The BadAds Weblog: June 2003

Want Fries with that Sacrament?

Pope John Paul II, frail though he may be at age 82, is still touring the globe, adding to his record as the most-traveled Pope of all time. Those papal visits don't come cheap, however, and some host churches now sell tickets to pay for the cost of the Pope's outing.

In May 2003, for example, the Spanish church covered the estimated $1.5 million cost of the Pope's visit to Madrid by selling tickets ranging from $11 to $45, less than a Rolling Stones concert yet more rewarding spiritually. In addition to potential salvation, each of the more than 500,000 ticketholders received a "pilgrim's bag," a backpack containing a "You Will Be My Witnesses" tour cap, a CD of St. Mark's gospel, a rosary, a map of Madrid's public transport system, and information about five new Spanish saints.

Those who bought the most expensive tickets also landed a free dinner voucher from McDonald's worth a burger, fries, soft drink and dessert, either ice cream or a baked apple pie – quite a publicity coup for the fast food giant considering the Pope's well-know n aversion to "unfettered capitalism."

Back in June 2001, we mentioned that McDonald's placed advertisements on fans distributed at black churches. That the company continues to lean on the association of churches – and that the churches actually cooperate with McDonald's – is rather surprising. If you disagree with the company's practices, or feel a more appropriate marketing partner might be the Church of Satan, write and say so.

McDonald's
James Cantalupo, Chair and CEO
McDonald's Plaza
Oak Brook, IL 60523
Phone: 630-623-3000
Fax: 630-623-5004

McDonald's Sistemas de Espa–a
Jose Bardasano Baos, 9
Edif Gorbea 3 28016 Madrid
Phone: 91-566-41-00
Fax: 91-566-41-44

June 17, 2003

Graves Uses Scare Tactics to Push Billboards

Representative Sam Graves (R-MO), Chair of the House Subcommittee on Rural Enterprises, Agriculture, and Technology, held a committee meeting in mid-May 2003 during which he let proponents of outdoor media run wild in support of weakening the Highway Beautification Act (HBA), which states that new billboards cannot be erected along the scenic portions of state-designat ed scenic byways of the Interstate and federal-aid primary highways.

For example, Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University, claimed that more than 80 percent of small businesses wou ld lose sales, with an average loss of 18 percent, if they didn't have access to billboards. Taylor's research was sponsored by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, an organization completely unbiased on the subject of billboard regulations.

The National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO), the National Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds (ARVC), Defenders of Property Rights, and a former chair of the OAAA Highway Advertising Council, Joe Martin of Best Western and Hampton Inns in Stillwater, Oklahoma, also testified in support of billboards.

Rep. Graves himself said in a press release, "The Highway Beautification Act is an ugly obstacle for small businesses. If we continue to take away billboards because someone in Washington decides what is pretty to look at, small businesses will continue to suffer."

Unfortunately for Rep. Graves and supporters of outdoor media, their st atements do not hold up to examination. First of all, since the Highway Beautification Act was passed in 1965, the number of billboards along America's roads has actually increased, so one can hardly argue that businesses in general don't have access to billboards. According to Scenic America, Graves' Missouri has the sixth-largest number of billboards in the country, with one quarter of them not conforming to HBA standards.

Second, while at the hearing Graves said that "the law failed to take into account the effect on small business, particularly in rural areas that rely heavily on billboard advertising," it seems unlikely that a 38-year-old law has suddenly become an impediment to business success. Few small businesses last that long, which means that nearly all businesses currently in operation have always worked under the guidelines of the Highway Beautification Act. Using Grav es' reasoning, rug manufacturers could complain about the existence of child labor laws because such laws diminish their ability to compete in the marketplace.

Third, states that don't comply with these provisions of the Highway Beautification Act merely lose 10 percent of their federal highway allocations. If states feel that they benefit by allowing billboards in every location, they can easily do so by either returning these funds or by un-designating scenic byways on their roads.

