Sorrell not faring too badly in this recession

On this first-anniversary weekend of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which triggered the worst economic crisis in a generation, the Guardian reminds us that some have felt the pain a whole lot less than the rest of us over the past year. In its annual salary round-up, the U.K. paper reports that even as FTSE 100 companies were laying off tens of thousands of staffers and their stock prices lost a third of their value, the people running these companies saw their basic salaries rise 10 percent, with full- and part-time directors of those businesses sharing a windfall of more than $1.65 billion. WPP Group chief Sir Martin Sorrell is a regular top performer in the survey, but even he took a hit last year, dropping from the No. 1 most-highly-compensated exec in the U.K. to No. 4. The 64-year-old, who has had to lay off an estimated 7,200 staffers in the wake of  cutbacks from marketers, pocketed $33 million in 2008, bringing his five-year payday to a total of more than $166 million. (Sorrell, a pioneer in share-price performance scheme payouts, earned $39 million in 2007 and $86 million in 2005.) For investors in WPP Group's American Depository Receipts, returns over the past five years have been decidedly less than lucrative: The ADRs have declined 40 percent from $49.30 on Dec. 31, 2003 to $29.59 on the same day last year.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on September 14, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Europe, O'Leary, WPP

Japan sells government bonds with taxi ads

As the U.S. continues to set new records for deficit spending, America could look to Japan for a little inspiration, at least when it comes to advertising government bonds. Late last month, Japan's ministry of finance began hawking bonds on the backs of Tokyo taxi seats. The pitch, which will also use posters (like the one here) and TV spots, is the latest in a series of campaigns using celebrities to flog the country's massive debt. Earlier ads starred Koyuki, the one-named actress and model who starred alongside Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai. Current ads feature Junko Kubo, a former anchor on Japan's public broadcaster NHK. They use the tagline, "Peace of mind. Piece of happiness." That promise of mental bliss is a hard sell: At current spending levels, Japan's debt is expected to become 197 percent of GDP next year and 300 percent within 10 years. The lessons of Japan, itself the second-largest holder of U.S. government paper, appear to be lost on Washington: By the end of fiscal year 2010, U.S. debt is expected to reach nearly 100 percent of GDP, meaning that for every dollar the U.S. economy produces, the government will owe a dollar.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on August 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Finance, Japan, O'Leary

London biz world not so tough to impress

A 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern is the talk of the London business scene after publishing a report detailing the media consumption behavior of his teenage circle of friends. Among the "astonishing" observations: Teenagers aren't regular listeners of radio, preferring sites streaming music; they're watching less TV; they don't read newspapers. Edward Hill-Wood, the 35-year-old head of Morgan Stanley's European media team, told the Financial Times that the report by Matthew Robson was "one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen. . . . We've had dozens and dozens of fund managers, and several CEOs, e-mailing and calling all day." Aside from generally understood behavior of teenagers today, don't any of these people have first-hand knowledge from sons or daughters or grandchildren? Robson writes that while most teens he knows have signed up for Twitter, "they realize that no one is viewing their profiles, so their tweets are pointless." As for advertising, Robson argues: "Teenagers see adverts on Web sites (pop-ups, banner ads) as extremely annoying and pointless, as they have never paid any attention to them." He does say his friends enjoy viral marketing because it often creates fun content. Frankly, I found the fact a 15-year-old could land an internship at Morgan Stanley more impressive than any of his obvious assessments of teenage media behavior.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on July 14, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Morgan Stanley, O'Leary, Twitter

Massimo d'Amore and a shaken-up PepsiCo

BusinessWeek has a look at the sturm and drang inside PepsiCo's marketing ranks since Massimo d'Amore took over as CEO of the company's Americas Beverages unit 16 months ago. The former engineer, who for a CEO has an unusually high amount of hands-on control of marketing, even helped Peter Arnell create and edit the SoBe Michael Jackson "Thriller" spot with Naomi Campbell and the dancing lizards. The article relates how d'Amore increasingly shut out his own marketing execs in favor of Arnell, with one Pepsi exec calling the experience "d'Amoralizing." There are some good inside details, like those describing a top Pepsi strategy meeting between PepsiCo CEO Indra K. Noovi, d'Amore and Arnell—again, no Pepsi marketing execs were present—where Noovi said she wanted Pepsi's can to become a design icon akin to an iPod. Arnell would come out of the meeting gushing about how the brand needed to "reparticipate in popular culture." This is a good read about d'Amore's self-described "big bang" with PepsiCo's most valued brand assets and the outsiders lighting that fuse.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on April 17, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under O'Leary, PepsiCo

