8069: Alberto Culver Creates Ugliness.

Alberto Culver congratulates Ebony magazine on its 65th anniversary with typography that’s pretty unattractive.

8068: Depend On Embarrassing Advertising.

In this Depend commercial, we learn that everyone knows everything about Kim—except that she wears adult diapers. It’s a wonder Depend hasn’t jumped on the Betty White bandwagon. Also, note that the advertiser disabled the YouTube comments section.

8067: Carl’s Jr. & Hardee’s Seek New White Shop.

Advertising Age reported the creative duties for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are up for review. The “invitation-only” competition features three White agencies—and one of the contenders is the advertiser’s current digital shop. Nice. Now the places that handle interactive work have a better shot at landing accounts than minority shops.

Creative for Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s in Play
Three Shops Expected to Pitch $60 Million Restaurant Accounts

By Maureen Morrison and Rupal Parekh

NEW YORK -- CKE Restaurants is reviewing creative duties on both the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands, currently handled by Los Angeles-based Mendelsohn Zien. The marketer is handling the pitch process itself, and only three shops are participating, including the incumbent.

“We have had a long and successful relationship with Mendelsohn Zien for the past 16 years at Carl’s Jr. and nine years at Hardee’s, but various changes at the agency, and in the creative ranks there, have led us to conduct a limited agency review,” said Beth Mansfield, director of public relations at CKE. “[The agency] will be defending the business. The invitation-only review will include broadcast creative for both the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s brands. And we hope to complete the review by the first of the year.”

In addition to Mendelsohn Zien, which is owned by Hakuhodo DY Media Holdings, CKE invited three other shops to pitch, people familiar with the matter say. They are West Coast independents 72andSunny, which is lead digital agency for CKE, and David & Goliath, as well as Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Deutsch, Los Angeles.

Deutsch, however, has declined to participate. “Carl’s and Hardee’s are great brands, but we elected not to participate to focus on opportunities with our existing clients,” said Mike Sheldon, CEO of Los Angeles. Other shops could not be immediately reached or declined to comment. The creative review does not affect media or public-relations duties, handled by Interpublic-owned agencies Initiative and Weber Shandwick, respectively.

According to people familiar with the matter, the review was sparked by the departure last month of two top creatives on the account from Mendelsohn Zien. It also follows the private-equity buyout of CKE to Apollo Management in an estimated $1 billion deal.

CKE last month posted its fiscal-second-quarter results, which were down over the prior-year period. It had revenue of $313.9 million, a decrease of $22.1 million, or 6.6%.

The combined budgets for both restaurant chains in 2009 was $58 million in domestic measured media, according to Kantar. Spending in 2010 seems to track the same; the marketer spent about $30 million for the first six months of the year, with a bit more devoted to Carl’s Jr. than the Hardee’s brand. The Carpinteria, Calif.-based chain, which has more than 3,100 restaurants in 42 states and 18 countries, also owns smaller restaurant brands such as Red Burrito and Green Burrito.

Carl’s Jr. in recent years has sexed up its image, recruiting foodie and TV personality Padma Lakshmi to seductively eat a burger for one of its ads, and vixen Kim Kardashian to star in another to eat a cranberry apple walnut chicken salad. The latter spot hit our viral video chart earlier this year.

For Mendelsohn Zien, the potential loss of two major restaurant brands comes as a blow. As it stands now, the contract period for Hardee’s ends in late December, and the Carl’s Jr. contract ends early next year.

8066: General Mills Tries Anti-Social Media.

This Cinnamon Toast Crunch commercial launches a “blog” that’s unlikely to gain followers. Unless the advertiser is targeting obnoxious and unattractive losers.

8065: Michael Jackson Auditorium Displayed Again.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Michael Jackson’s name gleams again at Hollywood school

For seven years, the letters proclaiming Michael Jackson Auditorium at Gardner Street Elementary were covered, placed at the behest of parents shortly after the pop singer’s arrest in 2003. Now, a year after his death, the sign is back.

By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times

For seven years, the gleaming silver letters that once proclaimed Michael Jackson Auditorium at Gardner Street Elementary School in Hollywood were hidden behind white plywood boards.

The boards had been placed there at the behest of parents shortly after the pop singer was arrested on suspicion of child molestation in 2003. Since his death last year, fans had rallied for the restoration of the sign, which they saw as a symbol of Jackson’s legacy.

