9863: SafeAuto Kicks Ass. And Balls.

Missed this SafeAuto 2011 Super Bowl spot. The original concept features a guy getting kicked in the balls repeatedly. The insurance advertiser also produced a safer version with the same guy getting kicked in the ass.

9862: SafeAuto Insures Offensiveness.

What the hell is wrong with SafeAuto? The classic “Daddy’s Got Car Insurance” has been re-released in a 45-second version. Then there’s the indescribably awful “Morenimum” polluting the airwaves.


Latinos are made to look like fools as well.

9861: Total Rewards, Total Recall.

Total Rewards is hyping its promotion featuring millions in prizes—including a chance to see Celine Dion. Oops.

9860: Princesses & Prejudices.

For Valentine’s Day, Disney presented culture- and color-coordinated candy: White Cinderella is Vanilla while Black Tiana is Watermelon.

From Sociological Images.

9859: AT&T, Rethink Media Schedule.

AT&T hypes its super-fast network that keeps people informed up to the second, yet the telecom doesn’t seem to realize Black History Month ended four days ago—or that February had 29 days this year.

9858: KFCarnival.

KFC puts a cultural spin on Blacks dancing over fried chicken with this Carnival commercial from CMB Creative in the West Indies.

9857: Mad Woman Cashing In On Mad Men.

From Advertising Age…

True Tales and Cocktails with the Real Mad Men and Women of Madison Avenue

Hobnobbing with Mary Wells Lawrence, Jane Maas and More

By: Rupal Parekh

There’s a wealth of buzz about the next season of Mad Men, the AMC soap opera about advertising that returns later this month. But the premiere will likely pale to what I got to do last night—hang out with the real thing: legendary advertising folks from that era.

Ad Age Executive Editor Judann Pollack and I met them at the home of former Ogilvy Chairman-CEO Ken Roman, who’s also the author of David Ogilvy biography “The King of Madison Avenue.” The occasion? A fete in honor Jane Maas, the author of the new book “Mad Women,” which tells the story of life on Madison Avenue in the 1960’s from the female perspective.

Mr. Roman and his wife Ellen reside in the penthouse of a building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side that offers a panoramic view of the East River and New York’s Gracie Mansion (historically the official residence of the Mayor, but New York’s current Mayor and billionaire Michael Bloomberg only uses it for meetings). It’s not just a stunning place; it’s also a building that boasts a bit of ad history, spanning three different holding companies.

Several years ago, a number of rival ad execs all inhabited the place at the same time. Mr. Roman told a story about getting into the elevator one morning a number of years ago in a suit and encountering former BBDO CEO Allen Rosenshine and ex-Interpublic Group Chairman-CEO Phil Geier, who were similarly attired. The lift then stopped on another floor and in walked Charlie Moss, former creative director at Wells Rich Greene, clad in a velour track suit. According to Mr. Roman, Mr. Moss cracked that he must have missed the meeting. Mr. Moss, who was present and didn’t dispute that account, was nonetheless a bit more formally attired last night.

It was an ad party after all ... so a bartender passed around drinks and canapes to the crowd that included the unrelentingly stylish Mary Wells Lawrence, clad in red pants and red pumps, toting a snakeskin purse. (No one, however, was wearing a hat, which Ms. Maas said would have been required of female ad executives back in the 60s, indoors and out).

Jerry Della Femina was there too with his wife, Judy Licht, and we chatted about the sagging newspaper business and his selling off his restaurant in East Hampton. He’s got no plans to open any others, he said, preferring to stick to his New York agency and writing his column, Jerry’s Ink, in the small Hampton’s paper he owns.

There was Ogilvy Chairman Shelly Lazarus and one of my personal favorites, former McCann creative Laurel Cutler. I met her for the first time through Facebook, and during the course of the party she showed us the stylus she uses for her iPad—so as to not break her freshly polished nails.

About an hour into the event, the tiny but amazingly energetic Ms. Maas, sporting a lavender jacket with a unicorn brooch, was introduced by Mr. Roman and invited to say a few words about the book. Ms. Maas, who is about to embark on a whirlwind 40-city book tour, explained that she was surprised at the candidness of ad women in speaking to her for “Mad Women.” That quickly led to a few highlights from the chapter entitled “Sex in the Office,” and one of her favorite anecdotes: copywriter Linda Bird Francke saying, “I lost my virginity to the account executive on Jell-O.”

Ms. Maas also told some fun stories about office love affairs and the like (sorry, they were off the record). Her proudest moment recently was being interviewed on NPR for her book. She said that when she was walking out someone queried the receptionist about who was on air-that morning. The receptionist replied: “I dunno ... some old lady talking about sex.”

