Revolution! 1987 Nike Letter to Apple Records - by David

Wow, it's been over 25 years since Apple Records sued Nike for using The Beatles song "Revolution" in its advertising. At that time I was about 3 years into my 14 1/2 year long career at Nike. Nike had published print ads condemning Apple Corps for the suit, as Nike had bought the rights to use the song from its owner (Michael Jackson!) and publisher (EMI). 

In August 1987 Phil Knight was actually in the USSR working on negotiating a huge tennis endorsement. I love word play (thanks dad!!). The light bulb went on. Hhmmm, Phil in the USSR, Nike ad response, Apple Records, Beatles, etc. So here's what came out of that, below. I hope no one can sue me over this. It's been 25 years.

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August 1987

Now that Phil is Back In The USSR, here is an open letter to Apple Records:

Dear Prudence:

John would Twist And Shout in his grave if he knew what you were doing. We at NIKE don't want a Revolution, we just want to make a Rubber Soul.

Your lawsuit has created alot of Helter Skelter here at NIKE, where the average employee works Eight Days A Week, moonlights as a Paperback Writer and works summers in the Strawberry Fields. NIKE's Legal Department has now been diverted away from the protection of our new Norwegian Wood mid-sole.

The fact is, we negotiated and paid for all legal rights to use "Revolution" in our ads. And we did so with the active support and encouragement of Rocky Raccoon, Eleanor Rigby, Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam. In fact, we even have the signed release of every member of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. We also believe we've shown a good deal of sensitivity and respect in our use of "Revolution." It is not now, and never was, NIKE's intention to somehow connect NIKE and the Beatles in the mind of the consumer.

But the last thing we want to do is upset the Beatles over the use of their music. That's why we've asked them to discuss the issue with us face-to-face. No lawyers, critics or self-appointed spokespersons. Let's Come Together over a friendly plate of Savoy Truffle. Let It Be now, Here There And Everywhere, Any Time At All, Across The Universe, in a Yellow Submarine, even at Abbey Road. In fact, Why Don't We Do It In The Road!

End your frivolous suit against NIKE. Don't let another Hard Day's Night go by. Let us Help! Get Back from the Long And Winding Road of litigation.

Love Me Do,

The Walrus

Whole Brain Teaching: 3rd Grade: Mode and Range

Goodbye Forever, KPOJ!!!

http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-29441-kpoj_cancelling_political_talk_radio_on_monday.html

Good-bye KPOJ! Clear Channel Radio, thanks for the past 6 years of progressive talk radio in Portland, OR. I can't imagine that Fox Sports Radio will improve your listenership. Are you sure it's not political?

Hello AM760, Colorado's Progressive Talk Radio!!! You've been linked.
http://www.am760.net/main.html

Window Sticker

Great Moments in Right-Wing Ignorance - by David

My political policy is, "it's the policies not the person". Making fun of right-wing wackos is... fun... and easy... but mostly counterproductive. So, make no mistake, I am not making fun of Mitt Romney, only the untenable position of the right-wing on health care.


Romney in Israel on July 30, 2012: “When our health care costs are completely out of control. Do you realize what health care spending is as a percentage of the GDP in Israel? 8 percent. You spend 8 percent of GDP on health care. And you’re a pretty healthy nation. We spend 18 percent of our GDP on health care. 10 percentage points more. That gap, that 10 percent cost, let me compare that with the size of our military. Our military budget is 4 percent. Our gap with Israel is 10 points of GDP. We have to find ways, not just to provide health care to more people, but to find ways to finally manage our health care costs.”


Is Romney calling for the end of ObamaCare (yes, well established) to be replaced with the Israeli health care system? Oops. Health care in Israel truly is a "government take-over" system. (ObamaCare is nowhere close to that). Health care in Israel is universal and its funding is compulsory, paid for via a progressive tax system. As Romney correctly noted, Israel spends about 8% of its GDP, while we spend almost 18% of our GDP. Israel has better health outcomes, e.g., life expectancy and infant mortality. 


The table below is from Stephen L. Taylor at:

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/romney-praises-israeli-health-care-system/

You can find more information at:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Israel

Remember:  Facts are more fun than character assassination, and just as easy. 

