The Producer's Perspective: Remember that strangely in-poor-taste ad I blogged about on Monday?
MSG pulled it.
They pulled the whole campaign, actually . . . because Broadway wasn’t the only group the org offended. Add women, to the list . . . along with anyone in the advertising business.
5 comments:
First off, the article the blogger's post on Monday showing what the ad campaign angers me quite a bit. To assume that Broadway shows have "malfunctioning harnesses" as a general rule of thumb is plain moronic. Spiderman was one show. And, it was definitely not a show to define Broadway. Also, they make the assumption that the men onstage in these shows aren't "real men" as opposed to basketball stars who are photoshopped, pumped with steroids and paraded about as marketing tools. In essence, this ad is a piece of garbage that will only appeal to people who would never go to see a Broadway show in the first place. Secondly, the article here, which is the response to this ad being pulled, brings up an excellent point. This point being that if someone in the room brings up a bad idea, tell them it's a bad idea (before it becomes an offensive ad campaign where everyone gets in trouble). Albeit, tell them politely, but still, it's best to stand up and be that person who actually makes an idea work in the long term instead of taking the easy way out and going along with the first idea.
I was so glad to see that MSG pulled this ad. I wasn't offended at the Spiderman joke,, but rather the distinction between what "real men" can and cannot do. I understand the tactic they were going for, but for somebody in their teens interested in the arts, seeing that ad could seriously reinforce the unwritten rules society has constructed, and convince young artistic men to veer away from the arts. The ad also implies that men can't be interested in both--that there is a clear line between men in the arts and "real men" who love sports. Um...did we learn nothing from High School Musical?
I’m not entirely sure that the point this article brings up is entirely applicable to the advertisement that it is responding to, but it is a good point to make nonetheless (and I think we can all agree that regardless of how it came about, the advertisement is just stupid). If you are on the board for something, or more realistically, if you are in a leadership position on a project it is your responsibility to make sure that the collaborative efforts of the group turn out good results. Good collaboration and negotiation of ideas can take a long time, but it is not acceptable to accept a bad idea for the sake of consensus because at the end of the day, your name is going on the product (or in the program, close enough). Too often in group projects for school we are forced to meet at undesirable times, such as after crew when all anyone wants to do is sleep. Group collaboration becomes very difficult because when forced to choose between a bad consensus and a good night’s sleep, and a good consensus at the cost of yet another all-nighter, it is too easy to choose the former. Or maybe that’s just my class…
I agree with the first blog in wondering who, exactly, this ad was aimed at. If someone's looking at the advertisement because they see the word Broadway, then insulting Broadway, and the actors involved, is not going to endear the viewer to the ad's point of view, or to change their mind and cause them to go see a game. The other problem addressed, that of no one speaking out, tends to occur whenever there is a large group of people observing something. Because there are more people there, it is much easier to say that it is somebody else's problem.
It takes real courage to be the whistle blower of a bad idea. Men and women staring you down, probably thinking "I wish I had the courage to say something write now." but all you can think is that there are lions that want to rip out your throat. I admire the person in the boardroom that has the intestinal fortitude to stand up and say..."That's stupid." I am sure that this happens every day. This blogger seems to think that most people in boardrooms are cowards and that all bad ideas happen because someone wasn't courageous enough to say something. It's easy to write bravely on a blog.
MSG made a clear mistake, but at the time the boardroom may have thought, thats a grand idea! poking fun at our selves, because we are New York. It's not as if the dodgers put Matt Kemp in this ad. I think maybe we try and perceive too much of what was not the intention of an ad, art, writing, or theater.
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