Lucire: Insider

Leadership comes from the grass roots, not institutions

Fri, 09 May 2008 05:37 GMT

[Cross-posted] Sometimes I surprise myself on what comes up in blog comments. In a thread about the Iraq war and the short memories of nations over on Vox, I wrote the following. And as I wrote, I believed this to be a possible truth.

To go forth in the future we need to discover our past, a hard thing in an age of short memories as you say. ? Leadership might not come from size but from those nations that have steadfastly refused to give in to the prevailing decline in so many places. Switzerland, for all its refusal to join the EU, has managed to maintain one of the greatest gun ownership rates in the world yet not have a single gun-related murder attributable to its own in most years; Singapore, retaining its Confucian philosophies, manages a city-state with limited natural resources.
��Their example needs to be communicated to the world, as well as the positive aspects of certain parts of the US or China?they exist, but they are hidden.
��This is one reason to like blogs because they can cut through the shield of the MSM and government propaganda. I do not think that we have reached any critical mass among netizens, networking citizens together in a form of moral leadership. ? [T]here are pockets of good people everywhere as you and I have witnessed, just that we are not necessarily visible.
��But that critical mass can come?and if warfare now is at a terrorist, guerrilla level in so many places, I suspect moral leadership itself will come from a grass-roots base.
��The system needs idealists like us, reminding people of their short memories, and maybe change will be effected not through top?down governmental, propagandist methods or the MSM, but through one-on-few communications from each of us.
��I would rather [expect] that the next superpower, therefore, is not a nation or even an ideology, but a collective of humankind cutting through the BS and revealing the truth. Who says the ?net cannot be a force for good once more? If it can propagate hate and porn, it can just as easily propagate hope and truth.

� �I get reminded of this every now and then by others who feel the same way: Chris, at the Edutainment & Convergence blog, wrote to me privately and inspired me. And when I think back to books like Beyond Branding and Typography & Branding, I think there was a great deal of post-9-11 optimism and the desire to build a better, more understanding world. I ?nd passages of my Typography & Branding inspiring, if an author is allowed to be inspired by his own work, and I can?t have been this cynical back then.
� �It?s a good zone to be in and I haven?t felt this hopeful about the potential of the ?net in about a year.
� �Last year, I was bemoaning the decline of the blogosphere as it began looking more and more like the darker parts of society, with gossipmongers and rude, anonymous commenters ?nding their way on to it. Where were, I asked, the globally minded idealists of the 1990s?
� �On the other hand, their entry into this world surely puts them closer to the hands of the idealists who can now shape agenda, creating more hopeful sites and messages.
� �And maybe channelling or ?nding the above message from my subconscious helped me put things into perspective more. If indeed the state nation is less relevant and change is better effected by people helping people directly, because technology has now made that possible, then the moral vacuum caused by various changes in society can be ?lled.
� �All it needs are willing participants prepared to get together to make the world a better place, regardless of their political, cultural or religious stripes.
� �That?s really why I got into media.
� �If we agree on this target, then the rest must follow.

Neutrogena, Jennifer Garner partner on sun safety

Thu, 08 May 2008 07:13 GMT

Neutrogena has partnered with Self magazine and Jennifer Garner to unveil what the company calls The Roadmap to Healthy Skin, a viral campaign discussing sun safety and skin cancer awareness.
�� The Roadmap appears in the May 2008 issue of Self, stressing the importance of self-examination to prevent skin cancer and promote early detection. Self encourages women to download a mole map, located at www.self.com, to track skin changes that could signal cancer.
�� An e-card campaign enables women to send e-cards to friends and family to encourage them to perform self-examinations and to visit the dermatologist for an annual full body check. For every ?ve e-cards sent, Neutrogena will make a donation to help support skin cancer research.
�� Self.com also has an exclusive video about sun safety featuring Jennifer Garner, and an interactive map highlighting important facts about sun safety across the US.

