Take up the White Man's burden-- In patience to abide, To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain To seek another's profit, And work another's gain. And so it was in 1899 that Rudyard Kipling published his poem meant for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. And now, more than 100 years later the concept of Kipling's seven stanzas has become emblematic both of Eurocentric racism and of Western aspirations to dominate the developing world. Through the years, the sense of "burden" has given way to the enlightenment of " responsibility." And gentility has replaced "White Man's" with "Management's." So that in tandem, the message has migrated from "White Man's burden," to "Management's responsibly." The net, net as it relates to our Eurocentric Society is that we hold these truths to be self- evident: 1.) somebody is in charge of "whateveritis. And, it is also self-evident that: 2.) when "whateveritis" fucks up, "somebody" needs to answer for it. In this case, that "somebody" is Rupert Murdock. Mr. Murdock is the right man for this tongue lashing. Fox fucked up. This time they fucked up big time. For the new Lean Advertising Network White Paper |
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I live in the Hollywood Hills. Every day I drive my six year old daughter up and over Barham and down into Burbank to her first grade class. And every day I drive my daughter back up the hill towards home. But for the past week I have had to detour from Barham. Mr. Murdock has plastered "OH MY FUCKING GOD" or abbreviations thereof at the top of the hill and the bottom of the hill. "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" "Daddy? What does OMFG mean?" Detour. Thank you so very much Mr. Murdoch. The inmates are running the asylum. The 20-something and 30-something "Geniuses" that came up with OMFG to promote a show I won't be promoting here, are not the issue. Children who play with real money need to shed real tears when they betray the public trust. And the public trust is what we advertisers have built our businesses on, our reputations on, our future on. OMFG on a billboard puts all of that public trust at risk. For what purpose? Fox says, ""We wanted to create a provocative campaign that stands out from the competition and reminds viewers of some of the 'OMG' moments that have made Gossip Girl one of the most buzzed-about new shows on television," the CW said in a statement. "This sexy, sophisticated campaign speaks directly to our adult 18-34 viewers using expressions that are part of their lexicon." They said this on their own Foxnews.com in the entertainment section. Mr. Murdoch must have read it. Or seen it. Maybe not. Which is why Mr. Murdoch can certainly make a strong case for reasonable doubt. But that doesn't address the issue of responsibility. Who is responsible when new age marketing cleverness takes over the reigns from old school common sense? Who has the burden of audience respect, when "lexicon" somehow trumps "respect"? "OH MY FUCKING GOD". Is that what you want Fox to be remembered for Mr. Murdoch? Is that how YOU want to be remembered? You are what you advertise, sir. You are what you advertise.
Stay tuned,
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