NewSpeak

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the Journal to "Teamster Lords." These Lords won because, "Modern media politics isn’t about substance or subtle distinctions. It’s about spin and sound bites..." Pretty shocking. Makes it tough for the corporate message to get out. In this shallow media spin-controlled world, the public bought "the alleged injustice of part-time work." But before you start worrying about the public buying into even more heinous "alleged injustices," the Journal has a message of hope. "The economic forces that have weakened unions and strengthened the U.S. economy since 1980 continue to move ahead..." (WSJ 8/20)

No Free Lunch

In Florida, a state court has ruled that jails may charge money for meals and medicine, thus allowing the Marion County jail to continue their innovative program of teaching economics to prisoners. This was an important victory for the county’s program, because, said Sheriff Ken Ergle, "We’re not some backwoods, seat of the pants operation." No, the Marion County approach has one very unique element of fairness that show-<R>cases its modernity. Prisoners in the 13,000 bed facility are allowed to pay for their meals whether they are guilty or not. "If you’re in jail," Sheriff Ergle said, "it’s because you went in the initial stages of due process and a judge found there was reason to hold you. Even if you were found innocent, you were still lawfully and legally detained." It’s all done by the book, just like in the big city. (Reuters, 8/29)

A Win-Win Situation

A rare case of collective amnesia swept through Congress. When it was announced that the newly passed 15 cents a pack tax on cigarettes could be deducted from the $387 billion tobacco industry settlement, no one in Congress could remember who had written it. All they knew was that a single sentence granting the crediting of $50 billion was tucked away in the miscellaneous section of the budget. This on top of the fact that the $387 billion fine is tax deductible has helped produce a "fairer" result for tobacco companies. But how about the tobacco company executives? Will they be treated fairly for their roles in selling a drug that Phillip Morris CEO Geoffrey Bible says "might have" caused 100,000 deaths? The answer is yes. The Institute for Policy Studies released a report showing the industries top 15 executives stand to make an extra $206 million, according to Wall Street analysts, from their stock options if the tobacco settlement goes through. So every- body gets to win in this script, just like in a Hollywood movie. (AP 8/22, Boston Globe 7/31)

Love It or Leave It

The Allied Insurance Company struck a blow for the use of the English language when they fired two workers for speaking Spanish without authorization. Unfortunately a little confusion was created because of the fact the two workers were hired for their ability to speak Spanish. Or more precisely, the two Spanish speaking women were hired, said co-owner Linda Polk "to speak Spanish to non-American- speaking people" but not to each other. Despite their outreach efforts to "non-American- speaking people," the company held firm to the principal that it was an English speaking office. They even sent out an official memo about their policy, but to no avail. The two offenders refused to sign the memo because they didn’t want their heritage taken away, or some such trivial reason, and had to be fired on the spot. The bottom line? Basic etiquette. Polk said the two were "being very rude for speaking in a language we don’t understand." (AP 8/14)

The Stones’ New Logo

Sprint has joined forces with the Rolling Stones, the pioneers of corporate-sponsored rock tours. In return for about $6 million, Sprint can not only advertise itself as the official sponsor but actually offer its customers first crack at Stones tickets. To demonstrate the creative potential of deals between popular bands and giant corporations, the two unveiled a new logo—the famous wagging tongue impaled on the Sprint pin. Surely a symbol of free speech in the 1990s. But will corporate sponsorship impale the rebellious spirit of the Stones? Or will the musicians’ antics sully the good reputation of Sprint? Not to worry, says David Jacobson, editor of the IEG Sponsorship Report, "They have a certain business savvy so they’re not as likely to run afoul of the law and embarrass them- selves and their sponsors." Meanwhile, the U2 tour is being sponsored by Wal-Mart, notorious for its censorship of rock lyrics. (AP 8/18)

Latin America Modernized

The U.S. will finally be selling advanced weapons to Latin American nations. Traditionally, our government has been loathe to set off local arms races between prestige-seeking dictators, but the current menu of stable democracies has brought changes in policy. In the words of Assistant Secretary of State Thomas McNamara, the U.S. had to allow Latin American countries to modernize their militaries "as any modern democracy would." Try to imagine a democracy without the latest Stealth bomber? But the prize for best use of the English language in defense of enlarging the military porkbarrel for Lockheed goes to White House spokesperson Michael McMurry. Just listen to his scintillating prose: "It is in America’s national security interest to promote stability and security among our neighbors in the hemisphere by engaging them as equal partners as they modernize and restructure their defense establishment." How could we ever be "equal partners" with nations that don’t have their own F-16 fighter planes? (NYT 8/2)

