Posts Tagged ‘Elitism’
Really good stereotypers
Recently, I’ve been working on a minority-focused campaign, and it’s done nothing but made me ask lots of questions. Now, for a typical white guy working in the ad industry, I am blessed to both work for a minority-owned firm and have very candid relationships with several black people I work with, which means they will give me nothing but honest feedback on whether or not an idea is treading too close to that mythical line of offensiveness. And for our whole creative team, that’s an invaluable asset. But this process has made me analyze the way other brands flail in their attempts to market to segments by ethnography instead of demography. All that’s to say: I don’t think anybody is getting minority-targeted marketing right.
We killed the media?
It’s often nice to see one broken business model throwing stones at another broken business model. That’s kind of like the Unions blaming the auto industry for making their cars too expensive because they pay their workers too much. But for anybody to insinuate that the Rock Mountain News, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, et al, are declaring bankruptcy and floundering in their own ink because advertising sucks, you’re more stupider than I thought.
In today’s New York Times, their Idea of the Day references an article from TechCrunch and another from The Economist to bolster their case that the shuttering of newspapers across America is all the fault of advertisers. This notion suggests that our work is bad and people don’t want advertising, therefore we’ve been the crutch that fed their fetid business model for years. We’re already the most hated profession in America, so why not pile on a bit more, eh? It’s way easier to blame somebody else. In Disney’s animated film, Meet the Robinsons, the antagonist, Mike “Goob” Yagoobian, makes this great comment: “Hmmm, let’s see: take responsibility for my own life or blame you. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Blame you wins hands down!” So for anybody associated with newspapers, this is so much easier to do. They could look at their archaic business model or the fact that they’ve all become opinion papers instead of journalists, but I think they would much rather find somebody else to blame. And under the current “blame somebody else” zeitgeist, it’s perfect.
Book review: Billy
While on vacation this past week, I read Albert French’s seminal work, Billy. From a literary standpoint, the book was very good. Set in the rural hallows of Mississippi in 1937, the story revolves around Billy Lee Turner, a 10 year old boy who kills a 15 year old white girl in quasi self defense. The book chronicles his capture, conviction and eventual execution at the hands of the white establishment. Throughout the novel French maintains a mastery of the language throughout the book and tells the story from an intriguing and compelling point of view. The plot, which careens toward destiny even from the opening pages, gives the reader hope that what seems both eminent and gut-wrenching might not actually happen. And while I can praise Mr. French for his literary prowess, I have to harshly critique him for writing that which he does not know.
I grew up in Mississippi, a fact I am proud of despite everyone outside of the state telling me I should be ashamed of. Albert French never lived in Read more »