EW Censors Jennifer Love's Talent

Fox - Jennifer Love Hewitt got a breast reduction in ad ad for her new show “The Client List” running in Entertainment Weekly. And she is not happy. Identical ads for the ‘Party of Five’ star’s new show ran in The Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Weekly. With one big difference. The ad in EW had been digitally altered. In the THR ad, and all of the other ads using the image, Love Hewitt is significantly larger up top. “Somebody sent me a copy of the photograph, and I was like, ‘Um, what happened?” she said on the radio on Friday. “I’m not quite sure what’s going on, but apparently somebody wanted me to have a boob reduction.”

In the history of bad advertising decisions, this will rank right up there with the best of them.  Whoever altered this image failed to grasp two undeniable facts:

1. JLH's fan base is men. Woman, for the most part, can't stand her, for exactly the same reason that men find her appealing...Her "assets" are the sole reason that god awful show, The Ghost Whiperer, lasted 5 seasons on CBS...5 SEASONS! And it was buried on a Friday night. But middle aged lonely men, and coming of age 12 year old boys all tuned in for two reasons. For this new show to survive its going to have to pull the male lonely and desprate 29-42 audience, and the young and hormone riddled 12-14 year old male segment.  Scaling back JLH's talent isn't going to help. 

2. A large portion of Lifetime's audience is men watching as a guilty pleasure. Sure we make fun of it all the time, but I'll be damned if each and every one of us doesn't secretly set the DVR for the next Lifetime Special Movie Event after seeing a commercial for it.  The beauty is, if you're living with a significant other you can just pass it off as you're doing them a favor, the old "oh I figured you'd want to watch that...hey you wanna make a bowl of popcorn and power through it right now?"  That's the audience the Client List should be going after, and their advertising should reflect that.

MBTA Bans Alcohol Ads, Promptly Considering Casion Advertisements

BOSTON (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Alcohol ads may be banned from MBTA trains and buses, at a cost of $1.5 million, but ads for casino gambling are still a sure bet for Massachusetts. "I don't think it's hypocritical at all," Governor Deval Patrick tells FOX 25's Sharman Sacchetti. Governor Patrick supports the move to ban alcohol ads from the MBTA, even though it comes at a time when the state is looking to you for more money to help the debt ridden agency. Several public meetings on fare hikes are being held across the state. The governor says banning alcohol ads is all about public health. FOX 25 asked Governor Patrick what the difference was between alcohol ads and ads for casino gambling. "Well the one difference is we've struck a balance as you know with expanded gambling with a tremendous amount of investment on how we protect the public from some of the harm that comes with expanded gaming,” says the governor.

 Well for once I actually don't mind that smarmy bastard lying right through his teeth to the media. The guy obviously knows its hypocritical, anyone with half a brain knows that, but the MBTA is flat broke and banning every type of advertising that may lead to degenerative addictions is no way to solve that problem. 

There's a handful of fairly recession proof vice industries, and believe me alcohol and gambling are the least objectionable options. If you ban casino's from advertising the next thing you know you're going to be waiting for the Green Line with advertisements for the Glass Slipper and Centerfolds bombarding you, plus the Marlboro man will probably attempt a come back...Now think about it, would you rather a picture of vibrant young people having a good time after a night out with Captain Morgan along side one of those "Wonder of It All" Foxwoods ads, OR, some dead behind the eyes skank who lies and says she's working her way through BU chain smoking a pack of Newport Lights?  Kinda changes your mind, right?