It turns out that a logo helped save 15 people in Colombia held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe admitted Wednesday that the symbol of the neutral Red Cross organization was used on the garb worn by the rescuers.
All’s fair in war, right? Well…turns out that Wrongly using the Red Cross logo is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions. The man was a member of the Colombian military intelligence team involved in the daring rescue, Uribe said in an address carried on national TV and radio. The president said that as the constitutional head of the armed forces, he takes full political responsibility for what he described as a slip-up.
The reason for protecting the symbol of the red cross is obvious. If combatants get the idea that opposing forces are using the red cross as a decoy—say, to put atop an ammunition dump—instead of reserving it for medical workers and to put atop hospital tents and buildings to protect the wounded, the symbol loses its efficacy as a neutral symbol. Combatants will have license to go after anyone or anything with a red cross, including hospitals.
One can certainly argue that terrorists aren’t likely to adhere to such conventions, so neither should the “good guys.” But of the “good guys” disregard the conventions, then so will any opposing force whether its an army or terror group.
Photographs of the Colombian military intelligence-led team that spearheaded the rescue, shown to CNN, which first reported the incident, by a confidential military source, show one man wearing a bib with the Red Cross symbol. The military source said the three photos were taken moments before the mission took off to persuade the (FARC) rebels to release the hostages to a supposed international aid group for transport to another rebel area.
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson last year filed suit against the Red Cross for use of the red-cross logo on licensed goods—canvas bags and tees shirts and the like. J&J doesn’t mind sharing the logo, it seems, but it draws the line at merchandising it, even if the proceeds do go back into the Red Cross.
Recent comments by Starbuck’s chairman-CEO Howard Schultz talking up the product led me to believe it might be something substantially different than what I can find at my local tea and smoothie store, or even Jamba Juice.
Starbuck's is testing Vivanno in California and Michigan. I got both versions of the new Vivanno at Starbuck’s on Main Street in Royal Oak, MI, just three blocks from our office. One is made with banana, milk, and an orange-mango-blend of juice, along with whey protein and fiber powder. The other is banana/chocolate.
I was given a coupon for free tastes this morning when I bought a latte and Naked protein juice smoothie. Like a lot of busy workers, I often grab a Naked or some other similar brand to have at my desk in case I don’t have time to get a more substantial lunch.
The chocolate has a somewhat chemical taste. It doesn’t really taste like chocolate, like one of those carob candy bars you get at a health-food store. It also reminds me of the Alba chocolate shakes I used to drink to lose weight and have as a meal replacement. That’s not an endorsement. It is smooth, not chalky, like some smoothies can be when fiber and whey are added. The standard serving size has 270 calories (the same as a serving of a Naked brand bottled smoothie), 16 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. There are no artificial flavors or colorings, says Starbucks. No corn syrup. There is one whole banana in each Vivanno.
The fact that it gets made on demand gives it a leg-up on the packaged smoothies it sells now. A Naked brand bottled smoothie has no fiber, though it does pack 4 additional grams of protein. The orange-mango is certainly better, in my book, than the banana chocolate.
In running its satirical cover of Barack and Michelle Obama this week, the New Yorker seems to have forgotten one important ingredient of really good satire. It has to be funny, as well as thoughtful.
As any comedy writer will tell you, comedy relies a great deal on timing. Where the New Yorker went wrong is launching the cover amidst news reports that some 30% of those polled either think Obama is a Muslim, attended a Muslim school or took his Congressional oath with his hand on the Koran. And sound-bites of “I don’t care what he says, his midde-name is Hussein and that says AyRab to me,” were not hard to find from factory workers in Ohio and ladies getting their hair done in West Virgina during those primaries. I saw such sound-bites on MSNBC, CNN and Fox news packages during those primaries.
As I watched New Yorker editor-in-chief David Remnick explain the definition of satire to the news cameras yesterday, I couldn’t help think of Don Imus and the lesson Remnick might have learned from the morning radio personality.
In April of last year, Imus infamously called the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball
Players “nappy headed hos.” Any one who had listened to Imus and his cast for the years I had would have known that Imus was engaged in a seriously tricky and complicated form of satire in which you make fun of people (racists) by showing them how stupid they sound…by taking on the persona and language of the offender yourself. Or in the case of The New Yorker cover illustration, showing people who believe the Obamas are militant blacks that they aren’t by creating the most offensive stereotypical image you could think of.
Even good satire and comedy can be too clever by half to where the point has been lost. I recall about fifteen years ago, I sent an e-mail to a co-worker. We had recently experienced a hub-bub over a reporter who sent a derogatory e-mail about an editor to the editor in question by mistake. We laughed about it. Some weeks later, I sent this colleague an e-mail about her to her on purpose, though I had addressed it to another colleague. The colleague I thought I was having fun with never believed I had sent it on purpose, and our relationship was never the same. I was too clever by half.
Preparation H apparently is one of those products being used for purposes its marketers did not intend. Men, and some women, are using it on their torsos and arms to appear more muscular.
Fox News's Sean Hannity, says one source in the celebrity make-up industry, even uses it to whiten his teeth. That explains a lot.
Back in the 70s, women were found to be using Prep-H under their eyes to reduce puffiness.
Adweek today notes other for which consumers have found other uses. Bounce dryer sheets repells bugs? Who knew? Dawn dish detergent has become known for bird rescue (getting spilled crude oil out of their wings. Some people swear that WD-40 sprayed on their joints relieves arthritis. Ensure, originally formulated for elderly hospital and nursing home patients became popular among heroin addicts for being the only "food" they could choke down after a bender.
Feel free to comment to BND here on products you have found "other uses" for.
John McCain has launched a new ad aimed at Hispanic voters.
Titled “God’s Children,” the ad tries to work on multiple fronts—patriotism, hispanic outreach and doubling down on his position regarding the further occupation of Iraq.
Looking at the past, especially his own Vietnam past, has come to be a staple of McCain ads. In this ad, he asks rhetorically, via a clip from a speech he gave at a Republican gathering when he was still sharing the stage with his former rivals for the nomination, for people to look at the names on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington to see how many Hispanic names they see. He talks up the Hispanics that are serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, and calls special attention to green-card holders who are fighting in those countries. McCain invokes these Hispanics as, “God’s Children” to make his case for the need to have a means to make more Hispanics legal citizens in America.
It is a powerful well-done ad created at a time when McCain is behind Barack Obama 70% o 30% in polls of Hispanic voters. The shot in the ad I like best is when the camera cuts to Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado and Congressman Duncan Hunter of California. These two House members rode the immigration issue like a hobby-horse during their brief time in the primaries. The camera catches their expressions as McCain talks about green-card Hispanics with families in Mexico who are fighting in today's wars (that Tancredo and Hunter voted for.)
Most viewers won’t get it. But those who follow this stuff closely will certainly get the sharp elbow to the ribs of Tancredo and Hunter, and the implied message that McCain is not with them in their far right-wing approach to immigration reform.
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News, opinions, inflammatory meanderings and occasional ravings about the world of advertising, marketing and media. By Marketing Editor Burt Helm and Senior Correspondent David Kiley.
