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Top NEWSPEAK Stories of the Week #69
``` [This is part of Wayne Grytting's "Newspeak" column in Z Magazine for May 1997; it is forwarded with permission. Wayne doesn't like the "red rock eater" joke, though, so I'm not entirely sure we can trust him. Be this as it may, that same issue of Z also includes a marvelous article by Noam Chomsky about the real meaning of "free trade". Chomsky is not exactly an authority on social theory, but he does have a superhuman command of facts and an impressive capacity, as someone said, for cutting through the s--- and actually saying something.]
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Date: Mon, 5 May 1997 21:04:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Wayne Grytting
AMERICAN NEWSPEAK. Inflicted weekly at http://www.scn.org/news/newspeak Celebrating cutting edge advances in the exciting field of Doublespeak! Written by Wayne Grytting
Advertisers Becoming Literate
Major advertisers are "changing the rules of magazine publishing", reports the Wall Street Journal, by breaking down the walls separating ads from editorial content. Now a number of corporations are demanding written summaries of articles before submitting their ads. Recently, Chrysler sent out a letter to Esquire and 100 magazines informing them, "In an effort to avoid potential conflicts, it is required that Chrysler corporation be alerted in advance of any and all editorial content that encompasses sexual, political, social issues or any editorial content that could be construed as provocative or offensive." I particularly like that "could be construed" part. Really professional. Countering critics who worry about freedom of the press, Pentacom CEO David Martin points out the reasonableness of advertiser's demands because, given ads that cost $22,000 a piece, "you want it surrounded by positive things." Esquire certainly agreed. After receiving their letter from Chrysler, they canceled a scheduled story with a gay theme by author David Leavitt. (WSJ 4/30)
Mr. Bojangles Goes High Class
Bob Dylan and a host of rock performers have discovered a new direction for their talents doing private concerts for corporations. Carley Simon has done three shows for conventions of Merril Lynch stockbrokers, while Dylan, the Eagles and Crosby, Stills and Nash were off entertaining the financial analysts from Nomura Asset Capital Corp. Even younger bands like Gin Blossoms and Toad The Wet Sprocket have been jumping on the corporate gravy train, which often pays three times what bands can make from a regular concert. While critics complain about the counter culture being ripped off "as a dividend for a company's sales reps," supporters say that such cynicism is out of step with the 90's when groups like the Rolling Stones are doing commercials for Microsoft. For those who blanch at the thought of philistine CEO's setting the song list for an artist like Bob Dylan, there are these words from Nomura president Ethan Penner. "I am not here paying someone a lot of money to amuse themselves - they are here to amuse me." Smile big, Bob. (WSJ 4/28)
Nike Worries About Indonesia
13,000 workers in Indonesia protested against Nike subcontractors for failing to pay the minimum wage of $2.50 a day. Nike responded by pointing out an even greater danger threatening these employees. Jim Small, a spokesman for the attitude company, noted that wages have increased three fold in Indonesia in the past two years. "There's concern what that does to the market," said Small, "whether or not Indonesia could be reaching a point where it is pricing itself out of the market." Do remember that the cost of producing a $120 pair of Air Jordans is almost $4. Regardless, Nike is very concerned about the welfare of these employees, which may help explain their innovative campaign to save the $2.50-a-day employees from the sin of greed. Nike is refusing to pay more to its factories as a result of any wage increases. Meanwhile, Mr. Small has planned a seminar to explain what he and other Nike PR Representatives are doing do to deserve more pay than their Indonesian co-workers. (WSJ 4/28)
Che Guevera Makes a Comeback
Cuba's major revolutionary export, Che Guevera, is back in vogue with a best selling memoir, and several biographies and movies coming out about him. This is a result of the fact that, to quote the NY Times, "his image has become more vivid, complex and commercial." For example, Raichle Molitar, distributors of Fischer's Revolution Skis, is holding a Che look-a-like contest to sell their skis. Explained spokesperson Jim Fleischer, "We felt that the Che image - just the icon and not the man's doings - represented what we wanted: revolution, extreme change." This corporate pursuit of revolution, just the icon and not the reality, is also helping to sell Swatch watches and even ash trays. All of this commercialization has left Cubans somewhat mystified, but then they don't live in the "free world." (NYT 4/30)
The Out of Date Vocabulary Dept.
Paper shredders will be working overtime thanks to word from the International Monetary fund that the label "industrial countries" is now out. An IMF report issued by Robert Rowthorn and Ramana Ramaswamy announced that wealthy nations will now be called "advanced economies" instead, because they are all so busy deindustrializing. Fortunately, the dismantling of factories by "advanced economies" and the transfer of the old activity of actually producing anything to the "non-advanced" (?) world, is good for us. The report shows how, "contrary to popular perception, deindustrialization is not a negative phenomenon..." Even so, the IMF does recommend training programs to help "the losers adapt to change." Even the Wall Street Journal felt compelled to add that deindustrialization has coincided with a rapid rise in income inequality as those losing their manufacturing jobs took 19% pay cuts in their new "advanced economy" jobs. (WSJ 4/28)
NEWSPEAK is infected on you weekly. Read at your own risk. Send comments or large checks to wgrytt@blarg.net ```
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