Why Is OkCupid Ad Saying OkAbortions?

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and reading Adweek when I came across this report by Sara Century on the latest wrinkle in online dating.

OkCupid Relaunches ‘Every Single Person’ Campaign to Champion Reproductive Rights

One less-discussed element of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is the effect it has had on daters, with the conflicting concepts of social distancing and meeting new people causing trepidation for many. Likewise, a desire to discuss politics has shot up in recent years, creating further obstacles for casual dating.

With these barriers in mind, OkCupid is relaunching its “Every Single Person” campaign, which originally kicked off last fall. The brand is doubling down on its mission of inclusivity by adding a new pro-choice line across the NYC subway.

This campaign, which features 17 images, is the result of OkCupid’s 12-month effort to understand gender and identity in order to utilize technology that will appeal to as wide a variety of communities as possible. Brainstormed by OkCupid’s CMO Melissa Hobley and Devin Colleran, it features art by Maurizio Cattelan and photography by Pierpaolo Ferrari.

The dating service has even joined with Planned Parenthood “to create a badge that would assist users in matching with others that supported reproductive rights.”

Most companies wouldn’t associate themselves with the abortion issue at gunpoint. What gives, Doc.

– Are They OkStupid?

Dear ATO,

This one’s a corker, as my former associate Nurse Ads might say. (Nurse Ads is “former” because she’s off actually attending medical school.)

For starters, here are some of the groups that preceded the pro-choicers in the OkCupid campaign.

Fun fact to know and tell: According to Phoebe Bain’s report in Marketing Brew, three of those four ads were just rejected by officials at the Metropolitan Transit Authority, a.k.a. the New York subway system. You can probably guess which ones.

OkCupid’s pro-pro-choice ad comes in the wake of this viral video, which depicts a woman tearing down OkCupid ads on a New York subway train and has been viewed over 1.1 million times on YouTube during the past four months.

Devin Colleran, senior brand manager of OkCupid, told Adweek that “the homophobic rant in response to our campaign only empowered us to double down on our commitment to celebrate all kinds of identities and love both in our app and our marketing.”

As for abortion being the third rail for marketers, MediaPost’s Sarah Mahoney reports that “it’s all part of the brand’s ongoing mission to have users bring their entire selves to the dating process.”

“We want you to bring your issues — pun intended — to dating,” says Melissa Hobley, chief marketing officer. “That can include unapologetically supporting abortion. We want to make it ‘hot’ for people to commit to those issues to our dating app. If you’re pro-choice — and the majority of the country is — and can’t imagine dating someone who isn’t, then that’s a real and relevant issue.”

Real, relevant, and . . . risky.

Then again, that’s OkCupid’s choice

Seriously, Is Tom Steyer Crazy? (Part 2)

Jul23 by Campaign Outsider

[Dr. Aditor’s note: It is beyond dispute that no one – including myself – has noticed my five-year absence from this space. Then again, I was supposed to do seven, so I’m actually back early. Anyway, I figured I’d just pick up where I left off. Yo.]

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag upon his return to the dispensary and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, just minding my own business and reading the New York Times the other day when I came across this story.

A Billionaire Makes His Case: ‘I Don’t See Myself as Rich’

SAN FRANCISCO — Tom Steyer is a former hedge fund investor and a billionaire. Those things could be a liability for a man running for president as a progressive. But Mr. Steyer, who this month joined a field of — what is it now? — 24 people, argued this was a selling point.

“Now you know, I know everybody always describes me as being rich. That is not how I see myself,” he told an audience at a bookstore here Wednesday night. “But I can tell you this, the one thing it does give me is the right to say nobody owns me. I mean I will do exactly what I think is right.”

And all this time I thought a billion was real money. I must be wrong.

– Steymied

Dear Steymied,

Tommy-Come-Lately, who represents the ATM wing of the Democratic Party, is a leading figure in the All Those Dollars and No Sense set.

First he spends two years and $50 million on his money-pit Need to Impeach fantasy.

Now he’s saying he’ll spend $100 million on a vanity run for president and is already up on broadcast networks with spots like this one.

He doesn’t see himself as rich? He’ll be a lot less once this election cycle is over.

Yo.

Seriously, Is Tom Steyer Crazy?

Aug18 by Campaign Outsider

[Aditor’s note: As you might – or more likely might not – have noticed, Dr. Ads has been (in)conspicuous by his absence over the past several months. We’d rather not get into the details; let’s just say he’s been under the care of an actual doctor. Yo.]

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, just minding my own business and reading Politico Playbook, when I came across this:

VIDEO DU JOUR – “Tom Steyer’s ads test the boundaries of the ‘bizarre,’” by Darren Goode: “Steyer is trying to sway national climate policy and the midterm elections with an ad campaign that is raising eyebrows among independent fact-checkers, some television stations, his political opponents and even a few allies — using an approach that strikes observers as anywhere from groundbreaking to downright bizarre. … [Chris] Lehane, who wrote much of the ads’ scripts, said they are born from creative sessions after Steyer’s team has identified its target audience and message.”

