THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29. 2011
REGION
PAGE 3
Tivol ads spark controversy,reflect trends
JOANNA HLAVACEK
editor@kansan.com
The Kansas City jeweler Tivol recently elicited strong reactions when it featured two men wearing wedding bands on a handful of billboards in the Kansas City metro area.
The billboard is just one of many advertisements in the "Tivol and Tomorrows" campaign that aims to reach out to a wide variety of consumers. Though this group includes same sex couples, the campaign features other "lifestyle shots" such as a mother and daughter baking a cake together while the mother sports a Tivol necklace. Director of marketing Adam Gebhardt said Tivol is carrying out a business plan, not voicing political opinions.
While the public's response has been "overwhelmingly positive," the billboards have had their share of criticism.
"People with negative comments have generally been very respectful.
They call and say, "That ad doesn't represent a lifestyle that I think is appropriate." Gebhardt said. "We've also received a few hateful letters that identified other minority groups, so those people were just loose canons."
Tivol is following an ongoing national trend of gay-friendly advertising.
This month, Absolut will celebrate a major milestone in its 132-year history with a $4 million commemorative campaign and advertisements in magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair to mark the Swedish vodka brand's 30th anniversary of marketing specifically to gay people.
From Subaru to American Airlines to Walmart, more
Absolut started running ads in gay publications in 1981, a time when most companies shied away from marketing to gays for fear of alienating the mainstream market. Now, 30 years later, Absolut is no longer the only company to target the LGBT community.
companies are starting to notice the desirability of the gay market. A 2006 Gay Press Report revealed more than $276 million is spent annually by businesses in gay marketing efforts. The gay market is so highly valued because national statistics show gays are generally well-educated, affluent, and have disposable income to spare. According to mygayweb.com, the average household income of gays and lesbians is more than $85,000, and gays are 3.4 times more likely than their straight counterparts to have a household income of more than $250,000.
One recent finding by Simmons Market Research Bureau showed that gay consumers are two times as likely to own a vacation home, 5.9 times as likely to own a home theater system and eight times as likely to own a laptop computer than heterosexual consumers.
In addition to demographics, the gay community has proven to be fiercely loyal to companies that portray gays positively in their
advertising.
"If you market to them, they will buy it," said Tami Albin, a women, gender, and sexuality studies subject librarian at the University of Kansas. "The Human Rights Campaign puts out a list of gay-friendly businesses, and people pay attention."
Companies may also reach out to gays in order to appeal to a public that's becoming increasingly more acceptant of the gay population. Tien-Tsung Lee, strategic communication track chair at the University of Kansas' William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, has conducted research in this area for more than 10 years. His findings show young people, especially women, are more tolerant of gay relationships.
"Society is more liberal and accepting. Therefore, the media simply represents what's going on," Lee said.
But to Gebhardt, Tivol's new billboards are simply business as
A CHANGE IN ADVERTISING
A CHANGE IN ADVERTISING
TIMELINE GAY VS. STRAIGHT CONSUMERS
1981 Absolut starts running ads in gay publications
2006 More than $276 million spent annually by businesses in gay market ing efforts, according to Gay Press Report
• Twice as likely to own a vacation home
• 5.9 times more likely to own a home theater system
2011 Billboards for Kansas City jeweler Tivol in Kansas City feature two men wearing wedding bands on a handful of billboards in the Kansas City metro area
• 8 times more likely to own a laptop computer
SOURCE: SIMMONS MARKET RESEARCH
usual—a reflection of the same advertising sense the company's possessed for more than a century.
STATE
"We've always been on the cutting edge of advertising," Gebhardt said. "We wanted to demonstrate that our company is inclusive. We're not
making a political statement. We're in the business of selling jewelry, so that's what we wanted to do."
Edited by Ben Chipman
Brownback apologizes for reaction to high schooler's tweet
TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback apologized Monday for his office's response to a disparaging Twitter post by a high school senior who was attending a school function at the state Capitol.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
She said she was just joking
doms."
"My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that I apologize," Brownback said in a Monday statement emailed to The Associated Press. "Freedom of speech is among our most treasured free-
Emma Sullivan, 18, of the Kansas City suburb of Fairway, Kan., was taking part in a Youth in Government program last week in Topeka, Kan., when she sent out a tweet from the back of a crowd of students listening to Brownback's greeting. From her cellphone, she thumbed: "Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person (hash)heblowsalot."
with friends, but Brownback's office, which monitors social media for postings containing the governor's name, contacted the youth program. Sullivan said she spent nearly an hour in the principal's office and was told to apologize in writing to the governor.
As word of the governor's office reaction spread, Sullivan went from 61 Twitter followers before the incident to more than 9,000 Monday — more than three times the number that follow Brownback's official
Twitter account.
The Shawnee Mission East senior decided to not write the apology letter and the school district issued a statement Monday saying there would be no repercussions.
"Whether and to whom any apologies are issued will be left to the individuals involved," the statement said. "The issue has resulted in many teachable moments concerning the use of social media. The district does not intend to take any further action on this matter."
Doug Bonney, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, said the teen's speech was clearly protected by the First Amendment.
"Saying that the governor is no good and is a blowhard is core protected speech," Bonney said. "It's absolutely what the First Amendment was designed to protect."
