8673: Colt 45 Blast Webcast Is A Blast.

No, it’s not an early April Fools’ Day gag. This webcast video features the Colt 45 Blast product that Snoop Dogg will be hawking. It’s a fascinating peek at White marketers tapping Black culture.

Hat tip to Hadji Williams.

8672: U.S. Army Fights With Whites.

Advertising Age reported the U.S. Army re-enlisted McCann Worldgroup for its roughly $200 million account. IPG stacked the pitch deck with McCann and Draftfcb, while WPP countered with Grey and Y&R. That’s quite a collection of White mediocrity. Minority agencies played, well, minority roles in the competition.

McCann Keeps $200 Million U.S. Army Contract

Seven Interpublic Shops Work on Lucrative Government Contract

By Rupal Parekh

After an extensive review, the U.S. Army is re-upping with Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann Worldgroup, which has been the lead ad agency on the account since 2005. The account is estimated at nearly $200 million per year in billings—and as much as $15 million in revenue.

The other contenders that pitched the Army in a final round are understood to be McCann sibling DraftFCB and WPP agencies Grey and Y&R.

That McCann managed to hang onto the lucrative business comes as a major relief for the agency, which under CEO Nick Brien has been engaged in a wholesale turnaround effort. Those moves encompass everything from trying to stem the loss of clients and being more aggressive on the new-business front to training staff across McCann Worldgroup to get up to speed on digital.

How important the business is not only to McCann, but to parent Interpublic? The team working on the U.S. Army account numbers some 300 people from seven Interpublic shops as well as independent shops. The Interpublic agencies include McCann Erickson, Universal McCann, MRM Worldwide, Momentum, Weber Shandwick, Casanova Pendrill and NAS Recruitment Communications.

The new Army advertising contract begins April 7. The term of the contract is—as it has been in the past—for one year, with four one-year option periods. According to the request-for-proposals document the Army sent out last summer, McCann will handle all advertising, direct marketing and public relations for the Army. It will also be tasked to help support all recruitment and retention programs for the government unit.

Representatives for the Army could not immediately be reached for comment.

In a statement, Mr. Brien said: “We are extraordinarily proud of introducing and advancing the ‘Army Strong’ campaign platform. … Our approach going forward will continue to be collaborative, innovative and performance-driven.”

8671: What Happens In Vegas…

…makes Sodom and Gomorrah look like Disneyland.

8670: Life Always Is Always Lame.

Life Always is back, and even the Latino media is questioning the offensiveness of the anti-abortion group’s latest campaign. In February, the morons were pressured to pull down a billboard, ultimately gaining the support of White adpeople that idiotically argued for Life Always’ First Amendment rights. Now the Texas-based group is making their point with President Obama and a headline that reads, “Every 21 minutes, our next possible leader is aborted.” Um, the majority of Republicans might dispute the factual accuracy of the message, as they believe Obama was not born in the United States.

8669: Financially Unfit.

The person responsible for this ad should have been sent to a Photoshop® class.

8668: Waste 10 Minutes Of Your Life.

This Regions ad is not a 10. In fact, it looks like the art director spent about 10 seconds designing it. And 10 account people probably rewrote the copy. Of course, a committee of 10 clients demanded 10 million revisions. And it likely arrived to the publication 10 days late. All for a total profit of $10 to the agency.

Oh, and the ad will be lucky to generate 10 responses.

8667: The Result Of Inadequate Schooling?

Not sure what to make of this ad. But the copywriter needs to go back to old school, as the comma in the headline seems unnecessary.

8666: Dove Picture Seeking 1000 Words.

The Dove dropping displayed above flew from Tony Rouse in Atlanta to Harry Webber in Los Angeles to MultiCultClassics in Chicago. As this blog has already spent too much time criticizing the obscenities of past Dove efforts, visitors are encouraged to offer their own color commentary on the crap.

8665: Mad Men Does Reflect Mad Ave.

The New York Post detailed the drama surrounding AMC series Mad Men, where the season kickoff is being delayed because of financial and political issues. As always, the show unintentionally mirrors the real advertising industry. For example, like the useless holding company honchos who collect enormous salaries while making the worker bees’ lives miserable, Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner is set to be overpaid with a two-year, $30 million contract—provided he cuts cast members and makes other revenue-generating restructurings. In typical Madison Avenue fashion, the minorities have already been axed. Betty Draper fired Carla the housekeeper last season, and the agency’s move to a new office building effectively eliminated Hollis the elevator attendant. It’s also unlikely that Lane Pryce’s Black trophy girlfriend will resurface; plus, the earlier dumping of copywriter Paul Kinsey means his Black girlfriend is history too. Weiner must reportedly terminate two more characters. If things continue to reflect the actual ad game, look for the figures that make the fewest contributions at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce to keep their jobs. Additionally, the shop will probably try to buy a digital agency.

8664: Culturally Clueless Clio Crap.

Looks like Clio is celebrating the industry’s discriminatory exclusivity—the perfect outdated theme for an irrelevant awards show.

8663: A Home For Moammar.

Political analysts are now wondering where Moammar Gadhafi might seek exile. MultiCultClassics proudly presents:

The Top Ten Places for Gadhafi to Hang.

10. Osama bin Laden’s cave.
9. Hosni Mubarak’s basement.
8. Louis Farrakhan’s guestroom.
7. Foxy Brown’s cabin.
6. Gilligan’s Island.
5. Regis’ replacement — Moammar and Kelly.
4. Charlie Sheen’s house.
3. Undercover Boss.
2. Any circle of Dante’s Inferno.
1. Draftfcb.

8662: Not The Love Boat.

