Ford First Sponsor of New African-American Web Site
Major causalities of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings of GM and Chrysler have been the loss of what is euphemistically called Minority Dealers and concurrently minority advertising budgets. A loss noted by many minority leaders, including notable African-Americans.
But kudos should be awarded to Ford Motor Company, long a champion of minority programs, for becoming the debut sponsor of NBC Universal’s new web site, TheGrio.com, a site appealing to African-Americans.
The new site will focus on news and video aimed at African-Americans and will act partly as an aggregator, gathering content from resources stretching from NBC News to its owned-and-operated stations to msnbc.com.
Nielsen said Monday that ad dollars in the African-American TV sector increased 7.9% in the first quarter, while all other media segments showed no growth
Crystal Worthem, multicultural marketing manager at Ford, said the company’s sponsorship provides a presence “within a medium that directly speaks to the African-American consumer.”
David Wilson, Grio managing editor, said: “TheGrio.com is the first video-centric news community site devoted to providing African-Americans with stories and perspectives that appeal to them but are underrepresented in existing national news outlets.”
Best Crowning of a Champion Commercial
At last the “I’m going to Disneyland” commercials mouthed by the MVP’s of professional baseball, football, basketball and maybe even hockey championships has been dethroned … by tennis!
Winning the famous French Open in three straight sets, Roger Federer tied the number of Grand Slams won by Pete Sampras and become the sixth man to win all four slams – Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open – played on three different surfaces.
It was a historical event, and at the first commercial break following the award ceremony Net Jets ran this spot. Classy, very, very classy for a very classy champion.
Worst Use of Vehicles in a NHL Championship Commercial
The winner is Honda for this bit of vacuous video van vulgarity. Couple weeks ago I praised ’em, this week the opposite. The Honda van commercial uses domestic vans to perform the trick shots.
Print Advertising for the Future
My recent predictions forecasting the impending loss of even more print outlets – newspapers and magazines – has not diminished my love for truly creative print advertising.
It’s how I began my advertising career. Not in the mailroom, but as a wannabe New York City Advertising Mad Man in the mat room learning to do mechanicals (keylines for Detroiters) for truly awful retail print ads for a major agency – then and now,
Time passed, my indentured servitude was completed and I was promoted to copy/contact and eventually became an AE — still involved primarily with print and making reasonable money for the time. But the ads were just awful!
Doyle Dane Bernbach had just changed — reinvented — retail advertising with its ads for Orbach’s (a NYC discount department store) and had just begun their first work for … you guessed it … Volkswagen! I beat on their door on West 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue for a job. Nothing. Hell – barely had an interview but that began a love affair for print ads that continues to this day.
This is a long winded way of introducing some of the most unique, exciting and futuristic print ads I’ve ever seen. Be prepared to open your mind: greatprintads1
Is This the Year the Media Died?
Revenues are down, way down for newspapers, magazines, direct mail, outdoor, broadcast television, cable television and even the Internet for the first quarter of the year and trends indicate more of the same in the second quarter.
Everyone in media is hurting, but thank god ad people have an undeniable sense of humor – even if it’s the gallows type. If you are in any part of the advertising business you’ll crack-up watching The Year The Media Died.
The Harbinger of Summer Is Here
Seasonal climatic conditions notwithstanding, the first sighting of a robin, daffodil or lilac signifies the arrival of spring, or as the Italians say, Prima Vera. Ah, but summer for automobile aficionados’ is news of the first classic car show, concours d’elegance or shopping center parking lot show. And that time is here!
For comprehensive listings of major and minor summer auto events, shows, get-togethers, fan clubs, marquee gatherings and museums check out the following: Car Show News and the Concours site.