First Official Portrait As First Lady

Sleeveless, of course! Show those toned arms, Girl!

[source usmagazine.com]

Michelle Obama's first official portrait as First Lady was released by the White House today. She appears in a Michael Kors black shift dress and pearls in the photo, taken in the "Blue Room" by White House photographer Joyce N. Boghosian.

You CAN'T tell me this woman isn't beautiful! You ain't never seen anything like my First Lady! You'd have to be blind, or just a plain H to the A-T-E-R to state otherwise. Full stop.

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is FIERCE.

PHX NBA All-Star Weekend 2009

Direct from the desert - Phoenix, AZ - for the 2009 NBA All Star weekend…it’s another edition of "On The Flipside" hosted by Ms. Aubrey Aquino!

Check-out OnTheFlipSideTV.com for more editions.

President Obama's First Address to Congress

On Tuesday, President Obama delivered his first address to a joint session of Congress to call for a new era of responsibility and a renewed commitment to investing in energy, health care, and education.

Here are the highlights, just incase you missed it:



Is this what it means to have a president who doesn't make you cringe every time he opens his mouth? A breath of fresh American air, indeed!

As I've said time and time again, we need a leader in these trying times. Not some pundit or theorist spewing meaningless rhetoric. We need someone to stand up and take action. To lay it all out on the table... the good, the bad, and the ugly, so we can sort through this mess and get over it.

This economic plan will have a positive effect. It did not take us a week or a month to get into this hole. You can't expect it to take us a month to recover. Those of us not born with silver spoons in our mouths are groomed for times like these. No worries. Just hold tight... (President) Barack got this!

AND did you see the Republican response starring Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, the marionette? LOL. I can hear them in the board room now, "Just get someone brown up there and they'll relate to him!" IDIOTS.

I'm sorry to say that the Repubs STILL don't get it. What a dying party going the way of the dinosaur.

Read More:
Full length video of President Obama's address
Jindal's speech drawns flak from Republicans & Democrats alike

UPDATE: First Michael Phelps, Now Chris Brown?

Breezy needs jail time, ASAP. This is extreme.

I find Chris Brown’s actions disgusting and reprehensible. At no instance are you to put your hands on a woman, much less, to this extreme extent.

How dare he man-handle her!?! She leaves looking like she just stepped out of an Ultimate Fighting ring, while he doesn’t even have a scratch!

According to some reports, Brown didn’t come out with a statement to the media right away because he couldn’t find anyone to take his case.

This is a Crisis Management PR nightmare.

The LAPD are on the hunt for whoever leaked the above photo, but I say it was leaked by someone at Rihanna's camp. The public needs to see just how sick Chris Brown is. He needs help.

Let’s keep Rih-Rih lifted up in prayer. She needs help, also. To go through something like this in front of the cameras must be devastating.

Read the back story here:
First Michael Phelps, Now Chris Brown?

Mrs. O Hosts White House BHM Celebration

The First Lady spoke to 6th and 7th graders from around the DC area during an event celebrating Black History Month in the East Room of the White House on February 18th.

Our First Lady STAYS so fly!




Ms. Sasha & Malia au naturale! No relaxer, baby!



Take care of them babies, Grammy Robinson!

[photos courtesy of the Huffington Post]

Ummm, SMH! The New York Post is Ridiculous.

The IDIOTS at the New York Post are back at it again.

Uumm, who might they be referring to as a monkey? Is it my beloved President? I find this cartoon grossly inappropriate. Are times so tough that the NY Post has to resort to idiot-cracy to sell a few newspapers??

I don't often agree with the Reverend Al Sharpton, but in this instance I stand with him.

In a statement, Sharpton said:

"The cartoon in today's New York Post is troubling at best given the historic racist attacks of African-Americans as being synonymous with monkeys.

One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual reference to this when in the cartoon they have police saying after shooting a chimpanzee that "Now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill."

Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African-American president) and has become synonymous with him, it is not a reach to wonder are they inferring that a monkey wrote the last bill?"

Are you as offended by this cartoon as I am? Or is it a harmless out-cry from an attention-starved media source? Let me know your thoughts!

Read More:
Sharpton Cries Foul Over NY Post's Cartoon Monkey Business

UPDATE I: Here's the number to the NY Post - 212-930-8000... Just in case you need to give them a quick ring.

UPDATE II: The New York Post has issued a statement defending its stimulus/chimp cartoon and slamming Rev. Al Sharpton for protesting the piece.

Statement by Col Allan, editor-in-chief of the Post:

"The cartoon is a clear parody of a current news event, to wit the shooting of a violent chimpanzee in Connecticut. It broadly mocks Washington's efforts to revive the economy. Again, Al Sharpton reveals himself as nothing more than a publicity opportunist."