Women’s prerogatives in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• If Foxy Brown opened a chain of beauty salons, the places would require serious security. The recording artist staged another nail-related tirade, this time while on a Royal Caribbean cruise. After arriving 3 hours late for her appointment, Brown exploded when the salon couldn’t accommodate her. She was confined to her cabin and dumped when the ship docked in the Cayman Islands. Look for Royal Caribbean to incorporate the scenario into its YouTube video series—and title it something like, “Ship Happens,” or “Royal Pain In The Ass.”

• Beyoncé bounced her dad, firing him as her manager after two decades of service. Well, at least she didn’t wait until Father’s Day. Look for Beyoncé to replace Donald Trump on The Apprentice if Trump decides to run for president.

8661: Losing One’s Lunch Over Adweek.

WTF is going on at Adweek? The publication that brought you an ignorant and insensitive Elizabeth Taylor story is now headlining this scoop:

Condé Nast Closing Cafeteria

Employees at 750 Third building will have to lunch elsewhere

Really? Adweek can’t find more relevant news than this? Not surprisingly, the ace reporter responsible for the Taylor piece uncovered this latest exposé too. Maybe Adweek is becoming a career stepping stone for journalists with aspirations of one day working at Agency Spy.

8660: 4As Diversity Agenda Invisible, Man.

The 4As posted a transcript of the Welcome and Opening Remarks speech delivered by President and CEO Nancy Hill at the 2011 Transformation Conference. Hill managed to squeeze one diversity-related hiccup into her oratory:

Across the boards, from technology to both new and traditional media, from research to talent union negotiations to increased passion for industry diversity, the 4As staff has worked hard to deliver what you so rightly demand from us.

Well, there’s definitely accuracy to the statement. That is, the industry—across the board—has made no demands regarding increased passion for industry diversity. So the trade organization hasn’t had to work too hard to deliver anything besides making the occasional ADCOLOR® plug, quietly hiring Julius Dunn as Industry Liaison to High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media, and adding Adonis Hoffman’s diversity guide to the 4As online bookstore. Guess one adman’s passion is another adman’s passivity.

As previously mentioned, a scan of the conference schedule revealed zero panels or events for inclusion. However, IPG CEO Michael Roth did spend a few seconds during the powwow featuring holding company honchos to spit out the clichéd “Our industry has to do a better job [on diversity]” admission of guilt. In the words of Dan Wieden, “Now that’s fucked up.”

Hill actually summed it up for conference attendees when declaring, “The 4As is a reflection of you, and our agenda is your agenda.” To complete the mirror image, the organization should replace Hill and her team with a bunch of Old White Guys.

8659: Draftfcb SVP Is Mucho Loco.

Adweek featured a special advertising section on Hispanic Marketing, presenting the stereotypical promotional primer on targeting Latinos. In a story titled, “The Segment Caliente,” reporter Mike Hammer spoke with Draftfcb SVP-Director of Multicultural Strategic Planning Ken Muench, who gushed about his agency’s work for State Farm. According to Muench, a recent Draftfcb study showed that Whites were regarded as having the lowest credibility among ethnic groups, while Latinos ranked the highest. Muench declared, “We leveraged that information and utilized a Hispanic male in one of our most successful insurance campaigns on TV.”

Um, not so fast, amigo.

That particular spokesman—Eddie Matos—is one of the most hated commercial critters around. Google “State Farm Douche Bag” and the search results reveal it all. There are Facebook pages dedicated to dissing him—along with tweets, blogs, YouTube videos and more. Sorry, but Matos may ultimately succeed in completely reversing the Draftfcb study data.

8658: Bill Cosby, Commercial Artist.

From the March 28, 2011 issue of Advertising Age.

8657: Customer Complaints.

The customer is always riled in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A Taco Bell customer in Texas opened fire upon discovering the price of his favorite Beefy Crunch Burrito increased by 50 cents. The event turned into a 4-hour shootout with a SWAT team. Good thing the guy didn’t hear about the controversy surrounding Taco Bell’s beef.

• Abercrombie & Fitch is catching heat over offering padded bikini tops for prepubescent girls, with parents blasting the clothing chain for sexualizing kids. Um, have these parents ever seen any of A&B’s advertising? Much of it rivals the work of Dov Charney.

8656: NAACP Embraces Diversity.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

NAACP makes unprecedented diversity push

By Russell Contreras

The NAACP’s newly revived Worcester, Mass., chapter elected a 28-year-old openly gay black man as its president this month. In New Jersey, a branch of the organization outside Atlantic City chose a Honduran immigrant to lead it last year. And in Mississippi, the Jackson State University chapter recently turned to a 30-something white man.

Founded more than a century ago to promote black equality, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is seeing remarkable diversity in its leadership ranks — the result of an aggressive effort over the last four or five years to boost NAACP membership and broaden the civil rights organization’s agenda to confront prejudice in its many forms.

“This is the new NAACP,” said Clark University political science professor Ravi Perry, the new chapter president in Worcester. “This is a human rights organization, and we have an obligation to fight discrimination at all levels.”

NAACP branches have been recruiting gays, immigrants and young people who grew up in a world far removed from the landmark 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ruling that outlawed school segregation. Now, leadership positions that were once held only by blacks are being filled by members of other racial or ethnic groups.

The group does not keep track of numbers, but in recent years NAACP chapters in New Jersey, Connecticut and Georgia have elected Hispanics as president. A white man was picked to lead the chapter in Aiken, S.C. And two years ago, NAACP members in Hamtramck, Mich., a Detroit suburb, selected a Bangladeshi American to revive their long-dormant chapter.