Mary Wells gets into blogging at wowOwow

Mary Wells' latest career? Blogging. The Madison Avenue pioneer has signed up to share her thoughts on everything from money and politics to culture, gossip and relationships on wowOwow.com, the site created and written by well-known women in the media and entertainment worlds. The self-described group of women "who weren't born yesterday" includes Lesley Stahl, Peggy Noonan, Liz Smith, Joni Evans, Sheila Nevins, Joan Juliet Buck, Whoopi Goldberg, Julia Reed, Joan Ganz Cooney, Judith Martin, Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Jane Wagner and Marlo Thomas. Before setting up their virtual coffee klatch, the women were offline friends. Wells, who describes her home these days as a boat on the Mediterranean, became a member of the New York-centric wowOwow crowd after becoming friends with Evans, a book publisher, while the Wells Rich Greene founder was writing A Big Life in Advertising, published in 2001.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on April 8, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Mary Wells, O'Leary, wowOwow

Phantom promo costs Domino's 11,000 pies

Clever viral-marketing hoax or simple accident? On March 30, Domino's franchisees were hit with 11,000 orders overnight as part of a free medium-pie promotion that didn't even exist. Or so they thought. Turns out in December, Crispin Porter + Bogusky devised an online promotion using the password "bailout." It never got the green light from corporate, but no one went back and disabled the code, says Domino's rep Tim McIntyre. Three months later, he says, a consumer, tinkering with Domino's online ordering, "randomly" typed in the word and triggered the free coupon. That happened late this past Monday night. By the time store owners opened Tuesday, their computers were "dinging" with orders. More than half of the 5,000 U.S. stores had at least one redemption. Based on the volume of orders at two particular stores, the company thinks the whole thing started at a college near either Cincinnati or Salt Lake City. Soon, value blogs picked it up, the run on free pizzas spread. The company, which is reimbursing franchisees for the cost of food, disabled the promotion at 11:30 a.m. on March 31, the day before April Fool's Day. "That was just a quirk of timing. This isn't a hoax, scam or hacker. It's an honest-to-goodness mistake," insists McIntyre. But he admits it's "reinforced to us the power of viral marketing and the power of the word 'free' with 'pizza.' " And in these grim times, it proved cathartic for consumers: "When word got around and people found out that it was a mistaken free promotion, they liked it even more," he says. "People liked it because they felt, 'We just stuck it to the man.' "

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on April 3, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Crispin Porter, Domino's, O'Leary

Let's blame the economic crisis on 'Forbes'

Forget about the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and Wall Street greed. The real cause of  global economic turmoil? Underpaid journalists and the capitalist tool they wield at Forbes. That's the view of Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev, who is suing the magazine for reporting that he lost $2.5 billion in the current financial crisis. "I am positive that Forbes magazine, which has repeatedly posted wrong information about me and some others, must be held responsible for the world financial and economic crisis," he says. "The magazine had been inflating the false bubble of billionaires for too long. The bubble blew up and struck a blow to the finance and economy of many developed countries." OK then, the former KGB officer may have found one way to make money in these dismal times: He is demanding "compensation of material and moral damage caused by this defamation." Lebedev appears to be in good company. Forbes estimates that Russia has lost two-thirds of its billionaires, with oligarch-heavy Moscow being replaced by New York as the city with the world's most billionaires. (What Wall Street meltdown?!) Lebedev is no stranger to the cause of free speech. In January, he bought London's loss-making Evening Standard for a whopping £1. He now owns a 75 percent stake in the publication and wants to add politicos like Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair to its editorial board. He also owns a 39 percent stake in Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on April 1, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Finance, O'Leary, Russia

Is Ikea really getting into the auto business?

