CougarLife Advert Too Violent: Image Management?

I check AdWeek pretty religiously for funny, interesting, entertaining advertisements and to catch up on the latest ad-related news. I came across this article talking about cougarlife.com. I’ve seen the commercial a billion times on television and every time I laugh. There’s a woman walking around a bar talking about younger woman being self-involved, clingy, and cheap (basically). The ad is for the dating website in which younger men can find cougars.

            This ad has been playing for sometime now, however it made AdWeek news because apparently it’s offensive…in the Australia. Really Australia, really? Apparently the ad is “too violent” because the cougar woman pushes younger women. Additionally, a woman said the ad was offensive because “it depicts an older women inferring that the men in the ad would be better 'taken care of' by her, rather than the younger women. It seemed to suggest that she would be a better 'mate' for the men in the ad than the younger women”. This consumer’s comment is hilarious. It’s a “Duhhh” moment. That’s exactly what the ad is inferring. The older actress says it. She says older woman know what they want and younger girls don’t. Watch the ad and ask yourselves the question, is this ad offensive to me?

Australia banned the advertisement citing it was too violent. The reason I wanted to discuss this ad was because I wanted to talk about what are some possible ways CougarLife can redeem itself in Australia. Personally, I find the ad funny. But the fact of the matter is Australia banned the advert and although the company would probably like to respond to the consumer’s comment with a giant “DUHHHH”, as a company they cannot. So my question is what are some ways CougarLife can do image management in Australia?     

Links:

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/australia-bans-ad-solely-because-one-woman-pushes-another-153393

Ad is included in this link as well

Why the Visual Web is a Billion Dollar Trend

We have been doing our class presentations on the various social media outlets and how they can be used effectively by public relations professionals. While doing my research on Pinterest, I came across an interesting article about the Visual Web and how it is influencing the virtual world.

The Visual Web is made up of websites that value pictures over text (think Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr). As many of us have discussed from our own experiences and what we have heard from various presenters, images tend to attract more traffic and generate more "hits" than lengthy, wordy posts. Looking at a picture takes less time and energy, which allows visitors to stay on the sites longer. Another positive of having so many pictures is that advertisements are less obvious. Many people have complained about the overwhelming presence of ads on Facebook, while Pinterest was having problems with their users seeing the ads at all.

It took some time before the tech world knew what to do with Visual Websites.  They tend to attract the younger generations as well as women, however, they have begun to reach a broader audience world-wide.  In the UK, studies of Pinterest have found that it is actually dominated by men, but this is not typical). What they are finding is that these sites are bringing in more ecommerce traffic, they are more lucrative, they have faster growth and more active members. This is probably what led Facebook to buy Instagram for a massive sum of $1 billion and Yahoo to buy Tumblr for $1.1 Billion. Pinterest is estimated at being worth $3.8 billion.

Seeing how effective using the Visual Web can be, how can public relations specialist re-think their way of interacting with their publics to incorporate these websites to generate more attention to their own business?

I, personally, think that companies will begin to use these websites more and conduct more research into how they can use them effectively. I think we are only beginning to know how to fully take advantage of these tools and I foresee them being utilized more than Facebook down the line.  A picture speaks a thousand words, and I think, once communications specialists understand it fully, the Visual Web will become an important PR tool for all businesses.

Links to articles:
1. http://voyagegroupin.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/where-social-media-is-heading-its-time-to-invest-in-visual-web/
2. http://readwrite.com/2013/07/25/mindboggling-facts-that-will-make-you-care-about-pinterest#awesm=~olBrhTIdpHCChv

Redefining a Town

What lengths will a town go to in order to maintain its reputation? One town in North Dakota has approved a “moratorium” on any new construction to stop a white supremacist from building up an “Aryan enclave,” according to an article posted today on the USA Today web site.

Leith is a town in southwestern North Dakota that was founded in 1910 as a Milwaukee Road Railroad town and at its height had a population of as many as 170 people (Ghosts of North Dakota). Now it has just 23 people (USA Today) and is considered “a fairly clean and fairly intact near-ghost town” (Ghosts of North Dakota).

