• by John Gaffney , February 5, 2003

The Thick Red Line: Sometimes people that criticize advertising are really criticizing business practices, and that’s not working for anybody. Example: yesterday Jim O'Hara, director of the Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, came up with the stunning conclusion that beverage ads on TV primarily depict people "having a good time by consuming this product." Welcome to the world, Mr. O’Hara. It’s beer, not Vioxx, we’re selling here. And the opponents of pharmaceutical marketing do the same thing. They say advertising for new drugs causes consumers to have a heightened interest in them. In both cases, it’s not the advertising that’s at issue. It’s the business model and the corporate strategy of selling that’s behind the advertising. If you want to stop beer companies from showing people having fun, get beer companies to throw in the towel and switch to soda. And while you’re at it, get Ford to stop that “Start Me Up” ad because you shouldn’t get too excited with that devil’s music playing in your car.

Cover Me: Why is everyone so upset about InTouch magazine stealing from People and Us Weekly? This stuff has been going on since Gutenberg. If InTouch succeeds it won’t be a result of its unique content. It will be as a result of pop culture obsession.

Parting Shot: Martha? Rum? Puerto Rico? I’m away from the Internet for five days and all hell is breaking loose.