In the same week as the launch of India's super-cheap car, the Tata Nano, aimed at putting one of the world's most populous countries behind the wheel, there are Internet mutterings about a new ecologically friendly car from none other than Ikea, purveyor of affordable design to the masses. Whether an elaborate April Fool's viral gag or a new mobility concept, the idea has captured the imagination of the Web. Ikea recently made a significant financial commitment to eco-friendly practices: Just last August, it announced the formation of Ikea GreenTech, a $67 million venture-capital fund to make investments in companies that will commercialize green technologies and products for its stores. The fact that Ikea's "Leko" vehicle teaser showed up on a French Web site also fits in with France's forward-looking ideas about urban public transport. Two years ago, outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux launched an ambitious bicycle-sharing program in Paris, which is changing the daily patterns for many of the capital's consumers: The French company estimates that after just one year, each of its 16,000 bicycles have eight to 10 users a day. As two of Detroit's leading automakers sweat the final week before a March 31 deadline for additional Washington financing, it's intriguing to think that future innovations in transportation may come from the most unlikely of places—whether from Mumbai entrepreneurs or Swedish flat-pack manufacturers.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on March 25, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Automotive, Ikea, New products, O'Leary

Difficult times for 4A's old haunt Greenbrier

Reading about the bankruptcy filing of the storied Greenbrier resort conjured the ghosts of advertising's past—stodgy white men in pink and green linens on velvety golf links, blissfully unreachable in the verdant Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia. The historic 231-year-old Greenbrier was the longtime meeting spot for the American Association of Advertising Agencies' annual boondoggle and recalls a simpler era of Mad Men mores where the business at hand was conducted over patio cocktails and on the Greenbrier's three championship golf courses and indoor and outdoor tennis courts. Wives—in demurely feminine Lilly Pulitzer—pretty much summed up the female contingent, tucked away in the resort's 40,000 square-foot spa. The 4A's gathered there as recently as 1991, when nighttime hallway signs still advised quiet because "it's sleepy time down South." By its own definition a "five-diamond, luxury resort," the Greenbrier was also the one-time host to presidents and royalty and even boasted an underground bunker in case of nuclear attack for its oh-so-important guests. Its very elitism was reinforced by the difficulty of getting there—after flying in to West Virginia, guests had to take a train into the mountains—and the Greenbrier's insular symbolism was a luxury the 4A's felt it could no longer afford by the mid-'90s.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on March 23, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under 4A's, Greenbrier, O'Leary

Bailed-out BofA still enjoys its U.K. football

Americans, here's your tax dollars at work: In the U.K., Liverpool's football team has just signed up Bank of America as a major sponsor. BofA, which has received about $45 billion in U.S. federal rescue money after its acquisition of Merrill Lynch and its toxic assets, is the parent of MBNA, which supplies Liverpool's credit card for supporters. (At the end of the year, MBNA announced major worldwide layoffs, so it's a safe bet many of those on the street might have liked a little of the cash that will now underwrite the careers of Bentley-driving footballers and their high-maintenance WAGs.) Liverpool, currently sitting at No. 3 in the U.K.'s Premier League, has a rich history, and wants to leverage its potential globally. (The club also demolished Real Madrid 4-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.) Team manager Rafael Benitez has made no secret of his frustration that Liverpool doesn't get the same place on the world stage as Manchester United. But Liverpool already has deep pockets, with revenues of more than $277 million annually—hardly in need of a bailout money from the U.S. government.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on March 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Bank of America, Europe, O'Leary, Soccer

Sign of the times at Russia's Millionaire Fair

It's been only four years since the first Millionaire Fair in Moscow, and already we're getting nostalgic for those heady early years of petrodollar excess, as falling oil prices and the global economic crisis take their toll on Russia. This year's fair, a three-day testament to hyper-luxury "must-haves" like diamond-encrusted hubcaps, wrapped up on Nov. 30 with a thud, as men in suits and women in gowns searched the exhibition hall for any hint of the Laurent-Perrier champagne that flowed so freely in previous years. The over-the-top event, imagined as only the nouveau riche could after years of Soviet deprivation, was described by Pravda, in its first year, as offering "goods that wealthy people need in their everyday lives: gold-plated coffee pots, marble angels, jewel-encrusted pens, Lamborghinis, yachts and helicopters. There was even a live tiger on a lead near the stand filled with gold suitcases." Most of it was still there this year. The only thing missing were the roubles to finance such gilded lifestyles. Turns out those mega-rich Russian oligarchs are more like us than we knew, cutting back on everyday necessities in tough times!