UPDATE III: "...But it has been taken as something else - as a depiction of President Obama, as a thinly veiled expression of racism. This most certainly was not its intent; to those who were offended by the image, we apologize."

The NY Post issues a half apology. Read it here.

UPDATE IV: The chairman of the New York Post, Rupert Murdoch, personally apologized Tuesday for an editorial cartoon published by the newspaper that drew charges of racism.

[Article] Murdoch Apologizes for 'Racist' Chimp Cartoon

Relocation Means Money For Apartment Industry

As most of you know, besides my gig with K. Melanie Marketing Consultants, I am also heavily involved in marketing for the Multi-family Industry.

Like all other industries, times have been tough for producing what drives our industry, new leases and resident retention.

As more and more vacant condos and single-family homes revert to renting as a source of income, the competition for Multi-family rental traffic has increased exponentially.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

"We're seeing increases in rental volume that suggest that we may be nearing a turning point in the cycle," says Donald P. Hinman, SVP of Epsilon.

"Along with the high unemployment numbers, we're seeing that the rate of existing home sales is still deteriorating, while the decline in the rate of people moving is flattening out. People who formerly owned houses are now moving into rental properties," he says--a trend he expects to continue as more and more people find themselves pulling up stakes to find a new job.

[source: MediaPost.com]

Read the full article:

Relocation Means Money For Some Marketers

Slumdog Millionaire A Must See!

First, Happy Day-After-Valentine's... Glad that's over with. Second, I FINALLY had the opportunity to see Slumdog Millionaire. I LOVED it. All the acclaim the film is receiving is well deserved!

Set and filmed in India, Slumdog Millionaire is a British drama film that tells the story of Jamal, a young man from the slums of Mumbai, who appears on Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Jamal exceeds everyone's expectations, arousing the suspicions of law enforcement officials.

I loved the film's honesty. For those of you who have never visited a third world country, this film will open your eyes to the hard reality of what it takes to survive the slums.

Here in the states, we are lucky enough not to have first hand experience with such poverty, but what is shown in the film is not at all limited to India. This is a reality for many across the globe.

I've read a few comments online expressing that the film may deter people from visiting India. I say that this film does no such thing.

If anything, Slumdog Millionaire will open your eyes to the strength of the human character to overcome any circumstance, by any means.

UPDATE I: Congrats to Slumdog Millionaire for a BIG win Sunday, walking away with 8 Oscars from this year's Academy Awards. Cheers! Well deserved!

NAACP Image Awards (2009)

Black Hollywood is Back!

[photos courtesy of Bossip]

BTW, I love me some Taraji P. Henson. She's come such a long way! Yay for her!

The opening performance was by Ms. Sasha Fierce herself, Beyonce:

Michelle O. to Grace the Cover of Vogue

Michelle Obama - The First Lady The World's Been Wating For

Living legend and editor-at-large of Vogue, André Leon Talley wrote the cover story on the First Lady, Michelle Obama as she graces the March cover issue. The portraits are all by the famed American photog, Annie Leibovitz.

On the cover, Mrs. Obama appears in a sleeveless, magenta silk dress by the designer Jason Wu, who also created Michelle's inaugural gown.

Mrs. Obama is only the second First Lady to appear on the cover of Vogue. The first was Hillary Rodham Clinton in December of 1998.

“It is great to have a First Lady with such an amazing fashion sense, inspiring us with her actions and wardrobe,” says WSVN 7 News Writer, Maryorie Romero.

Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour says, "Change was the clarion call of Barack Obama's election campaign, though I don't think any of us at Vogue initially realized that would include the difference that was going to be made by First Lady Michelle Obama's wardrobe." - Somehow Wintour always manages to rub me the wrong way.

[photos courtesy of jezebel.com, style.com, and wsj.com]

I love, Love, LOVE this final image. This photo is also by Annie Leibovitz taken last year for Paris Match.

President Obama's First Press Conference

On Monday, Feb 9th, President Obama gave his first-ever prime time press conference to call for immediate action on his economic recovery plan.

The Senate voted to pass the President's plan. But there's another round of voting in both houses of Congress before the president can sign it into law.

Here it is, just in case you missed it:



I thought he did a swell job.

During the live broadcast, President Obama took questions from the press. A reporter posed a presumption that a stimulus and re-investment plan of $800 billion was not nearly enough to get us out of this downward spiral. We would need somewhere closer to a trillion dollars to make an impact and that amount of money was just not available in our reserves.

I found President Obama’s answer to this question most intriguing. After going around a bit on the specifics of the plan, he concluded that the $800 billion was not intended in itself to be the end all be all.

After all, $800 billion could not replace the billions, trillions even, that have been withheld from the market place. The stimulus and reinvestment plan was to jump start the economy and to help reinstall confidence in the market place.

To me his answer was very insightful as most do not truly understand what the stimulus plan is intended to accomplish. It is not a replacement of the funds being withheld from the marketplace due to a lack of confidence. It is a spark meant to ignite the engine that drives the U.S. economy.

