-Caveat Lector- http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/011111/w111120.html
Bush believes hawking Uncle Ben's prepared Charlotte Beers to sell Uncle Sam ROBERT RUSSO WASHINGTON (CP) - When U.S. President George W. Bush decided something had to be done to counter America's image abroad as a shallow and materialistic society, he decided to go for Beers. Charlotte Beers was the most powerful woman in advertising, known for her high-octane lifestyle, golden Rolodex and stratospheric salary. She is now effectively Bush's minister of propaganda. The Texas-born daughter of a cowboy has a far more elegant title of course: undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. But the woman whose ad campaigns for Head and Shoulders dandruff shampoo, McDonald's and Uncle Ben's rice doesn't intend to stray far from her Madison Avenue roots while leading the effort to corrode Osama bin Laden's popularity in the Muslim world. "We are having people who are not our friends define America in negative terms," Beers told foreign reporters based in Washington. "It is time for us to re-ignite the understanding of America." Selling Uncle Sam the same way she sold Uncle Ben's rice is fine by her boss, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. "Guess what? She got me to buy Uncle Ben's rice," Powell told some skeptical members of Congress last week. "There is nothing wrong with getting somebody who knows how to sell something." Beers' challenge is to show the world that America's concept of freedom goes beyond the Golden Arches. She has never been one to shrink from challenges. Beers started her career in advertising at J. Walter Thompson in Chicago. She rose to become senior vice-president of the agency before joining a smaller agency, Tatham Laird, as chief executive. Beers became the first woman to chair the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1998 after moving to stumbling giant Ogilvy & Mather. Her southern-belle charm has helped Beers achieve what all successful advertising agency executives need - a close enough relationship with her clients to make her indispensable. She was credited with a number of major account wins, including the global IBM advertising account. Beers was 65 - though little about her flamboyant wardrobe brings to mind a senior citizen - when Powell approached her earlier this year to serve as undersecretary, despite having no diplomatic experience. The senate hel d up her confirmation for six months, agreeing to rush it through only in the aftermath of Sept. 11. Her target audience is the Islamic and Arab street where students learn to hate the United States as school children and that hatred is nourished by state-sponsored propaganda. Beers is undaunted. She's certain her new clients will buy her new product. "This is the most elegant brand I've ever had to work with," Beers said. "President Bush and Secretary Powell are embodying the brand. That's a pretty inspiring place to start." The brand had few takers on the streets of Arab and Muslim countries. Even after the shattering events of Sept. 11, the United States was still managing to lose the public relations battle to a mass murderer. Bin Laden showed himself to be a cunning communicator after the airliner assaults. Beers quickly put together a rapid response team to counteract bin Laden's video messages. Former ambassador to Syria Chris Ross was sent to appear on Al-Jazeera television to challenge bin Laden's video in fluent Arabic. And, after months of not agreeing to go on Egyptian television, Powell popped up on Egypt' s Nile News Channel last week to defend the war. He was soon followed by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "Consider the alternative, which is silence, or letting other people speak for us," Beers said. "So I think we have no choice." She talks of drafting athletes, musicians and actors to remind the world that there is more to America than imperialism and Coca-Cola, but hastens to add that the celebrities will be used in low-key public service ads. "It's unlikely that you're going to see anything quite as dramatic as a Coca-Cola spot." Hollywood has been recruited to swing American and Muslim opinion behind the war effort. The White House convened a meeting Sunday in Hollywood with 40 studio executives and actors to enlist their help to "communicate, ed ucate and inspire" patriotism. Nobody uses the word propaganda, but it would seem to amount to the same thing. The whole notion of using the glitzy wizardry of Hollywood and Madison Avenue tactics to eradicate foreign notions of American avarice and superficiality would seem suspicious. An influential London-based Arabic paper described Beers' strategy as "dangerous." "The intervention by the U.S. and British governments in the media services and dissemination of information to people endangers the future of political and civil freedoms," Al-Hayat said last week. "This step will encourage undemocratic regimes to continue to control the press and media and justify for these regimes the continued existence of information ministries and political propaganda mouthpieces." Beers rejects the accusation that she is spinning or selling anything. The United States has failed to promote its values of freedom and tolerance, she insisted. That failure allowed bin Laden to score points overseas. She's not about to let that happen again. "I'm not as awed by the bin Laden propaganda machine as the world is at this point." © The Canadian Press, 2001 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. 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