9856: Stereotypical View On Stereotypes.

The New America series from Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau included a perspective titled, “Is Including A Stereotype Inclusive Enough?” For this piece, Draftfcb looked beyond its staff and U.S. Census Bureau press releases, tapping Caroline Ceniza-Levine to ponder culture-infused comedy and minority representation in media. Guess it would have been too outrageous to find an actual Draftfcb executive to comment on the topic, as the agency is notorious for displaying insensitivity and cultural cluelessness. Ceniza-Levine is of Filipino descent, and she mused on Asian characters in popular programs. Wonder how she’d feel about Draftfcb’s work for KFC.

Is Including A Stereotype Inclusive Enough?

When are you allowed to joke about another minority? Never

By Caroline Ceniza-Levine

When I took an intro to comedy class, my very experienced comedy teacher had a strict rule: you can make fun of your own race, gender, or ethnicity but nobody else’s. When a Korean classmate made fun of her long-time Jewish boyfriend? Not allowed. When a white classmate with a series of Dominican boyfriends made snarky observations about them? Not allowed. We see this play out in everyday life: communication among people of the same race, gender or ethnicity can push the envelope in a way that people communicating with races, genders or ethnicities outside of their own cannot.

It might not be such a horrible thing to insist that only those of the same race, gender or ethnicity be allowed free rein on jokes or snark. Do I really want to encourage what might devolve into a slur-fest? I’m of Filipino descent, but, if I’m looking for more representation in media and advertising of Filipinos (or Asians in general), then I either need to lift my only-Filipinos-can-talk-about-Filipinos rule or hope and pray that there is a Filipino writer on Louie or a Filipino creative director for The Gap. How many Filipino executives are calling the shots for media programming or advertising campaigns?

Therein lies the conundrum. I don’t like it when non-Filipinos comment about Filipinos. At the same time, I’d love to see more of us in mainstream media, and I don’t want to wait until we fix the diversity in hiring behind-the-scenes before we can fix the diversity in front of the camera. Who knows how long true parity in hiring for all positions will take?

Furthermore, I don’t want to suggest that one Filipino can speak for all. I certainly couldn’t fill that role, as I was born in the U.S., don’t speak Tagalog, and haven’t visited the Philippines for over 20 years. I have a blended family of my own, so my kids are even further removed. How much pull does a fractional Filipino have? Then again, we’re talking about entertainment, not an academic dissertation. Do we really have to be the thing we make observations about (comedy class notwithstanding)? Do we need statistically significant sampling for every cross-cultural reference?

Does lack of representation behind the scenes lead to stereotyping in the content? I don’t want Filipinos to only play the nurse in a hospital show or the straight-A student in the high school show. Yet, I was giddy with excitement at the casting of Sandra Oh on Grey’s Anatomy and Harry Shum, Jr. on Glee.

My kids are growing up with The Wonder Girls, Phineas and Ferb and Suite Life, all with active Asian characters. When I was growing up, there were no Filipina nurses on ER or Asians at all in Head of the Class. So my kids feel more included. Asians aren’t invisible anymore. Of course, the Wonder Girls are trying to assimilate, Baljeet in Phineas and Ferb is super-smart with a thick Indian accent that borders on caricature, and London Tipton of Suite Life has her riches from her white dad (her mom’s side is Asian and of course they work in the fields). So my kids are included, but stereotyped. Is that good enough?

When I was younger and fawning over my movie, TV, and magazine idols, I would have loved to see Asians in mainstream media, even stereotypes. So I’ll take Baljeet and Mike Chang’s Asian F (as in getting an A- instead of an A) as a sign of progress. But we’ve still got a long way to go.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is a co-founder of SixFigureStart and a stand-up comic with Comic Diversity.

9855: The Color Purple.

Wow, this Ace Hardware commercial is so indescribably bad, it makes you long for the John Madden days. From GSD&M, the wonderful folks who brought you Annie The Chicken Queen.

9854: Madison Avenue Manifesto…?

The New America series brought to you by Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau closed out February with a Black History Month perspective from Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto titled, “Dignified Intolerance: Creating a diverse and inclusive world is not something that should be debated but embraced.” Following a lengthy gushing over Black women in American history, Boschetto dropped the gauntlet:

I recently proclaimed at Draftfcb that by 2014 we will be an organization that no longer uses the term “diversity and inclusion.” We are working tirelessly, from the C-suite to the intern ranks, to foster an atmosphere of inclusion, where everyone is empowered to reach great heights.

As an industry, we all need to embrace diversity and make sure inclusion becomes our rallying cry. A new generation is already recognizing that the “new mass” rejects outdated stereotypes regarding color, gender and sexual orientation. They are cross-cultural and cross-behavioral. Our industry needs to follow suit. It’s not just the right thing to do; it will also boost our bottom line. Companies that don’t mirror the dramatic shifts in our population simply will not survive.

To my fellow CEOs and C-suite executives, change starts with us. We must work together to start a joint uprising that will not tolerate discrimination and exclusion. We must lead by example and mentor our future leaders, instilling in them the knowledge that they should pursue paths they might have thought closed to them. We must tirelessly practice what we preach and prove to the marketplace that we are current, relevant and represent the diverse constituents in the New America we are trying to influence.

That is my stake in the ground. Please add your stakes to mine. Let’s get this movement rolling. It would be an achievement that might just prove to matter most.

In some ways, it’s easy for Boschetto to make such a bold statement, as his agency—or at least his role as Draftfcb President and CEO—will probably be gone by 2014.

But seriously, is it sane for the man to claim his agency will achieve within two years what the industry has failed to accomplish in over 70 years—especially when his own company has demonstrated an absolute inability to simply stop producing offensive and culturally clueless advertising? Boschetto also hollered Draftfcb was “The Agency of the Future” a few years ago, and the world is still waiting for that label to be realized.

Give Boschetto credit for making perhaps the most revolutionary declaration on diversity by a White man in the industry. Too bad that few people will have read his words, as the perspective only appeared in a self-promotional section of a third-rate trade publication. The majority of Madison Avenue leaders can just admit they never got a copy of the memo-manifesto.

9853: Bo Knows Campaigning.

Courting the Black dog vote.

9852: Freida Pinto’s Into Esquire.

9851: Mad At Mad Men.

Advertising Age reported New Yorkers are upset by outdoor billboards promoting the upcoming season of Mad Men (depicted above), claiming the falling Don Draper graphic evokes images of 9/11. Interestingly enough, no one has ever expressed concern that the animated figure—which has illustrated the show’s opening title sequence since the beginning—actually evokes images of all the real adpeople who have jumped from high-rise buildings.

Controversy Brews Over Ads Promoting New Season of AMC’s ‘Mad Men’

Family Members of 9/11 Victims Complain Falling-Man Images Recall Those of Tragedy

By Rupal Parekh

Just weeks before the much-awaited return of AMC’s “Mad Men,” a promotional campaign for the fifth season of the hit show about 1960’s Madison Avenue is sparking controversy as some folks say it evokes images from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In question is a minimalist image featured on billboards, on public telephone booths and in subway stations. It depicts a man wearing a suit stenciled in black, as he falls through the sky against a stark white background. Several family members of 9/11 victims told the New York Times that for them, the image conjures the memory of people forced to jump out of the crumbling, blazing Twin Towers more than 10 years ago.

The sudden outrage suggests that many Americans aren’t familiar with the show, since this image of the falling man has been utilized in the show’s opening credits and has been emblematic of the series—and its lead character, Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm—from the beginning.

Wikipedia notes that the title sequences pay homage to graphic designer Saul Bass’s skyscraper-filled opening titles for Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” and the falling-man movie poster for “Vertigo.” The show’s creator, Matthew Weiner, has listed Hitchcock as a major influence on the visual style of the series, says the Wikipedia page.

That the posters are now causing a stir is likely due to heightened outdoor and print advertising around the show’s fifth season, as well as a recent article in Esquire that made the comparison to 9/11.

AMC denies any link between its advertising and 9/11. In a statement, the network told the New York Times: “The image of Don Draper tumbling through space has been used since the show began in 2007 to represent a man whose life is in turmoil. The image used in the campaign is intended to serve as a metaphor for what is happening in Don Draper’s fictional life and in no way references actual events.”

9850: KFClassic Bullshit.

With this Chunky Chicken Pot Pie commercial, KFC puts the “ass” is classic.

9849: Advertising Is Women’s Work.

Just in time for the upcoming International Women’s Day, Adweek interviewed Leo Burnett CCO Susan Credle, who offered her perspectives on women in advertising. When considering other businesses in 1985, Credle thought advertising appeared to be “the most welcoming to women,” and she went on to list numerous prominent adwomen who inspired her to pursue a career in the field. “I never got into this business thinking that it’s going to be tough for a woman,” declared Credle. “And I actually never felt it was tough for a woman—I thought it was just tough.” Credle is not the first to express such beliefs, contrary to others who wonder about the dearth of dames, particularly in the creative department.