Essay Twenty-Four

Essay Fifteen questioned certain comments from creatives at True Agency, the African American advertising agency (owned by TBWA\Chiat\Day) handling multicultural duties for the Nissan account.

Now comes the following letter that appeared in the February/March issue of NV magazine:

GREAT AD

It’s weird to write to a magazine regarding the advertisements but I have been noticing both Nissan and Infiniti’s ads and they’re working really hard to be in tune with the African American spirit. I must say they’re doing a surprisingly good job. I mean they present powerful images wrapped in text that honors us. Usually advertisers try to embrace pop culture and are usually years behind the time. (sic) They use old slang. The styling is off. I mean Nissan and Infiniti really are giving something cutting edge and that compliments (sic) NV so well. In fact while I’m handing out compliments looking at NV the advertisements have always seemed to fit into the book well. There hasn’t been anything tacky or offensive. It seems that you have standards when it comes to advertising and are not selling out your people to the highest bidder. I can appreciate that and I look forward to your annual Black & White issue.

Anisha Syms
New York, NY

For the record, MultiCultClassics has respected NV magazine for many years. The editorial content and design continue to be fresh, provocative and contemporary. This publication deserves more readers — and definitely more advertisers.

But the above letter seems fishy. Perhaps the writer is legitimately impressed by the Nissan campaign. Or maybe Anisha Syms is trying to land a job — or a date — with the folks at True Agency.

“It’s weird to write to a magazine regarding the advertisements…” That’s a major understatement. Besides advertising trade publications, it’s probably completely unprecedented for readers to send ad tributes to media vehicles.

“I mean they present powerful images wrapped in text that honors us.” Please. Only veteran advertising hacks write lines like this. Granted, Anisha Syms may be a veteran advertising hack. But if so, what would be the motivation for presenting this letter?

“Usually advertisers try to embrace pop culture and are usually years behind the time. They use old slang. The styling is off. I mean Nissan and Infiniti really are giving something cutting edge…” This continues the veteran advertising hack tendencies, while taking a jab at Black advertising. In the automotive category, Uniworld in New York consistently produces messages for Ford resulting in high praise and high recall/likeability scores from African Americans and the general market too. And technically, Nissan has been “giving something cutting edge” ever since the account landed at TBWA\Chiat\Day.

“In fact while I’m handing out compliments looking at NV the advertisements have always seemed to fit into the book well. There hasn’t been anything tacky or offensive. It seems that you have standards when it comes to advertising and are not selling out your people to the highest bidder.” Oh. My. God. Whassup with Syms?! The February/March issue of NV contains seven ads: two allegedly cutting-edge Nissan ads, a standard diversity recruitment Pitney Bowes ad, a Partnership for a Drug-Free America ad, two Toyota ads (one is a very contrived and insipid Black History Month ad; another makes an inane connection between owning a Camry and climbing to the top of the proverbial ivory tower) and a Kool cigarettes ad (which blows Syms’ belief that NV isn’t selling out).

So what the hell is going on here? Is Anisha Syms just an ordinary citizen enamored with advertising? Is the letter a viral self-hype tactic for Nissan? Is MultiCultClassics reading too much into the gushing viewpoint?

It’s hard to tell what’s really true in this case.


[To be clear, this essay is not intended to disparage NV magazine. As mentioned previously, MultiCultClassics respects NV — and strongly encourages everyone to pick up the latest issue and seriously support the progressive publication. NV is available at Borders, Barnes & Noble and other retailers.]