The water cooler story of the day
SC RESPONDS TO ‘SO GAY’ CAMPAIGN, STORY GOES NATIONAL
I’m currently tracking more developments into what WCBD-TV called “the water cooler story of the day” (above) — TPS’ story that South Carolina taxpayers were footing the bill for a $5,000 tourism campaign targeting gay travelers.
As you remember, the program was canceled the day after our story ran, and led most news programs in the state Friday and Saturday.
Now it has become a national news story as MSNBC has just posted a very in-depth report.
NBC Late Night host Conan O’Brien even joked on his show Friday, “South Carolina’s office of tourism has canceled a campaign to attract more gay tourists. Yeah, South Carolina canceled the campaign. As a result, for the 30th year in a row, North Carolina is the gayest Carolina.”
In the words of President Ronald Reagan, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.”
But this story will likely grow as more information is discovered — via Freedom of Information Act requests and possible audits — about just how this oversight happened, who knew about it, and how many other similar programs exist. I’ve even been sent very credible information hinting at a possible cover-up.
Regardless, nothing has been more interesting than the responses of every day South Carolinians — exemplified by the three interviewed above.
“We’re so gay? Naw. Wrong, wrong, wrong state. Go to California.”
________
UPDATE: This story is now on MSNBC’s home page (screen grab here) as the top U.S. News story. Based on that, I’m predicting it will be on every major national morning news show by week’s end.
Wow more bad publicity for us. Now we are officially homophobic (as if there was any doubt). Why can’t we put as much effort in trying to solve some of our more serious bad press topics such as our dismal bottom of the heap education ranking, or our top of the list crime? Keep pressing those red buttons guys.
Your reporting is missing many salient facts.
Our company - Out Now http://www.outnowconsulting.com - created the advertising for our client Amro Worldwide. The campaign has not been pulled, and is still there on London Underground, including South Carolina posters. Right now. Today.
You also seem not to understand that lesbian and gay travel is not an unusual market to target — we work with many of the largest tourist offices in the world to help them better understand and reach gay customers.
South Carolina, in making such a big deal of this, is managing to create a large anti-gay tourism response against your State.
Millions of dollars will likely be lost by SC tourism business in coming months and years. Perhaps that is okay with you.
Just one thought — if 5% of the $10.5 million taxpayer funds for tourism promotion are from gays and lesbians, why express so much outrage over a spend of less than $5,000?
The actual amount that gay taxpayers contribute to that budget is more than $500,000. Every year.
How much of that budget does SC allocate to promoting gay tourism?
Ian Johnson
CEO, Out Now
http://www.outnowconsulting.com
http://www.gaymarketnews.com
ATTN: SOUTH CAROLINA
If any Gay Brits, actualy show-up, please send them north to Rhode Island,
CASH MAKES FRIENDS
Sample our “Northern Hospitality” …and very LOW crime rate “FBI stats”
Fabu-Lance, Newport, Rhode Island
The City by the Sea
fabu-lance…hey thanks for the offer bo, mind if we throw a few illegals in with them?
I was born and raised in South Carolina but now live on Long Island. It is stuff like this that not only makes me happy to be gone but also makes me ashamed to be a South Carolinian. GROW UP SOUTH CAROLINA! For God’s sake, there are so many more important things that should be infuriating you people. This just makes you look even more backwater and hickish. It doesnt help your reputation over the country (which aint good) and you should be ashamed. I used to stick up for S.C. when people rag on it, but no longer. Wake up; you do know what year it is right? UGH
Q-Notes, the gay and lesbian newspaper of North and South Carolina, is reporting that the demand to do away with the ads came directly from Gov. Sanford. The British gay advertising executive who made the ads also spoke to them.
http://www.q-notes.com/2008/07/16/sc-governor-demands-personnel-and-procedure-changes-in-tourism-fracas/
South Carolina ‘So Gay’ Campaign:
Who Really Did What? Employee forced to resign was not ‘low level’
LONDON, July 22, 2008 – There was further intrigue in the ongoing saga over the ‘So Gay’ poster campaign on two London Underground stations that the South Carolina Parks Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) Department has been involved in during the past two weeks, it emerged this evening.