Oprah, Jennifer Garner, Olivia Newton-John and others auction pink gloves for charity

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:09 GMT

Some of the most famous women in the world are lending a hand to celebrate Moms this Mother?s Day and also raise awareness about an important women?s health issue affecting thousands of women each year.
�� Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone, Courteney Cox Arquette, Faith Hill, Jennifer Garner and Olivia Newton-John have signed on by autographing the Pampered Chef limited-edition Pink Kitchen Gloves (the company notes�that these contain natural rubber Latex)�and Pink Aprons to raise funds for breast cancer education and early detection as part of the company?s Help Whip Cancer initiative.
�� From May 1 to 31, 2008, supporters nationwide can log on to www.pamperedchef.com to bid on items signed by more than a dozen famous women, many who are also Moms, including Jane Seymour, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tori Spelling, Meredith Vieira, Melora Hardin, Nancy O?Dell, Samantha Harris and the ladies of The View including Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Auction proceeds will bene?t the American Cancer Society.
�� According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer remains the most common form of cancer among women in the United States and every woman has a chance of developing breast cancer. Thanks to early detection through regular mammograms and effective treatment, the ?ve-year survival rate has improved to an astounding 98 per cent.
�� In its ninth year, the Pampered Chef Help Whip Cancer national campaign will offer a collection of limited-edition pink products including Pink Kitchen Gloves, Mini Scoop and Measure and the Pink Kitchen Brush to raise funds in support of breast cancer education and early detection programmes. For each product purchased, the Pampered Chef will contribute US$1 to support the American Cancer Society.

More on the Naomi Watts?Thierry Mugler Angel campaign

Tue, 06 May 2008 05:53 GMT

More details are emerging about the Naomi Watts advertisements for Thierry Mugler Angel, from the New York, rather than French, end of the business:

Naomi Watts was the inspired choice for Thierry Mugler, over and above her beauty and her star image. Displaying a modern touch, the actress projects a personality that blends sensuality, voluptuousness and evanescence to evoke the many facets of Angel. A blond fragility, a natural tenderness, an emotional seductiveness ?
��Rather appropriately, it was in Los Angeles, city of the angels, and in the Hollywood Center studios, that the commercial was shot, following a scenario by Thierry Mugler and directed by director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls). A Hollywood fairy-tale surrounded by a profusion of Angel stars.
��To immortalize this mythical moment, Thierry Mugler called on photographer Ali Mahdavi to produce the advertising visuals of his Hollywood dream. A worldwide campaign, glamorous and magical, will begin in October 2008.

Audrey Tautou, Jean-Pierre Jeunet collaborate on Chanel No. 5 ad

Tue, 06 May 2008 04:19 GMT

Chanel has chosen Jean-Pierre Jeunet to direct the next No. 5 advertising ?lm, starring actress Audrey Tautou starring in the lead role.
�� Jeunet had directed Tautou already in the C�sar- and BAFTA-winning Le fabuleux destin d'Am�lie Poulain (Am�lie in English) and Un long dimanche de ?an�ailles (The Long Engagement). The Chanel advertisement will be the third collaboration between Jeunet and Tautou.
�� Tautou, born in the Auvergne region, is best known for Am�lie and the ?lm adaptation of The Da Vinci Code, with Tom Hanks.
�� The advertisement will be shown in 2009.
�� Chanel is no stranger to artistic commercials.�Its 2007 ?lm for its Rouge Allure lipstick was directed by Bettina Rheims and starred Swiss model Julie Ordon.

Naomi Watts is new face of Thierry Mugler Angel fragrance

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:34 GMT

Actress Naomi Watts is the new face of the Thierry Mugler Angel fragrance,�it was announced�ahead of her d�but at the Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
�� The company says that Watts is ?A true embodiment of the fragrance itself and all it represents?. The campaign breaks in October in the US�and features Watts.
��On May 5, Watts, dressed in vintage Thierry Mugler, makes her d�but at the gala, representing ?a selection of the unique works of art created by Mugler himself.?

People announces ‘Most Beautiful People' for '08

Sat, 03 May 2008 06:50 GMT

People has released its ?Most Beautiful People in the World? issue for 2008 and we have a few videos from our colleagues there from behind the scenes. Special LA correspondent Julie Jordan takes us through why Kate Hudson became the cover girl and narrates some footage of shoots for the magazine.