Sullivan's 19-year-old sister, Olivia, told the AP her sister was in school Monday when their father
talked to school officials. The elder sister, who initially alerted the media about what happened, said she texted with her sister and the teen told her "things were fine."
Emma Sullivan said Sunday that she thought the tweet "has turned into a good starting point to open up dialogue about this free speech and the power of social media and the power that people my age could potentially have, that people will listen to us."
WINTER FROM PAGE 1
Electricity isn't the only energy utility affected by winter storms. Curt Flowerchinger, a spokesman for Black Hills Energy, said that even if a furnace was gas fueled, it would not work during a power outage.
"We urge people to keep meters free of ice and snow," Floerchinger said.
MIKE GUNNOE/KANSAN
The most common adverse effect of cold weather on gas is
He said that because the company used a remote reading system, ice or snow could prevent the meter from sending an accurate signal to the reader. A Black Hills news release also cautioned customers not to use snow blowers or shovels near gas equipment, but instead to remove snow with a broom or by hand.
The risk of frozen pipes increases during the winter. Take precautions before leaving home for extended periods of time.
an increase in the monthly bill. Floerchinger suggested sealing windows and doors and keeping the thermostat at around 60 degrees.
The easiest way for students to avoid these issues is to plan for winter weather.
Edited by Laura Nightengale
NATIONAL
Stowaway released from jail
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — A man convicted of getting a free ride from New York to Los Angeles using an expired boarding pass with someone else's name on it will be freed from federal prison having already spent five months behind bars.
"I am not just sorry for putting other flights in U.S. airspace on the 24th of June at risk but I'm deeply sorry for any heartache I might have caused," Noibi wrote in a letter for the sentencing. Noibi, dressed in a white prison jumpsuit with his head head and his eyes closed, did not speak at the sentencing. In the letter, he called his actions "reprehensible, disgraceful and downright absurd."
Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, 24, was sentenced Monday in a Los Angeles federal courtroom to time served after he pleaded guilty in August to a stowaway charge that carried a maximum five-year prison term. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real ordered Noibi, who has dual citizenship in the U.S. and Nigeria, to serve one year of supervised release and pay more than $950 in restitution to Virgin America.
Noibi said he showed the boarding pass to an airport hostess who didn't stop him before he got to the security checkpoint. There, he told a screener he lost his identification and showed her his student identification card and a police report that said his U.S. passport had been stolen. She called over a supervisor and he eventually was allowed to go to his gate, according to an FBI affidavit.
Nobi wanted to travel to Atlanta, where he has relatives, and found a boarding pass for a Los Angeles-bound flight on the ground at John F. Kennedy International Airport. He told FBI agents he hoped to find a Delta flight headed for Atlanta if he got past security, according to court documents.
But the incident raised questions about the effectiveness of airport security procedures.
He made it on the plane, and the flight crew didn't realize until mid-flight that an extra passenger was onboard in a premium seat that was supposed to be empty.
FBI agents interviewed Noibi when he got off the plane, but he wasn't arrested.
Noibi told federal investigators he was able to go through security screening in Los Angeles by presenting the same documents. It wasn't until he got to the gate for a Delta flight bound for Atlanta that an agent who scanned the expired boarding pass refused his entry on the plane.
Deputy federal public defender Carl Gunn said Noibi acted foolishly and his decision to get on a plane was a "spontaneous act." Gunn said his client had been drifting after leaving the University of Michigan and was at times homeless.
After spending several days in Los Angeles, Noibi tried to get on a Delta flight back to New York, again using an expired boarding
pass bearing someone else's name.
He was arrested June 29 at Los Angeles International Airport.
"Frustration and depression over this status is part of what led him to commit the offense in this case," Gunn wrote in court documents.
Noiib has since met with federal authorities and discussed how he was able to get through airport security screening.
"The silver lining to the cloud of Mr. Noibi's offense is that it will hopefully help the government tighten security procedures by revealing potential weaknesses in its present procedures." Gunn wrote in court documents.
PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER
The University of Kansas University Theatre presents
An original new musical by Nathan Tysen (book & lyrics) and Ryan McCall (music)
Directed by Alex Espy
A HOLIDAY TREAT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
General admission tickets are on sale in the ktu theatre offices. University Theatre. 804-3982. Lied Centen 804-AFTRS, and online at www.ktutheatre.com. Tickets are $15 for the public, $19 for senior offenses and KU faculty and staff, and $10 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted. The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee. The University Theatre's 2011-12 season is sponsored by the KU Credit Union.
KU UNIVERSITY
THEATRE
The University of Rome
1:30 p.m. December 2, 3.10.2011
2:30 p.m. December 4 & 11.2011
William Inge Memorial Theatre. Murphy Hall
KU CREDIT UNION
TOUCHDOWN
TUESDAYS
TODAY
20% OFF
EVERY TUESDAY FOLLOWING A KANSAS FOOTBALL GAME,
ALWAYS SCORE A MINIMUM OF 20% OR MAXIMUM OF 30%
DISCOUNT ON KU MERCHANDISE
- Discount is available in-store or online at kubookstore.com.
Excludes electronics, textbooks, consumables, sales items, regalia, health and beauty products, and pre-packaged art supplies.
See store for details and restrictions.