13 FEB 09: When in Doubt, Blame the Pig
It's a big weekend for the Columbus NAACP chapter. Its annual banquet is tonight, after holding a party at the Liberty Theater Thursday night to mark the national organization's 100th anniversary. Half the crowd showed up to see whether Bill Madison would smile, or announce a new complaint.
It's not yet clear whether the Columbus NAACP will join in the city's latest racially-tinged feud. The weekly newspaper "The Courier" seems to have declared war on Piggly Wiggly stores. Just because you claim to be "down home" doesn't mean you're everybody's "home-boy."
The way Editor/Publisher Wane Hailes explains it in a recent column, he tried to schedule a meeting with Piggly Wiggly executives last month about advertising in The Courier/Eco Latino. The supermarket chain apparently never replied - then put two ads in the Ledger-Enquirer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Hailes took it personally, as if "The Pig" had become a big bad wolf.
A Wane Hailes column called the Piggly Wiggly ads on MLK Day "disrespectful," and claimed it was an act of retaliation against his paper. Who knows what the owners of Columbus Park Crossing think about Piggly Wiggly giving away Peachtree Mall shopping sprees....
Wane Hailes went on to call the Piggly Wiggly ads a slap against "black media." Someone needs to remind Hailes the Ledger-Enquirer has an African-American Executive Editor now.
Wane Hailes openly admits Piggly Wiggly never has advertised in The Courier. But he adds the stores have never advertised on Davis Broadcasting stations, either -- as if a Fox and a Pig can't live with each other.
Wane Hailes's headline in The Courier summarized what he thinks readers should do about Piggly Wiggly: "If you don't see them here, they don't want us there." Based on this logic, readers also should avoid visiting Waverly Hall and Smiths Station.
A Piggly Wiggly executive told Richard Hyatt's web site this week he's simply trying to maximize the chain's advertising budget. He called The Courier column "extortion" - as if Wane Hailes is threatening to huff and puff and bring his stores down.
After thinking this over, it seems to me Wane Hailes is making a few bad assumptions here....
+ Do we know for sure the Piggly Wiggly ads in the Ledger-Enquirer were designed to get back at his weekly tabloid? If so, what does the chain have against most Columbus TV stations?
+ Is Piggly Wiggly disrespecting African-American customers when it has four stores south of Macon Road - the half of Columbus considered to have the most African-American residents? Publix may buy nice advertising space, but it hasn't leased one square foot of southside real estate.
+ Does Hailes really think a Piggly Wiggly boycott by readers would work? I stayed away from the stores for more than five years, after the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition announced a boycott in 1998 [13 Jan 04]. Not a single store closed - and I never met anyone else who actually stayed away from them.
+ Does Hailes have a blind spot, when it comes to disrespecting a community? The "Eco Latino" part of his tabloid has become so small that in one November issue, only three of the 32 pages were in Spanish. If The Courier can have "Cuties," the other half can have a "Belleza."
Perhaps a disclaimer is in order at this point. Neither Piggly Wiggly nor The Courier ever have advertised here. And there are plenty of names here which probably do NOT want me there....
-> Why isn't today's topic heart-filled? What happened at Thursday night's poker tournament may explain it. Read about it at "On the Flop!" <--
E-MAIL UPDATE: You can't say the people on Buena Vista Road aren't warning you....
After trying to watch to game on TV the other night I gave in and changed the channel mainly because that only 3/4 of the screen can be seen on WLTZ 38.
That d*g c*m bottom part in blue covers up the scores and on "Rise and Shine" it covered all of the phone numbers that they claimed were on the screen.
Are the ones that pay for advertising on 38 getting a 1/4 reduction in billing
Why don't they show the blue alert on the top part of the screen - that way, all are bald.
Thankfully - WRBL channel is holding off on the "Big Switch" - that might be the biggest move of the year
The blue alert (which actually turned purple Thursday) is only visible to WLTZ's analog viewers -- warning non-stop of next week's shutoff of service, to become digital-only. As much as I've hestitated to say this, you can't spell "analog" without going A-N-A-L.
The federal government is requiring extra on-air announcements by TV stations, if they're making "the Big Switch" next week. But you're supposed to be provoked to buy a converter box or HDTV. You're not supposed to become "Lost" on a Wednesday night - as in that drama on the other channel.
Based on what I saw Wednesday evening, WLTZ is reserving the top part of the screen for severe weather updates. If the blue alert is moved up, it still would cover the scoreline of Sunday's hockey game on NBC - and players without helmets would be putting their safety at risk.
But that big blue alert strip on WLTZ reminds me a bit of what an invading army or spacecraft might do. "You must obey us! You must switch by next Tuesday! Or you will never see Dr. Phil again! NYAHH-ha-ha!!! Not even a ruling by Judge Mathis can save you now!"
Our Wednesday topic prompted a comment as well:
Richard, Isn't it ironic that Columbus South is lobbying to lessen the restrictions on alcohol sales on Victory Drive? For years Victory Dr has been described as having too many bars, nightclubs, etc. And now the very organization that wants to clean up Victory Dr wants more businesses there that can sell alcohol closer to schools, churches and public parks! If they are trying to get more restaurants on Victory Dr why not try to get Ryan's, Golden Corral, Cracker Barrel, Denny's or similar "family type" restaurants to locate there? Or do they think they have to serve alcohol to attract the young soldiers from nearby Ft. Benning?
Denny's used to be on Victory Drive, remember. The only recent big-name additions there have been Huddle House and Sonic -- and I know from experience that "happy hour" doesn't get the crowd at Sonic that it does at some bars.
Thanks for your comments, and now let's check some Thursday headlines....
+ A federal appeals court rejected the latest appeal from convicted "stocking strangler" Carlton Gary. What's it going to take - a movie version of "The Big Eddy Club" starring Tommy Lee Jones?
+ Columbus Police announced a man in custody has confessed to more than 20 burglaries across the city. This is why they're called "dumb criminals" - because not even Alabama's football team could have that long a winning streak.
+ Two female students were suspended from Spencer High School, for a chair-throwing fight which injured a teacher. People simply don't take these things to Jerry Springer like they did years ago....
+ The Schley County Coroner confirmed an Ellaville woman was killed when she electrocuted herself at a power pole. The woman reportedly had electric service cut off in December, tried to restore it herself illegally -- and yet I'm hearing this described as a "tragic accident"?! Isn't that like the 20-time burglar saying his arrest was a tragic accident?
SCHEDULED THIS WEEKEND: Have you overlooked that other "big switch?"....
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