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on December 9, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under O'Leary, Russia

Honey, I shrunk the actors in the sofa spots

Oh, those sneaky British ad guys! The U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority has just banned TV ads for the country's largest furniture chain, DFS. Turns out the retailer not only slashed prices on sofas, it shrank the actors hawking the stuff in an attempt to make the furniture seem bigger, more luxurious and of better value. (The people were filmed against a green screen and then superimposed on the images of the sofas.) The retailer, known mostly for shrill, never-ending sales pitches, has long been suspected of deliberately using shorter actors in its ads. After receiving 21 complaints about the latest ads, from retail agency Gratterpalm, the ASA requested proof of sofa size from DFS. The company didn't comply, saying the promotion had ended and all the pieces had (conveniently) been sold. In fact, the executional sleight of hand is the least of the offenses here: In the ads, the height-challenged hucksters mindlessly mime, dance and play air guitar to Nickleback's "Rock Star"—cheesy creative in the best of times and downright insulting now that scores of Britons are losing their homes in the property crisis.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on December 4, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Controversy, DFS, Europe, Furniture, Gratterpalm, O'Leary

If nothing else, be thankful for all the beer!

As if we needed further encouragement to crack open a few beers on Thursday, the National Beer Wholesalers Association is telling us that beer—and lots of it!—is now a mandatory part of any Thanksgiving meal. The trade group trots out Brasserie Beck's Bill Catron, a D.C. beer expert who's actually earned a Belgian knighthood for his knowledge of the stuff, to offer guidance: He suggests matching a cold, crisp pilsner with appetizers like shrimp; a 'spicy' blond ale with pumpkin soup; red Flemish ale with leafy greens; and Witt ale with cranberry sauce. After all that, you may have lost interest in the main course, but for those soldiering on with solid food, there's triple style ale to wash down the turkey and stuffing. And (God forbid) there's also beer with dessert, whether it's a Bier de Miel with pumpkin pie or Framboise Lambics with chocolate. If some of your more teetotal guests take issue with chef John Barleycorn's menu, blame it on the Pilgrims who, according to the NBWA, landed at Plymouth Rock with beer!

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on November 26, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Alcohol, O'Leary, Thanksgiving

Does this mean Ty-D-Bol makes a good baby name?

Call us dull, but we’ve always liked the stiff upper-lip simplicity of British names like  Henry, Edward, George, Victoria and Elizabeth, those dignified monikers infused with the rich, centuries-old traditions of kings and queens. Now we learn that the House of Tudor is being replaced by the household flat pack of Sweden. Bounty, a U.K. marketing firm which provides starter kits of baby products to consumers, reports that names like Ikea, for little girls, turned up among the country’s more than 600,000 births registered over the past twelve months. (During that time boys were branded with more silver-spoon pedigrees like Moet.)  It’s thought the Madison Avenue inspiration for baby names lies in recent “original” high-profile offspring like Gwyneth Paltrow’s ‘Apple’ and the name ‘Chardonnay’ popularized by a character on the kitschy British TV hit Footballers’ Wives. But clearly, if babies ‘Ikea’ and ‘Moet’ are any indication, U.K. Mums aren’t willing to settle for such commodity status, looking instead for the kind of brand distinction that only millions of ad dollars can buy.   

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on November 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (32)
Filed under O'Leary

Ameriquest, you can’t always get what you want

To appreciate the awkwardness of the teaming of the Rolling Stones and Ameriquest, the sponsor of the band’s newly launched tour, look no further than the commercials currently hyping the concerts. The financial institution wanted the Stones to appear in the spots, but they refused, even as they cashed the company’s checks. So Ameriquest had to settle for shots of their pinstriped mortgage specialists trying to get attention for their sales pitch against background footage of the geriatric rockers, before the Ameriquest reps are “surfed” toward the stage by concertgoers. While many of Ameriquest’s target consumers might not appreciate the liberal sentiment of the group’s new anti-Bush tirade, “Sweet Neo Con,” they probably share more of the acquisitive tastes of bandleader Mick Jagger than they realize. The former London School of Economics dropout, who would have been three years ahead of LSE alum Maurice Saatchi, has long been conspicuously absent from the kinds of pro bono efforts that fellow rockers embrace. He prefers to save his performances for his favorite charity—his bank account. At least he makes no pretense of strong social views. Paul McCartney, on the other hand, is glad to accept the sponsorship of Lexus with its leather-interiored cars, much to the chagrin of his children, who, like him, are vegetarian animal-rights advocates. (McCartney defends the decision by saying Lexus is creating a special leather-free vehicle for him to use during his U.S. tour, which kicks off Sept. 16 in Miami.) At least McCartney is in good company. Fellow Lexus liberals include outspoken vegetarians Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Portman, who are shilling for Lexus’ new RX 400h, which the company trumpets as the first luxury hybrid SUV.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images/Newscom

