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I must admit that the dropout rate in public schools is alarming, but the knowledge that McDonald’s is leaving elementary school is sad news, indeed. In Adweek’s January 18 report by Kenneth Hein, McD’s Drops Ads From Report Cards, we learned that the fast food giant, under public pressure, terminated a sponsorship program in which they placed their McD logo on report card envelopes and paid $1,600 annually for the privilege. Seems like a fair trade. But one parent, Susan Pagan, thought the practice should be reported to an organization called the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. A month later, after this 0rganization targeted the school district and launched a media campaign, McDonald’s pulled the plug on the program.

What was also interesting? The school district had a 10-year relationship with Pizza Hut before joining forces with McDonald’s. From stability to surrender. Was there a shakedown?

Hein’s report quoted the director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, Susan Linn, as saying “It shows that working together we can get even mega companies like McDonald’s to curb their advertising.”

Why would anyone want a company to curb their advertising? For most companies, advertising is their lifeblood. In a very real sense, millions of jobs exist because of the presence of advertising. Who can forget the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles when corporate logos were splashed across every venue? The Games that year generated a profit, instead of costing LA taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to host the games. Is profit so bad, Ms. Linn? Did the children of the world who watched the ‘84 Olympic Games on television suffer a horrible fate because a McDonald’s logo was painted on the bottom of an Olympic swimming pool?

Anyone with a stake in advertising or its essential value in our daily lives - on professional and personal levels - needs to be concerned with the weight of political correctness on our foundation. Questions need to be asked, their intrusions challenged. For example, if elementary school report cards are mailed to a student’s parents, what is the basis for opposing McDonald’s? For example, what services did Pizza Hut provide to the school district for ten years and which services involved branding? For example, how did Ms. Pagan discover the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and were her actions against McDonald’s preceded by some sort of relationship with Ms. Linn?

Bottom line is McDonald’s program was harmless. Only the overly-imaginative, politically-driven among us could pretend otherwise. Making an issue of this program is corruption, so narrow in its vision that it excludes all who hold opposite positions, all who need or want the product, all who have no desire to be dragged into a process beyond merely living their lives in a simple, expedient affordable fashion. Maybe somewhere along the way someone, a rogue element, will create the Campaign for a Corruption-Free Childhood.

Cross-posted on The Cheesebox.

In the news - Adweek, McD’s Drops Ads From Report Cards

Can anyone tell me why the J.M. Smucker Co. has not yet introduced a “Hungry Jill” line of food products?

I have been fascinated about the possibility of Big George Foreman, former world heavyweight boxing champion and current grill king, making a movie with Jennifer Lopez. Visualize George’s big hands being compared to J-Lo’s big, well, you get the idea. Seriously, I believe George can act. I believe he could play the role of a dominant male who bends a feckless female to his will. It is this idea of a character not far from the real George Foreman - strong, spiritual, sensible - meeting a celebrity, portrayed by J-Lo, who (in the movie, anyway) is careless and irresponsible in affairs of the heart and whose ability to connect with the public is so poor it compares with that of plastic baseball icon Alex Rodriguez. Big George brings her to a better station in life through the sheer force of his love for her. What follows are comments from the writing universe of this web site, Lori Moreland and Kerri Masso among others, as follows:

Produced for up-scale yard sale held by Nancy Taylor of Houston, Texas.

Outdoor poster series produced for 24-hour news television station. The station repeated “newswheels” every hour and changed “content” of the newswheels three times every day.

Outdoor poster series produced for 24-hour news television station. The station repeated “newswheels” every hour and changed “content” of the newswheels three times every day.

I call this one “Darth Vader after a trip through K-Mart.”

This one is titled “As Fidel Nears Death.” (Click on image for larger view)

Editor: I had trouble understanding one aspect of Bill’s November 18 post. Here is my question, followed by Bill’s lengthy reply (click on his heading under “Pages” in the right hand column of this blog.)

Bill - explain this paragraph to me. How does a Tennessee win tie directly into the Georgia-LSU combination? I think you need a bridge there. The penalty is $500 per day until you’ve caught up.

(For more of this issue of Bill Ross’ Texas Longhorn Football Newsletter, please click on that heading under “Pages” in the right hand column of this blog. Thanks.)