Your News Psychologist
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NextDraft
--> by Dave Pell + 11.6.03
The Doctor is Now In Every Thursday
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MEDIA-WRAP ... Lifting the Skirt on Reality TV
PICTURE OF THE WEEK ... Web Fertility Kits
MARKETING-WRAP ... Nike's LeBron James Bargain
CULTURE-WRAP ... Counting Calories at the Drive-Thru
+ Letterman brings his kid to work, Dean's pickup line and
MTV makes a stand for quality music...
Where the news always has issues...
MEDIA-WRAP
Lifting the Skirt on Reality TV
Episode One
It's O.K. if the joke is on me. As long as the
camera is too. Forget those fifteen minutes of
fame, fifteen seconds of infamy will more than
please the prototypical member of Generation TV.
From public gatherings to the evening news to the
humiliation doled out on the average reality
television program - I don't care what it is -
just get me on. If it doesn't get covered by
television, it didn't happen. That holds true
whether you're talking about a particular event or
an entire life. You can live life to the extreme,
but if you get pre-empted, it all means nothing.
Great achievement? Put me on. Personal tragedy?
Roll 'em. You might be the most self assured,
accomplished, confident person in the world, but
when the camera passes over your section of the
sports stadium, you will stand, cheer and shout
"Hi Mom" along with the rest of the pixelated
clones. Welcome to existentialism in the
television age.
Television, reality or otherwise, might be the
great equalizer. It seems that the one thing most
Americans have in common - regardless of
socioeconomic differences - is a pretty fierce
desire to one day appear on that picture box in
the corner of your living room. HBO is currently
featuring a documentary filmed by Jamie Johnson,
an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune. The
documentary called Born Rich features
indepth interviews with a series of wealthy and
soon to be even more wealthy individuals in their
twenties with names like Newhouse, Trump and
Bloomberg. Johnson himself explains that "Most
wealthy people are told from a very young age not
to talk about money." An advisor to Johnson tells
him early in the filming that he will be
hard-pressed to get any of his super-rich friends
to speak on camera, especially because the lone
topic under review is cold hard cash.
But it turned out that this warning was way off the
mark. Times have changed. People from a certain
group not likely to speak on camera (especially
about a topic they like to avoid) is no match for
the magnetism of the lens-side of a handheld
videocamera. Johnson had little trouble finding
enough subjects who were more than willing, able and
open which ultimately made for a pretty
interesting documentary. This included his father
who was against the making of the video, but found
himself appearing (with a speaking part) in some
of the documentary's most revealing moments. Roll
the camera so I can tell you why I don't want to
be on television. Only one of the participants in
the documentary - an irritating blowhard and gaming
industry heir named Luke Weil - made any attempt
to keep himself out of the piece. And he only
complained after the taping had been completed. In
the end, even his threatened lawsuit made for more
great television (and turned him into an
irritating and litigious blowhard). Talk about
life imitating life.
It seems that heirs to great fortunes are just the
same as the rest of us. Even those who spend their
lives pulling the strings will happily trade
places with the marionettes if it means a couple
minutes of face time on the small screen.
...
Episode Two
Is there a limit to the extremes to which people
will go for a little primetime air? You wouldn't
think so, but some UK reality TV producers may have
discovered the edge of the envelope with the
creation of a show called There's Something
About Miriam. In the show, several men wooed,
cuddled, kissed and vied for the attention of
an attractive woman. It was only later that the
men were made aware that the woman over whom they
were competing was actually a few operations short
of complete womanhood. With a simple and shocking
lift of the skirt, Miriam may have done the
impossible. He/She pushed reality TV participants
to do the previously unthinkable; They are suing
producers to keep the show off the air.
While Miriam may have crossed a line
(although a jury of average television viewers
would likely rule that the show must go on), the
show's producers were not alone in their effort to
push reality television to the extreme. They need
to get viewers talking. Not just before or after
the show. But during it.
Ever try to watch a reality television program
alone? It's not much fun. An essential element of
the reality television experience is that the
shows serve as a conversation piece. When people
watch a show like The Bachelor, they spend
much of their time discussing the good and bad and
bad and bad points about the various participants.