This has created a situation conducive to the plans of Craig Cobb, a 61-year old white supremacist. Cobb is a hate crimes fugitive, who was previously arrested in Canada on charges of the “willful promotion of hatred” (Jezebel). He moved into the North Dakota town and bought a home and 12 other lots in the town (USA Today) and encouraged others with similar views to follow his lead and become active citizens.

What are active citizens? According to Cobb, as posted on Vanguard News Network, these are people who will:

1. Always (24 hrs a day) fly at least one racialist banner: examples--Nazi flags, Creativity flags, SA triple 7 flags etc. The larger the better. It would be best if your flag(s) were spotlighted during night time hours. I may be able to provide fresh ones say, 4 times per year. (Or I may let you pay and get your own).

2. Try your best to import more responsible radical hard core WN.

3. Register as a ND legal resident of this town and vote in our local election. Residency to vote is 30 days.

City officials are trying to stop Cobb’s plans by putting ordinances in place that require him and his followers to install water and sewer services, as well as an ordinance to prevent tents and campers from being on city lots for more than 10 consecutive days (USA Today).

If you were a PR professional working with the city of Leith, or a supporter of the neo-Nazi movement, how would you approach this situation? Looking at Smith’s proposal of different tactics in the article from last week, which ones do you think would be the most useful for both sides of the argument?

References:

1.      AP. “N.D. town OKs building ban to deter Aryan enclave.” USA Today. N.p., 28 Oct 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013

2.      Cobb, Craig. “North Dakota ND Rents Free Rent WN Community Intentional.” Vanguard News Network Forum (VNN). N.p., 22 May 2012. Web. 28 Oct 2013.

3.      “North Dakota’s ghost towns and abandoned places.” Ghosts of North Dakota. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.

4.      “Terrifying White Nationalist City Slowly Forming in North Dakota.” Jezebel blog. N.p., 24 Aug. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2013

Ads for Global Change

UN Women has launched a new campaign to highlight the need for further discussion on sexism worldwide. The campaign creator used images of actual Google searches using the autocomplete feature to show that sexism is still very much a part of the everyday lives of women. One example of the autocomplete process was “Women need to be put in their place.” Another was “Women should be slaves.” The images are of women of different ethnicities, and presumably different nationalities, but the results are most likely accessible as a result of U.S.-based searches.

Autocomplete is a result of the most searched for items and reflects actual users’ searches. The text of the searches are over the mouths of the women pictured, to show them being silenced. This shows that women are seen, but not heard, and then this idea is reflected in the autocompleted search texts.

Kareem Shuhaibar, a copy writer for the campaign, talked about his hopes for the campaign: “The ads are shocking because they show just how far we still have to go to achieve gender equality. They are a wake up call, and we hope that the message will travel far.” The campaign was based on searches done in March of this year and was just unveiled in mass media this week, so its impact is as yet to be determined.

In Wilcox and Cameron’s article “Reaching Diverse Audiences” the importance of crafting culturally appropriate messages based on age, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. is discussed. Does this campaign have the ability to reach these diverse audiences? If you were a PR professional for an organization that works on women’s rights issues, would you align yourself with this campaign? Why or why not?

To see the ads in more detail, check out one of these web sites:

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/powerful-ads-use-real-google-searches-show-scope-sexism-worldwide-153235

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/10/women-should-ads

The Pope on Social Media

Pope Benedict initiating Vatican’s use of Social Media:

        Pope Benedict XVI was said to be the leading activist for the Catholic Church’s presence on social media. Prior to the Pope’s endorsement, the Church did not utilize (to a recognizable extent) social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. Pope Benedict, at the time 85 years old, saw the potential use value in the growing medium. Every year the Vatican holds a World Communications Day in which the Pope gives a speech about the importance of communication in the daily lives of Christians.

Religion aside, Pope Benedict had some profound thoughts on the potential usage for social media. At the 45th World Communications Day, he pointed out how social media and social networking is shaping the lives of millennials (people born after 1982). Essentially, social networking is a place where relationships are not dependent on physical space or conventional time. Ideas, philosophies, and passions can be shared and relationships are built in spite of physical distance. He acknowledges how young people seek entertainment, answers to questions, and intellectual stimulation through the Internet. Although the Pope is providing a reasonable analysis of social media, he also points out that “it is important always to remember that virtual contact cannot and must not take the place of direct human contact with people at every level of our lives”.