Have you seen these ads, Doc? I mean, I’m all for combatting climate change, but Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, eh?

– Al G.

Dear Al G.,

We’re talking about some nutty stuff, even for the Doc. Start out with this TV spot from Steyer’s NextGen Climate advocacy outfit attacking Iowa GOP Senate candidate Joni (The Castrator) Ernst.

Really? Is the average TV viewer gonna pay enough attention to that mishmash to get what it’s trying to say? We’re thinking not.

That ad is almost as strange as this spot NextGen ran last year attacking the Keystone XL Pipeline.

So how effective has Steyer’s climate police campaign been? The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel answered this way in her column last week.

A Climate Crusader’s Comeuppance

Billionaire Tom Steyer’s vow to make politicians toe the green line isn’t working out so well.

As political comedowns go, there may be few to compare to the humbling of Tom Steyer. Six months after the climate activist roared on the national political scene vowing $100 million to impose his agenda on this fall’s midterms, it would appear that this billionaire don’t hunt.

Remember the liberal huzzahs that greeted the February pledge? The New York Times gave Mr. Steyer the front page, heralding a coming “hard-edge campaign of attack ads” that would pressure officials to “enact climate change measures” and persuade voters to back a climate agenda. Democrats hailed him as their new power broker, crowing about a war chest that could rival the Koch brothers and even up the midterm election odds. Environmentalists welcomed a white knight who would finally align the party and public behind their priorities.

Or not. Mr. Steyer at an Aspen conference this week revealed that little if any of this is happening. The left is as split over energy as it has ever been; the public isn’t buying the climate line; and the hedge-fund-manager-turned-activist looks to be regrouping.

Strassel adds this about the current NextGen ad:

NextGen, which bragged in May that it would make climate a “wedge” issue in “political races,” couldn’t even bring itself to mention the environment in its first ad of the political season, against Iowa Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst. It instead hit her for supporting lower taxes.

Yeah, hit her like a Nerf ball. Our Rx for Tom Steyer: Find the NextGen of admakers.

Yo.

Does Starbucks Really Fit Oprah to a Tea?

May5 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

So there I was, minding my own business and reading the New York Times when I came across this full-page ad.

A boldly spiced chai with a touch of sweetness?

Chai kidding me?

– Dr. Fill

Dear Dr. Fill,

Do we detect the green (tea)-eyed monster at play here?

Regardless, the Doc definitely detects the Oprah-industrial complex at work.

As usual, the whole Oprahprise is cloaked in altruism:

Click on the OprahChai website and you wind up in OprahLand (Steep Your Soul precinct).

(Doesn’t seem like very many shares, does it?)

Of course, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation has had its difficulties. But apparently Starbucks is willing to assume that baggage.

Carry on, Howard Schultz.

Yo.

Ethics in Advertising? Really? What Are We, Oxymorons?

Apr14 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

So there I was, hanging out in the Great American Heartland, when I heard a rumor. It seems that The University of Missouri (my old stomping ground) has a group studying ETHICS in advertising.

What’s with that? Are they wasting time and money?

– Indiana hick

Dear Indiana,

As you have no reason to remember, the old Doc recently addressed the issue of truth in advertising.

So now we’re graduating to the bigger issue of advertising ethics?

Unbelievable. Literally.

But you’re right – the University of Missouri’s Donald W.Reynolds Journalism Institute has a whole Ethics section that addresses subjects like advertising and marketing.

So to your question: Are they wasting time and money?

Yes and no.

Their time. Not our money.

We’re pretty sure.

Yo.

Truth in Advertising? Really? What Are We, Oxymorons?

Mar27 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

So there I was, minding my own business and reading the Sunday New York Times, when I came across this full-page ad from an outfit called – honest! – Truth in Advertising.

Seriously? Truth in advertising? This has to be, like, Jimmy Fallon, right?

– David L

Dear DL,

First off, here’s the ad’s body copy for the body-copy impaired.

Second off, here’s the Truth in Advertising website.

And third off, here’s the Truth in Advertising Mission Statement.

Truth in Advertising, Inc. (TINA.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Madison, CT, whose mission is to be the go-to online resource dedicated to empowering consumers to protect themselves and one another against false advertising and deceptive marketing. We aim to achieve our mission through investigative journalism, education, advocacy, and the promotion of truth in advertising.

Thus the name, the old Doc is guessing. Anyway, the group says it’s independently funded, accepts no advertising money, and got its grubstake from “Seedlings Foundation” (actually, Seedling Foundation, established by billionaire Karen Pritzker and her billionaire-by-attraction husband Michael Vlock), which “supports programs that nourish the physical and mental health of children and families, and fosters an educated and engaged citizenship.”