Granted we're talking about what's on television
but at least sitting in silence in front of the
blue glow has been replaced in part by what, if
I'm not mistaken, sounds like conversation.
My wife and I have now found that when it comes to
watching TV, we actually need each other. NBC
just debuted a reality show called Average
Joe in which an attractive woman expecting to
search for love in a predictable playground of
Hollywood hunks finds that instead the carnie has
pulled into town. The show is goofy. The guys are
pathetic. The tone of the show falls somewhere
between cruel and depressing. Left alone, I could
have never watched this show (and not just because
NFL Live was on ESPN2 at the time). But in a room
with two or more people, these reality shows
become a fuse for lively, albeit meaningless,
dialogue.
The irony here is that reality programming is
essentially driving Americans back to their
dinner table conversations and away (at least
momentarily) from the tube. Unlike the average
sitcom, reality TV almost demands conversation.
Slowly but surely, average Joes and Janes may find
that they enjoy the sound of their own voices even
more than the ones pouring out of their digital
surround sound systems. By getting us talking once
again, reality television may ultimately squeeze
itself right out of the primetime lineup. We may
all stop badmouthing the folks on television and
return to the far more healthy tradition of
badmouthing each other. It follows that life
itself could eventually become a midseason
replacement series (I'm still hoping for an
occasional cameo by Beyonce). Reality TV could be
replaced by reality itself and we may just turn
the TV off for awhile.
But first I gotta find out which one of the
Average Joes gets the girl (and if she's a
girl in the first place).
...
Speaking of the disappearing border between
television and reality, David Letterman exhibited
a bit of a boundary issue the night after his
first child (a boy) was born. Letterman brought in
a picture to show his channel-flipping audience,
shared details about his name (Harry, after a
grandfather) and weight, etc. All told, Harry was
worth a segment or two and a Top Ten List. CBS is
probably hoping Dave's personal show and tell session
will make for a much-needed ratings boost. At the
very least, the bris should do great numbers.
...
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
the caption:
"I'm beginning to have second thoughts
about that fertility kit we bought on the web."
the picture:
http://www.nextdraft.com/gtp/fertgtp.html
...
MARKETING-WRAP
Nike's LeBron James Bargain
Quick. Name a company that is well-known for
making athletic shoes.
Not too hard is it? After an unprecedented period of
hoops hype, just-out-of-high-school Lebron James
made his much-awaited debut in the NBA. His first
couple of games couldn't have gone better. In both
games, he played well, he looked mature, he passed
the ball, he ran the team's offense and even his
often maligned jumpshot was hitting nothing but
net. LeBron's debut and followup had something
else in common. The television and radio
announcers made mention of the expectations
created by LeBron's recently signed $90 million
shoe deal with Nike. And no one pays them
to discuss this topic. They just do it.
Was Nike crazy to sign this kind of a deal with a
kid who had never set his shoes on an NBA court?
Maybe. But probably not. Imagine you are the
marketing director for an internationally known
company. Your boss tells you that you are
responsible for a $90 million budget. Your only
required task is to make sure that the $90 million
buys you exposure everywhere sports are
covered. Got that? Everywhere! Not some of the
shows and columns and magazines. All of them. You
must be in every newspaper sports section on
several occasions. Every television sportscast must
talk about your campaign. Every sports radio show,
local or national, must spend hours and hours
discussing the very thing you set out to market.
Sure, even in the free-spending worlds of
marketing, sports and media, $90 million is a
decent chunk of change. But think you could have
gotten everyone talking about your campaign and
mentioning your brand for months and months? Could
Nike have come up with some other way to get those
same marketing dollars to stretch any farther?
The money, in the short run, made the star and
made the story. Will LeBron be a success? He
already is folks. He's the kid who got a $90
million deal before bouncing a ball. Will the Nike
campaign pay off? Well to quote another great
ad campaign, you're soaking in it. Believe it or
not, Nike is not paying me for this segment. (You
hear that Reebok and Adidas? Opportunity knocks...)