        At the 47th World Communications Day, Pope Benedict delivered another speech with a similar message. A notable point to make in discussing his speeches is the idea of authenticity. In both speeches he discusses authenticity in terms of the presentation of the self and the messages received. He sees it as an important issue that everyone, the Church included, be authentic, true, and realize that social media is a tool for expanding communication as opposed to hiding behind a virtual wall. Both speeches are extremely interesting and profound in the analysis. The links for both are provided in works cited.

        Since the Church is taking a new approach in reshaping its contemporary image through the use of social media, many people are talking about the Pope’s presence in social media as a good thing. According to a Huffington Post article, Claudio Celli, the lead communications officer for the Vatican, said “that the ‘millennial generation’… use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube far more than their parents as primary sources of information, entertainment and sharing political views and community issues”. Since this is the case, the article also cited a statement from Benedict’s World Communication Day address saying,

The digital environment is not a parallel or purely virtual world, but is part of the daily experience of many people, especially the young…Social networks are the result of human interaction, but for their part they also reshape the dynamics of communication which builds relationships: a considered understanding of this environment is therefore the prerequisite for a significant presence there.

This is part of the Pope’s rationality for directing the Church towards a more accessible presence. The Internet and social media are new public squares where people can express ideas, opinions and spiritual stories. The Pope’s advocacy and usage of social media made bigger news when Pope Francis became the new Pope.   

Pope Francis and his controversial interview:

On September 20th, Pope Francis granted an interview with the Italian Jesuit magazine “La Civilta Cattolica”.  The interview was also published in another 16 magazines around the world.  The lengthy interview contained several unexpected quotes from Francis that lead to a flurry of social media activity.  Headlines such as “Pope Says Church is ‘Obsessed’ With Gays, Abortion and Birth Control,” (New York Times) “Blunt pontiff tells flock to quit yammering about gay marriage, abortion, and contraceptives” (New York Daily News), and “Pope Francis: Leave Gays Alone” (CNN), flooded the internet and fueled impassioned responses from both liberals and conservatives via twitter.  Publications such as the Huffington Post credit the pope with being open and candid, unlike popes in the past.

        In his interview with “La Civilta Cattolica”, the pope spoke of his own shortcomings and identified himself a “sinner”.  He described the fear he had in his younger years of being seen as ultraconservative because of his tendency to make decisions quickly.  When not speaking of himself, Pope Francis’ interview largely focused on the path he believes will be best for the modern day Catholic Church.  He emphasized the importance of attending to the individual rather than solely focusing on the transmission of the church’s moral doctrines.  Francis advocates “healing wounds and warming hearts” He believes that this is the way to best improve the Catholic community.  However, by stating that he would rather focus on healing than on the traditional and controversial topics of homosexuality and contraception, many interpreted his interview as incredibly progressive and liberal.  The Catholic Church immediately addressed these interpretations and assured the publics that Pope Francis’ quotes had been taken out of context.  For a obviously biased yet telling recount of the Catholic Church’s damage control, check out this article: http://www.theonion.com/articles/vatican-quickly-performs-damage-control-on-popes-t,33292/

        As demonstrated by the article in The Onion, the Pope’s nontraditional and seemingly liberal comments on the church’s views on homosexuals and contraception received a lot of attention via social media.  Here are some examples of tweets:

From actress Jane Fonda; “Gotta love new Pope.  He cares about poor, hates dogma.  Unlike US Congress.  Cutting $40bil from food stamps”.

From Slate columnist Matthew Yglesias, “liked a lot of this new Pope’s ideas, but still have serious doubts about the part where Jesus dies for my sins and rises again”.

The National Catholic Review complied a series of reactions to the pope’s interview here if you would like to read more: http://americamagazine.org/issue/articles/francis-%E2%80%98america%E2%80%99

Despite all of the debate and ongoing analysis, something that both the liberals and conservatives agree on is that Pope Francis is in position to significantly alter the Catholic Church.

Discussion Questions:

1. How does the recent presence of the Catholic Church in Social Media affect its “brand”?

2. Is their current position effective in gaining new followers and in regenerating the faithful?

3. What PR model would you apply in handling Pope Francis’s statements?

Works Cited:

Allen, Charlotte. “Misreading Pope Francis.” Los Angeles Times. 29 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.

