Esquire will begin running nude centerfolds, starting with its November issue. Editor in Chief Edward Kosner said the airbrushed "Vargas Girls" of yesteryear will be photographically "reinterpreted" for the `90s. "It will be beautiful, feminine, sexy and sweet," Mr. Kosner said. "We're not dipping into sleaze. It will be very high-end. I can't imagine anyone would object to it." (Ad Age, 8/22/94)

In an effort to "take advantage of the resource of the mall, and put learning right out into the heart of business and community," teenagers from five public schools in Minnesota have been given the option of being schooled at the Mall of American, the largest indoor shopping center in the United States.

The suspiciously narrow curriculum presently consists of five satellite courses which blur the lines between education and marketing. Shopping Mall Sciences will, however, allow future captains of industry to unleash their burning ambitions toward such worthy, spiritually enriched academic interests as "Marketing/consulting with people who walk into the stores, contacting clients about types of businesses, why they decided to go into the mall..." (AdBusters, Summer 1994)

In the last issue of World View, we quoted an article from PR Watch (Spring 1994) about how Candy Lightner, the founder of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), is lobbying for a liquor industry trade group. Now MADD (sans-Lightner) has teamed up with Stonehenge Ltd. to market Molecular Expressions Cocktail Collection neckties. The fashionable neckware features patterns based on the molecular structure of scotch, gin and other drinks. (Ad Age, 8/2//94)

Too busy to bond? Atlanta entrepreneur Mike Correll specializes in matching time-pressed male executives with like-minded buddies to hang out with. Correll approaches between ten and fifteen executives a week offering to help them create new friendships. Up to a third become paying clients, forking out fees that run as high as $1,2000. Once an executive agrees to join, he is invited to meet a group of about two dozen recruits with similar interests who gather for various, regularly planned activities. Despite the demand, critics abound -- including the wives of many participants. But most clients remain unperturbed: "If you are going to buy friends," says one, "this is a good group to buy." (Details, August 1994)

CANBERRA, Australia - Former President Ronald Reagan used cue cards to help him in official meetings with foreign dignitaries, former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke said.

"Although I knew that significant intellectual exchange was not Ron's forte, I had treated with skepticism the rumors about his use in formal meetings of a series of hand-held cards as discussion promoters," Hawke said in extracts from his memoirs published in the The Weekend Australian newspaper.

"But when I sat down in the White House across the table from the president, I was astonished to see that he actually did operate this way,"Hawke said.

In his first exchange with Reagan, Hawke said he made some comments about the sustainability of U.S. economic policy.

"The president, with an ease which obviously came from long practice, thumbed through a number of cards held in the palm of his hand, found the appropriate one, read a couple of generalized sentences and then, turning to the Secretary of the Treasury, Donald Regan, said; 'Don, this is your area, perhaps you would like to respond to Bob,"' Hawke said.

Hawke said he then changed the subject to foreign affairs.

"Again, Ron found the appropriate card, made a couple of broad observations, then passed the baton to (then-Secretary of State) George Shultz." (Reuter, 8/14/94)

The July/August 1994 issue of Extra!, the magazine of Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), reported the results of a study on daily press coverage of domestic violence. A coalition of women's rights advocates in San Francisco launched the effort. The eight-month study examined the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner and uncovered the following patterns:

* White male perpetrators were frequently described in positive terms. For instance, a man who shot and killed his ex-wife, then hurled his daughter off the Golden Gate Bridge was referred to as "a sweetheart," a "loving father," and "a hell of a nice guy."

* Perpetrators were often portrayed with sympathy, implying an element of victimization, a la "a victim of divorce."

* Police officers were the most frequent source; the Examiner used police sources five times more than any other source. Domestic violence experts were quoted in only one quarter of the cases studied.

* Over-reliance on police sources led to an abundance of quotes that trivialized domestic violence. Police were quoting as saying things like "most families just need a referee." One cop referred to police being called out to settle "domestic spats."

* When men of color were perpetrators, their descriptions were overwhelmingly negative terms. The words "domestic violence" virtually never appeared in coverage of cases involving European-American couples, but was used repeatedly in coverage of non-white couples.

And from the Source ("The Magazine of Hip-Hop Music, Culture and Politics"), an informal survey of hip-hop artists on the "OJ Simpson affair:"

KRS-One: "All men want to beat the fuck out of their wives at some point. OJ is representing the frustration of men in America today. How many guys have caught their women in bed with another man? . . . People have alter egos that can make them flip. Everyone else is playing games so they can make millions. Only rap artist are real (sic).

"In (OJ)'s life, motherfuckers be going out. On another level, maybe his boy did it and O.J. is covering up `cause they lovers."

CMG of Conscious Daughters: "Domestic abuse is scary. A man's heart is nothing to play with. She had another man driving his car and shit. She knew who she was dealing with."

Scarface: "I can't believe OJ could have went out like that for a woman, a white woman!! Even if he used to beat her, he wouldn't kill her. I think her dude's lover came by, got jealous, and killed them."

MC Eiht: "The media was looking for a suspect. The media wanted to try the case, as much as the courts, and the TV cameras had no one else to turn to as a suspect, so they picked OJ."

Heavy D: "To me, it's unnecessary to hit your wife. "

Fire up for Heavy D!!!!!