Fourth, despite what these pro-billboard organizations might state, a lack of billboards does not equal a lack of tou rism. As Karl Kruse, executive director of Scenic Missouri, an affiliate of Scenic America, said in the St. Joseph News Press, "If there can be a thriving tourism and small-business economy where there are no billboards – such as Vermont or Alaska – why wouldn't that work here? Are we so stupid in Missouri that we can't find things without billboards?"

Forty-nine perc ent of Missourians voted for Proposition A in 2000, which would have banned construction of new billboards -- but 51 percent agreed that they were in fact so stupid that they needed billboards to find things and the Proposition failed.

Don't let Graves succeed with his efforts to gut the Highway Beautification Act, an Act that – despite its weaknesses -- does provide some protection against ugly, intrusive billboards in our shared environment. Write to Rep. Graves and then your own representative (visit http://www.house.gov and enter your nine digit ZIP code) to tell them where you stand on the issue of where billboards sh ould stand.

Rep. Sam Graves
1513 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-7041
Fax: 202-225-8221
E-mail: sam.graves@mail.house.gov

P.S. In our update this month about MyFreeCursors.com, we mentioned spyware called BargainBuddy that the site installs on your computer. A week later, we received this note from Karen Hoxmeier, owner of BargainBuddy.com – a site that has nothing to do with the BargainBuddy spyware:

"I get tons of e-mail from people who have inadvertanly downloaded the 'BargainBuddy' adware and want to know how to remove it from their computers. Most of it is not kind and many include threats and cursing...

"I've worked hard to build my s ite over the last 4 years and it makes me sad to think of the bad reputation my site is getting due to this."

Those who wish to complain about BargainBuddy should direct their wrath towards eXact Advertising, a company that offers all sorts of noxious advertising products, such as the eXact Search Bar.

eXact Advertising
1372 Broadway, 20th Floo r
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 646-223-1200
Email: domains@exactadvertising.com

Those who wish to eradicate BargainBuddy from their computer sho uld visit either here or here for detailed instructions.

June 13, 2003

A Rotten Idea in Quebec

"Given the fierce competition of today's market, major companies are spending heavily to develop strong and recognized brands."

"At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate unused and unappropriated space to expose logos, colours and signatur es. We at Egg Ads Media understand these crucial issues and work to provide you with the right solution."

And what might that solution be, from a company called Egg Ads Media? Yes, in their search for a "new, original, and interactive mode of visual display," marketers have hunted down the largest white space still untainted by advertisements and begun to exploit that space.

The pitch from the Quebec-based Egg Ads Media sounds like a joke: "Consumers in dynamic mode, stopping to carefully handle the eggs, provides a perfect synchronization of events that will enable you to influence and orient their attention toward your products and services." Furthermore, as the company says in its list of ten reasons why companies should advertise on eggs, the egg is an "environment not yet inundated by advertising stimuli" (forgetting, of course, that now it will be) and the egg ad "reaches people who have little exposure to other media."

But with promises that the company can blanket Quebec with 100 million eggs annually, the yoke will soon be on us. Don't let this idea grow into something respectable. Write the braintrust that hatched this bright idea and tell them that you will never purchase an ad-laden egg. Hurry, before sugar cubes or individ ual grains of rice are the next "medium" invaded by ads.

Steve Carignan, President and General Manager
Les Affichages Egg Ads Media
Phone: 866-642-9494
E-mail: s.carignan@eggadsmedia.com

Thanks to spamNEWS publisher Neil S. for laying this topic on us!

June 9, 2003

National PTA Forgets Mission, Sells Access to Children

If you had to choose an organiza tion to lead the fight against commercialism i n schools, you'd probably pick the PTA. After all, in their roles as parents and teachers, members have no stake in promoting corporate interests and instead care only about providing the best learning environment for children and teenagers.

You might think this, but you would be wrong. In May 2003, the National PTA ad ded Coca-Cola to its list of "Proud Sponsors," a list that includes Microsoft, Disney, the NFL, and Parents Media Group. As a sponsor, Coca-Cola will fund the PTA's poorly named "Parent Involvement Schools of Excellence Certification" program, which honors schools in two wa ys, with "The Certification of Excellence, for schools that have outstanding parent involvement practices in place," and with a "Recognition of Commitment, for schools that are committed to pursuing excellen ce in parent involvement."