If LeBron has a slow stretch and struggles on the
court, many news outlets will once again dredge up
the Nike deal. If he becomes a star because of his
play, Nike remains a key part of the story. In fact,
Nike's $90 million deal with LeBron James will
keep their brand in the sports news right up to
the moment they offer someone else $95 million.
Now that'll be really crazy.
Sidenote: Such marketing does not work on
everyone. To test the theory above, I quizzed my
dad (who is a major naysayer when it comes to the
relationship between celebrity endorsements and
purchasing behavior) with the question above. When
I demanded, "Quick, name the best-known athletic
shoe company." He paused for second, looked up
from his lunch and said: "K-Swiss."
...
Howard Dean's Bad Pickup Lines
Howard Dean created quite a stir among Democratic
contenders when he explained to reporters that: "I
still want to be the candidate for guys with
Confederate flags in their pickup trucks." The
reaction was fairly quick and plenty negative,
with John Edwards and Al Sharpton leading the
charge. Eventually, Dean sort of admitted his
choice of words was a mistake.
But there are more important mistakes here than
just a simple choice of words. First, Dean's very
premise (that Democrats need to learn to appeal to
a wide variety of Southerners, even those who
pledge allegiance to the Confederate flag) is dead
wrong. The Dems will not rebuild their party by
pandering to those they despise. Better to lose
with pride than to win with this strategy. Any of
you Confederate flag worshippers out there can
just go ahead and cease any support for this
newsletter (unless of course you also happen to be
the editor of a major media publication in search
of a new columnist in which case, I'm willing to
adapt). In terms of pickup trucks, I'm OK with
them. It's the El Caminos that make me nervous.
Second, and more important, Dean here is making
the terrible mistake of putting strategy first.
All political parties must strategize ways to put
together the right mix of voting blocks to come
out ahead. But that strategy should not be at the
forefront of a campaign. Some conversations are
for backrooms, not the nightly news. It's time for
my party to stop focusing all of its public
rhetoric on strategy, tactics and counterpunching.
Ideas will win this campaign. (At the very least,
we should pretend they will.)
...
CULTURE-WRAP
Counting Calories at the Drive-Thru
A bill has been introduced in Congress that would
require chain restaurants with twenty or more
outlets to include nutritional information such as
calories and fat content right next to each item
on the menu. Needless to say, restaurants are
lobbying hard against the bill. Surprisingly,
consumers are for it.
But do we really want to know? Is any ignorance
more bliss than that which accompanies a large
plate of nachos?
Do you actually want to be tipped off that
munching down a quick Big Mac, Supersized Fries
and a really large milkshake will run you about
2,360 calories and 90 grams of fat? Or that a
snack such as the aforementioned nachos from
Wendy's-owned Baja Fresh chain will load you up
with 2,000 calories and enough saturated fat to
turn merely contemplating what you've just ingested
into a major aerobic activity?
And let's not pretend it's just fast food joints.
Sometimes in a restaurant (especially a quality
one), you find yourself wondering how the famous
French chef makes something as simple as a
vegetable side dish taste so good. You know how.
(Hint: It ain't Parkay.)
...
For Further Analysis
Say What?
Sometimes quotes from the news are just
too good to believe. Here's what the president of
MTV Networks in Europe had to say about
American Idol and pop talent shows like it:
"These programs make good TV but from a musical
point of view, they do not have any value. I
totally believe they have devalued us, taken us
back to light entertainment and voyeurism. I think
people will turn away from it. They are looking
for more substance."
This is from a guy who runs MTV. What's next, is
Jerry Springer going to complain that Ted Koppel
and Terry Gross have soiled the interview show
format? Or maybe David Blaine will complain that
today's magic sucks?
... Our Time is up. See You Next Week.
Refer Other Patients to Our Group Therapy
Daily Headlines Still at the ND Blog
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NextDraft ... Your News Psychologist
by Dave Pell
dave@nextdraft.com
http://www.nextdraft.com (subscribe here)
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