“Some people mentioned that it wouldn’t be possible for me to be president,” said Victor Diaz, 32, a Dominican American who ran against an incumbent and was elected president of the Waterbury, Conn., branch in November. “But when I ran, I won 3 to 1.”

The push for diversity troubles some members of the NAACP’s old guard, who worry that problems in the black community may get short shrift. But some social scientists say the new diversity is merely a return to the group’s roots as a biracial organization.

In 1964, the NAACP’s membership peaked at 625,000 paid members. By the middle of the last decade, that had dropped to just under 300,000. Now it has reversed course and climbed to more than 525,000, in large part because of an increase in young members, group officials say. The NAACP said it does not keep track of the organization’s racial and ethnic breakdown.

Stefanie Brown, the NAACP’s 30-year-old national field director, said the under-25 crowd is the organization’s fastest-growing age group. In fact, the NAACP has slots on its 60-plus member board of directors reserved for people under 25. In addition, Brown said, young professionals under 40 are taking leadership roles — something that hadn’t happened until recently.

Some in the group say the diversity push weakens the NAACP’s identity. Jamarhl Crawford, editor of the Blackstonian, a Boston website that covers the city’s black population, said he fears it could “water down” the focus on problems in the black community.

“I think there’s going to be some loss there in terms of actual activism, actual protest” on behalf of blacks, said Crawford, a 40-year-old member of the NAACP’s Boston branch.

The diversity push was started a few years ago under then-NAACP chairman Julian Bond. Later, Benjamin Todd Jealous, who in 2008 became the group’s youngest leader at age 35, ramped up the effort and also urged the organization to take up gay rights.

“At our core, we want to end discrimination and have equality for all people,” Brown said.

8655: Have It Your Way, Minority Shops.

Agency Spy posted on the efforts of JWT to weasel its way into the Burger King pitch. For those who missed the news, the fast feeder ended a 7-year relationship with CP+B, putting over $300 million in billings up for grabs. To date, Burger King has not publicly named potential contenders for the competition. So JWT’s ass-kissing tactics are a bit proactive, aggressive and desperate. Pathetic too. Then again, Madison Avenue shops have done crazier things to win $300 million.

JWT lacks the credentials to handle a modern-day Burger King account. The agency was BK’s AOR from 1976-1987, producing gems like “Where’s Herb?” But besides officially abbreviating the company name from J. Walter Thompson to JWT, the place has not dramatically evolved since the 20th century. Indeed, as the first Madison Avenue shop to experience a hostile takeover by Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, one could argue the storied firm has devolved through the years. Creative powerhouse is a descriptor that’s never been applied to JWT. Culturally clueless, on the other hand, seems appropriate and well-deserved.

Yet if an unqualified White advertising agency is willing to prostitute itself at this early stage, why aren’t any minority firms tossing their sombreros, coolie hats and pimp hats into the ring?

Hey, JWT honcho Bob Jeffrey has consistently argued against idea racism in the industry. Surely the man would also support ending review racism—aka Corporate Cultural Collusion.

Consider the situation from Burger King’s perspective too.

For starters, Burger King is allegedly committed to supplier diversity, as evidenced by its website propaganda—including inclusion charts and mantras (depicted below). The fast feeder actually produced a print campaign celebrating its love for colored partners (depicted above). Why, BK was even recognized for displaying best human resources practices by minority media. Is it outrageous to ask the client to live up to its words and select minority shops to participate in the pitch?

To top it all off, BK CEO Bernardo Hees was born in Brazil. Plus, Hees recently remarked that in the U.K., “the food is terrible and the women are not very attractive.” In other words, Hees does not appear to pledge allegiance to White people.

Granted, there is the small matter of Burger King’s 2010 decision to dump its minority shops and hand the multicultural assignments to CP+B. And God only knows how the holding companies might react to their segregated underlings showing assertiveness. But if anyone is truly interested in an opportunity to shape the future, now is the time.

So will minority advertising agencies step forward and demand to be counted? Given their current status at Burger King, they have nothing to lose.

8654: Disney Princess Tampons…?

Forgive the fuzzy scan, but this Disney item features an awkward translation: Princess Stamp Set—Ensemble de tampons.

Also, why does the collection exclude minority princesses Mulan and Tiana?

8653: Branded Bullshit.

Badvertising in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Denny’s and new AOR Gotham recently launched a “branded entertainment” campaign. Ironically, the work does a poor job of branding and it’s not very entertaining. Denny’s Chief Marketing Officer Frances Allen gushed, “The ‘Always Open’ series utilizes celebrities to draw attention to the kinds of dialogue you’ll overhear all the time at Denny’s—sometimes funny, sometimes heartwarming, but always authentic.” Right. Can’t wait to see the episode featuring a Black celebrity. Given the restaurant chain’s history of racial discrimination, the “authentic” dialogue should be hilarious.

• The Shack should change its name to The Rack—gun rack, that is. A Radio Shack in Montana is offering customers a pistol or shotgun with special Dish Network packages. The storeowner claims that since launching the promotion last October, business has tripled. Ditto the threat of his store being held up by armed robbers with Dish Network.

8652: Collecting Chica Chica Cards.

From The New York Daily News…

‘Chica Chica’ cards pimp hookers and prostitution, says state senator who wants to make them illegal

By Kenneth Lovett, Daily News Albany Bureau Chief

ALBANY - They’re called “Chica Chica” cards - and they’re flooding Corona and Jackson Heights, Queens.

They look like baseball cards. But instead of featuring A-Rod or Derek Jeter, they have graphic pictures of naked or half-naked women — with a phone number offering free delivery.

