Oh, Rosie: Back when I worked on the publishing side of magazines, a title I was working on was being slandered by a competitor’s promotional campaign. Me being Irish and impulsive, I started
ranting about suing them. The guy who I worked for at the time sent me back to my office with the advice: “Nothing, and I mean nothing, drives advertisers from a magazine like legal trouble.” Never
sued, needless to say. But I was reminded of that advice when I saw the news out of G & J that the dissonance in editorial strategy at “Rosie” had spurred talk of a lawsuit between the celebrity
publisher and the magazine’s owner. Bad, bad move. This public airing of dirty laundry will not help fix what might be broken in Rosie’s content and presentation. It sure as hell won’t help any ad
salesperson get the right attention from planners and buyers. The women’s magazine category is tough enough. I believe the way to win is by editorial differentiation, but you shouldn’t need lawyers to
work that out.
advertisement
advertisement
Economic Sanity: Yesterday, amid more chaos in telecom, banking and energy companies, the following companies reported better than expected earnings: Kimberly-Clark,
Hershey’s and Gillette. More proof, I say, that economic stability will grow from basic business model companies that sell things people want and need. The ad business has done an excellent job of
connecting those companies with their consumers. So go buy yourself a beer tonight.
Pony Time: I love the new print ad from Pony. It shows Pete Rose in a sea of baseballs complete in
Pony gear and simply asks: “Why isn’t Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame?” If the best advertising elicits some kind of emotion, this is a base hit. But Pete Rose still shouldn’t be anywhere near the Hall
of Fame.
