The Citizen, 2002-07-10, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 10, 2002. PAGE 5.
Other Views
A little truth in advertising
We grew up founding our dreams on the
promise of American advertising. I still believe
von can learn to play the piano by mail and
that mud will give you a perfect complexion.
— Zelda Fitzgerald
t's early days yet, but I predict that Daniel /
Faggionato Jr. will become the Rosa Parks
of the Truth in Advertising movement.
You remember Rosa Parks. The woman
who, back in 1955, refused to give up her seat
on a Montgomery, Alabama city bus to man
simply because she was black and he was
white.
Her refusal and arrest galvanized the civil
rights movement and led to a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that outlawed segregation on
public transportation.
Danny Faggionato Jr, had a similar moment
of truth in a 'Burger King outlet in Perkins,
Ohio last month.
It happened innocently enough. Faggionato
Jr. walks into the Burger King and orders a
Whopper. His order comes, he peels off the
foil and says to the counter-person, "What's
this?"
She says, "Your Whopper, sir."
Danny Faggionato Jr. disagrees. He points to
the lavish, full-colour illustration of a
Whopper on the Burger King billboard outside
and says, "Then why doesn't my Whopper
look like that Whopper?"
In the end, the restaurant manager is. called.
She cooks Danny a custom-made Whopper. He
says it still doesn't look like the advertised
product.
It turns out that Danny Faggionato Jr. lacks
the quiet dignity of Rosa Parks (he throws the
Forrner premier Mike Harris has not
followed through on his musings he may
take up a career in journalism, but he has
launched two of his closest associates on the
same worthy path.
Sharon Dunn, who was Harris's girlfriend
for a couple of years after he separated from
his wife Janet, has parlayed being seen with
the premier at upper-crust events into a role as
a society columnist for the National Post.
Dunn was a television news anchor a decade
or two ago, which required her to read rather
than write news, but she has shown a deft
touch with words, probably more than Harris
would have done.
The Progressive Conservative premier had
shown no particular dexterity with language,
his forte being ideas, although any thoughts he
committed to paper on the way his successor
Ernie Eves has savaged them would be a
bestseller.
Dunn has set herself the task of dragging a
few interesting words out of the rich who are
not notably communicative and she produces
more readable columns than those who
normally cover this field.
Dunn bumped into Brian Mulroney and
asked what one calls a former prime minister
and he replied Brian, showing a humility he is
not renowned for and proceeded to offer
advice on a university for her son.
Mila Mulroney told her like any other
worried mother the TV show their son Ben
works on is not being run during the summer
and she hopes it will return in the fall.
Dunn chatted with business magnate Galen
Weston, whose wife Hilary recently retired as
Ontario's lieutenant-governor. He told her she
has a lot of job offers, but hasn't accepted any
yet, except one helping got rid of land mines
left in former war zones, a favorite cause of
Princess Diana.
Dunn caught up with a wealthy racehorse
owner. who told her "it's not that hard to win
second burger at the restaurant manager, police
are summoned) - but his point is made. There
never was a Whopper made that looked as tasty
or delicious as the Whopper on the billboard.
Same goes for Big Macs, Papaburgers,
Burgercombos and the rest.
Fast food empires don't advertise food, they
advertise idealized IMAGES of food. What
you see is a feast fit for the gods.
What you get is a calorie-laden, sugar-heavy,
over-salted -confection which, if you eat
enough of them, will make you fat, rot your
teeth and clog your arteries.
Advertising isn't about facts; it's about
fantasy. That's what advertising does. That's
its job.
That's why Nike pays Tiger Woods a
kajillion dollars a year just to wear a dopey
ballcap with their trademark swoosh on the
front.
It's why a boring and mundane telephone
service hires Hollywood actress Jamie Lee
Curtis to shill their otherwise unremarkable
wares.
It's why automakers droop boob-heavy
bimbos in ball gowns over the hoods of their
products at car shows.
You thought maybe she came with the
races, but it is hard to make money."
She met a German count, one of the
privileges of moving in such rarefied circles',
who informed her democratically that
"without a job, a count is of no account." He
has one in public relations.
Dunn also reported the Brazilian Ball, the
premier event of the social season. Harris was
photographed there with his newer, younger
blonde girlfriend, but Dunn does not record
whether they met and, if so, what was said.
Guy Giorno, a youthful lawyer who as
Harris's chief of staff was more influential
than most of his ministers and sometimes
pushed forward legislation before it was fully
thought out; has written several columns in
The Toronto Star, which is not noted for being
friendly to Harris's policies. Giorno has spent
most of his time defending his former boss. He
says Harris has changed politics permanently
because he made precise promises and kept
them and future premiers will be measured by
the same standard.
Such comparisons are bound to be made, but
voters now are more concerned Harris kept
promises to slash taxes, but left many services
under-funded.
It also is easy to rattle off a dozen prom,ises
Harris broke, including those not to close
hospitals or impose a single new user fee in
medicare.
Giorno argues Eves should have proceeded
with Harris's plan to sell the Hydro One
electricity transmission , hetwork, because
convertible, sport?
Apparently advertising directors think we're
stupid enough to fall for such blatantly
transparent tactics.
Apparently, they're right.
