Don Imus and nappy headded hos.....

Why are we Americans so damn sensitive to this crap?

Don Imus is about as much a racist as Don Alm is a liberal.

But when he makes an innocent comment, all in fun, his big sponsers like Staples and American Express pull out and cause him to get fired.

I don't get it.

What I do get is that I'll be cutting up my American Express card and my Staples card tonight and will never do business with them again.

Jim

Hi, Jim,

Guess I missed what your post is about somewhere along the line. Care to let the rest of us in on it? Sounds interesting.

Sandi Bowman

Imus was fired today for a comment he made last week, calling a mostly black womans college basketball team "nappy headed hos"

It was all done in fun.

The firing probably would have never happened if his sponsers hadn't pulled out.

The part that really bugs me is that he was called out and put through the fire by two of the biggest racists on the planet. The Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Just google "Don Imus" and you'll get 1000 news reports.

Jim

anyone checked this out

http://www.nappyheadedhos.com

what a world ..

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by James Anthony

Why are we Americans so damn sensitive to this crap?

Don Imus is about as much a racist as Don Alm is a liberal.

But when he makes an innocent comment, all in fun, his big sponsers like Staples and American Express pull out and cause him to get fired.

I don't get it.

What I do get is that I'll be cutting up my American Express card and my Staples card tonight and will never do business with them again.

Hi Jim,

The way I see it is...

A lot of people were apparently offended by his remarks... And it made the news (so even people who weren't his listeners knew about it)...

I think there may have been protests - to him AND to his sponsors. Of course, people are free to protest all they want...

Sponsors are in it for the money. If they feel this will hurt the bottom line, then they're going to make a decision based on that. And similarly, the radio station is in it for the money too - without sponsors, there's no money.

Anyway, basically, I don't see the "problem". Everyone was free to do what they did. Don Imus was free to say what he said, people were free to protest, sponsors are free to pull out, and Don Imus's employer was free to fire him.

Of course, you're also free to cut up your American Express and Staples cards in response too.... If you're incensed enough, you can even start your own "rehire Don Imus" campaign... Or maybe offer to run some of your own ads on his show, if he gets a new one...

Also, Don Imus is still free to say what he wants - he can even start his own radio station if he has the means. Or another radio station can hire him, if they want (which may happen, who knows, if he has a loyal enough audience)...

By the way, I know nothing about Don Imus apart from this incident. We don't get his show "downunder"!

- Dien

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Jim,

The way I see it is...

A lot of people were apparently offended by his remarks... And it made the news (so even people who weren't his listeners knew about it)...

The way I see it is that people weren't offended until Jackson & Sharpton jumped in and told everyone they should be offended.

It was nothing more than 3 little words that were probably not the best choice of words, but certainly nothing that could offend the entire country.

It got blown totally out of proportion by people with their own agenda and by the media who think that it's somehow cool for people to get behind racial issues.

Walk a mile through any town in this country and you will hear a lot worse things said than "nappy headed ho"

It deserved a laugh, not a firing.

Imus is a good guy who does a lot of good and raises a lot of money for some great causes.

He deserves to keep on doing what he's doing.

If anyone in this whole situation should be looked at for their racial comments, it should be Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton.

Jim

[Ankesh]

Originally Posted by James Anthony

The way I see it is that people weren't offended until Jackson & Sharpton jumped in and told everyone they should be offended.

What I like about such cases is they offer a glimpse into the mind of the masses.

1. By adding laughing tracks to comedy shows, the producers ended up making the shows more funny. The content was the same. But the laughing tracks in the background allowed people to know when it was "safe" to find the content funny - and increased their enjoyment in the process.

2. Stage artists all over the world always hire people to join the audiences to clap or gasp at the right moments -- for the same reason.

3. A few centuries ago (especially during Mozart's era) - people judged how successful the stage show will be - not on the shows merit - but on the fact how many times the King yawned. If you get a tired King to watch your show - you're doomed!

4. Today, people look up to people like Jackson and Sharpton to make their decisions for them. If such people are going through a lean phase and don't have much to do - you're very very unlucky. Its not what you say that matters. Its how much attention the "influentials" want.

5. Having 250 news channels has just made matters worse. When they don't have much to show - they end up giving importance to the tiniest of footnotes.

The best thing imo - is not to defend the message (what Don Imus said). But to try and dis-credit the messengers (Jackson and Sharpton are moist robots who have a poor sense of humour and crave attention).

But you need a very strong personality to discredit the messenger. It could get very ugly.

Originally Posted by Ankesh

What I like about such cases is they offer a glimpse into the mind of the masses.

1. By adding laughing tracks to comedy shows, the producers ended up making the shows more funny. The content was the same. But the laughing tracks in the background allowed people to know when it was "safe" to find the content funny - and increased their enjoyment in the process.

2. Stage artists all over the world always hire people to join the audiences to clap or gasp at the right moments -- for the same reason.

3. A few centuries ago (especially during Mozart's era) - people judged how successful the stage show will be - not on the shows merit - but on the fact how many times the King yawned. If you get a tired King to watch your show - you're doomed!

claque (klăk) pronunciation
n.

1. A group of persons hired to applaud at a performance.
2. A group of fawning admirers.

Hi Ankesh,

Thanks for mentioning the Paid Participation / "Canned Laughter" above.

These people paid to be participants in the audience were called:
Claquers.
... and the TV version of "Canned Laughter" and responses on TV Shows are explained more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laugh_track

What about Adcopy / Written Advertising / and Written Products?

What can be used to create 'Claqued Copy?'
... and possibly, 'Claqued Ebooks,' etc...

Something like Claque for the Written Word?

Is there such a thing?

Christopher

PS. The Definition of Claque above was found here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/claque

One way you can introduce claque technology to websites is through the use of audio...just record your own, attach it to the file, auto play where you want and voila!

Actually there is a small utility that has laugh tracks and other sounds ready made for computer use. Not sure I still have it but someone offered it through the Warrior Forum back when I used to frequent it. You could have from a chuckle to a hearty carnival laugh, among other sounds.

Sandi Bowman

[Ankesh]

Ah - lots of small things you can do to give people hints as to what they should do on a website.

1. Ask yourself what you want the people to do.
2. What hints can you provide them that gets them to do what you want them to do.

One eg: just adding the mouse pointer picture to the buy button will increase your sales.

Instead of the button saying "Buy Now" - let it say "Buy Now" and have a picture of mouse pointer next to it - which lets people know that they should click there.

You can do a lot of such things with

colour
layout
linking
pictures and
words

that will let them subtly know what they should do. Sound is not necessary.