They’re really the business cards of prostitutes and pimps who operate along a stretch of Roosevelt Ave. in Queens — and a move is afoot to make them illegal.

Queens Democratic Sen. Jose Peralta wants to make it a crime to distribute the raunchy cards. He and his Assembly counterpart Francisco Moyo have introduced a bill making distribution of the cards a misdemeanor, categorizing them as obscene material.

“Is this going to eliminate prostitution? It’s not,” Peralta said. “It’s the first step toward improving the quality of life on Roosevelt Ave.”

The lawmakers say that on a nighttime walk down Roosevelt Ave., there will be men uttering the words, “chicas, chicas,” which means “girls, girls” — and they’ll thrust forward one of the cards.

Residents are fed up.

“It’s infuriating,” said Nuala O’Doherty, a 42-year-old mother of three who lives near Roosevelt Ave. “They’re all over the streets in the morning. You can’t get rid of them.”

The cards have led to some awkward questions from her three young kids.

“The kids pick them up,” said O’Doherty. “They’ll ask, ‘Mommy, what are the cards for? Why are the women standing like that? Why do they have no clothes?’

“I don’t have good answers.”

O’Doherty said her husband called the number on one of the cards and was asked all sorts of questions in Spanish about what kind of woman he wants.

“They’ll come to you,” she said. “They’ll bring the girl to you so they don’t have to pay for a room.”

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown calls the “Chica” cards “a vexing problem that is plaguing our communities.”

But he said a law to ban them raises “difficult legal questions under the court’s interpretation of the First Amendment.”

8651: Overreaction Of The Week.

Ford Motor Company reportedly cut orders for Black trucks and SUVs, claiming the earthquakes in Japan resulted in problems getting the paint ingredient. Sure, use a disaster as an excuse for cutting Blacks.

Ford cuts new orders for Tuxedo Black paint

Chicago Sun-Times Staff

Ford Motor Co. has temporarily stopped ordering new full-size pickups and SUVs in so-called Tuxedo Black because of problems getting the paint ingredient from earthquake-devastated Japan. Ford is also scaling back orders of certain vehicles in three shades of red.

8650: Don Imus’ Favorite Burger Joint…?

From The New York Daily News…

‘Fat Ho Burgers’ causes uproar from Christian neighbors; owner says people are missing the humor

By Nina Mandell, Daily News Staff Writer

Fat Ho Burgers is stacking up the controversy.

The slangily-named burger joint made a splash when it opened in the conservative town of Waco, Tex., down the street from Gospel Café – a volunteer-run religious cafe and bookstore.

The menu’s items include Supa Fly Ho with Cheese, Fat Chicken Ho or the Sloppy Ho Brisket. And for the younger Fat Ho customers, there’s Tiny Ho Meals.

But not everyone is getting the joke.

“Would’ve been nice to think a little more sensitively,” Pastor Marsha Martie told local television station myFoxDFW.

There’s also a Facebook group asking Evans to change the restaurant’s name.

But Fat Ho Burgers’ owner Lakita Evans, who opened the joint, said critics are misinterpreting the name.

“It’s not calling people a ho. It’s just like they say, ‘Oooh, that ho is big,’ or, ‘That ho is tight!’” she said. “Look what’s going on in Japan,” she added. “It’s like clear this world is not gonna get any better. Why cry and be depressed? The economy is bad. Somebody gotta keep a sense of humor around here.”

She said the name came to her while she was watching a movie.

“I was watching ‘Phat Girlz’ … and they had like a fat a—burger and skinny a—fries,” she told KWTX.com.

Luckily for Evans, the publicity surrounding her controversial burger joint has reportedly been great for business. On Wednesday, the cash-only business ran out of cash – and the its supply of beef, KWTX.com reported.

8649: Love, American Apparel Style.

American Apparel CEO Dov Charney has been hit by a second lawsuit charging the style guru with sexual harassment. It’s safe to predict that before this is over, Charney will make Charlie Sheen and Tiger Woods look like choirboys.

8648: Hennessy Seeks White Rap Experts.

Advertising Age reported Hennessy is seeking a new advertising agency. Despite recognizing the brand’s popularity in the hip-hop community, the contenders for AOR status are all White agencies. Hey, everyone knows Whites are masters at producing awesome rap videos.

LVMH: Hennessy’s Getting a New Creative Shop Next Month

Three Shops Pitch Cognac Account; Incumbent Berlin Cameron Declined to Participate

By E.J. Schultz

The luxury conglomerate that owns Hennessy plans to pick a new U.S. creative agency for the leading cognac brand in April, the company told Ad Age.

“Hennessy has [a request for proposal] out to three creative agencies,” said a spokesperson for parent LVMH Moet Hennessy. “We are making a greater investment in our advertising campaigns this year and are considering agencies that will help the Hennessy brand make an imprint in a new and innovative way.”

The incumbent agency, WPP’s Berlin Cameron, was invited, but declined to participate in the review, LVHM said. According to people familiar with the pitch, the contenders vying for the business are Interpublic Group of Cos.’ McCann Erickson; MDC Partners’ Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners; and an agency team compiled by Havas. Hennessy’s media agency is Havas’ MPG and its public relations agency is Publicis Groupe’s MSL Group.

In 2010, Hennessy spent $9 million on domestic measured media on its various cognac lines, including Hennessy, Hennessy Black and Hennessy Paradis, up from $4 million the year before, according to Kantar Media. The brand calls itself the No. 1 cognac worldwide, selling 50 million bottles a year. In the U.S., sales were up 2.4% in 2010 to $57.4 million, according to SymphonyIRI.

