When Censoring is Good

You may have heard the reports that ABC recently refused to air a television commercial from the Al Gore-led WE Campaign. It's strong stuff-- pointing fingers directly at the oil companies. And oil companies are steady advertisers on ABC and others. (Full disclosure: BP is our client, in case you didn't already know.)



Decide for yourself. If you want to enter the conversation, go visit wecansolveit.org

But a lesson learned from another Ogilvy client -- Dove -- comes to mind. Last year, after the successful "Campaign for Real Beauty," Dove launched a campaign that asked why "anti-aging" was used as a selling point for beauty products. What the heck is wrong with "age"? Real woman of all ages were celebrated in the "Pro Age" television ad. And it was banned by network TV for being inappropriate:



Horrified by censorship? Well, sure. But the networks helped make the point that no :30 TV spot every could-- that there is a cultural age bias that is unjust to women and unacceptable to support. And, it allowed us to tempt people to come see "the ad the networks wouldn't air." Game, set, match. The insight was made, Dove's genuine championing of real beauty re-enforced.

My guess, WE is smiling at ABC's unintentional boost to their PR efforts. Now it's a news story. Now people are outraged. Now bloggers everywhere are writing about it and sharing the commercial and their website. Now, oh, right....

Darn! Those clever folks got me.

Facebook Energy

I spent too much time on Facebook this weekend. Who's doing what? Following the debate on the debate... the usual stuff.

But it seemed the chatter on Facebook was higher than usual. Was there bad weather this weekend? Are people actually taking ABC's "National Stay at Home Week" to heart and watching the latest (un)reality TV shows? ABC even suggest this is good for the environment and the economy: Stay home, save gas.




Hmmm. Maybe they hit on something. Here are a few comments on Facebook from my usually "on-the-go" friends:

"Pretty crazy. There is some gas to be found, but the wait has been long. Yesterday I went to 5 stations close to my house and none had gas. Luckily the one I went to today had people directing traffic in and out and they were doing a good job moving people through. People are running out of gas looking for gas!"

"Melissa is staying at home because there is no gas!"

"Jackie is stranded at home this weekend with a quarter of a tank of gas and tapped out gas stations in Atlanta."

"I hear that...I had actual PLANS tonight...have to choose...social, tennis match tomorrow, work next week? Still up for debate."


Now there are lots of insights I could offer, all of which are immediately apparent: The power of social networks like Facebook to make problems instantly shared and global. The psychological impact of perceived shortages (think bread line references all week by the candidates). The lack of back-ups to automobiles in fast-growing "modern" cities like Charlotte and Atlanta, which have woeful public transportation systems. How marketing ideas like ABC's always benefit from good (or bad) timing.

For now, I leave you only with the image below and the reminder that we can't wait another thirty years to address the same issue.