Interesting Moments in Marketing History

This is apparently supposed to sell burgers at Clark's Jr. and Hardees (The places are literally the same, just different names.)


Not surprising, this has already raised a bit of controversy, largely among the teaching community. Given recent news events in recent years, this shouldn't be surprising.

A fast food chain’s racy new advertising campaign has left at least one teacher’s organization demanding it be pulled.

The ad for St. Louis, Missouri-based Hardee’s Corporation features a sexy teacher, making provocative moves in front of the class while two students rap to a song called "Flat Buns,” according to a report on myFOXstl.com.

"How irresponsible can you get?” said the Tennessee Education Association in a statement on their website. ”At this very moment, there are female teachers in high school classrooms with 30+ students who are working hard to teach our children so that they can compete in today's world. It is unbelievably demeaning to every one of them to promote a television advertisement showing a young teacher gyrating on top of her desk while boys in the class rap about her body in order to sell hamburgers!"

Hardee’s claims the ad is obviously a spoof, pointing out that the target demographic for the ad is young men who find this type of ad campaign appealing.

The fast-food chain courted controversy before with a provocative hamburger ad featuring Paris Hilton.

Sex sells, doubt it will sell some Patty Melts.

Kagen Loses Again

I'm sensing a pattern here.

Man goes off on his own, when compromises have already been established, and then gets his head handed to him.

Nah, those decisions won't come back and haunt him next year at all!

A congressional conference committee has agreed to reauthorize the depth of the Fox River navigational channel to six feet, a victory for the paper companies that favor capping more of the river pollution.

The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is expected to be passed by the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate before Congress adjourns at the end of the week.

The conference committee accepted the Senate version that changes the authorized depth of the channel from the Georgia-Pacific turning basin to the De Pere dam from 18 feet to six feet. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials have said that the 18-foot depth would have made it virtually impossible to cap polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as part of the $390 million river remediation project.

U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, pulled the 6-foot option from the House bill earlier this year but Sen. Herb Kohl left it in the Senate version.

“It was an honor to serve on the conference committee,” Kagen said late Tuesday in a statement. “I look forward to working with everyone in the House and Senate to improve the health and economic well-being of rivers across the country, and especially our Fox River.”

Georgia-Pacific officials could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Good. G-P doesn't need to reached for comment. They thought they had a deal in place that was years in the making before the fruitcake "doctor and scientist" came along and damned near blew it up.

Notice the wording of the Kagen press flack statement. He got taken to town, and Herb Kohl was chauffeur.

Milwaukee Unemployment Dropped

Milwaukee-area employment improved:

The Milwaukee area added 7,600 jobs in the past 12 months and improved its unemployment rate from March 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reported Wednesday.

Preliminary data show the four-county Milwaukee area as one of only four Wisconsin metropolitan areas with lower unemployment last month than a year ago.

The unemployment rate for the area - Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties - dipped to 5.2% in March from 5.3% in March 2006, the state reported.

In the same period, the Milwaukee area added 7,600 jobs - more than triple the statewide net increase of 2,400. It was the 34th consecutive month of year-over-year gains in the Milwaukee area's job count.

Now, imagine if the city, region, and state had a pro-growth strategy. There are bright spots to the local economy. Milwaukee is the center for the large digging machine industry. There is also plenty of promise in health care and biotechnology. We need serious leadership that understands the needs of business instead of simply looking at them as sources of money for runaway spending.