Got that? Now on to the good stuff, which, of course, always involves video.

Well, maybe not exactly good. But not exactly bad either.

The TINA campaign features that web video, along with print and digital ads in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and etc.

According to Advertising Age, “[t]he group claims that in its first full year it sparked four legal actions, more than 200 ad alerts, more than 200 news articles and blog posts, reports on 232 false-advertising class actions and three petitions.”

Presumably, they’re telling the truth.

Yo.

What’s Up with That French-Bashing Cadillac Spot?

Mar15 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

So there I was, watching television and minding my own business, when this Cadillac commercial popped up.

Narrator: “Why do we work so hard? . . . Other countries, they work, they stroll home, they stop by the café, they take August off. Off. Why aren’t you like that? Why aren’t we like that? Because we’re crazy driven hard-working believers, that’s why.”

Really? More French-bashing, Doc?

Pass the Freedom Fries, oui?

– Hollande Daze

Dear Hollande Daze,

The Doc feels your pain. (We love those baguette thingies, which are the greatest empty calories ever created.) But you should know that not every American is ugly.

From Ad Age:

The spot for the new Cadillac ELR has provoked extreme reactions since its debut during NBC’s broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Fans on the political right see “Poolside” as an unapologetic ode to American values. Critics on the political left see it as Ugly American chest thumping at its worst. During a time when Americans are working harder and longer for less money, others question the spot’s perceived workaholic message.

Others such as Washington Post contributor Brigid Schulte, who “‘groaned’ at the sight of a ‘middle-aged white guy’ extolling the ‘virtues of hard work, American style,’ while strolling around his fancy house, pool and $75,000 electric car.”

Not to mention the reaction of the average French person, as detailed in this eye-opening Gerry Haden piece on PRI’s The World.

Cadillac’s viral ad glorifies America’s crazy work ethic — but my French in-laws don’t buy it

By now, you may have seen the TV ad for Cadillac that’s gone viral. It’s the one where an American guy starts out questioning how hard he works, then indirectly thumbs his nose at Europeans and their short work weeks and long summer vacations.

His conclusion: that America is just the best, and the best buy Caddies.

But my French in-laws don’t buy the bluster.

Neither does the old Doc.

Yo.

Here’s Why Fr. Roy Bourgeois Ran That Boston Globe Ad

Mar6 by Campaign Outsider

So the Doc asked the other day, Who Is Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Why Did He Run an Ad in the Boston Globe?

The ad (in part):

And etc. (including a call for people to contact Pope Francis to “request that our Catholic Church ordain women, accept LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people as equals, and recognize gay marriage”).

As for our question, we answered the who in our original post.

And we can now answer the why, having just talked to Fr. Bourgeois on the phone. (Tip o’ the pixel to his editor, Margaret Knapke, who made the phone call happen.)

Why the Boston Globe?

“I just wanted to poke the beehive,” Fr. Bourgeois told the Doc, “and I have some friends there who wanted to contribute to a good cause.”

He has friends here because he attended seminary in Hingham and has given talks in this area numerous times.

The response has been good, Fr. Bourgeois says, and he has no intention of recanting his support for women’s ordination, even though it could return him to the priesthood.

“Asking me to do that would violate my conscience,” he says.

Fr. Bourgeois has himself contacted Pope Francis, but has yet to receive a reply. Meanwhile, he says, it’s “just a matter of time” until women (and other disenfranchised groups) are justified by the Catholic Church.

God bless him.

Yo.

Who Is Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Why Did He Run an Ad in the Boston Globe?

Mar4 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

So I’m minding my own business reading the Boston Sunday Globe when I come across this ad on page A6. (Blurry visuals compliments of the Globe.)

Really? Some Catholic priest in Columbus, GA has enough dough to buy a quarter-page ad in the Sunday (week’s most expensive) Globe? What’s the deal here, Doc?

– Cathaholic

Dear Cathaholic,

Excellent question.

First, some background.

From November, 2012 via Tom Roberts of the National Catholic Reporter:

Roy Bourgeois: They finally got him

Ah, they finally got him, as we all knew they probably would. Eventually. And with a press release it was done: Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest for 45 years, was told that the Vatican “dispenses” him “from his sacred bonds.”

And the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, caught in the culture that finds advocating for women’s ordination such a grievous and unpardonable offense, “warmly thanks” Roy “for his service to mission and all members wish him well in his personal life.”

And so it goes, as Vonnegut would say. So it goes.

Bourgeois’ case is a prime illustration of what, today, the institution can and can’t tolerate. Bourgeois’ major offense, the sin that is unforgiveable in the eyes of the church, for which penalty is removal from the order which he has served for nearly half a century and dismissal from the community, was advocating for women’s ordination.