Now, Jackson’s name gleams again.

Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines ordered the boards stripped away Friday “in recognition of Michael Jackson’s musical legacy and contribution to modern culture.”

A school district spokesman said the decision was made in large part because Jackson had been acquitted of criminal charges in the molestation case.

On Friday night, a Facebook page calling for the restoration of the sign was overflowing with joyous comments.

“I could cry!!” one person wrote. “I wish he were here to see this!!”

On the page, devotees from places as far away as Japan and Sri Lanka posted photos of themselves holding handmade posters calling for the boards to be stripped away.

Fans had planned to show up at a school board meeting Tuesday to demand that the sign be revealed.

Jackson was briefly enrolled at Gardner Street Elementary. In 1969, he and his family moved to Los Angeles from Gary, Ind., so that Jackson and his brothers could make a record with Motown.

Jackson was an 11-year-old sixth-grader at the school when the Jackson 5 released their debut album, a smash hit that foreshadowed Jackson’s record-breaking solo career.

The Gardner auditorium was dedicated to Jackson in 1989. He attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, where the school’s choir sang “We Are the World,” a tune Jackson co-wrote.

An illustration of Jackson’s face was posted in the auditorium in 1989, and a picture depicting the singer surrounded by children was hung in the main office. The auditorium drawing was removed several years ago because it kept falling down, schools officials said. The picture in the office was removed to make room for an intercom system, officials said.

8064: Black Muppets Love Their Hair.

From The Huffington Post…

‘Sesame Street’ Song Teaches Black Girls To Love their Hair

“Sesame Street" is tackling beauty issues, teaching all girls to love their hair with a song entitled, “I Love My Hair.” Styleite has helpfully transcribed the lyrics. Here’s an excerpt:

I love my hair, so I must declare:
I really, really, really love my hair.
Wear a clippy or in a bow,
Or let it sit in an afro,
My hair looks good in a cornrow,
It does so many things you know, that’s why I let it grow.

See the video here.

8063: Unbearable Mascots.

From The New York Times…

Controversy Over Mascots at Ole Miss

By Robbie Brown

Colonel Reb, meet your replacement.

On Thursday, the University of Mississippi announced the successor to its former mascot, a white-goateed, cane-toting Southern plantation owner that many have criticized as racist and anachronistic. The new mascot? The Rebel Black Bear.

Supporters of the old mascot were quick to find flaws. For one, an artist’s design shows a brown bear, not a black one. The animal was chosen based on the short story “The Bear” by William Faulkner, himself a former student, in which a bear is killed. Not exactly inspiring on the football field. And how original is a bear mascot?

“There are many, many other schools with bears — U.C.L.A., Maine, Brown,” said Brian Ferguson, a 2007 graduate and the director of the Colonel Reb Foundation, a group that supports bringing back the old mascot, which was retired from sporting event sidelines in 2003. “We might as well be called P.C.U. — Politically Correct University.”

School administrators say they want to balance tolerance with tradition at Ole Miss (itself a nickname for a slave owner’s wife). The school has discouraged Confederate battle flags at football games, discontinued “Dixie” as the unofficial fight song and raised enrollment of black students to 14 percent, from 5.8 percent in 1995 (though Mississippi is nearly 40 percent black).

Fans are divided over whether the university has become more open-minded or just too conscious of its reputation beyond the South. The committee of students that picked the mascot said it hoped to avoid any racial significance in the design. One finalist had gray-colored skin because, said Margaret Ann Morgan, 19, a committee co-chairwoman, “it is a combination of black and white.”

The Rebel Black Bear won an online poll this month, with support from 62 percent of students, alumni, staff and faculty members and season ticket holders. That beat the two other finalists: Hotty Toddy (a muscular man named after the school cheer) and the Land Shark (an allusion to the football team’s “voracious” defense).

As for Colonel Reb, his fans are not surrendering. The Colonel Reb Foundation’s leaders will dress in replicas of his costume and tour the state next week, talking to members of the local news media and trying to reverse the school’s decision. “We’re not giving up,” Mr. Ferguson said. “The Rebel Black Bear is just not the tradition we’re used to at Ole Miss.”

8062: Blog Action Day—Water And Advertising.

The advertising industry has always loved issues involving water. Art directors and copywriters drool over the lack of access to clean water. Conserving water inspires splashy campaigns abroad and at home. Agencies dive into any opportunity to expose dirty water in developing nations. Why, the award-winning concern flows nonstop within our professional community.