Founded in 1765 by Irish aristocrat Richard Hennessy, the cognac has been bolstered in recent years by its popularity in the hip-hop community. Hennessy Black, which carries the tagline “Done different,” is billed as a lighter, fresher cognac and promotes its own lineup of DJs, including “DJ Vice” and “D-Nice.”

Contributing: Rupal Parekh

8647: The New Promised Land.

From The New York Times…

Many U.S. Blacks Moving to South, Reversing Trend

By Sabrina Tavernise and Robert Gebeloff

WASHINGTON — The percentage of the nation’s black population living in the South has hit its highest point in half a century, according to census data released Thursday, as younger and more educated black residents move out of declining cities in the Northeast and Midwest in search of better opportunities.

The share of black population growth that has occurred in the South over the past decade — the highest since 1910, before the Great Migration of blacks to the North — has upended some long-held assumptions.

Both Michigan and Illinois, whose cities have rich black cultural traditions, showed an overall loss of blacks for the first time, said William Frey, the chief demographer at the Brookings Institution.

And Atlanta, for the first time, has replaced Chicago as the metro area with the largest number of African-Americans after New York. About 17 percent of blacks who moved to the South in the past decade left New York State, far more than from any other state, the census data show.

At the same time, blacks have begun leaving cities for more affluent suburbs in large numbers, much like generations of whites before them.

“The notion of the North and its cities as the promised land has been a powerful part of African-American life, culture and history, and now it all seems to be passing by,” said Clement Price, a professor of history at Rutgers-Newark. “The black urban experience has essentially lost its appeal with blacks in America.”

During the turbulent 1960s, black population growth ground to a halt in the South, and Southern states claimed less than 10 percent of the national increase then. The South has increasingly claimed a greater share of black population growth since — about half the country’s total in the 1970s, two-thirds in the 1990s and three-quarters in the decade that just ended.

The percentage of black Americans living in the South is still far lower than before the Great Migration in the earlier part of the last century, when 90 percent did. Today it is 57 percent, the highest since 1960.

“This is the decade of black flight,” said Mr. Frey. “It’s a new age for African-Americans. It’s long overdue, but it seems to be happening.”

Read the full story here.

8646: Hispanics Hit 50,000,000.

From The Chicago Tribune…

Hispanic population tops 50 million in U.S.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports the Hispanic population has surpassed 50 million and accounted for more than half of the 27.3-million population increase in the last decade.

By Stephen Ceasar, Los Angeles Times

The Hispanic population in the United States grew by 43% in the last decade, surpassing 50 million and accounting for about 1 out of 6 Americans, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

Analysts seized on data showing that the growth was propelled by a surge in births in the U.S., rather than immigration, pointing to a growing generational shift in which Hispanics continue to gain political clout and, by 2050, could make up a third of the U.S. population.

“In the adult population, many immigrants helped the increase, but the child population is increasingly more Hispanic,” said D’Vera Cohn, a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.

In 2010, Hispanics made up 23% of people under the age 18, compared with 17% in 2000. In California, 51% of children are Hispanic, up from 44% in 2000.

Overall, Hispanics accounted for more than half of the 27.3 million U.S. population increase since 2000.

About 75% of Hispanics live in the nine states that have long-standing Hispanic populations — Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

That figure is down from 81% in 2000, indicating the population has begun dispersing to other parts of the country, particularly in the Southeast, Cohn said.

New Mexico has the largest percentage of Hispanic residents (46.3%), followed by Texas and California (37.6%).

The Hispanic population more than doubled in Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, South Carolina and North Carolina.

“This is a sign that the Hispanic population is spreading out more widely than in the past,” Cohn said. “You now see Hispanic communities in many places that hadn’t had them a decade or two ago.”

The population growth among Hispanics also kept the population steady in states that would have shown a decline or no growth, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana.

The non-Hispanic population grew at a slower pace in the last decade, at about 5%. Within that population, those who reported their race as only white grew by 1%.

While the population of those who reported only as white grew in number in that time, from 196.6 million to 196.8 million, its proportion of the total U.S. population declined to 64% from 69%.

As in the 2000 census, individuals were asked to identify their ethnic or racial background. As guidance, the Census Bureau said the term Hispanic refers to people who trace the origin of their parents or ancestors to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Spanish-speaking Central and South America countries and other Spanish cultures.

A 2008 Census Bureau projection estimated that ethnic and racial minorities will become the majority in the United States by 2050 and that about 1 in 3 U.S. residents will be Hispanic by then.

“Our country is becoming racially and ethnically more diverse over time, as is clear in the growth rates of minority populations,” said Robert Groves, director of the Census Bureau.

Michael A. Memoli in the Washington bureau contributed to this report.

8645: Remaking Lemonade.

Maybe Mickey D’s calls it 365 Black because the fast feeder runs the same contrived ads over and over, 24/7/365.

8644: Stuff White Ad People Like.

This shitty Snapple video has managed to attract over 400,000 wiggers viewers.

8643: Adweek Writes Its Own Obituary…?

People have criticized Alex Bogusky for arguing that the trade press is comprised of clueless hacks who lean toward sensationalism. But the man has a point. Adweek provides more evidence to support Bogusky with its piece on Elizabeth Taylor. See below for a new level of ignorance and insensitivity from a publication that makes Agency Spy look like a Pulitzer Prize winner. Perhaps this story actually signals the death of Adweek.

Elizabeth Taylor’s Bad Timing

Weekly mags’ issues already closed; star’s death unlikely to get much print coverage

By Lucia Moses

Film legend Elizabeth Taylor sold many a magazine during her seven-decade career, but she made it difficult for them to capitalize on her death.