Loan Sharks Go Respectable

Not only are Jim Palmer and the Money Store providing loans for poor people at 25 percent interest, but now a host of our leading corporations, like the Travelers Group, General Electric, Ford Motors, and Key Bank, are competing to supply money to those in need. Last year Ford made $2.8 billion, two-thirds of their profit, from the practice now legitimized as "subprime lending." The unregulated business of providing poor people with credit at sky high interest rates has grown into a $300 billion dollar industry serving 50 million Americans who don’t qualify for standard loans. Lenders like Key Bank have been real leaders in this field, closing 140 branch offices so they could concentrate on buying up other subprime lending companies. Keycorp CEO Henry Meyer says "Our branches are now sales centers, and their goal is to sell, sell, sell." Even better is the news that middle-class people can participate in loan sharking by buying packages of loans safely labeled "subordinate mortgage- backed securities." Only in America. (Village Voice 7/15)

Youth Outreach

Advertising Age recently saluted the "Marketing 100," the key ad executives whose ideas have helped build strong brands. Prominent in this select group was Victor Lindsley, who has navigated Newport Cigarette’s "Alive With Pleasure" ad campaign for the Compton Partners. Newport has slowly risen to become our second most purchased cigarette thanks to its commitment to maintaining high ad spending while other tobacco producers have had "waffling ad budgets." But in our quote of the month, Ad Age goes on, citing industry analyst Roy Barry, to praise the fact that "Newport has a younger smoker profile than Kool, an elusive but important growth factor in tobacco marketing." Just how young that smoker profile was, they didn’t say. But it would seem logical, the younger the profile, the more Ad Age would be singing praises. A further note, Seagram’s Whiskey also won accolades for the "boldness" of its "groundbreaking" return to TV advertising. (AA 6/30)

Newspaper Cooperation

While many complain the boundary between news and advertising is collapsing, others give awards for bridging the gap. The Newspaper Association of America and Advertising Age teamed up to present this year’s Newspaper Marketing Achievement Award to the Seattle Times. Faced with increased competition in their eastern suburbs, the Times formed an interdepartmental team to meet the challenge. News reporters worked with marketing and advertising people to make their news coverage more relevant to the paper’s marketing needs. Reporters not only wrote more eastside news stories, but they created and participated in eastside community events. Said Times corporate marketing director Robert C. Blethen, "It’s fairly unusual to have the involvement of the news department to go after a challenge like this...but that is how we are going about solving problems." We can hardly wait to see the next marketing challenge the Times news department "involves" itself in. (AA 7/21)

More Newspaper Cooperation

The New York Times web site announced a valuable new service they will be providing for their advertisers. They will be making their entire data base of information on users available so that advertisers can deliver personalized banners. Melissa Bane, senior analyst with the Yankee Group, reports that "Personalization is a very hot topic now." And the Times is right at the forefront. Not only will the Times site select appropriate ads for your viewing according to your income, gender, age, etc., but the Times will track where you go and keep records of it. Ami Goodhart, K2 Design’s media director, said in a glowing testimonial, "with the New York Times registered data base, we were able to target the banners and know 100 percent that they were reaching the correct people." You can just imagine the relief they must feel knowing that "incorrect" people are not reading their banners thanks to the Times cooperation. (AA 7/14)

Beer Industry Earns Praise

The Wall Street Journal showered accolades on the makers of beer commercials for having "made beer not only benign, but hip." Despite the fact that 80 percent of excess drinking involves beer, according to the Alcohol Research Group, the beverage has managed to maintain a wholesome image thanks to the efforts of ad agencies like DDB Needham. This is the Anheuser- Busch ad agency that has brought us frogs, ants, Clydesdales, and Spuds McKenzie. Needham has, says the Journal, "sought to woo a younger generation" with ads that look and feel like soft-drink commercials. But not all of beers’ wholesome reputation is due to image-making. According to an unnamed spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch, "The public understands that beer is different. Beer is the beverage of moderation." Still on a roll, the same spokesperson adds that beer can be part of "a healthy lifestyle." (WSJ 8/14)

Little League Goes Prime Time

If 11-year-old Little Leaguers did not have pressure to win before from parents, they may find things a little different with the announce- ment by ESPN2 that they will be broadcasting a slew of games next year. The Disney- owned channel will show regional finals from four cities, the Little League World Series, and the All Star game. All of this has been made possible because advertisers have become interested in the well being of our youth. The Wall Street Journal gushes that "it’s the very innocence of Little League games—kids playing simply because they love the sport—that has drawn increasing notice from major advertisers." Like sharks drawn to fresh blood, less objective cynics might add. Don Hintze, sales manager for Major League Baseball Publications says, somewhat obscurely, that "It’s a very wholesome audience that advertisers want to reach." Wholesome audience? For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what he meant until learning that Little League is failing to draw kids from the inner city. (WSJ 8/12)