To Kneel or Not to Kneel, One Thing is for Sure – Both Provoked Emotion

This past weekend, many of the NFL players went to "war" with President Trump over his remarks made Friday at a rally in Alabama. In addition, they carried it out to the field by kneeling, or not kneeling during the National Anthem.

This action on the part of the players is technically in violation of a league rule regarding the conduct of players during the Anthem. But, considering how the league responded last year with the Kaepernick protest, the players knew that no penalty would be forthcoming.

We like to think that as our creative social media agency trademark promises, “We Evoke Emotion.”

However, it occurred to me this past weekend and to many Americans, be they be football fans or not, that the growing controversy around kneeling, or not for the National Anthem is unwittingly sparking a passionate debate about each of our own interpretation of patriotism.

But as compared to our “evoke” trademark, kneeling or not kneeling is “provoking” emotion.  That's an important difference. And more than anything else, it’s a sign of the times.

It’s a bit ironic that the new Ken Burns documentary about the Vietnam War hopes to give each of us “an opportunity to have a better position to understand what’s going on [today].  He doesn’t stop there.  According to the Washington Post, “The filmmaker wants his new documentary, “The Vietnam War,” to bring the country together.”

I’m not sure how that’s remotely possible, in this or any other political climate.

As compared to other forms of government, ours technically has 3 separate but equal branches of government, the executive, the legislative and the judicial.  And since Jefferson, it’s always had at least 2 dominant political parties.  A loyal opposition, if you will that requires compromise.

However, one takeaway from the recent Burns documentary, between then and now is that the domestic fight took place on college campuses.  Today, with all-volunteer armed forces, it’s highly improbable our educational institutions will be the “field of play” again, at least on this latest provocative issue.

So, for better or worse, the war is being waged in our nation’s sports arenas.  One could make a case, going back to the legendary (violent) days of the Roman Coliseum that this type of public space is uniquely made for this.

Certainly, sports have always been an iconic type of activity that political views seeped on to the field.  But what makes this new tussle different, is that it surrounds our national anthem and the first Amendment, right of freedom of speech.

In the last two elections, social media acted as the field of play between our nation’s feelings about each candidate.  We also learned last week that Russia, a 3^rd party outside both our government, our media and our country also had joined the Facebook fight.

According to Lincoln, our government “of the people, by the people, for the people” doesn’t necessarily include sports leagues, which have their own forms of government.

Across the league, there is division among the players what actions, if any, should be taken. Generally, most teams had a mix of standing and kneeling (or sitting) while the National Anthem was played or sung.

Even the owners of respective teams are divided on what actions would or would not be taken against the players for violating league and team rules. 

Madison Avenue Social isn't taking sides in this discussion, but we are highlighting how responses over a social media comment, or a stance, can become emotional and foster a real discussion, over that comment, or over an action taken in protest to said comment.

We are in the first quarter of this patriotist game.  In the end, the fans may or may not speak their support or displeasure for or against the players' position by TV ratings and by "cheeks in the seats".

Until the networks complain about how much money they are losing, or stadium concession revenue drops significantly, the NFL may remain silent on the actions of the players. Too early to tell.  Until then, be assured that this will be an emotional issue for the fans and the players in 2017. 

But make no mistake. Each side is no doubt “provoking,” not “evoking” the other. 

Frank McHale is the Chief Operations Officer of Madison Avenue Social

#WeEvokeEmotion

A Personal Story on Disruption

I have done much reading over the last several months about disruption, and how it transcends many industries. For example, bitcoin has made a huge impact in the financial world, so much so, that Jamie Dimon has gone out on a limb in defending his beloved banking industry to say it is fraud. Or, how about digital wallets like Venmo, Zelle and Square looking to compete with banks by offering debit cards through Visa and MasterCard.

How about the disruption in the transportation industry with Lyft and Uber as these companies are being challenged by Waymo in the development of autonomous, self-driving vehicles? Or, the heavy competition in food delivery services between GrubHub, Seamless, UberEATS, and others.

There is disruption even among the big search engines, Google and Facebook, and ancillary disruption among other sites, especially as it relates to advertising, brand placement and other marketing strategies.

Then, there is the disruption in the most basic “commodity” of all, groceries. For years, we have relied on our local grocer to offer good quality and great service for a fair and reasonable price. Soon enough, wholesale warehouses, like Costco and BJ’s, began offering groceries as part of their inventory. The only caveat was that you had to buy in bulk. So, what happened? Walmart and other big boxes jumped onto the grocery bandwagon and tried to undercut your local grocer. Those who could not compete are now gone and the rest have become bigger.

