• by John Gaffney , July 24, 2002

Just Say No: Talked to George Hacker today. Real nice guy. Charming. Knows his stuff. Says that he used to drink “but never swallowed.” I have one major problem with Hacker. He wants to curtail advertising for beer, “alcopops” like Smirnoff Ice, and hard liquor. Like most people who think restricting advertising will cure society’s ills, his energy is misguided. Hacker is the policy director at a group called the Center For Science In The Public Interest. He believes that advertising alcoholic products is not in the public interest, because teens might see them and think they’re cool. Where science fits in is anybody’s guess. What people like Hacker don’t understand is that advertising tries to influence personal choice, it doesn’t dictate personal choice. They also don’t understand that the economy is fragile. The ad business has had a tech wipeout, a financial service wipeout and a telecom wipeout. Pharmaceuticals are under threat. Now you’re going to go after a potentially growing ad category? The media business is a very important part of the economy. No reason to approach it with a chainsaw.

A Bad Thing: On one hand I admire the honesty of the management of Omnimedia when they cop to the affect Martha’s stock mess has made in its kitchen. But on the other hand why admit defeat? Just say “we’re expecting a tough Q3 and Q4 due to challenging market conditions?” The only way this strategy works if Martha is completely, totally exonerated and can totally focus on her salad.

A Good Thing: Just wanted to let you know that in honor of my 90th column that Baskin-Robbins will be serving a “Media Riffs Mashie” for the month of August. It mashes up Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, mixes it in vanilla ice cream and has room for NBC to sponsor the cup.