Yet in the end, water problems allow us to wash our hands of more personal dilemmas—like the dearth of diversity on Madison Avenue. If colored people from impoverished countries need a drink, we go all out to find clever solutions. But if colored people need a job in our business, we pour out the same tired excuses and ineffective minority youth outreach programs. Or we just come up dry.

8061: The News In Black And Whitey.

Sundry news briefs in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• In Illinois, Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney was upset to learn his name appears as “Whitey” on electronic voting machines in nearly two dozen wards. “I don’t want to be identified as ‘Whitey.’ If this is happening in primarily African-American wards, that’s an even bigger concern,” said Whitney. “I don’t know if this is machine politics at play or why this happened.” Gee, talk about White paranoia.

• Olympian Tommie Smith—famous for his Black Power salute at the victory podium—is seeking to sell his medal, with the bidding starting at $250,000. Wow, that’s a fistful of money.

• A National Center for Health Statistics report shows U.S. Latinos outlive Whites and Blacks. Well, that should drive immigration critics crazy.

• Rapper T.I. is credited with helping persuade a suicidal man from jumping off a rooftop. The man agreed to come down in exchange for a few minutes with the actor/recording artist. Actually, T.I. could have accelerated matters by simply shooting the guy down with one of his machine guns.

• The figure for homes repossessed by banks shot to a record total of 102,134 in September, crossing the 100,000 mark for the first time in a single month. Gee, that should have folks jumping off of repossessed roofs.

• Responding to customer complaints, Starbucks has instructed baristas to slow down when making beverages. Other instructions include steaming the milk for drinks one drink at a time versus steaming an entire pitcher and then using it for several drinks, as well as rinsing pitchers right after using them. Some baristas are complaining the new measures are doubling the amount of time customers must wait in line. But honestly, the fact that Starbucks has been operating with such a conveyor belt mentality—coupled with the unsanitary nature of not rinsing pitchers immediately—sure dulls the mystique of the Starbucks experience.

8060: Exploring Job Options.

Voicing the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Dora the Explorer is going to war. The 14-year-old actress who serves as the voice of the popular cartoon character is threatening to speak out against Nickelodeon via TV interviews unless the network responds to her lawsuit demands. No word if she’ll be using her real voice or Dora voice.

• A new survey indicated 17 percent of American workers believe having an affair with their boss can lead to a better job—and 7 percent admitted having actually done it. Given the current unemployment rate, at least 9 percent of American workers haven’t succeeded with the tactic.

8059: Playing Defense For Favre.

From USA TODAY…

What did Brett Favre do wrong? Legal experts uncertain

By Gary Graves, USA TODAY

Right now, the conduct of Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre is subject to the judgment of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell rather than the legal system.

As the league probes whether Favre acted inappropriately toward Jets employee Jenn Sterger during his lone season with New York in 2008, the facts must meet specific legal criteria to qualify as sexual harassment, several attorneys said Tuesday.

According to those legal experts there are currently no laws against texting or e-mailing sexually explicit photos.

“Because Mr. Favre was not this woman’s employer, it might be a situation (for) with the Jets. The team has responsibilities to its other employees,” said Barry Peek, a partner in the New York law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein. “Right now, they’re just investigating what was said, and it’s not sexual harassment if the (conduct) was welcome.”

As for the photos, Peek added, “that’s a First Amendment issue, which is protected as long as it isn’t child pornography. You could even say it’s art.”

Goodell declined to say what potential violations of the league’s personal-conduct policy Favre may have violated. “I’m going to deal with it as we get the facts and make sure we’re being responsible,” he said.

The website Deadspin first published a story including voice mails and lewd photos it said were allegedly sent by Favre to the cellphone of Sterger, a former Jets game-day host. The league responded by opening an investigation into the matter.

According to the Associated Press and others, Favre apologized to Vikings teammates before Monday night’s 29-20 loss to the Jets for creating distraction.

The generally accepted legal standards for sexual harassment includes unwelcome advances; pervasive behavior constituting a hostile work environment; and whether any complaint was made with the company.

This applies to the NFL and its clubs, but the league’s personal-conduct policy is much broader and can discipline players without legal charges, either through a fine or suspension.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned to practice last week after serving a four-game suspension for violating the policy despite not being charged for an incident involving a college student in Georgia.

