Essay Twenty-Six

Here’s your recommended daily allowance of MultiCultClassics Minutes:

• Happy Anniversary to everyone at BET.

This week’s issue of Advertising Age salutes BET on its 25th anniversary. A special section features articles and interviews. Plus various companies pay tribute with congratulatory print ads. As always, the ads range from good to bad — mostly bad.

Coca-Cola and Pepsi are equally tacky, presenting messages hyping their own logos and products.

McDonald’s offers the worst ad, with a corny headline that reads, “Before hip-hop could walk, before bling was a thing, before anyone knew what crunk was, BET had it goin’ on.”

Now that’s def, homies. One can only wonder who deciphered the slang terms for McDonald’s executives. And the headline is technically incorrect — hip-hop has been around longer than BET.

The best ad comes from Johnson & Johnson. The elegant copy reads, “Thank you BET, for nurturing African American entertainment over the past 25 years. Best wishes for continued success from one nurturing company to another.” Simple. Classy. Nicely designed.

Only three advertising agencies show respect — SpikeDDB (hooking up with others on the Pepsi ad), Haley Miranda Group and GlobalHue.

• Negro League Baseball is the title of a new book featuring photographs by Ernest C. Withers and an essay by Daniel Wolff. The book captures great images of the leagues’ players and personalities. Pardon the sloppy segue, but sometimes it seems like the advertising industry — with its multicultural segregation — has essentially created corporate Negro Leagues.

• “Racism is the biggest cancer in my lifetime. And I know I can’t cure the cancer, but doesn’t somebody have to attack it? It just seems to me people are afraid to talk about race. We’re richer than ever, more educated than ever. The country is more diverse than ever. But I think we’re more scared than we’ve ever been when it comes to talking about race. We spend more time and effort trying to cure racism than we spend trying to prevent it. Nobody wants to talk about what they think about people who are different until something really terrible happens, and once you reach that point nobody is rational. At that point, people are just stuck in their positions hating each other.”

Those thoughts come from NBA legend Charles Barkley, whose latest book — Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man? — presents frank discussions about race with a variety of people. Check it out.

• P. Diddy announced plans to launch his own wireless phone service. But J. Lo still won’t return his calls.

• Speaking of wireless service, Foxy Brown pleaded not guilty to using her phone and fists to beat two nail salon workers over a pedicure gone wrong. The alleged assault took place in August 2004, and the trial is being held in Manhattan. Let’s hope Foxy’s cell doesn’t land her in one.