We see it in politics. Pierre Trudeau got
elected thanks to style over substance. Same
thing for Bill Clinton.
But perhaps - in politics at least - the
advertising worm is turning.
Exhibit A: Angela Merkel, head of the
Christian Democratic Union Party in Germany.
Merkel is running for chancellor in an
upcoming election. She kicked off her
campaign by sending a biography of herself to
every major German newspaper, accompanied
by an eight-by-10 glossy.
Nothing unusual in this. Most politicians
routinely employ public relations machines to
crank out reams of positive candidate bumpf
to media outlets.
Except that the photograph of Angela
Merkel that accompanied her bio was - at her
insistence — the dowdiest, frumpiest snap her
team could dig up.
Her point?
Hard to say. Maybe she's trying to show
she's got a sense of humour. Maybe she's
hoping the media will take the hint and try to
dig a little deeper than the image.
Or maybe she's following the lead of another
German product that was notoriously homely,
unphotogenic and totally lacking in charisma
— which nevertheless became world famous
and swept the planet, outselling all its
competitors.
Something called The Beetle.
business always does any job more effectively.
But residents in some other jurisdictions would
not agree.
Giorno tries to make a case Harris closely
resembled William Davis, Tory premier from
1971-85, currently having a renaissance in
popularity, in that both were activist premiers
who initiated major change. But Davis is now
a hero precisely because he was a moderate.
unlike the right,wing Harris, and maintained
services and expanded in areas like tenant
protection and more rights for unions, which
Harris largely dismantled.
Giorno's latest worry is Eves has managed to
distance himself from Harris by delaying his
tax cuts, but may lose the image of being the
'tax fighter' that helped Harris win elections.
Anyone defending Harris has a lot to write
about.
Letter
THE EDITOR,
On the weekend of Aug. 2-4 Blyth will
celebrate its I 25th anniversary with a weekend
full of fun events, a parade, a community
church service, and lots of good food. There
will be a craft show and sale, an antique and
classic car show, hole-in-one contest, an
antique tractor pull, and a dance, to name just
a few of the events.
Opening ceremonies are Friday at 7 p m.
The events run Saturday and Sunday.
For full details and to register early, check
out the website at www.village.blyth.on.ca/ or
call Bev Blair 519-395-3965 or Ken Stewart
519-523-9620.
All former residents and the general public
as well are invited to come to Blyth for the
weekend to help celebrate, and renew
acquaintances. We look forward to welcoming
everyone to our 125th anniversary celebration.
Sincerely,
Blyth 125th Anniversary Committee.
Traditional thinking
There are only 25 weeks left until
Christmas. Assuming that got your
attention, the real topic of my musing
is not actually about that not-in-season season,
but rather something we think of in connection
with it.
When I hear the word tradition, 1 do
typically think of that festive time of year, a
time Of family, of nostalgia, of warmth.
Christmas traditions are usually those carried
from one generation to another. They are
_malleable —little changes may be made
through the years — but they are generally
cherished and maintained in some shape.
Throughout our lives, however, we form
little habits and practices, which may not hold
any significance for the next generation. These
are repeated faithfully and with regularity. In
other words, traditionally.
As a youngster I made an annual pilgrimage
each spring with my parents to visit some
long-distance friends. This was then returned
in the fall. This was tradition. ..
Sauble Beach was our vacation spot in the
summer, a cottage rental, accompanied usually
by close friends. This was tradition.
A week with my country cousin followed by
a visit from her, then the pair of us holidaying
with Grandma and Grandpa was tradition.
As an adult, a group of us for many, many
years visited a well-known tourist spot on a
particular weekend. It was sacrosanct;
superceding any other social invitation. It was
therefore, tradition.
A day trip with my daughter at the beginning
of summer holidays has become a favourite
tradition, which has grown to include a friend
and her daughter.
Some of these traditions take shape without
our even really thinking about them. One starts
something, which seems like a sensible notion,
thus others follow. My brother's middle name
is my father's first. When my sister had her
first-born son, she too gave him his father's
name as his second name. 1 ikewise my
brother and his wife, and myself with our
eldest sons. I doubt there was any conscious
thought that this is what must be done, that this
is tradition. It just seemed to make sense.
0c,:asionally we become part of someone
else's tradition. Our son spends the Saturday
following his birthday at a favourite pub. The
day is his and those who attend do so for him.
While the tried and true are like those
moments in a day which are expected, but
nonetheless anticipated, creating new
traditions are often surprising. They tend to
begin when a planned occasion or trip is so
much fun it has to be repeated. Last year's
wine country tour with friends afforded just
that perfect blend of memories to' make us
want to revisit it. And, as it offers such
diversity, it is likely to be kept fresh .for years
to come.
Such is not always the case. From time to
time, traditions lose their spark. We begin to
notice a subtle difference. .
Realizing that the conventional has become
too conventional can be sad. It can be like
saying goodbye. to a gOod friend, someone
who meant a lot to you when you were young.
but despite a deep affection you have
outgrown. ,. But as we mature, as we move on in life, our
tastes, our interests are altered and we discover
new amusements, new diversions. From these
we find the new traditions which give us both
the comfort of the familiar and the excitement
of the unexpected.
. Hams , associates take worthy path