“We don’t know what he did and whether it rises to the level of sexual harassment,” said Rick Karcher of the Coastal Law Center for Law and Sports in Jacksonville, Fla.

“Everything seems premature with the pictures and e-mails, and that doesn’t mean the league won’t do something because it has wide discretion with its discipline.”

Though the league’s quick response could be perceived as a step in an effort to preserve its image, Peek countered that it could be also interpreted as dealing with the situation proactively.

“There’s a strong possibility that the league could take some action,” Peek said. “How strong? I don’t know. It depends on if it turns out to be factual.”

Karcher wondered if Favre could also face fallout with endorsement deals such as jeans maker Wrangler, a regular presence during NFL telecasts. Depending on if his agreement includes a morals clause and its scope, the company could terminate it if it determined that the scandal would harm its image.

On the other hand, Karcher added “they might not think it’s detrimental to their ability to sell jeans.”

Contributing: Sean Leahy

8058: Nestle Fights Obesity With Hot Pockets…?

From Wallet Pop…

Critics: Nestle, American Academy of Pediatrics alliance a conflict of interest

By Gergana Koleva

Nestle, the global food giant known for Kit Kat, Haagen-Dazs, Hot Pockets, Baby Ruth and other supermarket brands, has teamed up with the American Academy of Pediatrics to educate consumers about childhood obesity.

The union, announced last week in a press release on the academy’s website, is supposed to develop a series of nutrition aid messages over the next 18 months. The messages will be tested in focus groups with English and Spanish-speaking parents of children younger than five years.

“Doctors have been telling us we don’t have enough plain-language material given to young families,” Dr. Judith Palfrey, an AAP spokeswoman and past president of the society, told Consumer Ally. “It is hard for folks to figure out how to do the five servings of fruits and vegetables to their kids.”

But the initiative, bankrolled by the company that also sells Gerber Graduates Lil’ Entrees, a toddlers’ pasta dish that contains 550mg of sodium, more than twice the amount of salt in a medium order of McDonald’s fries, compromises the academy’s independence, consumer advocates say.

“This kind of association poses a real conflict of interest,” said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, in an interview. “Getting this funding from Nestle will make a difference in the Academy’s ability to criticize Nestle, if there is reason to criticize it.”

Earlier this year, two of Canada’s leading scientific organizations awarded the national “Salt Lick Award” to the Gerber meal in order to highlight the inappropriately high levels of sodium added to children’s foods. The Swiss conglomerate was criticized two years ago for refusing to join Coca-Cola, Kraft, Cadbury and other food manufacturers in an industry-wide effort to limit junk-food marketing to kids. And over the summer, the company drew fire for driving a barge down the Amazon river to sell its products to communities of indigenous people.

Still, AAP contends Nestle’s role is limited to providing money for conducting the nationwide surveys, and will not extend to influencing the messages themselves. Palfrey said with health literacy sorely lacking in the U.S., the initiative is sure to bring improvements to childhood nutrition.

“The obesity epidemic is an enormous challenge and is hitting Hispanic populations even harder,” she noted. “With the focus groups, we’ll be reaching out to more families in the primary language of a lot of children.”

Nestle sued the academy in 1993 because of its opposition to the marketing of baby formula directly to consumers. Also named in the lawsuit were infant formula manufacturers Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Mead Johnson Nutritionals.

The Nestle-AAP nutritional guidelines, when finally approved, will be distributed to consumers in doctor’s offices and clinics.

8057: Cookie Crap.

A cookie woman needs All-Bran in order to regularly shit gingerbread crumbs…?

8056: Can You Pay Me Now? Good.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Telecom firms’ donations to minority groups criticized as FCC considers net neutrality rules

Key minority organizations are backing the carriers’ efforts to thwart net neutrality proposals. Critics say the millions of dollars and in-kind help the firms pour into the groups is a factor.

By Jennifer Martinez, Los Angeles Times
Reporting From Washington

Some leading minority advocacy groups long have supported AT&T Inc., Comcast Corp. and other major telecommunications firms in the industry’s efforts to win approvals for mergers, get rid of old regulations and avoid new government rules.

And the telecom firms, in turn, have poured millions of dollars of donations and in-kind services, including volunteer help from the carriers’ executive suites, into charitable groups in the communities they serve.