America: The National Catholic Review. “Francis in ‘America’.” 12 Oct. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.

Hitchen, Philippa. “Pope Francis gives personal interview to Jesuit magazines.” Vatican Radio. 19 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.

Huffington Post. “Pope Francis: Gays, Abortion Too Much of Catholic Church’s Obsession.” 19 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.

The Onion. “Vatican Quickly Performs Damage Control On Pope’s Tolerant Remarks.” 29 Jul. 2013. Web 20 Oct 2013.

Vatican Information Service. “Interview with Pope Francis in Jesuit Magazines.” 20 Sept. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013.

Huffington Post. “Pope Benedict On Social Networking: The Virtual is Real.” 24 Jan. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/24/pope-on-social-networking_n_2540887.html

Time Magazine. “Social Media Okayed by Pope.” 25 Jan. 2012. Web 20 Oct. 2013

http://techland.time.com/2012/01/25/social-media-okayed-by-the-pope/

Catholic Culture. “Pope Benedict Calls for Strong Christian presence in Social Media.” 24 Jan. 2013. Web 20 Oct. 2013

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=16894

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20110124_45th-world-communications-day_en.html

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/communications/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20130124_47th-world-communications-day_en.html

'SNL' Actor Won't Play Female Roles

In our reading last night we learned about reaching diverse audiences. The United States is known as the great "melting pot." Our reading says that 1/3 of the population is made up of minorities and will constitute the majority of the population by 2042. There are multiple other factors that influence the way people view the world including, history, economy, generational differences and socioeconomic status. Public relations practitioners need to be aware of these differences when creating and delivering their message. 

Our reading states that there are more than 40 million African Americans in the United States and yet our media does not reflect this. According to a recent study by Children Now, the 8 to 9 PM television-viewing "family hour" is the least ethnically diverse, with only one in eight programs having a mixed cast.  This sends highly skewed messages about diversity in America to viewers.

The Screen Actors Guild, which collects ethnicity data on all casting roles in TV and film, reported that roles for African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans for the first time declined in 1998, in spite of the increasing visibility of this issue.

Kenan Thompson, a cast member on Saturday Night Live, recently announced that he will no longer play black female roles until there are black, female cast members. In the 38 years "SNL" has been on the air, TV Guide notes, the series has only had four black female cast members: Yvonne Hudson (1980-81), Danitra Vance (1985-86), Ellen Cleghorne (1991-95) and Maya Rudolph (2000-2007). 

His announcement comes at the heels of comments from fellow cast member Jay Pharoah regarding the hiring, or lack of hiring, black cast members. Last month, Pharoah told MSNBC's theGrio that "SNL" producers "need to pay attention” to diversity and suggested they hire black female comedian Darmirra Brunson.

As comedian W. Kamau Bell told Salon last month, the need to diversify at SNL and other comedy stalwarts isn’t just about who they hire but about who makes up the pool of potential talent. Bell also noted that diversity of perspective is important, that having comedians of various backgrounds — not just black and white — leads to jokes of various styles that speak to a wider array of audience members. The gist of it is that any place that so predominantly draws from any one group of people is likely to stick individuals who don’t fit into that group into token or translated roles, parts that see the minority group through the eyes of the majority, rather than for themselves as people.

So maybe there’s something more concerning than the fact that, if Thompson and Pharaoh won’t play women, Saturday Night Live will have no impressions of famous black women. A truly diverse SNL would be one where a black, female comedian also plays characters who require her acting ability and sense of humor, not just her race. 

This coming Saturday SNL booked Kerry Washington from the show Scandal. Skeptics have suggested that the Kerry Washington announcement — the show’s decision to feature a woman well known for breaking racial barriers — was meant specifically to calm fans whose anger about diversity on the show was stoked by Thompson’s comments. (It seems unlikely that she was cast within the last two days, and this timing, about three weeks in advance, is fairly standard for SNL‘s hosting announcements, but it is possible that the current firestorm inspired the exact moment the news was announced.)

I believe we should be concerned about having the casts on TV programs reflect the ethnic diversity that exists in society at large, and ensure that news reporting is fair, balanced and color-blind.  

What can be done to change this?


