Newspeak

Advertisers Becoming Literate

Major advertisers are "changing the rules of magazine publishing," reports the Wall Street Journal, by breaking down the walls separating ads from editorial content. Now a number of corporations are demanding written summaries of articles before submitting their ads. Recently, Chrysler sent a letter to Esquire, and 100 other magazines, informing them, "In an effort to avoid potential conflicts, it is required that Chrysler corporation be alerted in advance of any and all editorial content that encompasses sexual, political, social issues or any editorial content that could be construed as provocative or offensive." I particularly like that "could be construed" part. Countering critics who worry about freedom of the press, Pentacom CEO David Martin points out the reasonableness of advertisers’ demands because, given ads that cost $22,000 a piece, "you want it surrounded by positive things." Esquire certainly agreed. After receiving their letter from Chrysler, they canceled a scheduled story with a gay theme. -- (WSJ 4/30)

 

Mr. Bojangles Goes Corporate

Bob Dylan and a host of rock performers have discovered a new direction for their talents: private concerts for corporations. Carly Simon has done three shows for conventions of Merril Lynch stockbrokers, while Dylan, the Eagles, and Crosby, Stills and Nash were off entertaining the financial analysts from Nomura Asset Capital Corp. Even younger bands like Gin Blossoms and Toad The Wet Sprocket have been jumping on the corporate gravy train, which often pays three times what bands can make from a regular concert. While critics complain about the counter culture being ripped off "as a dividend for a company’s sales reps," supporters say that such cynicism is out of step with the 1990s when groups like the Rolling Stones are doing commercials for Microsoft. For those who blanch at the thought of CEO’s setting the song list for an artist like Dylan, there are these words from Nomura president Ethan Penner. "I am not here paying someone a lot of money to amuse themselves—they are here to amuse me." Smile big, Bob. -- (WSJ 4/28)

 

Che Guevera Is Back

Cuba’s major revolutionary export, Che Guevera, is back in vogue with a best-selling memoir, and several biographies and movies coming out about him. This is a result of the fact that, to quote the NY Times, "his image has become more vivid, complex and commercial." For example, Raichle Molitar, distributors of Fischer’s Revolution Skis, is holding a Che look-a-like contest to sell their skis. Explained spokesperson Jim Fleischer, "We felt that the Che image—just the icon and not the man’s doings—represented what we wanted: revolution, extreme change." This corporate pursuit of revolution, just the icon and not the reality, is also helping to sell Swatch watches and even ash trays. All of this commercialization has left Cubans somewhat mystified, but then they don’t live in the "free world." -- (NYT 4/30)

 

Balanced Environmentalism

Are you worried that our young are receiving an "unbalanced" view of the environment? Well, so are state officials in Texas. Like many critics of environmental education, they are concerned about children being "scared green" by textbooks and the media. Conservative author Michael Sanera warns, "Children are getting slogans and dogma instead of being taught to think critically." To correct this problem the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission sponsored a conference for educators to help them present more balanced accounts of environmental problems. Invited to address them were experts from Exxon and the state’s leading oil and chemical corporations. In fact, to make sure all viewpoints were heard, all of the state’s major polluters were invited. To ensure that only objective information was presented, activist environmental groups were excluded. -- (WP 4/22)

 

Teen Smoking Going Up

Recent studies have shown a marked increase in teen smoking, a fact critics are quick to blame on cigarette advertising. But according to the NY Times, industry officials say these critics "grossly exaggerate the effect of their marketing." What, after all, is a mere $4.83 billion in ads going to accomplish? Fortunately, the tobacco industry has found another culprit. It turns out a major cause of increased teen smoking, according to them, is the anti-smoking campaign. This happens because teenagers are "naturally rebellious against efforts to stop them from smoking." Meanwhile, Andrew Schindler, president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, testified under oath that smoking cannot kill. This good news was followed by Schindler’s shocking revelation that smoking is no more addictive than coffee or carrots. "Carrot addiction?" asked an unbelieving attorney. "Yes,’’ Schindler answered. "There was British research on carrots." Crisis hot lines are opening now for you carrot addicts. -- (AP 4/21, NYT 4/20)

 

More Help for CEO’s

Those of you who were out celebrating the news that pay for CEO’s rose a whopping 55 percent last year may have missed a smaller item about another side of executive compensation—moving expenses. Newly hired company presidents often face tremendous expenses moving their families from one city to another. That is why they are given relocation expenses. For example, new Banker Trust CEO Frank Newman was given $1.1 million to cover expenses in moving from Washington, DC to New York, while Times Mirror CEO Mark Whiles was paid a "housing differential allowance" of $871,855 to cover the difference in housing costs between Minneapolis and Los Angeles. These payments have the advantage, says the Wall Street Journal, of "pumping up CEO pay without ballooning the highly visible salary." But the expense is all worthwhile, declares Sears VP Bernard Brosky, because "Making their lives pleasant and giving them what they want is a necessary situation." Words of wisdom. -- (WSJ 4/7)

 

Freedom of the Press

Newt the Grinch got back into prime form while addressing a conference of advertising executives following a dreadful low period when he was once described by Rep. Pete King as "the most powerful liberal in American politics." Newt explained the difficulties he faces trying to get the Republican message across. "It’s very hard to communicate that partly because the media, which you all control with your advertising, doesn’t have a clue what we are doing..." Apparently Newt believes they are doing something. And who’s fault  is the sad shape of our media? "The responsibility for a news media that can’t report accurately how the world works, rests on those who pay for it, and that’s the advertisers." Advertisers just need to do a better job of controlling their employees. And who better to have an accurate picture of how the world works than our advertisers? Right on Newt. -- (NYT 4/23)