Silently watching this was another entity named for a large river in South America (not really) who pounced this year on the largest health and organic food chain, Whole Foods. Many were concerned that groceries would become competitive, much like all the other cool stuff you could buy at Amazon.

But wait! Amazon is NOT the disruption force in the grocery business. Instead, two German companies, Lidl and Aldi, have made huge inroads in the grocery industry over the last year by offering quality products across all product staples, including cereals, paper goods, snack foods, fresh vegetables, dairy and meat, at greatly reduced prices.

There are several things I noticed when I went to my local Aldi which were not like other retail outlets: I rented a wagon for a quarter, and when I returned it, my quarter was returned. So no lot boy or girl running around getting carts. When you went inside, it was fairly utilitarian and sterile, with no extraneous signage or décor to distract you from your mission. The foods sold instore were not national brands and were produced to be distributed by Aldi, much like a store brand, for about 25% to 30% of the national brand price, and about 50% of a retail grocery store brand price. And I even saw organic items on the shelves.

There was someone nearby in each section of the store to assist customers with their purchases, or could at least explain why the product was not available. In addition, there was even a small section for non-grocery items, like basic tools and some toys for the kiddies. Of course, everyone knows that impulse-buy items have the highest mark ups, or as retailers like to say, IMU.

Then, when I checked out, the cashier packed my groceries in the bags I provided, cold or frozen packed together, with no frozen items packed with jars or boxes. There was no plastic bag rack or paper bags laying around at the counter. There were boxes strategically located in the store for convenience and a couple of racks where you could buy reusable bags for future purchases. Oh, and no lottery machines or other objects blocking your way out.

When I got home, I actually made something for dinner using the products I just purchased. And it was delicious. It tasted just like anything I would have purchased at Stop and Shop or Shoprite, or even the big box stores. In the end, it was food. And it was more than affordable.

There is a lesson here to be learned by your local grocer, the warehouse clubs and big boxes. And even by Amazon/Whole Foods. Disruption can be good when it benefits the consumer, not the industry. People are not stupid; they are tired of being taken advantage.

We are all looking for good quality, great service at fair and reasonable prices. Looks like Aldi has finally mastered that for the rest of the grocery industry to learn from.

Happy shopping!


Frank McHale is Chief Operations Officer at Madison Avenue Social  #WeEvokeEmotion

“WOULD JOHN LENNON & STEVE JOBS HAVE LIKED HAVING AN “IPHONE 9?”

Written by Tim McHale, Chief Media Officer of Madison Avenue Social. #WeEvokeEmotion

Forgive me friends, but this question came up from a post I did on LinkedIn’s Pulse over the weekend, listed here for quick reference, https://goo.gl/G3bpvL.

However, the larger issue is that … “Tangentially, we also witnessed the introduction last week of the iPhoneX, which skipped numbers 8 and even John Lennon’s favorite # 9.”

It got me and a friend thinking.

Wonder what Jobs would have thought about that, since he was the ultimate Lennon fan, even more so that Jann Wenner, if that’s possible.

Like, when he replicated Lennon’s record company name to be his own, & then “borrowed” the Beatles, “White Album” record cover style (which is a package) to package all of “Apple’s” products and finally, tried to look like him, when he picked the exact same style of glasses (like many of us did at some point) that Lennon wore as well.

For better or worse, unless John Lennon or Steve Jobs somehow intervenes from up above (or wherever they are, if anywhere) and/or unless some of us stoke popular sentiment to arrise from this indignity – so much so – like when the world brought back “Classic Coke,” there will never be an “iPhone 9.”

Tsk, tsk…

What’s the popular sentiment out there on this issue?

As detailed in the selected image, someone is banking on the demand for selling the www.iPhone9.com  domain on Godaddy to the “tune” of almost $12 large and whoever has www.iphoneIX.com  ain’t interested in selling it at all.

If you forget how important #9 was, here’s a short clip from the Beatles White Album Number 9 Backmasking – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEhxaKuh4_M

Am I wasting both your time and mine on this one? Pray tell…

October 9th is coming up soon… Should we Fab Four / iPhone fans plan to co-author an open letter to Tim Cook that day?

All that said, there was this “leak” from this past May that says the iPhone 9 will be out next year, in 2018 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rw-BTZKLI

Fake News? Stupid Bloody Tuesday is all I can say…:–))