After an extraordinary weekend at the Seacoast Shores in Falmouth (thanks for the hospitality and the burgers, folks) I was flipping through the channels Sunday night and came across Scarface. Well, it was my favorite scene, Tony Montana splayed out in his mammoth bathtub screeching to no one, "Who do I trust? ME!" so I stopped. It was BET - not a station I ordinarily tune into. Then I spot this ad. Initially I thought it was a Rock the Vote type deal, like MTV used to run. Then I realize the ad is not about urging people to vote, the BET-sponsored ad urges people to vote for Barack Obama. This one was especially disturbing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E1lSfcOvVk
Notice the Police Brutality sign had the words, "Remember Sean Bell" scrawled at the bottom. What? Sean Bell and a crew of his friends were shot a total of 50 times by a team of undercover and uniformed NYPD officers on his wedding day outside a Queens strip club in November 2006. Two other men were wounded with the gun blasts. Three of the five detectives involved in the shooting were indicted for charges including manslaughter. All three were Detective Michael Oliver, who fired 31 bullets the night of the shooting and faced manslaughter charges, is African-American; a second cop charged was Hispanic. A third, charged with reckless endangerment, was white.
Bell, by the way, had a long rap sheet for gun possession and drug charges. The detectives believed he had a gun.
How does bringing up the Bell tragedy inspire people to vote? Now, the ad does not say, "Barack Obama," but the inference is there. Then I watched another "VOTE" ad on BET that showcased Wyclef Jean from the Fugees strumming "Yes we can." Again. No mention of Barack Obama - but do we need one with those ads? I don't think so.
There is a big difference when a network wants to tell its viewers to register to vote, and show up to vote. But is it problematic when that network also tells the viewer who to vote for?