Published on August 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under O'Leary

Maurice Saatchi adds injury to insult

AdFreak continues to be fascinated by Maurice Saatchi’s badmouthing of Britain’s Conservatives, the political party for which he’s long been a communications architect. As you may recall, earlier this summer, Lord Saatchi publicly criticized the Tories’ strategy in taking on Tony Blair’s Labour party in the U.K. general elections last May. Not only did Labour retain its grasp on power, it picked up seats from the Tories for the first time since the Thatcher era. Now it turns out Saatchi has hit the Conservatives with a hefty $2.7 million bill for his part in that losing election strategy. Only this week, with the publication of the Tories’ 2004 accounts, did it become known that Saatchi—who was the Conservatives’ co-chair at the time—was also acting as one of its suppliers, through the use of his Immediate Sales unit and its parent, M&C Saatchi.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Photo: Zuma/Newscom

Published on August 5, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under O'Leary

A bumper crop of trustworthy customers

It’s not exactly the stuff of sophisticated CRM strategies, but AdFreak can’t help but appreciate the country wisdom in these parts, three hours north of the world’s advertising capital. Even more plentiful than the visitors from Manhattan this time of year is the bounty of Catskill tomatoes, corn, lettuce, peaches and melon. Downstate cynics snicker at the locals who put their faith in the better aspects of human nature, trusting their unmanned farm stands with a 24-hour honor system. Yet, year after year, more of these stands pop up with the spring strawberries, thrive through the summer and last into autumn with pumpkins, and even winter, with Christmas trees. The lesson to be learned here that you might not find in the scripted confines of focus groups? Sometimes people are just better than you think. If you presume a certain level of integrity and intelligence among your customers, they may feel obligated to rise to that expectation and—if these rural roadside stands are any indication—reward you for the compliment.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Illustration: Lee Hulteng/KRT/Newscom

Published on August 3, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under O'Leary

Maurice Saatchi takes the Tories to task

We find it rich that Tory grandee Maurice Saatchi now laments the outcome of the recent general election in Great Britain, regretting his failure to overturn “the fiction of the focus groups” in politics. (Isn’t this the same guy who, after helping to elect Maggie Thatcher as prime minister in 1979, introduced such American-style focus groups into U.K. politics as a way to keep her in power?) The former chairman of the U.K.’s Conservative party is now going public with criticisms of his peers in comments written for the U.K. Center for Policy Studies and in an interview with BBC’s Radio 4. This spring, Labor leader Tony Blair retained his party’s power, and Lord Saatchi accuses the Tories of running a “Basil Fawlty election.” For a politician who received his place in the House of Lords largely by virtue of his marketing counsel to Thatcher and other Conservatives, it’s hard not to be cynical about his current admonition that politics must have a “noble purpose.”

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Photo: Zuma/Newscom

Published on June 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under O'Leary