While some of the weeklies threw up the obligatory photo slide shows, obits and commentaries on their Web sites, Taylor died too late in the week to get substantial coverage in print, much less the kind of cover treatments that would normally be done about the death of a star of her magnitude. Most of the magazines send their issues to the printer Monday or Tuesday.

Time and TV Guide, which have yet to close their print issues this week, will still be able to include stories. Reps for People and Entertainment Weekly said their plans were still up in the air.

Of course, there could be another reason for the dearth of weekly print coverage planned so far. The celeb rags are chasing younger readers, so the 79-year-old Taylor’s death, as one weekly’s rep put it, is not “something that would warrant a special edition conversation.” Taylor’s July 2010 cover of Vanity Fair, whose readers skew older, sold just 361,485 print copies, below the magazine’s 396,167 average for the period.

8642: FCC To Fight Radio Racism.

From Adweek…

FCC Promises Action on Discrimination in Ads, But Can It Deliver?

Regulator targets broadcasters, not advertisers on “no Urban,” “no Hispanic” buys

By Katy Bachman

For some time now, advertisers’ practice of making radio buys that come with “no Urban” and “no Hispanic” strings attached has been the industry’s dirty little secret. Now, after years of inaction, the Federal Communications Commission is picking up its cudgel and threatening to get tough with broadcasters who allow that kind of discrimination when they sell airtime.

The commission's enforcement bureau will now require stations to include a non-discrimination clause in their ad contracts, and certify during their license renewal that advertisers did not place a buy that intentionally bypassed Urban or Latino stations.

The issue has been around since the late 1990’s, thanks to the leak of a damning internal memo from a Katz Radio sales rep that called Urban listeners "suspects," not "prospects.” Around the same time, "When Being No. 1 is Not Enough," a report delivered to the FCC, showed that minority stations don't earn as much revenue per listener as general market stations, at least in part because of the industry practice of making ad buys that specifically exclude radio stations that cater to a minority audience.

The FCC doesn’t have any power over advertisers, and can’t control the way they target their buys. But it does have authority over stations, so in 2008—nearly a decade after the Katz memo and landmark study— it adopted a rule that required stations to include nondiscrimination clauses in sales contracts.

The enforcement action for the rule, which came this week, was long overdue, a point minority groups had made last month in a scathing letter sent to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

But the rule might be more of a feel-good thing than anything else. It’s not clear that the FCC can really do much to stop the practice—nor is it clear that the problem is still as widespread as it was when it was first brought to the regulator’s attention.

“Trying to use the FCC’s authority over broadcasters as a method to modify the conduct of advertisers (who are generally beyond the FCC's authority) is a futile approach,” Scott Flick, a partner with Pillsbury Law, wrote on the firm’s CommLawCenter blog.

“I don't know if anyone figured out if it would actually accomplish anything,” Flick told Adweek.

But minority groups see the FCC’s enforcement action as a big step forward. “This [will ensure] that the buy was created without discrimination,” said David Honig, executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council.

8641: The Incredible Shrinking Napkin.

The Chicago Tribune reported on a potential reason why the advertising industry is suffering from a lack of big ideas: the restaurant napkins often used to document concepts are shrinking as well.

Napkins shrink as restaurants economize

By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal

The dinner napkin today is a fraction of its former self.

The 30-inch square, which was considered suitable as lately as 25 years ago, is now likely to be 20 to 22 inches square in a restaurant, and 18 to 22 inches at home. In a reverse trend, lunch napkins, which used to stay a respectful step behind, at 14 to 20 inches, are getting larger — even on the best laps — so that you don’t have to own more than one set of napkins to get through the day.

“We used to stock 27 inches,” said Patty Forrest, manager of the E. Braun store in New York, which sells fine linens. “It’s moving down to 24; 20 was always the luncheon. Twenty-two has become the norm for lunch and dinner.”

E. Braun continues to sell 27-inch napkins to clients who are “a bit more old-fashioned,” Forrest said, “people with a more formal view of dining.” E. Braun, as well as Leron, another fine linens business, will also make napkins to order in any size.

What happened? Cathy Kaufman, a food historian who wrote the entry on napkins in “The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink,” said she thought gradual acceptance of the fork (a process not complete until the 20th century), general economizing on things like fabric and the fact that people no longer dressed elaborately for dinner, all contributed to the Great Shrink.

“That’s kind of an odd question,” said Bettina Fisher, kitchen manager at Del Posto in Manhattan, when asked the size of the restaurant’s dinner napkins. (It’s 20 inches square, as is Babbo’s.)

“You have touched on one of my favorite subjects, and a very sore spot,” wrote chef and author Jeremiah Tower, of napkin size, in an email. “Nothing is more uplifting than a napkin that you can tuck into your coat and which falls over your knees, because it says loudly and clearly that this is a good place, people care, people know.”

Tower mentioned favorite hold-outs in Europe: Le Comptoir in Paris, where they also give you a lap blanket if you sit outside on a brisk day; L’Arnsbourg in Baerenthal, Alsace; Dal Pescatore outside of Milan.

Twenty-four inches square was his Maginot Line. Tower said he travels with his own napkin, stateside.

His former employer, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., uses a 22 inch square in both the dining room and cafe. Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago is 19. Prime Meats in Brooklyn uses 16 3/4 square paper because, as co-owner Frank Falcinelli explained, it’s recyclable and doesn’t engender the water waste and pollution of laundering.

The White House uses 20-by-20-inch napkins for state dinners. Buckingham Palace declined to answer, saying it “does not disclose housekeeping information” on the Royal Household. The Palais de l’Elysee didn’t return calls.

