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Old 04-06-2004, 07:17 AM   #245 (permalink)
ARTelevision
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Consider billboards...and their power

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/US/Bu...cy_040331.html

This story goes on about the fine points of standards of decency vis-a-vis First Ammendment freedoms, etc.

That's the text. I'm more interested in the subtext. I'm interested in the power of billboard messages coming into our minds as they do.

It's referenced in the story's first sentence:

"Billboard companies are force-feeding messages to us," said State Sen. Matt Bartle. "It's like a walled corridor … there are stretches where there's one every mile."

You can read the rest. But that one sentence is the important one for me...

....................

Debating Decency
Since Janet Jackson Raised Media Concerns, Advertising Faces Scrutiny
By Adrienne Mand
ABCNEWS.com

March 31— Drive along Route I-70 through the heart of Missouri and you can't miss them — advertisements featuring women with bare breasts and other nudity encourage travelers to exit the highway and visit one of the many nearby porn shops.

"Billboard companies are force-feeding messages to us," said State Sen. Matt Bartle. "It's like a walled corridor … there are stretches where there's one every mile."
As the debate rages on what is acceptable behavior by the media in post-wardrobe-malfunction 2004, advertising has come under increased scrutiny, and the ad community has begun wrestling with the thorny topic.

Those in the ad industry say reaching the target audience for a brand should not require using offensive material, and they're wary of any attempts by the government to regulate creativity and free speech.

"I think if you're mindful of your target and you're doing a really good job to build your brand, there will be very few instances where you really have to grapple with this issue," said Cheryl Greene, managing partner and chief strategy officer at Deutsch, a New York ad agency.

Ever since Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast to a worldwide audience during the Super Bowl, the FCC has begun cracking down on sexual content in the media. Perhaps most prominently, shock jock Howard Stern has been fined for his on-air antics, and there are promises of more repurcussions to come.

But the ad industry has always been self-policed, a practice that executives say is crucial to success as well as freedom of expression. Keith Reinhard, chairman of New York's DDB Worldwide, said advertisers and agencies must recognize the power they have.

"What I would advocate is that people understand that with this cherished freedom, as with any freedom, goes a responsibility," he said, "and each person who has access to the media has to decide how they will exercise that responsibility with respect to this decency issue."

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Much of what's perceived as positive and negative about advertising can be seen while driving along America's highways.On one end of the spectrum, the nationwide public service announcements from the non-profit Foundation for a Better Life display inspirational messages with the tagline "Pass It On."

The foundation's billboards feature Kermit the Frog as an example for others to overcome obstacles: "Eats Flies. Dates a Pig. Hollywood Star. Live your dream." Other ads feature celebrities such as Christopher Reeve ("Super man. Strength.) and Whoopi Goldberg (Overcaem Dyslexia. Hard work.) as well as historical figures like Winston Churchill and everyday Americans who exemplify good character and values.

"The feeling originally was that people are basically good and that all any of us need is a little reminder," said Gary Dixon, president of the foundation. All of the outdoor, television and movie theater space for the ads has been donated.

Then there are the explicit ads on I-70 that have Bartle and other lawmakers outraged enough that the state Senate recently passed a bill prohibiting such signs within one mile of state highways. Senate bill 870 defines the "state of nudity" as "any bare exposure of the skin located on a person's body below the armpits and above the knees."

Though the definition may be softened in the state House version of the bill, Bartle said the advertisements must be stopped. "This isn't like cable TV where you can choose to have it in your home or not have it," he said. "Families cannot choose not to travel on state highways. That's a necessary, critical part of life."

One mainstream advertiser that pushed the edge drew vocal opposition and changed tactics. After the release of the holiday issue of its provocative quarterly, complete with nudity and sex tips, teen clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch faced a boycott by the National Coalition for the Protection of Children & Families. Though he would not comment on the boycott or its influence, spokesman Tom Lennox said the quarterly has been retired and a tamer campaign has been running in magazines like Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone and Details, and as direct mail. Billboards are possible in the future.

"It was time to take a new direction," Lennox said. "We think we've achieved that with the new marketing plan."

"I think there's invariably going to be scrutiny in advertising for fashion companies," he said, adding, "Our brand has a masculine face to it. It has an edge. It can sometimes be irreverent."

The boycott has since been called off, according to the coalition's Web site.

Standards to Uphold


While the FCC has begun cracking down on broadcasters for indecency, the ad industry intends to continue regulating itself, according to executives.

Ken Klein, vice president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, compared the current outcry over decency to the controversy over tobacco ads. But that was changed in 1999 when cigarette manufacturers agreed to stop advertising outdoors as part of a $206 billion national tobacco settlement with 46 states seeking costs for treating sick smokers.

Ad industry trade associations have provisions in their codes of conduct regarding sexually explicit and profane material in advertising. In 2001, the OAAA amended its code of principles to include the language "we do not disseminate obscene words or inappropriate pictorial content."

The trade groups cannot enforce rules, but this allows for interpretation by outdoor advertising operators. "A community standard may be different from one place to another — from Las Vegas to Los Alamos — but those decisions are made locally by managers who live in those communities," Klein said, adding, "It's voluntary, and it underscores the right to reject advertising." Similarly, Greene said advertisers can manage the issue within the community. "There's really a much tougher standard for advertising than for programming," she said. "In a way, it's good that programmers will be more accountable. Advertising's been unfairly targeted when usually it's much tamer."

Still, Reinhard predicts the issue will continue to heat up periodically as boundaries are pushed and society reacts. "I think it's a perplexing issue because people who need to make a profit each quarter are looking at evidence that says, well, if we cross this line and we're really appealing to those people who want to rebel against social mores and so forth, it's lucrative," he said. "In our business, advertising, you can succeed with vulgar advertising or with uplifting advertising. It might be harder to do the latter … [but] just as effective, or more so, and in the process it uplifts."

And, he said, advertisers and agencies will continue to take things on a case by case basis. "We're concerned about it. We can't write rules, we just have to say, 'OK, that's something we wouldn't do,'" Reinhard said.

"Where it's all going is more disturbing to me because if you look at the trends, you can say, well, in some ways we're better off with a loosening. We can actually talk about things," he added. "At the same time, there is a coarseness that seems to be abundant in this society, and I'm not sure that that is good. I think there is a place for decent behavior and politeness and grace and style and taste, and those ideas are really not very popular in the United States of America today."
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