That's all the PTA gets for its money? Schools that are committed to pursuing excellence – as opposed to the majority of them that merely pursue excrescence & #150; deserve something at least as prestigious and meaningful as The First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.

As it stands, though, the National PTA – "the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the United States," as it touts itself – has done nothing more than sell out children nationwide to the world's largest seller of sugared drinks, a seller that turns down student requests to sell juice and water in its school-located machines (see Lorna Collier's June 3, 2003 article in the Times Leader for details).

What's worse, the National PTA spells out on its Web site the access that sponsors have both to its six million members and the children that are supposedly better off under its watch. National PTA Convention sponsors, for example, gain the "opportunity to distribute product samples" and "address convention attendees and PTA leaders at selected convention events," as well as "access to the attendee list for one-time use."

Proud sponsors like Coca-Cola and Disney have the "opportunity to sponsor a National PTA Program, including distribution of resources to over 26,000 local PTAs, coun cils, and districts" in addition to being able to "develop press materials and key media messages about the relationship and program announcements."

Programs such as "Parents In The Workplace" and "Building Successful Partnerships" allow corporations "multiple opportunities [...] to develop co-branded resources."

In sum, the PTA Web site, shamelessly proclaims, "When you work with National PTA, your company demonstrates its commitment to improving the life and education of every child. As a Proud Sponsor of National PTA, your company aligns itself with a trusted organization with more than 100 years of proven advocacy and action on behalf of all children."

The time has come to trust this organization no more. If it thinks so little of selling access to children and parents, then it should have no sa y in any school matters. The only way the National PTA can regain its authority and live up to its self-serving rhetoric is to dump the sponsors and eliminate its duplicity. Please write or call National PTA President Shirley Igo and tell her to reform or shut down.

Shirley Igo, President
National PTA
Phone: 800-307-4782, x 312
Fax: 312-670-6783
E-mail: info@pta.org or s_igo@pta.org

Thanks to Commercial Alert, whose excellent letter to the PTA brought this topic to our attention.

June 6, 2003

"Free" Cursors Inspire Curses

When visiting a Web site titled My FreeCursors.com, you might think that the cursors available for download – headshots of President Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, animated flags and patriotic ribbons – are indeed free.

Woe be to you, trusting reader. As an article by Bob Sullivan on MSNBC.com e xplains, with every download you're simultaneously agreeing to allow marketing software, or "adware," to be installed on your computer.

Those who feel compelled to "Show your support for our troops by downloading our free cursors!" would first be well-served by clicking on the "Terms" or "Privacy" link at the bottom of the page. As that page makes clear, these cursors are anything but free: "MYFREECURSORS SOFTWAR E IS PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE, AND IS SUPPORTED BY ADDITIONAL ADWARE SOFTWARE BUNDLED WITH OUR CURSOR DOWNLOADS. THIS ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE PROVIDES CONTEXTUAL ADVERTISING TO OUR CUSTOMERS BASED ON THEIR WEB BROWSING, AND DOES NOT COLLECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION. THE ABILITY TO DISPLAY ADS TO THE USERS OF MYFREECURSORS ALLOWS US TO KEEP THIS SOFTWARE FREE OF CHARGE."

The three adware programs installed are KeenValue, BargainBuddy, and iGetNet, and although it's annoying to think these programs can be installed without your knowledge during the download, y ou can use the Add/Remove Programs feature in Microsoft Windows to eliminate these programs. (Apparently, Mac users cannot take advantage of this fabulous offer since the adware won't function properly.)

In the MSNBC article, Todd Smith, a spokesperson for eUniverse, the owner of MyFreeCursors.com, explains that all KeenValue does is collect information that a user "voluntarily" provides – such as Web sites visited, software previously installed, and the response to ads displayed – so that pop-ups can be delivered to the user. Says Smith, "Our product serves information along with relevant ads to assist the consumer in making more informed choice about products of interest to them."

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