But the descending scale of dinner napkin size is not necessarily a descent into savagery.

“It’s always about proportion,” said Charles Masson, owner of La Grenouille in Manhattan. “Smaller, intimate tables and large napkins is ridiculous.” Masson uses a 21 3/4-inch square, folded into three-ply, presented as square on the plate and then square when opened. His staff wears latex gloves when they fold them in the afternoon. As for waiters presenting the napkins to guests, they don’t. “I don’t like the idea of being obsequious,” he said. “My fundamental philosophy is that the best service quality is one of discretion.”

Masson said he thought Harry Cipriani had the most impeccable table linens in Manhattan. “I don’t know how they do it,” he said. “Chapeau,” he added, which in French, vernacularly, means “I tip my hat.”

Floursacks have become popular and are available in a variety of sizes, colors and weights, online. Martha Stewart uses dish towels or antique linen hand towels as large napkins, which she calls “lapkins.”

Unfolded cotton diapers also work, if you’re willing to go there. Cottonbabies.com sells “Birdseye Flats,” which are 27 inches square. A monogram might help you forget.

::

NAPKIN SIZE INDEX

Applebee’s uses a two-ply paper napkin that is 15 by 17 inches.
Highlands Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Ala., uses a 19-inch square.
Eleven Madison Parkin Manhattan uses a 20-inch square.
Olive Garden restaurants use 20×20-inch cloth napkins for dinner service.
Daniel, as well as Boulud’s other restaurants, uses a 20 1/2-inch square.
The French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., uses a 25-inch square.

8640: Always Awful.

The Ultimate Pad Battle had to be a bloody fight. However, someone should have sent the responsible creatives back to their corners to punch out another round of ideas.

8639: Zero Diversity In Propel Zero Pitch.

Advertising Age reported on another faux pitch for PepsiCo’s Propel Zero. Omnicom has once again managed to stack the deck by literally filling the field with its own shops, ensuring a victory for the network. In other words, the battle for Propel Zero features zero competition. And less than zero minority agencies. It’s another example of Corporate Cultural Collusion that’s as clear as bottled water.

PepsiCo’s Propel Account Goes Into Review

Incumbent Goodby, Which Worked on Brand’s Repositioning, Is Not Part of Agency Pitch

By Natalie Zmuda and Maureen Morrison

PepsiCo has confirmed its Propel Zero business is in review.

Omnicom Group agencies Fathom, New York; 180 Amsterdam; and TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York, are said to be pitching the business. Left out of the pitch is the incumbent, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, also an Omnicom agency, which was recently taken off the marketer’s Sierra Mist business.

Propel has just repositioned itself as Propel Zero, eliminating the calories and targeting an active, older group rather than the competitive athletes it used to seek. The brand is about to break a new campaign as part of that repositioning and expects to significantly boost ad spending. In 2010, Propel spent only $330,000, a massive drop from the $8 million it spent in 2009, and a figure that pales in comparison to its 2008 spending levels of $40 million. Goodby handled the new campaign.

The loss of Propel is a blow to Goodby, as the agency is no longer the lead on any of PepsiCo’s beverage brands. Goodby won Propel in early 2008, a year when PepsiCo plucked its accounts from another Omnicom shop, Element 79, Chicago, which was formed in 2001 primarily to house PepsiCo brands. Goodby still works on PepsiCo’s Cheetos, Doritos, Fritos and Rold Gold. Goodby did not return calls by press time.

Of the shops believed to be in on the pitch, TBWA, already handles several PepsiCo beverage brands, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max and Gatorade.

Omnicom’s DDB, Chicago, earlier this month snagged the Sierra Mist account from Goodby, just as PepsiCo started pushing the brand as Sierra Mist Natural—another rebranding that Goodby did but it still subsequently lost the account. The win was a triumph for DDB, allowing the agency to nudge its way further onto the PepsiCo roster beyond digital work Tribal DDB does for Amp and the African-American marketing Spike DDB does for PepsiCo’s beverages. Goodby added Sierra Mist to its roster in 2009. Sibling BBDO previously handled Sierra Mist.

Shuffling account work among Omnicom agencies is nothing new for Pepsi. In October 2008, for example, the marketer handed Goodby its $120 million Quaker portfolio after pulling it from Element 79. The Quaker portfolio now resides at Omnicom’s Juniper Park, Toronto.

8638: Black Population Shrinkage.

From The Chicago Sun-Times…

Black population shrinking in major cities

By Haya El Nasser

The black population is declining in a growing number of major cities, ¬ more evidence that the settlement pattern of African Americans is changing as they disperse to suburbia and warmer parts of the nation.

2010 Census data released so far this year show that 20 of the 25 cities that have at least 250,000 people and a 20 percent black population either lost more blacks or gained fewer in the past decade than during the 1990s.

The declines happened in some traditional black strongholds: Chicago, Oakland, Atlanta, Cleveland and St. Louis.

Chicago lost more than 200,000 residents, and more than 180,000 of them were African American. In the metropolitan area, the black population fell 3.5 percent to 1.6 million, pushing it 66,000 below metro Atlanta’s.

In America’s big cities, the loss is fueled by three trends:

• Blacks — many in the middle or upper-middle class — leaving cities for suburbs.

• Blacks leaving Northern cities for thriving centers in the South.

• The aging of the African-American population, whose growth rate has dropped from more than 16 percent in the 1990s to about 10 percent since 2000.

“Sadly for Chicago, I think in large part it’s the weather,” says Chinwe Onyeagoro, CEO of O-H Community Partners, a Chicago-based economic development consulting firm.

Sunny skies and warm temperatures are luring not only retirees but also young professionals who may have friends or relatives in the Sun Belt — Atlanta and Houston in particular, she says.