Live Aid: The sequel

Well obviously the first Live Aid worked so well, twenty years later Bob Geldof needs to foist his naïve view of global politics upon us again. The former Boomtown Rat—who was knighted as a result of the 1985 concert to raise funds for African famine relief—is more known for his rants of ‘Give us your f—money’ at the original event than his music. (I’m betting you didn’t run out last year to buy the third version of Do They Know It’s Christmas? written by Geldof.)  Not to be outshone by fellow musician/armchair activist Bono, Geldof has just unveiled plans to stage a new concert on July 2, with venues in five countries which is expected to last at least 16 hours. The event, intended to raise awareness rather than money, is timed to put pressure on world leaders gathering at the G8 summit in Scotland July 6-8. Geldof has signed up some of music’s biggest names, including Paul McCartney, Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Sting and Elton John. Call me a cynic but it’s a bit hard to believe that Elton John—who admitted to spending $182,000 on flowers in one 20-month period—loses sleep worrying about Third World debt and hunger. That’s the problem with Geldof’s grandstanding: While AdFreak fully shares his concerns, these events—however well-intended—come across as a triumph of hype and celebrity over substance. About the only good thing I can say is that Sir Bob has nixed plans to feature a Spice Girls reunion, because he’s just realized the group doesn’t have the gravitas to appear at such an oh-so-important event.

—Posted by Noreen O'Leary

Published on May 31, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under O'Leary

Are Manchester Utd.’s sponsors in trouble?

Hostile takeovers are supposed to happen to widget manufacturers, not to the flesh and blood of athletic prowess. American Malcolm Glazer has taken control of the storied Manchester United soccer club, and the team’s fans are enraged and shocked. (Imagine if some obscure German financier succeeded in an unwanted bid for the Yankees.) Even though Glazer (shown here) launched his Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl glory, United’s fans worry that his bottom-line priorities and massive acquisition debt will compromise their star-studded team. (Also, like most of his fellow Americans, Glazer reportedly has no personal interest in soccer.) While the Floridian has bought enough shares to take the publicly listed team private, some fanatical fans think they can still pressure Glazer to sell his more than 75 percent stake by boycotting team sponsors like Vodafone, Nike, Budweiser and Audi. But just as no one’s quite sure how much team affiliation has done to move those sponsors’ products, it’s unlikely that boycott efforts will have much effect on the sale of Bud, cross-trainers or TTs. Fans can now only hope United’s players keep their focus and competitive edge so sponsors don’t walk out on them.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Published on May 17, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under O'Leary

It’s the Charles and Camilla Show

Let the romantics treasure their recollections of his fairy-book first wedding to Diana Spencer. For my money, there’s no better entertainment value than the unscripted reality-TV version of Prince Charles’ nuptials with Camilla Parker Bowles, set for Saturday, unless some unforeseen event forces the rescheduling of it again. There’s the sublime irony of it all: The head of the Church of England—an institution created in defiance of a Catholic pope’s refusal to allow Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage—must postpone his own wedding to a divorcee in order to pay his respects to the recently deceased Pope John Paul II. Then there’s the tabloid-fueled silliness of it all: A citizenry heretofore uninterested in the image of Charles’ mature lover Camilla, after the virginal Diana, is clamoring now for the wedding’s commemorative tea towels, stamps and china—as a sort of national joke, since they have the wrong date embossed on them. Further indignity was heaped on the couple when Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria announced she’d be skipping the big day because she’d prefer to go to Japan to open a new Ikea store. So, lift a glass to Charles and Camilla on Saturday, but don’t count on any kind of media honeymoon. It’s all downhill from here.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Photo: Hussein Anwar/SIPA/Newscom

Published on April 7, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under O'Leary

Budget squeeze brings out the Charmin

As if winter in Buffalo isn’t misery enough, it turns out staffers at the Rath Building in town—one of the primary office facilities for Erie County—have been suffering the indignity of having to bring their own toilet paper to work. Things have gotten so bad with a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall that government buildings have had to cut back on basic paper goods and cleaning supplies. As politicos continue to point the finger and blame each other for the financial mess, the folks at Procter & Gamble showed what a little private enterprise (and creative product placement) can achieve. The Cincinnati company donated a truck full of Charmin Megarolls to Rath employees. But the company’s cha-cha-chaaing bears (Leonard, Molly, Bill, Dylan and Amy) ran into their own bit of political controversy, as Erie County comptroller Nancy Naples called the toilet tissue an illegal gift. Fortunately, calmer minds prevailed, as county executive Joel Giambra said he’d accept the offer—only if the supersized rolls will fit in the building’s bathrooms.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Published on March 29, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under O'Leary

Are low-sugar cereals really better for you?

