Naked Art or Naked Self Promotion?

Tunick is at it again, exploiting volunteers to expose themselves enmasse in what he attempts to pass off as art. Watching the early morning boob tube news, one wonders where all the censors have gone. I didn't know whether to belch or laugh when this display assaulted my senses during my morning coffee.

Here's an insightful come on from the artiste, as to the True Meaning of the Expression.
"This very special ephemeral installation that we are inviting you to be part of is devised to capture and combine the spirit of sports, the grand sweeping waves of stadium architecture and the abstract relation of the human form to modern structures," Tunick said on his website, according to Charles Dick, who edited the Reuter's story for Yahoo!

A participant comments "It will be fun. Austria is very conservative. This might bring more openness." I wonder what Michael would have to say about one of the sponsors, Austrian Railways, which gave free tickets to the event. I'd love to have been the advertising creative team on that concept! A headline "We're publicizing our privatization" or "Gain exposure for your private labels" or something like that for the big business invitees and co-sponsors.

He should really cover his flap, or hire a better spokesperson. Yikes, how mundane can you get. Tunick, stop exposing yourself for the mediocre artist you are.

Here are some sites I've found that actually do a much better job in the same genre, from the ridiculous to the sublime:

The Ponderosa Resort, "The Friendliest Nudist Club in Texas!"
"Bare Buns Vermont", whose logo is a drawing of a muscular man with a bear's head. At least they have him looking away from the viewer.
In all seriousness, nudists have a more thought provoking and legitimate Weltanshaung about the whole naked thing than Tunick could express. This National Geographic clip is touching (or should I say not-touching), where people bring covered dishes for Christmas pot lucks and try to live Rousseau's ideal of the natural man.

The Mark Penn Principle

Dear Stupefied Fans:

Please forgive the long delay since my last entry. I've been in a "state of shock" (a phrase coined by my sister who lives in a Staten Island Assisted Living facility). And it has pretty much followed the course of the Iraq war.

Now we know why Hillary's campaign is such a shambles: Mark Penn, CFO, Burson Marsteller.
It seems that the Peter Principle is truer than ever. The most arrogant, duplicitous and shallow rise to the top.

I used to think Hillary was pretty smart, at least intellectually. But her big brain can't seem to override a penchant for big, boorish men. She made a big deal out of this lobbyist's Colombian connection. But she's keeping him as her pollster?
C'mon there must be somebody else who can run polls.

Penn guided Hillary Clinton's campaign to focus on big states (according to reporter John Broder, New York Times News Service). Yet his book "microtrends" pushes niche marketing. Pretty smart way to make lots of work for his agency, wouldn't you say?

According to the In These Times story, author Ezra Klein says, "His new book Microtrends is so bad that the question—in a fair world—isn’t whether it will destroy his own reputation, but whether it is so epically awful as to take the entire polling industry down with it."

Then what is the reason for Penn's success??? Sheer Arrogance.

A Delay-ed Jingle

Feeling rather depressed today, since I am a writer, and writers by nature get depressed.
Anyway, to cheer myself I wrote two songs...one is for people who are following the majority-leader scandal,
and might remember the Roger Miller (early '60's) hit, "King of the Road":

For Tom Delay...

"Old cronies I have found
short and not too big around
I'm a man of means, by no means,
King of the Hill."

I don't recall the rest of the words, and am too depressed to find them...so if you would like to
add a verse, please do so.

I also wrote another song today, and this one goes out to all the stressed moms and dads out there.
It's called, "Some of my least favorite things" and is sung to, you guessed it, the tune of "My Favorite Things"
from Sound of Music (courtesy of Lerner, ??)