Suburbs anywhere are a huge draw.

“Typically, middle-class African-American families make the same kind of choices that white families have made for some time,” Onyeagoro says. “As soon as kids are school age, they move to the suburbs.”

Atlanta’s loss of blacks tripled since 2000 to almost 30,000. The percentage of blacks in the city shrank to 53 percent from 61 percent. But in Atlanta’s vast metropolitan area, the black population soared 40 percent to 1.7 million, a clear indication that many spread out to suburban counties.

The drop also can be partially attributed to a declining black fertility rate and the aging of the black population, says John Logan, director of US 2010 Project at Brown University, which studies trends in American society. “We’re starting to see the graying not only of the white population but of the black population,” he says.

Gannett News Service

8637: Quacking Casting Call.

The New York Times reported Aflac and Monster.com are teaming up with a contest to find the new duck voice to replace Gilbert Gottfried. Two quick suggestions: Ted Williams or any Japanese actor.

8636: Wonder Woman for Wonderbra…?

Somebody should organize a tie-in with the babe and bra brand now.

8635: Weekend Shots.

Hit by the news in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Wyclef Jean insists he was shot in the hand while campaigning in Haiti for presidential candidate Michel Martelly. But local police claim he was injured by glass. In addition to being denied the opportunity to run for president of Haiti, the recording artist is ineligible to be a gunshot victim as well.

• Snoop Dogg will team up with Colt 45 to launch a new label called Blast by Colt 45, containing fruit flavors and twice the alcohol level of original Colt 45. It works every time—in half the time.

8634: Too Many Chiefs.

Advertising Age published a ridiculous column titled, “Want to Retain Talent? Time to Appoint a Chief Culture Officer.” Can’t knock author Lorraine Lockhart for capitalizing on the recent talent management crisis that surfaced at the 4As 2011 Transformation Conference to hype her book—which happens to be a semi-new release in the 4As Management Series. But her basic premise displays a culture cluelessness, likely rooted in an unfamiliarity with agencies today. Otherwise, Lockhart would realize that it will only be beneficial to hire a Chief Culture Officer if agencies simultaneously fire the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Creative Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Diversity Officer and all the other Chiefs who make life unbearable for the “Indians” doing the work.

8633: The Smell Of Whiteness.

To truly experience The White Collection, simply visit the advertising agency responsible for this Air Wick® campaign.

8632: Guess Who’s Coming To Deep South.

From The New York Times…

Black and White and Married in the Deep South: A Shifting Image

By Susan Saulny

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — For generations here in the deepest South, there had been a great taboo: publicly crossing the color line for love. Less than 45 years ago, marriage between blacks and whites was illegal, and it has been frowned upon for much of the time since.

So when a great job beckoned about an hour’s drive north of the Gulf Coast, Jeffrey Norwood, a black college basketball coach, had reservations. He was in a serious relationship with a woman who was white and Asian.

“You’re thinking about a life in South Mississippi?” his father said in a skeptical voice, recalling days when a black man could face mortal danger just being seen with a woman of another race, regardless of intentions. “Are you sure?”

But on visits to Hattiesburg, the younger Mr. Norwood said he liked what he saw: growing diversity. So he moved, married, and, with his wife, had a baby girl who was counted on the last census as black, white and Asian. Taylor Rae Norwood, 3, is one of thousands of mixed-race children who have made this state home to one of the country’s most rapidly expanding multiracial populations, up 70 percent between 2000 and 2010, according to new data from the Census Bureau.

In the first comprehensive accounting of multiracial Americans since statistics were first collected about them in 2000, reporting from the 2010 census, made public in recent days, shows that the nation’s mixed-race population is growing far more quickly than many demographers had estimated, particularly in the South and parts of the Midwest. That conclusion is based on the bureau’s analysis of 42 states; the data from the remaining eight states will be released this week.

In North Carolina, the mixed-race population doubled. In Georgia, it expanded by more than 80 percent, and by nearly as much in Kentucky and Tennessee. In Indiana, Iowa and South Dakota, the multiracial population increased by about 70 percent.

“Anything over 50 percent is impressive,” said William H. Frey, a sociologist and demographer at the Brookings Institution. “The fact that even states like Mississippi were able to see a large explosion of residents identifying as both black and white tells us something that people would not have predicted 10 or 20 years ago.”

Census officials were expecting a national multiracial growth rate of about 35 percent since 2000, when seven million people — 2.4 percent of the population — chose more than one race. Officials have not yet announced a national growth rate, but it seems sure to be closer to 50 percent.

The contour and the shade of the change are not uniform. In states like California, Hawaii and Oklahoma, where people of mixed race already made up a significant percentage of the total, the increases were smaller than in places like Mississippi, where there were far fewer mixed-race people to start with. In Hawaii, for instance — where the multiracial group accounts for 23 percent of the population, highest of any state — the growth since 2000 was 23.6 percent.

Also, in Hawaii, the predominant mix is Asian and white and native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, while in Oklahoma, it is American Indian and white. In Mississippi, the most common mix is black and white — historically and today the two groups least likely to intermarry, sociologists say, because of the enduring social and economic distance between them. (It was also against the law until 1967.)

Read the full story here.

8631: Junk In The Trunk.

Just caught this Cars.com commercial that ran during the 2011 Super Bowl. Besides being lame, it’s sexist and racist. The convertible named Sheila is ogled for being topless, while the spot closes with a car shopper checking out a minivan and remarking, “See, just like the review said: big rear end”—which gets an “Excuse me?!” response from the vehicle’s sassy Black female voice.