Be The Media

Politics beats booze on billboards

By David Kaplan in Media Daily News:

"So far, outdoor advertising revenues saw a 6.5 percent increase for the first nine months, and a 3.6 percent increase for the third quarter, according to the industry trade group Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

However, as the OAAA's numbers point out, much like the tremendous rise in TV ad revenues, the unprecedented spending of more than $1 billion in national and local political races pushed out-of-home advertising revenues through the roof.

For instance, outdoor media performance was up in seven of the top ten advertising categories for the first nine months of the year. And as the association notes, the most significant growth came in the "Government, Politics and Organizations" category with a substantial 42 percent rise due to political spending for the November elections.

The rise moved Government, Politics and Organizations onto the top ten advertising categories list for the first time, knocking the Beer & Wine category off the list."

Mysterious 'George W Bush: Our Leader' Clear Channel public service billboard graces Orlando

By John Byrne in Blue Lemur:

A billboard recently put up in Orlando bearing a smiling photograph of President Bush with the words “Our Leader” is raising eyebrows among progressives who feel the poster is akin to that of propaganda used by tyrannical regimes.

RAW STORY confirmed the billboard’s existence Monday evening. At our behest, a member of an Orlando media organization drove past the billboard on two occasions and verified that it was indeed the one pictured.

The billboard pictured, which is on I-4, says that it is a “political public service message brought to you by Clear Channel Outdoor."

One Orlando resident penned a concerned letter to the (registration-restricted) Orlando Sentinel on Saturday about the billboard. As the site is restricted to members, the letter appears below.

“The first thing I thought was, when was the last time I have seen a president on a billboard?” wrote resident Dianna Lawson. “Didn’t Saddam Hussein have his picture up everywhere? What next, a statue?”

Anti-ad group tries advertising

From the New York Times:

"The Adbusters Media Foundation, an advocacy group based in Vancouver, Canada, that wants to reduce marketers' influence over culture, is getting into the marketing game itself - with sneakers meant to nip at Nike's heels.

An ad campaign promotes the first consumer product offering from Adbusters, Blackspot sneakers, selling for $47.50, plus shipping and handling.

They are made of hemp fabric in a Portuguese factory where workers receive pay higher than the country's minimum wage and where many belong to a union. People who buy the sneakers receive what the company calls a "shareholder certificate" for Blackspot Anticorporation, giving them a voice in future anticorporate decisions of the venture if it succeeds. The shares are not traded, and the anticorporation is not listed on any exchange.

"Rethink the cool," a planned billboard ad says, next to a black, scrawled rendering of the famous Nike swoosh.

" Viacom Outdoor standards and practices policy does not allow for trademark infringement, which may be the case here," said Dana McClinton, a spokesman for the billboard owner. Lawyers for Adbusters and Nike are conferring on the issue."

Agreement paves way for anti-war billboard

From CNN.com:

"A liberal advocacy group reached an agreement Thursday with Clear Channel Communications that will allow an anti-war billboard to go up in New York's Times Square in time for the Republican National Convention.

The deal will settle the lawsuit that Project Billboard filed against Clear Channel Monday, after the media company rejected the billboard as "inappropriate." The billboard featured an image of a bomb with text reading, "Democracy is best taught by example, not by war."

Under terms of the settlement, Project Billboard will be allowed to post a billboard with the same text, but the image of a peace dove will replace the original bomb cartoon."
"The billboard had been scheduled to be posted at the Marriott Marquis, but, after objections from the hotel, the location will be moved across Times Square to the Conde Nast building at 42nd Street and Broadway."
"In addition, Project Billboard will be granted space at the W Hotel at 47th Street and Broadway to post a billboard with the words, "Total Cost of Iraq War," along with a display of a running tally of war costs. According to Project Billboard, the cost of the war, as of July 15, came to $122 billion.

The ads are scheduled to appear for three months beginning Aug. 2, about three weeks before Republicans gather in New York to nominate President Bush for a second term.

Project Billboard said it had initially agreed to pay Clear Channel $368,000 for the billboard's three-month run, but under the new arrangement, the cost would come to $299,000."

Clear Channel Rejects Times Square Peace Billboard Timed for RNC

From Democracy Now:

"Each year, more than 26 million people visit the 10-block area where Seventh Avenue meets Broadway. Massive neon light displays illuminate the night sky, giant billboards trumpet Broadway shows, an electronic ticker beams the latest news and stock quotes and some 50 "supersigns" display ads for fashion, liquor and other corporate products.