"Stuffed up toilets
and boogers in washbowls
Kids who argue and
deny that they did so
dirty dishes and socks all over the house
These are a view of my least favorite things

When the cat purrs
When my hopes up
When I'm feeling glad
I simply remember my least favorite things
then I simply feel so bad"

How is copywriting like writing and not

I just read this wonderful article on writing by one of our modern masters of the short story, Raymond Carver. Carver takes the most mundane subjects and makes them mysterious, using an economy of words. I wonder if Carver was a copywriter. The real difference, if you ask me, is that his words aren't selling a product. The words are selling, if you will, themselves. Carver goes on to say that "Some writers have a bunch of talent; I don't know any writers who are without it. But a unique and exact way of looking at things, and finding the right context for expressing that way of looking, that's something else."

Context means "with the text" So instead of winnowing out copywriters with questions like, "Do you have any experience writing about actuarial accounting for genetic testing labs?" it would make more sense to ask, "do you have a unique way of understanding this thing I'm selling that would resonate with my customers in context of their needs and desires?"

Marketers also need to think of their customers as an audience, when communicating with them. Think how you would feel if you were at a concert and suddenly, you're interrupted with a message from the sponsor. Would you want them to yell "FREE FREE FREE" three times. Ask yourself:
"Do I want to be yelled at?"
"Do I believe that?"
"Does that sound true?"
"Am I giving the person an idea they can focus on?"
"Am I putting the person to sleep with too much information?"
"Am I giving the person too little information?"
"Does the information relate to a need or desire the person has?"
"Am I wasting this person's time by using the same words my competitor's use?"
"Do I like listening to 'corp speak' or do I prefer conversations?"

To read Carver's article, "Principles of a story", visit http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7001&AuthKey=b6b862ce388f6e04e96ff65b9802f970&issue=509)

Please, Read

My heart goes out to the many fine journalists who recently lost their jobs. It is sad evidence of the stupefaction of society when two of the best newspapers in the country, if not the world, are cutting staff due to poor circulation. What will happen to the Fourth Estate, the watch dog of democracy, as newspapers lose their individual voices?

The Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times are laying off hundreds of journalists. 75 journalists were cut from the Inquirer... That's 15% of their editorial staff. The Inquirer's sister publication, The Philadelphia Daily news, lost 19% of its editorial staff. The New York Times cut 500 jobs, representing 4% of its workforce. And, the New York Times is the #1 online mass media publication for readership, according to Technorati.

As circulation declines, newspapers are losing ad revenue. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, the impending closing of the venerable Strawbridge clothing stores don't help (See: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/stories/2005/09/19/daily22.html) Philadelphia. But, I wonder, what about pass-along readership. Doesn't that count? I know I sound desperate, but perhaps sponsored content and embedded advertising is the answer.

God help us copywriters, too. This harkens less advertising for us to write. Or at least, less money for the ads we do write.
But that's another entry altogether.

Thank you to one of my favorite WPHT radio talk show hosts, and Inquirer Columinist, Michael Smerconish for alerting me to this news. He mentioned FOX News ratings are up. More evidence what he called the erosion of the fourth estate. I call it the "Stupefaction Factor".

Granted, most Americans need news to fit into their crowded schedules. But, I implore my fellow citizens to please turn off the TV and start reading. When my TV was broken I personally experienced peace, contentment and more time.
We are taking the TV out of the living room. It's a huge effort to get my children off the couch when the boob tube is just a click away. They are constantly fighting over who gets to watch what, even though I've instituted an odd-even day system for which child has control. If it were up to me, I'd throw the thing out the window and yell, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

<$stupefied$>

<"Martha Stewart's Apprentice">

On this morning's "Today Show" Martha Stewart's apprentice "Howie" shows up with his shirt hanging out from below his suit coat, which I guess is the new sartorial elegance; A style influenced by bands like "Wheezer". I wonder what Katie Couric is actually thinking, as she stands there in those ridiculous shoes with her calves bulging.
The day just started, but I'd give Howie my vote for "Stupid of the Day."

