Advance thumbnail of Case History #1 of 61
"YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND.
WE CAN'T RUN THIS FREAKING AD.
IT WILL CAUSE A #$%&#% REVOLT HERE IN D.C.!"
The ad ran thanks to the banks PR person's connections.
What should occur to you is a Big question - Is this ad the most shocking, cynical exploitation of racial stereotyping of all time, OR the most enlightened, stereo-typing busting ad of all time?
What you are about to read will be racial and shocking - perhaps more shocking than Don Imus' tasteless and despicable remark about the Rutgers ladies basketball team.
My name is Stan Cotton and I own responsibility for the ad.
If you are a person of normal sensibilities of normal sensibilities, the headline of this ad will put you off, perhaps anger you. The question would put to you is: after you have read the 120 word message below the shock headline tell me: Is this a racist ad or - Is it in fact, an anti racist ad that builds trust between peoples?
. IF, you think this one ad demonstrates the power of irony, creativity and courage, you ain't seen nothing yet! This was one of three ads in the campaign.
THEN, you will really need to see and read the full case history with the numbers.
To get to the job on hand, I turned the telescope around and peered through the other end. Independence had nothing going for it, what did it have going against it?
The answer was obvious. A Black S&L lending money to Blacks for inner city housing set off alarm bells in the minds of many potential depositors. (Keep in mind that at this time several blocks of Washington still lay in ruins from the riots that had ensued in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.). The issue was whether black home buyers were really bad risks, or if that perception was mere racist illusion? What's your guess?