No Right Wings, Left Wings Only Please - by David

The nearest Chick Fil A's to avoid today (Governor Huckabee's ridiculous Tea Bagger August 1 BuyCott) is in Idaho and California. No problem. It turns out that the American Family Association helped organize a previous BuyCott in April 2011. I'm about half through my lose 15 pounds diet, so no wings for me today under any circumstances. For the future, I'll find someone - KFC, Buffalo Wild Wings, et al - who can fill my special order.

Keeping Your GPS Happy and Yourself Safely on the Road - by David

We’ve enjoyed almost 8 months now with our Garmin Nuvi 2555. She (“Navi” as we call her) has taken us to the Wenatchee-Leavenworth, WA, area for Christmas 2011. At this moment we are 2/3 of the way through our summer circle trip down through Southern Oregon and Northern California, then up through Idaho and back home.

Life with Navi has been mostly wrinkle free, but we’ve had our moments with her. Through it all we’ve figured out several very important lessons, plus stumbled upon the next great idea in advertising.

Lesson 1 is that your GPS is much smarter than she lets on, and usually much smarter than the driver. I swear that Navi just likes to piss me off. The “voice command” feature is particularly exasperating. She has trouble understanding my pronunciation and then she pronounces many town and street names oddly. For example, she completely mangles “Wenatchee”. On our current trip, as I asked Navi to lead us to the zoo in Sacramento, she could not understand “Sacramento”! “Did you say ‘Lemon Grove’? Navi asked politely. I tried every way I could think of to say Sacramento – in perfect Spanish, Gringo, east coast, west coast, all long vowels, fast, slow, emphasis on the last syllable, etc. No luck. As I got more frustrated, I started yelling at Navi, calling her stupid, and worse. She clearly dug in her heals (if she has heals) and had a little fun with me. “Did you say ‘Salmon Quiche’”, Navi asked in her polite voice, this time dripping with sarcasm. I finally had to type it in, and it’s not the easiest or shortest name to spell. Navi was fine with easy names, like Davis, CA.

Lesson 2 is that you must speak nicely to your GPS. See Lesson 1 above. During our stay in Davis (daughter and son-in-law, with granddaughter, were attending a conference on the UC-Davis campus), we all took a day trip to San Francisco. We know our way around SF, and it soon became clear that Navi was taking us on very out-of-the-way routes to get where we wanted to go. With Jon on his iPhone in Google Maps, this was easily confirmed. Google Maps would have taken us on the most direct route every time. I’m not sure if Navi was still mad at me, or if she was gearing up for this next great advertising gimmick. (See below). But I’m not taking any chances. You know all those stories about drivers that drive off a cliff or drive into a lake? I felt like Navi was speaking to me subliminally and I started imagining us driving off Pier 39 and into the bay! I am convinced that these tragic incidents COULD involve people who were not kind to their GPS. I’m being very patient with Navi from now on.

 

Now for the next great idea in advertising. There was that whole weird routes thing in SF. But most strange of all was a little unplanned detour on the way to SF. I swear on a stack of satellites that Navi was directing me to an exit off I-80 in order to continue across the bay. Then came Navi’s most irritating feature: whenever you stray off the course set by Navi, she shouts “recalculating” in the most annoying and obnoxious voice. If you really deviate a lot in a short amount of time, then she yells a whole string of “recalculating”’s, one about every 4 seconds. (I've pushed her to her limit a couple times - the AC shut off and the interior lights started flickering). Anyway, I couldn’t figure out why she was yelling the R-word – I was just following her course! And the course set by Navi had by now disappeared from the screen. Very suspicious. I stopped the car and there it was: a new Six Flags near Berkeley, nearly ready to open. (We were right at the gate, with no one else around; it was very much a Chevy Chase-Walley World-Vacation movie moment). Then there was that little subliminal voice again, “this detour brought to you by Six Flags.” We’re convinced that Navi has been partially programmed for this new form of advertising and the next time we run an on-line update we expect the complete program to be implemented. (Should I run this update? If I don't, we COULD someday drive off a cliff or into a lake... you know, that whole "bridge to nowhere" thing. But then if we run the update, Navi gets to choose the detour, as many as she wants, which COULD be a cliff, a lake, or even a McDonald's. What to do, what to do...). 

So lessons learned: be nice to your GPS (it knows what you're thinking) and just get used to the next wave of advertising with a lot of detours. "This detour brought to you by the San Francisco Tourism Commission", "This detour brought to you by Denny's", "This detour brought to you by ___________." Fill in the blank. 

Would anyone like to buy a slightly used GPS with a name and an attitude?