Perhaps Martha's next guest will be wearing her version of prison stripes. I can just see Martha's apprentices (or is it apprenti) tailoring prison garb for Koslowski, Swartz, Lay, and their ilk. Must we suffer constants assault by this barrage of stupid? I hear of a little Saville Row tailor that's getting a lot of attention in the blogosphere lately (http://englishcut.com/) which was featured on BoingBoing -- the #1 blog on the net, FYI. So perhaps good taste and craftsmanship is in the real world not yet dead.

What do you bet Martha comes out with a new fragrance, "Notoriety". The headline: "It really stinks!"
For all of you struggling on a daily basis with stupidity, my heart goes out to you. Stories of incredible stupidity -- of the cultural sort -- are welcome here. If you would like to join "The Society Opposed to Stupefaction", please add your comment and email address.

Hey, Marketers, Leave our Kids Alone!

b/Gaming/b
I keep on telling my son to get off of StarCraft. He'll play all day if I let him. Now I have some validation
of my concerns: A 29 year-old Korean man died after playing for several days.

At least I haven't let "Grand Theft Auto" into the house. A jury didn't buy it as the defense from a 20-year-old who shot three cops (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,165259,00.html). Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas", designed for the PlayStation 2 game console, was the No. 1 selling game of 2004.

Anything for fashion?" -- Is this piercing/tatooing trend ever going to end. Recently "Discovery" did a stomach-turning show on the b/Fascination with self-mutilation/b.
Before you go Naval Piercing, check out this story: http://www.nbc10.com/family/4826464/detail.html

Right out of the box

IS IT "OUTSIDE THE BOX"or "OUT OF THE BOX" thinking that corporations crave?

Fortune writer Anne Fisher has this one at the top of her list of "Business Buzzwords that make you Cringe"
"Readers wrote in with their nominees for this column's first-ever Most Annoying Lingo awards (the Mallies). Find out which phrases they would like purged from our professional conversations." (Hate to admit to using more than one of these myself).
By Anne Fisher (http://www.fortune.com/fortune/annie/0,15704,1089754,00.html)

Disenfranchising Women with Sexist Advertising

How does "in your face" sexuality in advertising aimed at the 18-34 year old affect women, particularly Boomer Women (the group with the bucks)? My contention is that if you objectify women in your advertising, you will dissaffect women (and the men) who came of age during the feminist revolution. According to the Advertising Research Center website; http://www.trial.warc.com/WARCAdvice/QuickBriefs/Sample.asp:

"Women may account for as much as 80% of all consumer purchases (5) – even in China (8) – and are the target group for the majority of all advertising (2). So it is legitimate to ask why it should be necessary to treat them as special in some way (2).

There are, in fact, several reasons for doing so:
• women's roles in society have changed dramatically over the last 50 years, and many marketers' thinking has failed to keep pace (eg 1)
• women think differently from men, and this is not regularly factored into our communication planning (3); this matters because the creative departments of ad agencies tend to be populated by young males, who are not necessarily in tune with women's ways of thinking (2), though good creatives ought to be able to empathise with such a major target (15)
• too often women are portrayed in ads – whether targeted at men or women – in sexist, demeaning or stereotyped ways (11, 12, 15)

So, I "axe" this question: Upon viewing the Axe deoderant, for example, that has the mother of the young women showing off her natural assets to her daughter's date -- would any mother in her right mind buy this product? So, you mother-f______s,
go get a clue!

Getting Noticed

I've been wondering just how much sex sells and to whom. Sex. You just can't avoid it. And there's no time to have it
(especially when you've got two kids and you're not in the leisure calls). So, everybody appears to be watching it.

Catching this morning news, bleary eyed, I and my son watch as Matt Lauer talks about male enhancement.
I do not want to know about it, and my son is only 10. Give him a break.

On the other hand, can't avoid the promo value of it. So...here's my idea: I plaster my body with
sexual ads and ride, Lady Godiva-like, on a white horse with a sign that says: "Enough already!"
Hmmm? Maybe I should do it during the upcoming Marketing Conference in Philly. I'll call "Live for Today",
maybe I'll get on.