And there is considerable doubt over some statements that were made last week in South Carolina.
According to Out Now, the agency that created the ‘So Gay’ advertising campaign for gay travel specialist, Amro Worldwide, there have been incorrect statements made by the office headed by Chad Prosser of the SCPRT.
“The employee forced to resign is by no means a ‘low level’ employee, as was very widely reported last week by official SCPRT spokespeople,” said Ian Johnson, chief executive officer of Out Now.
“That person who approved the ‘So Gay’ advertising campaign, and was later forced to resign by SCPRT, is the International Sales Manager, responsible for the UK a person with more than a decade of management experience and an immense amount of respect within the global tourism marketing community,” Mr. Johnson revealed.
[While Mr. Johnson declined to name the employee, Q-Notes tonight names him as Randolph Romaine, an international sales manager responsible for the U.K. market and others, “a class three economic development manager according to other state documents”, according to Q-Notes.]
“To hear reports that a ‘low level’ employee resigned gives the public the wrong impression that this campaign did not get approved by proper decision making channels,” he added.
“That is not the case. The correct decision maker made a business decision to proceed with the campaign. There is no way this person can be described as ‘low level’.
“At all times everyone involved in the process – Out Now, Amro Worldwide, the SCPRT London reps and the International Sales Manager at SCPRT made decisions based on what is best for increasing revenues for the South Carolina tourism industry.
“What changed two weeks ago is that politicians decided to involve themselves, and it was then that a resignation was forced with the ‘official’ reports emanating from the office headed by Chad Prosser being that this employee was a ‘low level’ one,” he said.
According to the chief executive of Amro Worldwide, Andrew Roberts, his company have been paid in full for the campaign. Last week, both politicians and official in the State capital Columbia publicly said that the bill of just under $5,000 would not be paid.
“Amro Worldwide has received full payment from the London representatives of SCPRT, a company called Travel and Tourism Marketing – TTM World – who have acted in the utmost good faith at every stage in the advertising approval process,” said Mr. Roberts.
“Amro Worldwide is currently considering reimbursing TTM World for their loss, but we think it quite disgraceful that an official State government body would behave in this manner.
“Not paying representatives and forcing a senior manager to resign seems out of all proportion with our simple but effective gay travel marketing campaign.
http://www.ukgaynews.org.uk/Archive/08/Jul/2202.htm
‘So gay’ slogan was approved ‘at a high level’
http://www.q-notes.com/2008/07/22/knowingly-incorrect-info-from-sc-officials-say-so-gay-ad-execs/
Our Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Department came to Amro expressing a desire to have the state featured in the campaign.
Johnson told me, “In fact, the CEO of Amro Wordwide was hosted as a guest of the SCPRT in April as they approached us wanting to join this campaign
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A48857
‘S.C. is so gay’ ad update - Brit execs say South Carolina officials are lying?
Yeah… it pretty much sounds as though British advertising execs Ian Johnson (Out Now Consulting) and Andrew Roberts (Amro Worldwide), who’ve spoken extensively with Q-Notes, are calling South Carolina government officials liars.
According to Q-Notes, Johnson and Roberts say that South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) officials made “knowingly incorrect statements” regarding the ad campaign’s approval. For days, officials — mostly through spokesperson Marion Edmonds — have said a “low-level employee” approved the ads without permission.
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=6222
Since the South Carolina Officials are lying left and right in an attempt to cover everything up. This would be a good time to audit SCPRT finances and find out how of that $14,000,000 is being funneled to bogus ad campains.
We know that they are a bunch of liars….Are they a bunch of crooks too?
Follow the money!
SC “So Gay” Scandal Takes New Twist
Johnson and company also debunk South Carolina’s claims that they don’t do niche marketing. They in fact do.
http://www.queerty.com/sc-so-gay-scandal-takes-new-twist-20080723/
SC taxpayers pick up $100,000 vacation tab
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — South Carolina taxpayers will pay $100,000 to bring about 120 German politicians to Myrtle Beach for a vacation.
The Sun News of Myrtle Beach reports the money comes from the state’s competitive grants program. A panel of legislators and the governor this year approved 214 projects worth $10 million.