• by John Gaffney , July 11, 2003

Other People's Riffs For July 11

Proving That Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows: Peter Montoya Inc, publishers of Personal Branding magazine, announced that its current issue includes, for the first time, the top five best and worst personal brands of 2003. According to Montoya, the five best personal brands are: 1) President George W. Bush, 2) Michael Moore, 3) Dr. Robert Atkins, 4) Eminem, and 5) Barry Bonds. The five worst are: 1) President George W. Bush, 2) Martha Stewart, 3) Mike Tyson, 4) Anna Nicole Smith, and 5) Jayson Blair.

Bad ESPYs: ESPN picked the worst TV sports spots of all time this week. At number one: Bow Flex. In its review it said: "Here's the thing: Are we really supposed to believe that the ripped guy and beautiful, muscular woman in the Bow Flex commercial really got that way with three 20-minute workouts a week? Yeah, right. Here's the other thing: You can get us to lay out $10 or $20 for a Super '70s CD by running the same terrible mini-infomercial for years, but it's not going to work for a $1,000 purchase. Also: Guys hate guys who look like that guy."

At Least One Part Of The Office Is Happy: The outlook within many creative departments may be increasingly optimistic, a new survey suggests. Forty-two percent of advertising and marketing executives polled said morale at their firms is higher than it was one year ago. Twenty-eight percent of respondents said spirits had declined. The survey was developed by The Creative Group, and was conducted among 125 advertising executives among the nation's 1,000 largest advertising agencies and 125 from senior marketing executives among the nation's 1,000 largest companies.

Dude, Please Shut Up And Just Go Away: On his website and in remarks on the air Monday, Michael Savage, who was thrown off MSNBC for anti-gay remarks last week, explained his version of events. He said that he was victimized by a ''crank caller'' who made ''vicious personal attacks against me. I immediately signaled and thought that this crank caller was cut from the air, but his insults continued in my earpiece, and I reacted to him personally. . . . Unfortunately now, my personal comments to this crank caller were broadcast on the air.'' Savage added that his remarks were ''not meant to reflect my views of the terrible tragedy and suffering associated with AIDS,'' and he offered apologies to his ''many listeners in the gay community . . . for any inadvertent insults.''