Stop the presses—a new Associated Press study says experts who have examined the spate of new lower-sugar versions of breakfast cereals found they have no more significant nutritional value than their full-sugar counterparts. In fact, they have nearly identical amounts of calories, fat, salt and chemical preservatives. AP says execs at General Mills, Kellogg’s and Post were at a loss to explain why the reduced-sugar cereals were the better choice. (Not that they were shy about suggesting health benefits, with the lower-sugar claim printed on boxes in type that is nearly as large as the product names.) Breakfast cereals continue to be touted as a healthy start to a kid’s day, while the reality is they are nothing more than overly refined, processed junk food whose only nutrients come from what marketers add through enrichment. This may be top of mind lately with this AdFreak correspondent, who smiles every time she reads about the Saatchi 17 General Mills defectors, who were out touting themselves as experts in youth, families and health to industry holding companies who could bankroll a new business for them. Their real expertise, of course, lies in some of the industry’s most insidious marketing tactics aimed at young, impressionable minds that see the bright, cartoon-like boxes of cereal as an extension of popular TV and movie characters. Buried in the AP story may be found the real news: “The $6.2 billion cold breakfast cereal industry has good reason to pay attention. Nearly 90 percent of children ages 6-12 regularly eat cereal ... and while overall cereal sales have been sliding, sales of reduced-sugar cereals grew by almost 50 percent last year, accounting for nearly $357 million in sales.”

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Published on March 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under O'Leary

Marmite, that terrifying paste

Marmite, the gooey, vitamin-rich spread usually served on a piece of toast, has always been a staple in the diets of British children during their formative years. (The savory stuff is made from a yeast byproduct of the brewing industry—which no doubt explains the country’s taste for affiliated beverages in later life!) Now, in yet another example of the overly paternal tendencies of the U.K. nanny state, comes a crackdown on new TV commercials for Marmite. The spots, produced by DDB London, parody the 1958 cult classic The Blob. In this case, the big brown monster is none other than a Marmite blob, which causes some people to run away while others, including a man with a cheese sandwich, dive into it. The adverts are tagged, “You either love it or hate it.” The campy spots are hilarious, but the dour U.K. Advertising Standards Authority has overruled Marmite maker Unilever Bestfoods and deemed them too terrifying for children and have banned them from all kids’ programs in Britain.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Published on March 16, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Big news—particularly on NBC

We’ve all become jaded about TV networks using their news broadcasts to shill for prime-time offerings. But no one seems to do it better than NBC, particularly under the guidance of NBC Universal Television chief Jeff Zucker, who first honed those skills as the head of NBC News. Zucker, of course, is under fire after his network finished fourth following a dismal February sweeps. The NBC exec who brought us The Apprentice, starring Donald Trump—NBC’s epitome of a successful corporate titan even as his casino declares bankruptcy—is now holding up convicted felon Martha Stewart as a role model who’s starring in two new NBC programs, one of which is modeled on the Apprentice concept. While it’s not a big surprise that NBC News is keeping Martha’s face in the limelight to stir up interest in the upcoming entertainment-division shows, the network’s sheer audacity (did someone say desperation?) is amazing. In the days since Stewart’s release from prison, CNBC aired a couple of old Headliners and Legends bios of Stewart on Sunday; the following day, supposedly serious political journalist Chris Matthews interviewed reality-TV impresario Mark Burnett, creator of Stewart’s NBC shows. CNBC legal commentator Dan Abrams, meanwhile, weighed in on Martha’s “celebrity convict chic.” Zucker’s old friends on the Today show followed the pack of media chasing after Stewart in a way that would put the domestic diva’s leonine chows to shame. She’s cooking vegetable risotto and hot lemonade! She’s making steaming mugs of chocolate—with real milk and cocoa, not packaged mix—for reporters milling about her Westchester estate in search of major news developments! (Lobster risotto in the oven, perhaps?) Today co-host Katie Couric, looking like she just stepped out Bergdorf Goodman, watched a video clip of Stewart modeling a poncho, hand knitted by a fellow prison inmate with what looked like Wal-Mart yarn. Couric looked at the kinder, gentler Martha, created by the media, and wondered if the poncho will become America’s next fashion statement. Couric whistled to the camera: “You can’t make this stuff up.” Oh yeah? Just wait till NBC’s next big bet on reality, Martha style.

—Posted by Noreen O’Leary

Photo: Clary/Agence France presse/Newscom

Published on March 8, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under O'Leary