Public broadcasting is hoping to get even more leeway in its definition of non-commercial programming. The rules for corporate sponsor identification have become looser over the years, and now PBS is hoping to officially rewrite the regulations. Under proposed changes, the time alloted for "credits" between programs would be extended and sponsors would be able to use their own spokesperson in the ad. Moreover, PBS would urge local affiliates to carry national programs at certain times of the day to deliver desirable demographics to the advertisers. Local stations have long resisted taking such orders from above because it infringes on their autonomy and their freedom to air local community programs.

Still, the proposed new policy goes further to cater to underwriter needs. Sponsors may use the same advertisement on PBS that they use on commercial television and they may feature corporate mascots in the spots. Finally, underwriters could have permission to promote particular products rather than merely "identify" their company -- though in today's imaged-based advertising climate, there is really little difference. (Wall Street Journal, 6/1/94, via Advice, Summer 1994)

In the aftermath of Kurt Cobain's suicide, Lisa Crystal Carver has nominated herself as Voice of Our Generation. Carver, 25, publishes Rollerderby zine and leads the experimental music group Suckdog. As Voice, Carver proposes ditching Generation X for Generation L -- a better looking, more exciting people with a million ideas and the ego to carry them out. (P.O. Box 18054, Denver, CO 80218)

Meanwhile, Smokey Bear, the enigmatic spokesmammal for the U.S. Forest Service, is hoping to make a name for himself through a new line of licensed products. Smokey audio and videocassettes, caps, bed and bath accessories, raingear,boots, plush dolls, t-shirts and a telephone debit calling card are expected to bring in more than $2 million next year alone. The Forest Service will be cautious with advertising, though, lest it repeat the ugliness the Dept. of Transportation had in 1992 getting a public service announcement campaign on the air. Networks refused to air the Vince & Larry car seat-belt safety PSAs after Tyco Toys began advertising its Incredible Crash Dummies, a Transportation Department licensee. The networks must have thought the PSAs were helping to sell a commercial product.

Smokey's big push could make him one of the richest government-licensed programs around -- bringing in more money than the Elvis Presley stamp (which helped doubled U.S. Postal revenue to about $2 million), and McGruff, the anti-crime dog who earns about $400,000 in royalties for the Department of Justice. In fact, he's something of a Horatio Alger himself. Smokey was born in 1950 when a burned cub was found clinging to a tree after a forest fire. Barely alive, the little darling fought his way back to health and succeeded in finding housing at the National Zoo is Washington. Now his poignant drama has been adopted by Cambridge Consulting, which will sell the whole story of Smokey to a film studio.

Approximately 6% of the royalties from sales of Smokey products will go to fire prevention education efforts of the Forest Service. (Ad Age, 8/15/94)

Taco Bell is testing conveyor belts that transport food and change from a drive-through window to the customer's car. McDonalds is testing robots on its french fry assembly lines. And at some Carol Jr's. and Arby's, the customer can now order via computer. Burger King, Wendy's and smaller chains have expressed interest in a prototype robot developed at the University of Wisconsin in the late 1980s. It picks up patties, places them on buns and sends them down a conveyor belt to humans. Experts say that the U of Wisconsin prototype could replace one full-time and several part-time positions at a fast-food restaurant -- an annual savings of nearly $30,000. If a chain such as Burger King installed robots in all its eateries, it could eliminate nearly 30,000 jobs across the country. A fully automated outlet could cut triple that number of jobs. (AdBusters, Summer 1994)

If you missed The Lion King this summer, worry not. Though Walt Disney Co. will pull the movie from theaters on Sept. 23, it will release it again at Thanksgiving with a new ad campaign. (Ad Age, 8/15/94)

The October issue of Spy has a great piece about the Disneyfication of America. Apparently, Disney is planning to build an actual town, called Celebration, in the Florida wetlands. As writer Paul Iorio notes, Disney appears to be applying theme-park principles to Celebration: the town will have a theme school (Classes will be theme-oriented rather than age-oriented, says Chris Colombo, superintendent of the school board); citizenship will include free admission to Disney World and EPCOT Center; and Disney now orchestrates theme weddings (as in an Aladdin theme or a Snow White theme).

Coors Brewing will become the first brewer with its own credit card. Coors said a Coors Extra Gold Visa will be offered by Chevy Chase Bank. (Ad Age, 8/15/94)

On ABC's now-defunct "Home Show," Dr. Jay Gordon said during a debate on alcohol advertising: "I don't want to seem like I'm an un-fun guy because I opposed the advertising of cancer-causing and death-causing drugs to children, but I don't think that this should be done." Parts of the statement, however, were bleeped out when the program was re-broadcast on the West Coast (the East Coast heard it live); producers decided that "un-fun guy" and "I don't think this should be done," constituted "inappropriate...personal views." The ad industry representative on the show was allowed to assert there is "no relationship whatsoever" between ads and youth drinking. (Extra!, 5-6/94)

Paul Hill, who murdered a doctor and another man outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Fla., in August was on Nightline last December 8. After introducing Hill as the leader of Defensive Action, whose members believe murder a legitimate tactic to stop abortions, Koppel began his ruthless no-holds-barred inquisition: "Mr. Hill, you must have a very strong sense of your own correctness, of your own justice, of the propriety, the decency, the honesty of what you are doing, and yet I think you can understand that to most people who are watching, murder is not acceptable." (The Nation, August 22/29)