When a drunk driver killed her daughter, Candy L. Lightner responded by founding Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). Now she has a new calling. According to news reports, she has moved to Washington, DC, to lobby for a liquor industry trade group, the A merican Beverage Institute, which is paying her to help defeat MADD-supported laws that would toughen blood-alcohol tests. (PR Watch, Spring 1994)
******
Corporations with a heart of gold and about $750,000 to back it up can help New York City schools build a brighter tomorrow. In exchange for "donating" money to the new National Backboard Network, companies get their logo painted next to "Stay in school," right where all the clever kiddies aim. New York is only the beginning - Van Wagner Communications, sponsors of the program, plan to restore blackboards in playgrounds throughout the U.S. The schools get no money, just pretty new boards. (Ad Age, 5/30 /94)
*******
Walt Disney World does not endorse "Gay Day at Disney" but cannot prevent an estimated 12,000 gays and lesbians from visiting the park to celebrate Gay Pride month.
"We are not sponsoring it. We have not promoted or publicized it in any way," said Disney spokeswoman Jane Adams. Disney plans to post signs at its entrances indicating that the event is not officially sanctioned. The annual celebration is expected to att ract 12,000 to 20,000 gays and lesbians, said Charlie Irwin, president of The Gay Alliance, an Orlando group made up of gay and lesbian theme park workers.
Disney met with gay and lesbian organizers to discuss behavior guidelines, Adams said. Holding hands is allowed because "That's acceptable for anyone in the park," she said. However, anyone exhibiting "passionate activity" will be asked to leave.
The American Family Association and other Christian activist groups have mounted a media campaign against the event. Said AFA Director David Caton, "The bottom line is, Disney is embracing this event." (Reuter, May 1994)
TAVARES, Fla.- The Lake County school board voted 3-2 to require teachers to add a cultural superiority concept to their lesson plans. The board did not specify what it meant by "culture."
"When I say 'superior,' it means that America is a cut above the rest - even with the faults, failures, and successes," said Pat Hart, the self-described conservative Christian school board chairwoman who came up with the idea. "Our children need to be ta ught to appreciate our country's principles."
Lake County is a community of 150,000 people, many of them retirees. It sits about 25 miles northwest of Orlando, the home of Disney World.
The new policy was adopted Tuesday after the board recited the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to student musicians play "Its a Grand Old Flag."
Some critics objected to the word 'superior.'
(AP, 5/12/94)
******
Spotted on the outer limits of the gender debate: "potty parity" laws designed to ensure that women don't have to wait longer than men to use a public toilet. The legislation, which has already been adopted in ten states, requires that buildings like thea ters and convention halls provide up to four times the number of toilets for women as for men, in line with current research into the average time each sex requires in rest rooms. Most women are raving about the initiative, but not everyone is as thrilled : One Texas company has already been accused by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of firing 30 women rather than adding a toilet to its facilities. Some men's rights advocates are also skeptical. Hugh Nation of the National Coalition of Free Men , who has been campaigning to make stall doors compulsory in men's rooms has claimed, "We should really bring men's rest rooms up to the current standard of women's before we start addressing any alleged defects in women's rest rooms." (Details, June 1 994)
Faced with legislation that aims to ban 19 assault weapons and could spell death for Colt firearms, company officials are working on a plan. "We're trying to extend the brand name into soft goods," said account executive David Golladay. "A person may like the mystique of Colt, even if they don't like handguns, and they might like to wear a Colt cap." (Ad Age, May 16, 1994)
******
Dirt-poor Albania has hardly an economy to speak of, but now it has Coke. The average wage in Albania is less than $30 a month and its main export is its unemployed. But May 20, President Sali Berisha joined Coca-Cola executives from the United States and Italy to cut a red and white ribbon that opened a $10 million Coca-Cola bottling plant. Albania is the 197th country where Coca-Cola is made, leaving only a handful of blank spots on the Coca-Cola globe, most notably Libya, Iraq, Cuba and North Korea, wh ere the soft drink remains banned. (New York Times, 5/20/94)
******
The following items come from AdVice, an excellent quarterly newsletter published by the non-profit Center for the Study of Commercialism. AdVice is available by making a $20 donation to CSC, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009.
Pepsi's Frito-Lay joined up with the Internal Revenue Service to persuade citizens to file taxes and eat tortilla chips. In a joint ad, comedian Chris Elliot and singer Wayne Newton are seen dancing with IRS auditors, after which a real-life IRS commissio ner reminds people of the April 15 tax deadline. (Wall Street Journal, 4/14/94)
Baseball fans will soon see ads behind home plate or in centerfield - but only if they're watching the game on TV. Since ads in such prominent places can be distracting to players, Madison Avenue has developed digitized images visible only to home viewers . (USA Today, 3/10/94)
On March 12, The New York Times Magazine planned to run a cover story in which feminist Catherine McKinnon and First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams debate whether to restrict pornography. However, just before printing, the editors noticed that the first fu ll-page advertisement featured a seductive woman sprawled out on the beach with her breasts bursting out of a loose shirt; she had nothing else on (certainly not the Express jeans she was selling). But rather than change the ad or risk people noticing the irony, the editors decided to bump the article to an inside page and run a cover on Afghan terrorists instead. (Newsweek, 3/21/94)
Some revealing publications from the advertising industry:
Beauty's latest miracle in a bottle: thigh creams that promise thinner, smoother, cellulite-free legs.
"The interest this year is incredible," said beauty industry consultant Suzanne Grayson. "The products have the 'smell' of being legitimate because of the (ingredient) aminophylline."
Aminophylline is an anti-asthma drug that is supposed to break down fat and trigger the body to release it.
Department stores sell an estimate $100 million annually of cellulite and skin products for legs. Christian Dior's Svelte Cellulite Control Complex, expected to triple the size of the anti-cellulite market in department stores, costs $48 for 6.8 ounces. < I>(Advertising Age, May 2, 1994)