that those closest to Jones have long marveled at.
“He seems like he has it altogether even when things are going wrong,” says Shore, the younger brother of Florida Panthers’ center Drew Shore.
Adds Amy Jones, “From age 3 on, he was already a little man.”
Phil Housley, newly hired assistant coach of the Nashville Predators, was a prototypical rushing defenseman in his stellar blue-line career. He had Jones on the U.S. junior team that won the world championship last winter, Jones leading all defensemen with six assists. Housley came away hugely impressed by his skating, shot, hockey instincts and ability to lead a rush, but he, too, was mostly taken by Jones’ emotional steadiness.
“There’s no panic level in his game,” Housley says. “When he has the puck he’s poised and calm, and that has a great affect on his team.”
After graduating from high school in three years, Jones was close to accepting a scholarship from the University of North Dakota before opting to spend a year in the Western Hockey League, where he was rookie of the year for the league-champion Portland Winterhawks this spring, piling up 14 goals and 46 assists in 61 games, going +46 for the season.
In 21 playoff games, Jones had five goals and 10 assists, and was +15.
“Great players handle pressure situations really well, and that’s what makes Seth so special. He played his best hockey at the most important times.” says Mike Johnston, the Winterhawks’ coach and general manager.
In his final game with the team last Sunday, Jones made a rush up ice and scored on a wrist shot over the goaltender’s glove hand, but the Winterhawks fell to the Halifax Mooseheads, 6-4, in the Memorial Cup — the championship of Canadian junior hockey. Mackinnon had a hat trick and two assists for the Mooseheads, and linemate Jonathan Drouin had five assists, in a showcase of arguably the three top players in this year’s draft. Some observers believe Mackinnon now may go first overall, but as the three held a joint press conference last week, outfitted from hats to sneakers in gear from their new sponsor, CCM/Reebok, Jones insisted he wasn’t fretting about it, even though that top choice is owned by the Colorado Avalanche.
“It would be special to be the No. 1 pick (and) it would be pretty cool to be back where it all started, but there are lots of great players who were taken No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and a lot lower than that,” Jones says. “You don’t have to be taken No. 1 overall to have a great NHL career.”
* * *
Popeye and Amy Jones divorced two years ago, but as an inter-racial couple, were committed to not having their boys view the world through the prism of race. “It’s never been an issue, and I think the reason that it has never been an issue is the way Amy and I raised our kids,” Popeye Jones says. “We’d tell them, ‘You are white and black, you are both, and you are special, because not everybody has a chance to be both.’
“Our kids never saw color.”
Hockey, of course, is not exactly the rainbow coalition of sports. With Grant Fuhr owning five Stanley Cup titles and a plaque in the Hall of Fame, and Jarome Iginla piling up 530 goals and spending the better part of 15 years as one of the league’s most popular players, the NHL is not as homogenous as it once was, but there are still not many more players of color in the league than there are on one NBA bench. No one is saying that the racial spew that spilled all over social media by some Neanderthal Bruins fans after Joel Ward, a black Washington Capital, ended the Bruins’ season in 2012 playoffs, is the norm, but still … could that ever happen in, say, basketball?
“I’ve never had an issue in the sport,” Seth Jones says. “Some NHL players have an issue, but I haven’t. Hopefully, me playing the sport will encourage other African-American kids to play hockey. It would be pretty cool to be a role model for little kids.”
Seth Jones’ father isn’t in a position to pass along pointers to his sons, never having been known for his slap shot. What Popeye — and Amy — Jones have stressed is that nothing is given, and there isn’t a single talent that measures up to a strong work ethic.
Or as Amy Jones says, “Whether you are a plumber or whatever you do, you always want to make sure you do the best job you can, because somebody else is always going to be ready to take your job.”
As he prepared to run and lift and provide NHL evaluators with some metrics to pore over, Seth Jones, the most improbable hockey story of them all, the man-child who may become his sport’s first African-American superstar, considered his parents’ wisdom, and tried hard to hold on to his famous calm. The world didn’t end the day he fell in love with skating. The NHL draft is June 30 at the Prudential Center in Newark. Seth Jones smiles.
“It seems like it’s taking forever to get here,” he says.
Saturday, June 01, 2013
11172: Beyoncé’s Bona Fide Booty.
Beyoncé upset to learn H&M had trimmed her curves for summer collection campaign: report
The bootylicious ‘Mrs. Carter Show World Tour’ diva wanted her full figure un-Photoshopped, say sources.
By Rachel Maresca / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Beyoncé’s body is Bootylicious, and she wants to keep it that way.
The 31-year-old singer, who is the stunning face of H&M’s summer collection reportedly was not happy to find out they had retouched the original shots and were planning to use them.
Queen Bey insisted that only the non-altered pictures be published for the campaign.
“When Beyoncé found out they had edited the way her body really looked, she hit the roof,” an insider revealed to The Sun newspaper.
“She’s a true diva and was furious that she had been given such a snubbing. Her people refused to give the pictures the green light so H&M were forced to use the originals.”
A spokesman for H&M admitted there were “discussions” about the ads but the photos that have been publicly released are of Beyoncé’s real bod.
“As with all campaigns there are discussions on which images should be used. Both H&M and Beyoncé are very happy with the final result,” he added.
Beyoncé, who has recently been performing in Europe for the “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” is set to headline this Saturday at London’s Twickenham stadium for the “Sound of Change” concert, which will be raising funds for worldwide projects that support women and girls.
Other notable artists set to take the stage are Madonna, Florence + the Machine, Jennifer Lopez, Ellie Goulding, Haim, John Legend and Timbaland.
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