Here is a link to the interview Kenan Thompson gave to TV Guide: http://www.tvguide.com/News/SNL-Diversity-Issue-Kenan-Thompson-1072056.aspx

ACLU vs. NSA “Freedoms of Speech and the NSA Spying Program

Summary In June 2013 The Guardian, a British newspaper, released leaked information divulged by NSA contractor Edward Snowden detailing the NSA’s data-mining and aggressive spying efforts on U.S. citizens through protections of the Patriot Act and other forms of legislation. The leak brought a firestorm on Capitol Hill as politicians scrambled to determine how deep the leaked information went. This sparked outrage, as Americans began to further mistrust the government. This case is an example of freedom of speech laws and how well they are protected by those who uphold our Constitution. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) brought a lawsuit against the NSA soon after the leak was made public. The ACLU alleged in their filed statement that “the program violates the First Amendment rights of free speech and association as well as the right of privacy protected by the Fourth Amendment. The complaint also charges that the dragnet program exceeds the authority that Congress provided through the Patriot Act” (Electronic Frontier Foundation, “Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying”). Key Stakeholders Washington, D.C.: Domestic wiretapping was made legal as a result of the Patriot Act, which was a direct response to the events of September 11th and the realization of the domestic terror threat. Former President George W. Bush signed the Patriot Act into law after Congress nearly unanimously approved it. The law allows for warrantless communication line wire tapping in the efforts to thwart domestic terror activities. This undertaking was placed in the NSA’s hands. National Security Agency (NSA) The NSA has long been the subject of much criticism relating to their surveillance practices. Citizens and politicians alike have expressed concern over the legality and effectiveness of the Patriot Act. Edward Snowden Edward Snowden is a former NSA contractor whom, while under the employ of Booz Allen Hamilton, leaked information from U.S. and British security agencies to the British newspaper, The Guardian. Members of the media, politicians and citizens have labeled him a patriot, a traitor and a whistleblower across the globe. Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton is a data-mining company contracted by the NSA to produce reports and run analytics on web-based searches and other telecommunications activity. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) The ACLU has brought lawsuits against the NSA prior to the 2013 filing. The ACLU’s legal actions against the NSA can be traced back to 2008 when the NSA filed a lawsuit as a part of a Freedom of Information request to force the NSA to release documents detailing their tracking of communications activities among Americans as a part of warrantless wire-tapping. Verizon The NSA, through a top secret court order, demanded Verizon hand over telephone records for millions of American customers. The order called for continued cooperation of information sharing on all calls made within its system over a three month period. American Citizens Americans are a main stakeholder in this case, as the NSA and its contractors monitored the communications of citizens as a part of the warrantless wire-tapping program protected by the Patriot Act. Foreign Nationals The NSA and its contractors have monitored the movements of “of interest” foreign nationals. The NSA’s data-mining program has reach far beyond U.S. borders and has named numerous individuals and groups on their “watch lists” via the XKeyscore program. Political, social and economic ramifications There are several political factors in play, none more important than the First and Fourth Amendment violations committed by the NSA, contractors and the U.S. government. The Patriot Act, its practices and validity, has, once again, been called into question, as more Americans, politicians and special interest groups have questioned the motives of the law. The mistrust of the government has been the main social factor that has shaped the context of the issue. Americans have lost trust in the government and the NSA due to the violations of the First and Fourth Amendments. The ACLU, on behalf of the American people, have alleged that both parties and corresponding organizations have breached the civil liberties granted to American citizens. The NSA spy program has also had global consequences. The Guardian has brought forth the notion that the spying program has been used to target Arab Americans suspected of terrorist activities. Possible solutions to the problem The reformation or repeal of the U.S. Patriot and the overhaul of the NSA’s domestic surveillance practices have been suggested as ways to ensure that American’s rights are not impinged by the NSA’s domestic surveillance program. Links http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/19/nsa-surveillance-muslim-arab-americans https://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-files-lawsuit-challenging-constitutionality-nsa-phone-spying-program http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/07/obama-nsa_n_3403389.html What do you think? Has the NSA overstepped its bounds trying to uphold national security? Are the concerns of the ACLU and the lawsuit the organization brought valid? Citations "Timeline of NSA Domestic Spying | Electronic Frontier Foundation." Electronic Frontier Foundation. N.p., 18 Sept. 2008. Web. 05 Oct. 2013.