And from a year ago, here’s the padre himself in a New York Times op-ed:

My Prayer: Let Women Be Priests

AFTER serving as a Roman Catholic priest for 40 years, I was expelled from the priesthood last November because of my public support for the ordination of women.

Catholic priests say that the call to be a priest comes from God. As a young priest, I began to ask myself and my fellow priests: “Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God’s call to women is not?” Isn’t our all-powerful God, who created the cosmos, capable of empowering a woman to be a priest?

Let’s face it. The problem is not with God, but with an all-male clerical culture that views women as lesser than men. Though I am not optimistic, I pray that the newly elected Pope Francis will rethink this antiquated and unholy doctrine.

He’s also decided to pay, in the form of the Globe ad.

Why here? Why now?

The old Doc will try to find out. We didn’t find a way to contact him at his website, but we’ll track him down eventually and get back to you.

Yo.

What the-? National Enquirer Runs Full-Page Ad in New York Times!

Feb27 by Campaign Outsider

Well the Doc opened up the old mailbag today and here’s what poured out.

Dear Dr. Ads,

There I was, minding my own business and reading Wednesday’s New York Times, when I came across this.

So, wait a second: The National Enquirer has set up a foundation because they got a story wrong? Don’t they get all their stories wrong?

Whiskey tango foxtrot, yeah Doc?

– Elvis

Dear Elvis,

Hard to believe, isn’t it?

First off, let’s highlight the text for the tiny-type impaired.

Now the back story, compliments of Reuters media critic Jack Shafer.

Supermarket tabloid gets hoodwinked by imposter!!!

The National Enquirer got its nosey-parker proboscis bloodied this month after its big Philip Seymour Hoffman “scoop” was promptly revealed to be a hoax.

Only three days after Hoffman died, the tabloid reported that playwright David Bar Katz — the friend who discovered Hoffman’s dead body — and Hoffman were lovers. It also alleged that Katz watched Hoffman freebase cocaine the evening before his death and had repeatedly witnessed his friend’s use of heroin.

The source for the Enquirer‘s piece? Katz himself, according to the tabloid. But when Katz immediately stepped forward, denied any such interview took place, denied being Hoffman’s lover, denied having watched him do cocaine or heroin, and sued the Enquirer for $50 million, the newspaper retracted the story and apologized. It has now settled with Katz and will fund a foundation that will make annual grants of $45,000 to unproduced playwrights to honor Hoffman. The Enquirer also took out a full-page ad in today’s New York Times to state that it had been fooled by an imposter who “falsely and convincingly claimed to be Mr. Katz.”

But that’s not all.

The Times not only ran the ad on Wednesday, it also ran this front-page piece:

Truth and a Prize Emerge From Lies About Hoffman

Herding his three younger sons out the door to school on Feb. 5, David Bar Katz was stopped for a moment by his eldest, who was browsing the Internet.

“My 14-year-old said, ‘Dad, there’s something online about you and Phil being lovers,’ ” Mr. Katz said. “I said, ‘Phil would get a kick out of that.’ ”

Phil was Philip Seymour Hoffman, the actor and Mr. Katz’s good friend, who had been found dead three days earlier, apparently from an overdose of heroin. Mr. Katz, a playwright, was one of two people who had gone to his apartment and discovered his body.

“Things had already achieved the maximum level of surreality, and I thought this thing online was a big nothing,” Mr. Katz said.

In fact, the article, published by The National Enquirer, was the first pebble of a landslide of malignant fiction that sprawled across the web.

And came to rest in a full-page Times ad.

Yo.

Ask Doctor Ads

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Author Archives: Campaign Outsider

Why Is OkCupid Ad Saying OkAbortions?

OkCupid Relaunches ‘Every Single Person’ Campaign to Champion Reproductive Rights

Seriously, Is Tom Steyer Crazy? (Part 2)

A Billionaire Makes His Case: ‘I Don’t See Myself as Rich’

Seriously, Is Tom Steyer Crazy?

A Climate Crusader’s Comeuppance

Does Starbucks Really Fit Oprah to a Tea?

Ethics in Advertising? Really? What Are We, Oxymorons?

Truth in Advertising? Really? What Are We, Oxymorons?

What’s Up with That French-Bashing Cadillac Spot?

Cadillac’s viral ad glorifies America’s crazy work ethic — but my French in-laws don’t buy it

Here’s Why Fr. Roy Bourgeois Ran That Boston Globe Ad

Who Is Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Why Did He Run an Ad in the Boston Globe?

Roy Bourgeois: They finally got him

My Prayer: Let Women Be Priests

What the-? National Enquirer Runs Full-Page Ad in New York Times!

Supermarket tabloid gets hoodwinked by imposter!!!

Truth and a Prize Emerge From Lies About Hoffman