 

Soul Marketing

American Demographics magazine proudly reports on a growing trend among successful churches of relying on marketing tools. The "Church Growth" movement, founded by Donald McGavran, holds that increasing church size is not just a result of spreading goodwill, but of the intelligent use of commercial marketing. Says the magazine, "Terms like ‘market segment,’ ‘niche,’ and ‘satisfied customer’ trip easily off their tongues." Church planners, like Methodist Jack Heacock, use demographic research to "reach the largest market segment," while Mormon planner Kristen Goodman uses it to tap the fruitful "marriage markets." A model of this approach is the 2nd Baptist Church which has grown to 20,000 members thanks to its health club, singles group, and a "vigorous entertainment schedule" designed with help from Walt Disney. Sadly, churches still confront pockets of people who decry the use of sales tools, described by Pasedena futurist, Joe Webb, as the "reactionaries." -- (AD 3/97)

 

Investing in Democracy

The outcry over China funneling money to the Democrats in the last election finally jogged a reporter’s memory about the U.S. engaging in the same practice. The NY Times’ John Broder reported that Congress routinely appropriates $30 million a year for the National Endowment for Democracy. The NED spends those funds on candidates and "institution building" in countries like Nicaragua, Portugal, North Ireland, Bolivia, and China (which received $1.6 million last year). However, Louisa Coan, NED’s program officer for East Asia was quick to point out that their spending in other countries elections is not comparable to other nations meddling in our affairs. The difference? "We support people who otherwise would not have a voice in their political system...where governments or other social forces prevent open and peaceful political processes." -- (NYT 3/31)

 

"Sweatshops" Ended

The Clinton administration and major clothing producers reached agreement on what constitutes a "sweatshop." Clothiers like Nike and Reebok will be able to apply a "No Sweatshop" label to their clothes by not hiring children or pushing workers past 60 hours of work per week or paying below minimum wages. Thus, workers making 40 cents an hour in Haiti, China, or Indonesia will no longer be working in "sweatshops." An important advance. Meanwhile, the Eddie Bauer Co. was honored by the U.S. Department of Labor. The trendy sportswear chain made the government’s Trendsetter List of corporations battling sweatshop conditions despite the fact that much of it’s clothing is produced by prison labor, a minor fact the Labor Department and the media seem to have overlooked; the same prison labor our State Department criticizes China for using. Prisoners in Washington state learn the garment trade through the efforts of Redwood Outdoors, Inc., a major supplier to Eddie Bauer, and earn between $1.80 and $2.80 an hour. Sounds like "trendsetting" at its best. -- (NYT 4/16, Seattle P-I 4/1, Counterpunch 3/15/96)

 

Democracy Upgrade

Throw away your civics text books. We’ve been promoted beyond mere democracy. For this news we have to go to Zaire, to a spokesperson for one of our mining companies, American Mineral Fields. Earl Young and his company have been buying diamonds from both sides in Zaire’s civil war. But is Young worried about what may happen if the rebels win? No. In fact, he beamed with optimism during a National Public Radio interview, happy in the knowledge that because we’ve won the Cold War, people know that "Capitalism is a good form of government." Some of you may remember we once spoke of representative democracy in a similar manner. Some may view Young’s words as the faux pas of a nouveau riche type unschooled in the subtleties of the country club. We are supposed to point to our elected officials, after all. But Young’s view does have a noble lineage. Consider the immortal words of John Jay, our nation’s first chief justice, words reportedly found engraved in the Lincoln Bedroom: "The people who own the country ought to govern it." -- (NPR 4/17)

 

Financial Ties

Poor Knoll Pharmaceutical. The company paid researchers at the University of California at San Francisco $250,000 to see if their thyroid medicine was better than generic brands, and the scientists couldn’t get the results right. In fact, UCSF’s Dr. Betty Dong wanted to publish their finding that Knoll’s expensive medication, used by almost eight million Americans, was no better than cheaper generic competitors. Unfortunately for her, Knoll managed to find "significant flaws" in the research, decided it wanted to get this information to the public "in a balanced view," and blocked its publication. After years of litigation, the New England Journal of Medicine finally published the study, but not before one final hurdle was cleared. Now that corporate grants have largely replaced government funding, the Journal had trouble finding five experts to judge the study who did not have financial ties to Knoll. -- (NYT 4/16)

 

Legal Tangle at Heaven’s Gate

One of the more intriguing aspects of the cult suicide of 39 people in California is the fact that the Society of Heaven’s Gate took out insurance against the possibility of alien abduction. Now a specialist in insurance law, attorney John McCarthy, has come forth and declared the cult may be entitled to $39 million under the terms of the policy. After all, who’s to say they weren’t abducted? Maybe the aliens’ transporters weren’t up to Star Trek standards? "All of the physical evidence suggests that they expected to be transported to another world," McCarthy said. Heaven’s Gate took out the policy from a respected London insurance agency named Goodfellow Rebecca Ingrams Pearson. The policy not only insured each member against abduction by space aliens, but also against wrongful deaths or impregnation by alien beings (a real bonus). And the finest legal minds working for the state of California approved the policy. -- (AP 4/5)