Forbes lists world's top 16 earning models and supermodels

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:37 GMT

Gis�le B�ndchen,�whose face promotes products from Disney to Nivea and Aquascutum,�is the world?s top-earning model, according to Forbes.
�� The magazine?s latest table of what it calls the top 15?there are actually 16 models?puts B�ndchen?s earnings over the last 12 months at US$35 million, more than double that of Heidi Klum, in second place at US$14 million.
�� It said that B�ndchen?s US$5 million Victoria?s Secret contract, which ended in December 2007, was included in the totals. But even without it, she still comes up top, thanks to the value of some 20 contracts.
�� Klum was helped by her television ventures and campaigns for Diet Coke, Jordache, Mouawad, Volkswagen and Schwarzkopf.
�� In third place was Kate Moss (US$7�5 million), followed by Adriana Lima (US$7 million) and Doutzen Kr?s ($6 million).
�� Kr?s managed to get into the top five after scoring a Victoria?s Secret contract on top of her Calvin Klein and L?Or�al deals.
�� In sixth place was Karolina Kurkova (US$5 million), with Natalia Vodianova (US$4�8 million), Carolyn Murphy (US$4�5 million), Daria Werbowy (US$3�8 million) and Miranda Kerr (US$3�5 million) rounding out the top 10.
�� Isabeli Fontana (US$3 million) appears on the list for the first time at number 11, Gemma Ward (US$3 million) is the second Australian on the list�tying for 11th, and Selita Ebanks (US$2�7 million)�is 13th.
�� Valentina Zelyaeva (US$2�3 million), Est�e Lauder face Hilary Rhoda (US$2 million) and Liya Kebede (US$1�5 million) take positions 14 to 16.

Easy targets from the anti-Rhonda Grant release

Thu, 01 May 2008 21:49 GMT

I ?nally came across the full text of the press release attacking Massey University over its story on its alum Rhonda Grant, Miss Universe New Zealand?s second runner-up.
�� You can read the statement from the Association of University Staff?s president, Assoc Prof Maureen Montgomery, via Scoop. I think she was pretty persistent, sending it out to the NZPA as well as other news sources?she really disliked�the story.
�� It?s a shame Dr Montgomery has received anonymous hate mail over this today, when her release is ?lled with good targets for debate.
�� I respect her right to hold an opinion and I think she was right to circulate it,�but I wonder just how it might bene?t the Association of University Staff, or any institution promoting tertiary issues.
�� A lot of the arguments are addressed in our own release, which pageant director Val Lott asked me to write. I was more than happy to put the record straight, something that Dr Montgomery gave me a good opportunity to do.
�� You can tell Dr Montgomery failed to do what I thought academics should do ?rst and foremost: get suf?cient evidence and maintain an open mind.
�� The story on Rhonda Grant was no better and no worse in quality terms than the puff pieces about alumni on the Massey University website, so we know she has been singled out.
��Dr Montgomery writes, ?Massey?s story reads like the formulaic sort of thing that aspiring beauty queens are expected to say when interviewed on the catwalk.?
�� As I said in our release, the reality is the interviews are tough?and there are no expectations of formulaic answers at Miss New Zealand.
�� I defend the pageant because I know how tough the judging got: Rhonda was allowed to talk about nutrition, and other�contestants were quizzed about everything from the moral repugnancy of bank charges�to genetics versus socialization, depending on their university specialization.
�� ?One might expect a university public relations of?ce to do more than piggy-back off what comes across as a publicity statement produced by the Miss Universe organisation,? she said.
�� Publicity statements from the Miss Universe Organization seldom focus on second runners-up but, whether we like�it or not, Massey has engaged in journalism. We might argue over the quality.
�� I share some of her concerns over objecti?cation but I believe that was suf?ciently addressed when Rhonda?s bikini-clad photograph was removed from the Massey University website in�favour of something more conservative.
�� Once that was done, then the complaint really is a case of the lady protesting too much, unless all alum puff pieces are equally, to use Dr Montgomery?s word,�?banal?.
�� And as deep journalism, maybe�that?s not unfair?but it should apply fairly to all puff pieces, not just Rhonda?s.
�� If it were couched in such terms, I would gladly stand by her.
�� Dr Montgomery?s complaint on Rhonda?s piece speci?cally might be better directed at�government educational policy that has supposedly bred a generation of sex-obsessed high school graduates who might�?nd Rhonda Grant?s ?gure the reason to join Massey University.
�� Actually, on the sexualization of youth, I would�also gladly stand by her.
�� But for now, as a colleague here at Lucire said to me today, ?You have to ask yourself: what does Maureen Montgomery get out of it? It?s none of her business. Why has she been allowed to be involved??
�� I suppose the answer comes, rightly or wrongly,�from the anti-American stances of liberal universities around the world, and Dr Montgomery?s own�informs them. It helps the pro?le of the University of Canterbury, where she works, and cements�its liberal position.
�� My own father equated Dr Montgomery?s release to Rosie O?Donnell?s outburst on The View against Miss Nevada 2006 and Donald Trump: ill-considered, narrow-minded, poorly investigated and founded on opinion.
�� Where Dr Montgomery and I do share some basic views is how images can shape agenda. I know this. I publish fashion magazines. Let?s not kid ourselves.�
�� She wrote, ?Massey University has provided an excellent example of how the desperation to market universities as ?attractive? places to gain knowledge and transferable skills intersects with the use of the sexualized female body as a site of desire.?
�� There is an element of truth to such statements, but I question if university choices are made based on attractive alumni?even with my rant yesterday on sexualization.
�� When I went to university,�I had far more pressing concerns such as degree programmes and career prospects.
�� Vitally, we are talking about a story that is hard to ?nd on the Massey University site?a site that had proxy errors in the small hours of this morning that rendered it inaccessible. If it were not for her own strong and widely disseminated disapproval, it would have been seen probably by a few dozen people?perhaps one prospective student.
�� I?d personally have saved the energy for when universities started putting out alumni�swimsuit calendars.
�� By all means, speak out?I do on even lesser issues. But consider the effect of the publicity: right now, it seems Rhonda Grant is going to be promoted to national stardom on Close-up and Campbell Live, and�the pageant will get prime-time coverage on the same day Miss New Zealand Samantha Powell did her Good Morning interview on TV One. Earlier today, Paul Holmes promoted this as a major item on his radio show in Auckland.
�� We couldn?t have dreamed of this pro?le.
�� This has played into the hands of the pageant exceptionally well and, as a judge, I thank Dr Montgomery, even if I do so somewhat sel?shly.