Media giant Clear Channel controls about one-half of these billboards. It is now refusing to put up one organization's billboard, with which it had a signed contract. The sign showed a picture of a bomb with lighted fuse decorated in Stars and Stripes. The caption underneath reads "Democracy is best taught by example, not by war." The billboard was to be mounted on the facade of the Marriott Marquis Hotel."
"Clear Channel's corporate leadership has a history of political activism on behalf of Republicans. Tom Hicks, a major shareholder and former member of the company's board, purchased the Texas Rangers from George W. Bush in 1998 and contributed to his campaigns. Company employees have given $382,000 to Republicans in the current election cycle. This according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The company has previously been accused of using its media outlets to assist the GOP. Some company radio stations banned the Dixie Chicks from their programming after the group's lead singer, Natalie Maines, criticized Bush. Shock-jock Howard Stern accused Clear Channel of dropping his show in retaliation for anti-Bush rhetoric."

Clear Channel aims to defuse bomb billboard dispute

From Reuters:

"Clear Channel Communications Inc. hopes to defuse a dispute over a Times Square antiwar billboard picturing a lighted bomb by finding it another spot, a lawyer for the media giant said on Tuesday.

Clear Channel was sued on Monday by public interest group Project Billboard, which has a $368,000 contract for the sign on the Marriott Marquis Hotel. However, a lawyer for Clear Channel told a hearing on Tuesday it had to reject the display because Marriott prohibits political advertising on its billboard."
"Project Billboard said it had offered to substitute the image of a dove for the bomb. Duffy said the hotel, which holds the right to clear ads in its contract with Clear Channel, rejected the sign either way."

Clear Channel rejects Anti-war billboard

From the New York Times by Raymond Hernandez and Andrea Elliott:

"A group of antiwar advocates is accusing Clear Channel Communications, one of the nation's largest media companies, with close ties to national Republicans, of preventing the group from displaying a Times Square billboard critical of the war in Iraq.

The billboard - an image of a red, white and blue bomb with the words "Democracy Is Best Taught by Example, Not by War" - was supposed to go up next month, the antiwar group said, and it was to be in place when Republicans from across the country gathered in New York City to nominate President Bush for a second term.

But members of the group, Project Billboard, contend that Clear Channel backed out of a leasing agreement last month that the two had reached in December for the billboard site, on the Marriott Marquis Hotel at Broadway and 45th Street."

VICTORY! Federal Court Overturns FCC

Its OFFICIAL!: A Federal Court overturned FCC Chairman Powell's June 2, 2003 media ownership rule changes, joining Congress and millions of Americans in unanimously opposing the proposed regulations.

Powell should resign - it should not have gone this far in the first place.

Thanks to Jonathan Schwartzman of the Media Access Project, the folks at the Prometheus Radio Project, Media-Alliance, FreePress, and the millions of Americans that expressed their outrage.

Anti Wal-Mart Billboard Removed in Washington

Another reason to boycott Clear Channel. According to the Associated Press:

"An anti-Wal-Mart billboard erected at the site of a proposed superstore has been removed at the demand of the retailer, which owns the property. The billboard company said that's the landowner's right. The 5-by-11-foot sign proclaiming "Don't Wal-Mart Bridgeport. Not here!" was up for three days last week in this Tacoma suburb.

Members of the Bridgeport Way Community Association, which is fighting the company's plan for a 150,000-square-foot superstore, paid $370 for the advertising space. "We feel the people who travel this way have a right to know what's coming," said Matt Guss, an association member.

The billboard owner, Clear Channel Outdoor, a division of the entertainment corporation Clear Channel, took down the sign because it violated company policy since Wal-Mart owns the land, spokesman Chris Artman said."

War Is Over

If you want it. More than thirty years ago, at the height of the Vietnam war, John Lennon and Yoko Ono paid for billboards at their own expense to promote peace. The image on the left is from a billboard they bought in NYC. Can you imagine that?

Did you know that Clear Channel Entertainment owns over 500,000 outdoor billboards in the US? Not one of them promotes peace. On the contrary, Clear Channel sponsored and promoted a series of controversial 2003 PRO-WAR rallies.

What can you do? Why not buy a billboard and promote messages of peace? If you dont have the money to do that, here's a way to SAVE MONEY and promote peace at the same time:

BOYCOTT CLEAR CHANNEL CONCERTS, RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS.