The Melting Blog Archives

Melting Blog Archives:

000

The Melting Blog

Musings on the Intersection of Marketing, Culture, and Research

Friday, February 13, 2004

Stirring It Up

As I first mentioned last November 23 ("Media Juxtaposition"), KTSF & the International Channel are launching 'Stir' -- a hybrid news magazine and MTV-type reality program this early '04 --- targeting the under-the-radar/oft-ignored-and-underserved English-speaking Asian American youth market. Here's more information from today's Seattle Times:

The show's first episode, titled "Declarasian of Independence," introduces Asian Americans who have forayed into the typically less-traveled world of basement bands, indie arts and guerrilla filmmaking.

Wes Kim, a Seattle filmmaker who's heard the buzz about "Stir," agrees that there's no shortage of Asian-American-related talking points. The challenge will be scoping out the large group called Asian American.

"Because it's such a diverse collection of people you're talking about," he said, "it's going to be tricky trying to find something that will appeal to a large number of them."

The half-hour show is set to air sometime during this First Quarter, although there's no exact launch air date that I've seen as of yet.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 5:56 pm

Thursday, February 12, 2004

The Court of Public Opinion

From the latest Harris Interactive Polls, based on the results of a nationwide survey of 3,378 adults surveyed online between January 19 and 28, 2004:

TABLE 1: "The singer Michael Jackson has been charged with child molestation. Do you think he is probably guilty or not?"

Base: All Adults Total White Black Hispanic

Probably Guilty 55% 59% 18% 57%

Probably Not Guilty
18% 15% 52% 17%

Not sure 27% 26% 30% 26%

TABLE 2: "The basketball player Kobe Bryant has been charged with rape. Do you think he is probably guilty or not?"

Base: All Adults Total White Black Hispanic

Probably Guilty 31% 33% 19% 32%

Probably Not Guilty
29% 25% 58% 35%

Not sure 40% 43% 23% 33%

TABLE 3: "Martha Stewart has been charged with obstruction of justice and fraud related to insider trading. Do you think she is probably guilty or not?"

Base: All Adults Total White Black Hispanic

Probably Guilty 60% 61% 51% 67%

Probably Not Guilty
15% 15% 18% 10%

Not sure 25% 24% 31% 23%

Draw your own conclusions.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:02 am

Things That Make You Go, Ugh...

From a Reuters piece I caught earlier today:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Enjoy "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy?" "Black Eye for the Straight-laced Guy" might be next.

Showtime Networks has ordered a pilot for "Make Me Cool," a primetime reality series in which a squad of hip African Americans helps terminally uncool individuals -- not just Caucasians -- overcome their obstacles.

"A lot of the coolest stuff emanates from the black culture," said Robert Greenblatt, president of entertainment at Showtime. "That culture seems to have the hold on stuff that is going to be cool tomorrow -- they know it today."

He also emphasized that the series will be far edgier than Bravo's "Queer Eye."

"I think the dialogue between different cultures and races will be more explicit and frank," he said. "This will be more sociologically interesting than what fork to use and how to make a mushroom roulade."

I have an idea for a show -- how about "Get-A-Clue Eye for the Fresh-Out-of-Ideas-Television-Executive Guy?" (You'll never be in show business - ed. Who cares? They can bite me!)

Props to Gawker.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:07 am

TV's Race Riots on VH1

Now here's some TV programming I might actually watch. From the newswires (via Hispanic Business):

NEW YORK, Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Minorities on television may have come a long way since the days of Buckwheat and Amos 'n' Andy, but when it comes to the small screen, stereotypes never seem to go out of style. For example, have you ever noticed ...

* How African American reality show contestants always have an attitude, are always running into some kind of drama, and often are first to be voted off the show?

* How Latino actors only seem to get a starring role on a sitcom every 20 years?

* How Asian guys are always martial arts experts capable of kicking major butt, yet never seem to score a hot chick? (And Hot Asian chicks always seem to end up with the white guys.)

* How every white crime-fighter seems to have a cool ethnic sidekick -- who's always forced to do the dirty work?

VH1 noticed. So, we decided to ask comedians, rappers, actors and writers for their opinion on ethnic stereotypes on television. The result? "TV's Illest Minority Moments, Presented by ego trip," a VH1 special that takes a look at some of the most compelling, controversial and unintentionally hilarious race-related moments in television history.

For those not in the know: ego trip is the maverick publishing collective who are the creative forces behind "Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists" and "ego trip's Big Book of Racism" The latter treatise was denounced on air as a "big mistake" by the priggish, indomitable Bill O'Reilly of Fox News fame. So of course the incident won ego trip instant acclaim and propelled them straight into the media spotlight -- which eventually led to this VH1 gig. So mark your calendars, kids: Sunday, Feb. 22.

Chairman Mao, ego trip's founder, pens their story in last month's Fortune magazine which you should read immediately.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:22 am

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

The 'Bling, Bling' Index

Forget athletes and movie stars, does anyone still doubt that hip hop rules brand marketing in the U.S. today? Ever since Run DMC eulogized their Adidas back in the early eighties, hip hop culture has had a special affinity for brand name-dropping -- spitting verses for everything from footwear ("chillin' in my hoodie and my Reebok's") to liquor ("pass the Courvoisier"), cars ("Cadillac grills, Cadillac mills, Cadillac fills"), a variety of luxury goods ("my bathroom is Chanel, my bedroom Louis Vuitton"), and even auto rims ("7 series BM, 6 series Benz, 24 inches, Giovanni rimz"). Marketers realize these endorsements resonate among a younger set and cut across various demographics -- ethnic or otherwise.

So the trend continues. In just the past several weeks, we've had the following announcements:

Beyonce Knowles -- America's new sweetheart and Jay-Z's main squeeze -- launches a fragrance line with Tommy Hilfiger (move over, J-Lo).
Reebok, in addition to the S. Carter Jay-Z edition of sneakers (the fastest selling shoe line in their history), introduces 50-cent's "G-unit" collection.
Hip hop impresario Russell Simmons, arguably the godfather of hip hop merchandising and entrepreneurship just sold Phat Farm for a cool $140 million.
His wife, Kimora Lee Simmons, launches Simmons Jewelry Company. Baby Phat, her own fashion line, just sold for $30 million.
Rappers now hawking energy drinks too: Ice-T unveils Royal Ice, while Nelly gets ready to expand, heh, Pimp Juice (which generated a million in sales in just 3 months).
Heck, even NBA forward Corliss Williamson of the Detroit Pistons -- who doesn't even rap or sing -- understands this game. Rather than hustle sportswear, he's opening a retail store this winter that specializes in "authentic streetwear -- the favored style of many of the hottest rap, R&B and hip-hop stars."

Now there's even an index that tracks such things. According to this, American Brandstand's "bling bling" charts (scroll down) traces the most name-dropped brands among Billboard's top 20 songs since last year. In their top ten:

American Brandstand's Top 10

Rank
Brand
# of Mentions

1.
Mercedes
112

2.
Cadillac
67

3.
Hennessy
49

4.
Lexus
48

4.
Gucci
48

6.
Burberry
42

7.
Cristal
41

8.
Prada
39

9.
Chevrolet
37

10.
Dolce & Gabbana
36

As a researcher, I'd love to see metrics that tracks how this hip hop brand-dropping moves the sales needle for said companies. Now wouldn't that be something?

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:09 pm

Monday, February 9, 2004

California's Supermarket Strike Boosts Ethnic Grocery Stores

Even before the grocery labor dispute, I rarely visited any chain supermarkets for my grocery shopping. Where I live, it's easier to go to any of the plethora of independent ethnic stores in the neighborhood to fulfill my taste palate and food shopping needs. Plus, there's a Trader Joe's en route to and from work, which always has great specialty items in abundance -- and it's a sheer bargain compared to other places (not to mention a pleasurable shopping experience).

It's been obvious to everyone since the strike began that the dramatic increase in foot traffic at my favorite ethnic grocery stores is due to the considerable spillover effects of shoppers coming from supermarkets. How dramatic has the upswing in shopping volume been at these independents and specialty stores? I don't have exact figures, but I know anecdotally it took me 15 godawful minutes just to go through the checkout line this weekend (!). It's been like this for four months now going into month five.

When the strike first started, I told myself the lengthier lines and human mass would eventually subside. But this has not been the case. Consumers have gravitated to Southern California's myriad of ethnic markets and independent grocery stores en masse, and, in turn, these stores are making a concerted effort to retain them. From today's L.A. Times' lede:

For most supermarket operators, Lean Cuisine frozen dinners, Silk soy milk and Roman meal bread don't exactly constitute cutting-edge fare. But these products are making their first appearances at King Ranch Market in Monrovia.

The reason: Southern California's prolonged grocery strike has led to an influx of white shoppers, boosting sales by 25% at this historically Latino market. The wave of new customers has prompted King Ranch Market management to stock almost 100 new items and undertake a major remodeling.

Already, soft rock has replaced the Spanish pop music that used to play in the store. Even employee uniforms have changed, from red golf shirts to more formal wear that includes bow ties for checkers.

"We want to keep these new customers," said William Miguel, vice president of E&T Foods, which owns this and two other King Ranch stores in Victorville and Azusa, as well as four markets in Las Vegas.
---

Many shoppers have flocked to larger, more-familiar names such as Costco Wholesale Corp. and Trader Joe's Co. They've also switched to larger regional chains such as Gelsons and Stater Bros. Holdings Inc., which are unionized but not involved in the clash between the United Food and Commercial Workers union and the giant supermarket companies.

Yet many other consumers have turned to Southern California's thriving network of smaller ethnic markets — and some are liking what they see.

This is like a form of reverse-ethnic merchandising, isn't it? Which begets another question: once the strike is resolved, will shoppers stick to these newfound stores, or will they return to the supermarkets? Hard to measure, and despite what consumers say, supermarkets will always have prime location/convenience advantages -- so it's something we'll have to see once this strike resolves itself. Nevertheless, even before the strike, supermarkets have occupied a tenuous middle-ground where their market share is being chipped away by separate ends of the spectrum: specialty, niche-oriented grocery stores on one side and big-box, price-driven discount retailers on the other.

For us, the ramifications this has for ethnic grocery shoppers themselves is a more salient question -- and should be for supermarkets too. For instance, we already know that Latino shoppers go to supermarkets most often to do their primary grocery shopping (based on this 2002 FMI study); however, we also know they visit more store channels (and spend considerably more per capita) to fulfill their food shopping needs than any other group. If the secondary and tertiary store channels they already visit are viable primary destinations, is a permanent switch in order?

Stay tuned, we may have some data for you in April.

(Hat tip to Costanza for the article)

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 5:23 pm

Friday, February 6, 2004

Even Hip Hop Must Grow Up ...

... according to the New York Times. Key grafs:

Most market analysts point out that it has been some time since the hip-hop market was predominantly African-American. "The hip-hop generation is demographically broad-based," said Marshal Cohen, the senior analyst at the NPD Group, a market research company. "What's happening is that the designer market is not driving the business anymore. Consumers and celebrities are.

"You have this age group from 25 to 34 that grew up with the music and is now migrating away from the hip-hop lifestyle and getting more conventional. At the same time, they're bringing the lessons of casual hip-hop dressing forward so they wear the suit in a way that says they're willing to be part of the establishment but not necessarily to conform."

Darn, I was hoping those low-slung baggy jeans would work with that navy blazer. Looks like I'll have to dust off those suits and bring 'em to the cleaners ...

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 6:26 pm

K-Town, Baby

The largest Korean population outside of Korea resides in Los Angeles, and Koreatown is where a large swath of them eat, drink, conduct business, socialize, and worship. Back during the April 1992 Civil Unrest, I still vividly recall the contentious racial strife permeating across the city, of which Koreatown was one of its rawest focal points (Koreans have their own expression for the riots: 'sa-i-gu', which means "4-2-9" -- the date rioting began). Many predicted the ensuing riots, looting, civil chaos, and overheated racial tensions would spell Koreatown's ultimate doom.

But this has hardly been the case. In spite of it all, Koreatown has since thrived and flourished into one of the most vibrant cultural and business districts in all of Los Angeles. Amazingly (and against the odds), it has actually physically expanded into an even larger area than it was 12 years ago. And, according to this new LA Weekly article, it is now home to the city's best night life:

In a way, Koreatown does feel like another country — four square miles of bustling, freewheeling nightlife thick with more than 1,500 neon-lit restaurants, bars, nightclubs, 24-hour cafés, karaoke “norae-bangs,” pool halls and high-speed Internet “PC bangs,” all catering to the largest Korean community in the world outside of Seoul: 160,000 in Los Angeles County, 25,000 of whom live in K-Town proper. It’s an insular place where most storefront signs and menus are in Korean, and there’s a complicated, word-of-mouth system for getting into nightclubs. But with the right passport, crossing into Koreatown after dark feels like falling down the rabbit hole and awakening in an enchanted bar with cascading waterfalls and bowls of butterscotch and mint candies by the door, a land where smoking is almost always allowed, and in some places the unfiltered rice wine, soju, flows until 5 a.m. When the Sunset Strip quiets down and West Hollywood and Silver Lake partiers slog back to their bungalows and Chi Dynasty leftovers, Koreatown is just heating up. In a sprawling city with only a handful of places open past 2 a.m., K-Town may be the hippest little pocket in Los Angeles, a teaspoon of Manhattan west of downtown, perhaps the last territory in the city where the party goes on 24/7.

Peep the entire article -- it's a long, but satisfying read and is also accompanied by a great K-town dining section by the inimitable Jonathan Gold. It's a fantastic initiation for outsiders into the veiled dusk-til-dawn club culture in a dynamic portion of the city that used to be only known for its hidden, underground activities. I'm very familiar with the places explored in the article (although, alas, my club partying days are dwindling with each passing year).

Based on recent visits there, Koreatown is set to hit big time. Increasingly, it is being discovered by more and more folks who are neither Korean nor Asian even (the residential base is primarily Latino). A friend of mine who lives in the area calls the locals' favorite new activity "Anglo-spotting" -- due to the recent influx of transplanted arty-types squeezed out of escalating rents from nearby Hollywood, Silverlake, and Los Feliz. Furthermore, Donald Sterling -- best known as the quirky, cheap-skate owner of the perrenial, NBA bottom-dwelling Clippers -- is converting four landmark high-rise towers into high-end luxury condos. Soon, this place will be busting at the seams. Remember you heard it here first.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:26 pm

Thursday, February 5, 2004

The New Global Face of Avon:

That's right, folks: another excuse for me to post a picture of Salma Hayek. Fresh from signing a new two-year deal with the global cosmetics giant, the Mexican starlet's profile will now be exported from the U.S. around the world as the internationally-transcendent face of beauty. Let the crossover creative work begin!

(Shouldn't you be blogging about something more substantial, like this evening's fantastic finale to Henry Louis Gates' PBS documentary? - ed. Uh, sure, but this requires less thinking and words, just oogling.)

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:22 am

Wednesday, February 4, 2004

New Research on the Dallas Hispanic Market

Via Hispanic Business, a recently released survey from Rincon & Associates reveals some striking differences of opinions, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions between U.S. born and Foreign-born Latinos in Dallas/Ft. Worth. For us, the results are unsurprising (and shouldn't be either to readers of this blog), but they do continue to reinforce the need to have a nuanced approach in any Hispanic marketing or communications strategy (something we bang the drum on quite loudly around here). Some select bulletpoints from their topline:

U.S.-born Latinos did not find Spanish-language commercials more convincing than English-language ones despite their ability to understand Spanish. Interestingly, although the ability to understand Spanish was high for both U.S.-born (83.8 percent) and foreign-born Latinos (99.6 percent), U.S.-born Latinos believed that Spanish-language commercials were not necessarily more convincing than English-language ones (see attached Table 1). Ironically, over 90 percent of national advertising and marketing expenditures targeted to Latinos are dedicated to Spanish-language media – a practice that should be re-aligned.

Latinos paid more attention to a commercial that included a Latino in it. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means "does not describe me at all" and 10 means "describes me completely," the average rating was 6.9 for all Latinos, 7.6 for the foreign-born and 5.9 for U.S.-born Latinos (see attached Table 1). Latinos are clearly more engaged when they view a commercial that includes a Latino in it, which should be an important consideration for marketers.

When given the choice by a bilingual interviewer, 85.7 percent of U.S.-born Latinos preferred to be interviewed in English, while 91.7 percent of the foreign-born preferred Spanish as the language of the interview. In general, the language that Latinos choose when provided an option points to the language in which they have higher comprehension, which in turn enhances the validity of a communication. In legal and healthcare settings, comprehension testing should be given top priority.

Overall, over four in ten Latinos (42.3 percent) were currently registered to vote. However, U.S.-born Latinos were considerably more likely (84.5 percent) to be registered voters than foreign-born Latinos (17.2 percent). The higher consumption of English-language media by U.S.-born Latinos points to the importance of including an English-language strategy to reach the most likely Latino voters.

This certainly echoes many of the central themes of The Melting Blog, doesn't it? There's a lot of good stuff from the research findings, so read the whole darn thing here. I will have more thoughts later (maybe).

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 11:22 am

Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Another PBS Documentary:

Keep this one on your radar screen. We like the title of this one for very obvious reasons.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 2:46 pm

NFL Seeks More Hispanic Fans

In the hoopla over Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction," I missed this story in the Times over the NFL's Hispanic marketing efforts. Key grafs:

N.F.L. executives say they plan to boost the league's $5.2 billion in annual revenue partly by increasing sales to Hispanic consumers. The N.F.L. wants to sell more tickets and create more television viewers among Hispanic consumers, who, a University of Georgia study says, spent $653 billion in the United States last year.

"You have to respond to the fan interest and get them connected to the game," N.F.L. Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said at a news conference last Friday. "The bigger your audience is, hopefully you can have some people buying tickets and make some money. That's what we're in business for."

A 2003 ESPN/TNS Sports poll said 21.3 percent of Hispanic-Americans named football as their favorite professional sport, the highest total and double the percentage of the year-earlier survey

Shout out to Latino Pundit for catching the story.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 10:47 am

Reaching Urban Latinos: The Ensuing Debate

A good piece in yesterday's Star-Telegram about reaching "the ultrahip urban Latino market." Whatever you wanna call it, what we're really talking about here is the non-immigrant side of the strata: U.S. born Latinos -- a demographic that is disproportionately young, acculturated, and isn't necessarily captured by Spanish-language media. The article ledes with the entrepreneurs behind Urban Latino:

Urban Latino -- with its glimpses of DJs and designers, low-riders and Los Lobos, filmmakers and food -- is at the heart of a cultural whirlwind storming through the world of Hispanic media these days. Some ogle a vast, untapped market while others contend that running after a group as amorphous and heterogeneous as bilingual or English-speaking Latinos is doomed to failure.
--
For Jorge E. Cano-Moreno, the co-founder of Urban Latino magazine, tapping into the second- and third-generation bilingual/English culture was an outgrowth of the New York party/art/music scene he and his friends hung out in during the '90s. That turned into the magazine and a graphic-design firm that did albums covers (Los Van Van, Kumbia Kings) and ads for FUBU, the hip-hop clothing company.

While hip-hop informed much of the scene's attitude, Cano-Moreno didn't want to put out just another music 'zine. He wanted one with a clearly Latin accent.

"You had The Source out, Vibe out. The urban market is big enough, it's become so mainstream, there's enough room for us to focus on one part," says Cano-Moreno. "And Latinos can be black or white. If we were going to succeed, we have to be focused and do what we know best. We're a bridge between the Spanish-dominant world of [Colombian vallenato singer] Carlos Vives and the urban world of [rapper] Fat Joe."

The great thing about this piece (unlike others on the subject) is it really explores both sides of the debate; it captures the essence of the struggle between the old establishment on one side (i.e., Univision) and the new vanguard on the other (Urban Latino, Mun2). Worth the entire read.

As long as the Spanish-speaking population continues to grow in absolute numbers, I doubt groups like Univision will be too concerned about these young lions. But in the next few years, I predict we'll see more and more of these brash young upstarts (agencies, electronic media, content providers, and pop culture purveyors) effectively challenging the hegemony of Spanish-language media and chipping away at the establishment's share of the youth market (esp. the longer they ignore youth trends). In other words: get used to these types of stories, there's more coming down the pipeline.

Sidebar: This part of the story caused me to bristle, then chortle in hilarity:

"Traditionally, the Hispanic marketing world was defined as recent immigrants and low income," says David Perez, CEO of Latin Force, the marketing firm whose clients include Kraft Foods, Nike, Nickelodeon and Wells Fargo. "I'm second-generation Bolivian, speak English first, have a college education and I'm not making minimum wage."

Perez's research shows there are many out there like him.

"This is new-generation Latino, predominantly U.S. born, English-dominant to bilingual. . . . And we define ourselves by being bicultural, as American as we are Latino, as Latino as American. We're not reached by Spanish media alone. . . . They're consuming English-language media, 5-to-1, meaning for every 15 hours spent watching English TV, there's three hours a week for Spanish TV."

The reason for my petulant response? Look for yourself: here's some research from Mr. Perez's group on this segment that can be found here. You can also find the press releases for those studies here and here. Notice any familiar names?

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:43 am

California: Branding the Golden State Resonates For Latinos

A new study on the effectiveness of the "California Grown" program -- a campaign of Buy California Marketing Agreement (BCMA) to promote the awareness and demand for California grown products -- finds the appeal resonates greatest among women and Hispanics. From the press release:

This new study found that of those who remembered the television commercials, women and Hispanics are more favorably disposed toward California grown agricultural products, as they reported they are more likely to buy locally grown products more often vis-à-vis their respective counterparts. The study also revealed that the economic impact of buying locally grown products has greatly resonated among women and Hispanics as well. As study results show, this is mainly attributed to the notion that their individual support to the state economy will make a positive difference in the betterment of job outlook, increased state revenue and overall increased economic activity for California.

Mas:

-- Higher than all other ethnic groups, 78% of Hispanics report they prefer to buy agricultural products from California;

-- 56% of Hispanic consumers said they are now looking for agricultural products from California more often than six months ago – after seeing, reading or hearing news stories promoting their importance to the state’s economy;

-- More than one-third of the Hispanics who (ever) watch English speaking television recalled both the “Real Californian” and “Feed the Dream” commercials (35% & 34%);

-- In total, nearly one-half (47%) of all of the Hispanics interviewed remembered any of the commercials when aided with a description.

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:12 am

Behind America's Colorlines on PBS

Time to cue up the VCR's folks (or TiVo's for you tech geeks). Check your local PBS affiliates for tonight's program "America Behind the Color Lines." This four-part documentary is the product of over forty interviews among prominent and everyday Black Americans. It's written and produced by celebrity academic superstar of Harvard University's Black Studies program, the estimable Henry Louis Gates.

With just a cameraman in tow, Gates' documentary is almost ethnographic in approach -- capturing insights from a broad cross-section of contemporary African American society through in-depth interviews that explore the deepening class divides within the Black community. From conversations with luminaries like Colin Powell, Russell Simmons, and Maya Angelou, to voices from Chicago's housing projects, this program sounds like the proper way to kick-off Black History Month straight.

Based on the interview I heard on Talk of the Nation last night, Gates is undoubtedly one of the most effective, and forward-looking intellectual entrepreneurs in the American university right now.

Click here to listen to his clip (real audio required).

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 12:02 am

Monday, February 2, 2004

"Unrehearsed, unplanned, and completely unintentional" -- Right!

What America is talking about this morning:

"Janet Jackson returns. A nation shrugs in indifference. Until Justin Timberlake (in one of the dumbest moves ever on national t.v.), decides to out her breast. Smart one JT - way to sell that bad boy image. Jermaine Dupri might come hunting for your pale ass now." - from Pop Life
"This 'apology' from Timberlake and MTV is the most intelligence-insulting statement i've heard since Clinton said 'I did not have sex with that woman, Monica Lewinsky' or 'It depends upon what your definition of "is" is.'"
"This is why terrorists hate us." - from Wonkette
"Are we supposed to believe that Janet Jackson wears silver pasties under her clothes 24/7?"
"Sheesh, being quietly spit out the bottom of the porn industry would have been more dignified."
"But look on the bright side, imagine if it was Michael Jackson flashing his tit."
"Whenever your brother is on trial for molesting children, it's a great idea to keep the family in the news by secretly planning to have Justin Timberlake rip off your clothes for the Superbowl's 80+ million viewers." - from Gawker
"No, really, this is why they hate us." - from Wonkette

UPDATE: Looks like the FCC will be investigating this. Chairman Michael Powell, aka Colin Powell's boy, says: "Like millions of Americans, my family and I gathered around the television for a celebration. Instead, that celebration was tainted by a classless, crass and deplorable stunt. Our nation's children, parents and citizens deserve better."

More comments via Gawker:

"Somehow, I don’t think MTV will be planning the half-time show next year. Personally, I thought the Jackson stunt was the least offensive - I mean, Sean Combs? What, Gary Coleman was unavailable?" -- Joseph Finn
"I mean, did she just happen to be wearing that big metal thing on her nipple? Don't get me wrong: I put mine on every morning before I go to work, but I thought that was just me." -- Amy's Robot

Posted by Thomas Tseng, 5:52 am