Miss Universe New Zealand judge hits back at criticisms of contestant

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:52 GMT

Pageant judge and Lucire publisher Jack Yan has defended Miss Universe New Zealand second runner-up Rhonda Grant after criticisms about a Massey University story from the Association of University Staff.
��?It?s the usual story of pulling down someone because of her looks or her success,? he says. ?I believe she?s been singled out.
��?Journalistically, Miss Grant?s interview was no different in quality to others that have appeared on the Massey site.?
��Miss Grant gave an interview to her Alma Mater, Massey University. The Association?s national president Assoc Prof Maureen Montgomery called the article ?one of the most banal news features emanating from a university this year?, and that it read ?like the formulaic sort of thing that beauty queens are expected to say when interviewed on the catwalk?, according to a New Zealand Press Association article.
��Mr Yan says pageantry is far removed from Dr Montgomery?s suggestion.
��?I laugh when people assume that pageant contestants answer easy questions, showing that they are so very ignorant of the interview process or even basic inquiry.
��?Formulaic answers are rejected,? he claims, ?and they are certainly not expected.?
��Mr Yan recalls that questions in the 2008 pageant, held two weeks ago in Auckland, concerned everything from immigration policy and globalization to the debate on genetics versus socialization.
��?They are not bimbos and they are not judged by morons. We don?t prejudge these young women as harshly as the Association has. I expected that someone of Dr Montgomery?s qualiﬁcations would make a simple academic inquiry into the process before attacking it.?
��Mr Yan says that he has guest-lectured at various universities and contributed to academic journals in Great Britain, and that his fellow judges are well qualiﬁed in their areas of expertise.
��?We can?t afford to send someone to Miss Universe who cannot think on her feet or produces insubstantial answers.
��?For anyone to suggest that unintelligent women enter pageants is an affront to the contestants.?
��He admits that he has only read the criticisms as reported in the NZPA piece as run in The New Zealand Herald and that he does not have the full text.
��?Based on the Herald article, the message that the Association is sending is that young men and women who have good looks should not be f�ted for their accomplishments, which they worked hard for.?
��He says he does not deny evidence that suggests looks can contribute to one?s career but points out that on the ﬂip side, people like Miss Grant have to contend with being stereotyped as vacuous.
��?Miss Grant is an able, bilingual young woman with a science degree, running a nutrition business with a growing number of contracts,? he says.
��Mr Yan believes that Massey University should be proud to have such talent and entrepreneurship among its alumni.
��He acknowledges that beauty pageant entrants run the risk of objectification but he did not think this was an example.
��A photo of Miss Grant in a bikini was removed by Massey University in favour of a more conservative shot.
��?I can understand complaints about the earlier photograph, but after it was changed, it still seems that the Association can?t let the matter go,? says Mr Yan.
��?While I cannot speak for Massey University, I know earlier versions of web pages can go live, and I imagine what we see now is the ﬁnal one.
��?To me, this was a non-issue sparked by a single image, and the Association is now grasping at whatever is left of the article to cement its self-importance and to belittle Miss Grant?s academic endeavours. That, to me, devalues the degree of any New Zealand university graduate.?