Minneapolis Mao’s Hitler substitute

In its phony freedom-of-speech campaign to raise money for the Minneapolis Public Library, a “buzz”-minded ad agency came up with a slick graphic noting that Mao was a librarian. See the PDF for yourself. The little caption in the ad, part of a series, did not compensate for the visual impact of seeing Mao and the MPL treated the same. The man committed mass murder.

To trivialize Mao in an institutional ad for a public library was indefensible, especially in a state struck by cuts in library spending–a place where librarydom can use all the goodwill it can get. I wondered if, in doing a Coor’s commercial, the Andrews/Birt agency would have portrayed Hitler as a happy beer drinker (name spelled right, link accurate, like the buzz, guys?). I doubt it. Hitler killed white-skinned people rather than the yellow variety, and in fact some distant relatives of my family were almost surely among his victims.

But just what would the MPL ad itself have looked like with Hitler in Mao’s place? And how would Jews–I’m one–have reacted? Well, via the image that I’m reproducing above, you can now see for yourself. The parody came out originally in the blog of a Minneapolis Tribune columnist named James Lileks. Time to run it in the Strib? Don’t hold your breath it’ll happen, but you never know.

Meanwhile word of the A/B ad is circulating around the global village–with a blog in Taiwan already taking notice. Just the way to help Minneapolis boosters next time they seek business from Asia, eh?

Related: See for yourself how the Minneapolis Star-Tribune watered down a letter to the editor, written by reader Gil Wolton and originally published “in the raw” in the TeleBlog.

Pro-ad spin from apparent library staffer working for MPL board: Earlier I noted how Strib media reporter Deborah Rybak tried some pro-ad spin by calling up bloggers and asking if their coverage of the ad controversy was “responsible.” How touching: she even assured me she wasn’t into “gotcha journalism.” Well, now I’m wondering if the MPL is doing some direct spinning of its own.

A comment to the TeleBlog carried the name of one Ryan Curry who did not mention an MPL affiliation–including the possible fact that he even takes notes for the library board. He’s no mere flunky. He appears to work or have worked directly with the policymakers themselves. I asked Ryan for comments. Nothing received. More spin–just like the Strib’s?

My own take is that Ryan’s entitled to speak out and should not suffer the least punishment. I’d just like for him to disclose his affiliation if he is indeed the same guy. If MPL has a blanket ban on staffers using The Sacred Name in public–the same name now associated with Mao!–then I suggest the restrictions be lifted. Staffers on either side of the controversy can simply mention the affiliation and say, “For identification purposes only–not speaking for the library.” Talk about free speech issues! Needless to say, such a ban, if in place, would work to the library’s advantage and mock the “free speech” blather of the ad campaign.

As usual, people on both side of the fuss should feel free to speak out in the TeleBlog, even if they can’t get their comments accurately reflected in the Strib.

Temporary Minnesota tags being created: With e-books to cover, I can’t spend nearly as much time on the Mao matter as I’d like. To help local people learn of the TeleBlog’s existing coverage of the Mao debacle, however, I’m creating temporary Minnesota and tags for Technorati. They will vanish later on. In the future, however, the TeleBlog may gain the ability to do permanent tags on the fly–just the ticket for situations like this.