Top 5 NEWSPEAK Stories of the Week
Wayne Grytting
Sponsored by AMERICAN NEWSPEAK at http://www.scn.org/news/newspeak/
Written by Wayne Grytting
Movies As Billboards
Reeboks is suing the makers of the movie "Jerry McGuire". Tom Cruise's
flick set a modern record for the number of paid "product placements" in a
major motion picture. Two dozen companies paid to have their products
prominently placed in scenes of a movie about the commercialization of
sports. Sadly, after providing $1.5 million in advertising services and
other benefits. Reeboks found their scene on the cutting room floor. Mark
Workman, a V-P at Columbia Tri-Star explained the facts of life to
Reeboks. "A sophisticated soft-drink or shoemaker realizes," he said, "
that film makers at the end of the day have to be true to their visions."
So true. What country bumpkins those Reeboks people must be. Products
can't just be placed anywhere in a movie, otherwise their appearance can
appear contrived, say industry experts. The most flagrant example of this
sin is Superman II, in which Marlboro appeared 20 times, including the
final scene in which Superman is thrown into a Marlboro truck. A little
overdone, and probably not even "true to their visions." (NYT 2/7)
A Rose By Any Other Name....
Government aid to corporations has finally found some able public
spokesmen. Corporate trough feeding has been under attack even by
Republicans after polling showed it third on the public's hate list behind
waste and fraud in government. But William Workman of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce has a timely warning about the loaded phrase "corporate welfare.
"One man's corporate welfare," he says, "is another man' paycheck" (
let's not forget trickle down economics).Then maybe we should find a
better term than "corporate welfare". Fortunately, John Deluca, president
of the Wine Institute, has been thinking about just this problem. He
defends the Agriculture Department's Market Access Program which funnels
$100 million a year to needy firms like Miller Beer, Gallo wine and
Mcdonald's so they can advertise abroad, because other countries do the
same. His suggestion: "Corporate welfare should be renamed competitive
equity." Doesn't that have a nice ring to it? (NYT 2/2)
The O.J. Media Scorecard
Dan Rather of CBS took a bold stand criticizing the two and a half year
media O.J. feeding frenzy. Mr. Rather called the second Simpson trial
"another media circus... one of the most over-covered stories in recent
memories. " And just how many times did he use Simpson as his lead story?
Try 66 times. CBS was second only to NBC which began its Evening News with
the trials 73 times. Sounds like an addict denouncing drugs or a Clinton
attacking campaign donations on the way to a fund-raiser. Further stats
from the New York Times: 40 books have been written on the murders and 17
have made the best seller lists. Simpson has graced the covers of Time and
Newsweek a record 20 times and the National Enquirer 88 times. Finally,
the highest honor, 2 people connected to the trial have posed for Playboy.
But somehow the Times forgot to print how many times O.J. had been their
front page story. (NYT 2/2)
New Advertising Space Found!
The Wall Street Journal, in a rare critical mood, reports that "It's hard
to find a square inch in stores, streets and malls that doesn't have an
advertisement plastered on it." Well, Addvantage Media Group has found
such a space right on our shopping carts. They are marketing calculators
that fit right on the carts with a space for mini-billboards. Says
Addvantage, you can now "hit consumers where you've always wanted" (which
apparently is not in the posterior). Instead of 30 seconds of exposure,
advertisers can have 40 to 50 minutes during crucial buying time. Says one
client, Clorox, the mini-billboards are a "way to break through the
clutter at an unusual contact point." Almost like a Vulcan mind-meld.
You can look forward to these "convenient and helpful" devices at all
better Wal-mart and Kmart stores. (WSJ 2/5)
It's Retraction Time
Those cynics who've ever implied that Republican soft money contributions
were meant to sway election results should get ready to apologize. The
record has been set straight by the director of Citizens for Reform,
conservative activist Peter Flaherty. The pro-business Citizens for Reform
was established to counter the reform efforts of Organized Labor and to
push for a balanced budget. In the last campaign, said Flaherty, "The sole
purpose of our ads was to bring facts to the public." Sounds like the
mission statement of the Jeopardy show. But didn't the ads help
Republicans? "That could have happened," said Flaherty, "but it wasn't our
intention." It's not their fault if exposure to the "facts" causes people
to vote Republican. Right? And keeping to the high moral road, Flaherty
refused to divulge contributor's names because "We respect the privacy of
our donors." Shouldn't we all. (WSJ 2/5)
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