Consumer and public advocates used to whisper about the possibility of conflicts of interest, but now they are openly critical as the battle heats up over proposed federal regulations over net neutrality, the principle that Internet service providers should not restrict content, programs and other uses on their networks.

Key minority groups are backing the carriers’ efforts to thwart the net neutrality proposals, which would, for instance, prohibit carriers from charging more to give some residential and corporate customers priority in delivering online content.

“When you give national civil rights groups millions of private dollars, there’s no firewall strong enough to keep that money out of their policy,” said Malkia Cyril, executive director of the Center for Media Justice.

Cyril and other consumer and public advocates have been buoyed by comments from Federal Communications Commission member Mignon L. Clyburn, a prominent African American and daughter of Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.).

She said in a speech in January that she was surprised that most statements and filings by “some of the leading groups representing people of color have been silent on this make-or-break issue” of net neutrality.

“There has been almost no discussion of how important — how essential — it is for traditionally underrepresented groups to maintain the low barriers to entry that our current open Internet provides,” Clyburn said.

However, in a recent interview, she declined to say whether she thought there was a link between minority groups’ opposition to the proposals and donations they received from carriers.

Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said that any suggestion that minority groups were mouthpieces for the industry was “offensive.”

“It’s kind of like saying the minority organizations can’t think for themselves,” Wilkes said.

Internet providers also rejected any connection between their policies and their donations.

“I can tell you we do not, and have not ever, given money to minority organizations so that they will support our positions on any topic,” said Peter Thonis, a spokesman for Verizon Communications Inc. “We talk to many groups about our positions, and some agree with us and some do not.”

Read the full story here.

8055: Make The Logo Smaller. Invisible Even.

Change is not always good in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Bowing to public criticism, the Gap is dumping its new logo after just one week. Which is roughly the amount of time it took to come up with the design—as well as how long most Gap garments last.

• Vanilla Ice is seeking to rebuild his career—literally—via a home makeover show on the DIY Network. Maybe the Gap should have called him in to revamp their logo.

• KFC is increasing the number of female butts hawking its Double Down sandwich, recruiting coeds from three more universities. The Colonel is turning into quite a pimp. Maybe the fast feeder will extend the promotion with an NFL tie-in featuring Ben Roethlisberger, Brett Favre and the New York Jets.

8054: Monday Night Football Freaks.

Check out the Monday Night Football game highlights. On one side of the field, there were the Love Boat Minnesota Vikings, led by sexting Brett Favre. On the other side, the sexual harassing New York Jets featured Super Dad Antonio Cromartie. Somebody lock up the women.

8053: Rethinking Columbus Day Sales And More.

Discover an alternative perspective on celebrating Columbus Day.

8052: Mad Men Mention.

In the latest episode of AMC series Mad Men, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce executed a bloodbath, shedding a large number of staffers—including the unqualified copywriter hired earlier in the season. No minorities were terminated, but only because the place doesn’t employ any people of color. If the agency stages a revival, it would be a perfect opportunity to diversify the workforce. However, such a move would completely fly in the face of creator Matthew Weiner’s obsession with historical accuracy and authenticity. After all, it will be nearly 50 years before the advertising industry is “finally admitting it has serious problems with diversity…”

8051: Favre’s Fantasy Football.

During the NBC NFL postgame wrap-up, reporter Mike Florio commented on the Brett Favre scandal, declaring the lesson that NFL players must understand: “You can’t interact with women in the workplace the way you would interact with them in a nightclub.” Gee, Mike, thanks for clearing that up. Hope the players were tuning in to catch the valuable insight.

8050: Non-White Issues From Ad Age.

The latest Advertising Age is titled The Consumer Issue, focused on the ever-changing marketplace that Madison Avenue continues to be clueless about. The coverage includes the usual suspects and topics. IW Group Chairman-CEO Bill Imada explains the potential of Asian American consumers. GlobalHue VP Najoh Tita-Reid discusses assimilation’s effect on the mythical American Melting Pot. Pepper Miller and others seek to redefine “urban” as meaning more than inner-city Blacks. Bradley Johnson presents a personal and professional perspective on connecting with the LGBT market. Plus, there are stories on tweens, mommies, Gen Y and Baby Boomers.

Kudos to Ad Age for continuing to spotlight non-White affairs. Yet it is both mind-boggling and unfortunate that cases must be made again and again for marketing to diverse audiences—although maybe not surprising, as there is a constant need to make a case for diversity.