First Michael Phelps, Now Chris Brown?

BROWN ON THE BRINK OF LOOSING WRIGLEY'S ENDORSEMENT

In reaction to R&B singer’s Chris Brown's alleged thuggery against fellow pop star Rihanna, Wrigley’s has suspended all ads featuring Brown as its spokesperson for Doublemint Gum.

The company stopped short of saying they will drop the troubled R&B star completely. Wrigley's said it would suspend any current advertising or any related marketing until the situation is resolved, adding that the 19-year-old should be "afforded the same due process as any citizen."

Read More:
Michael Phelps, Suspended 3 months, Loses Kellogg’s Deal
R&B Star Brown Faces Felony Charge

Brown’s Wrigley Ad:

$913 BILLION in Buying Power Overlooked

In 2008, the country's top marketers tapped Barack Obama as "Marketer of the Year." Many of those same marketers also cut spending directed at the African-American market.

With advertisers chasing after niche markets such as mommy bloggers on tools such as Twitter, a "niche" worth $913 billion would seem the sort of market companies would be stumbling over each other to get to.

Yet the African-American market has to continually make the case that it's a segment worth understanding, and one worth a dedicated portion of the ad budget.

[source: AdAge.com]

As counter productive as it may seem, some industry insiders still believe that marketing to African-Americans has little return in addition to taking funds away from the pivotal general market.

According to the article below, “because African-Americans share a common language with white America, they are assumed to share the same culture and same interests.” --Now, you know what you do when you assume… you make an ass out of u and me!

"Why bother with the research and expense when you can just recycle general market advertising and maybe throw in a couple of black actors?" -- How flawed? You know you’ve seen those types of ads with the “urban” lingo that’s not quiet right.

One Size Does Not Fit All: McDonald's and State Farm Insurance are two large corporations that have been hugely successful with investing in the African-American market. -- McDonald’s with the “I’m lovin’ it!” campaign and State Farm with the "50 Million Pound Challenge," a sponsored weight-loss effort that began in the African-American community.

"African-Americans have nuances in lifestyle and nuances in language and culture that should be used to leverage communication. McDonald's believes in speaking to all our customers, and speaking to them directly." -- Go Mickey-D’s!

Let’s Look at the Hard Facts: A large portion of today’s pop-culture trends originate in African American communities. By speaking directly to African-Americans, marketers can enhance their positioning in the general market as well.


Read the full article:
Don't Bypass African Americans!

M.I.A. at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards (2009)

Check-out one of my favs M.I.A. performing "Swagger Like Us" with the boys.

My girl is 9 months pregnant and due today, but held it down for the hip-hop ladies, video below:

[photos courtesy of bossip.com]

Aubrey Aquino in On The Flipside!

Check out the debut edition of "On The Flipside" a hot new show dedicated to featuring the world of sports celebrities, entertainment and lifestyle.

The show was created and is hosted by k. Melanie supporter, Aubrey Aquino!

Check-out OnTheFlipSideTV.com for more editions.

Crispin Cuts 60 Jobs

Crispin Porter + Bogusky, a MDC Partner, announced today that they would cut 60 staffers, or nearly 7 percent of their total workforce of 900-plus people.



Crispin, with offices in Miami, FL and Boulder, CO, issued this brief statement Thursday afternoon:

"In response to the current economic climate, advertising budgets are being reduced in virtually every industry. On a comparative basis, CP+B's business is doing well but we are not immune to the constriction of the economy.

Our two main responsibilities are to our clients and to our employees. And in order to most prudently manage our business, we have taken the difficult step of reducing our staff by 60 of our 900+ employees.

We do not anticipate any further staff reductions. These are extraordinary times and we hope that we will not have to do this again."

[source: Adweek.com]

Read More: Crispin to Cut 60 Staffers.

World War III - Mac vs. PC

As you may recall from this post back in March of 2008 and this post last September, I've been following the Mac vs. PC ad wars that popped off early last year with the announcement of renowned creative shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky as the agency tapped for the $300 million Microsoft account to restore the Windows brand.

According to the NYT, so far, Apple seems to be winning the fight. Mac gained over 2 percentage points of the market share in the last year, thus controlling nearly 10 percent of the overall market for personal computers.

There is good reason for Apple’s chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, and its longtime ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, to be drawing pointed contrasts: Microsoft, Apple’s longtime nemesis, is more vulnerable than it has been in years.

Microsoft’s current operating system, Windows Vista, is a well-known disappointment. And the replacement, Windows 7, will not be ready for regular users for at least six months, analysts say. Last month, Microsoft reported poor financial results and said it would lay off as many as 5,000 employees.

The news was not all bad for Microsoft, though. “I am a PC” — the egalitarian response to Apple that Microsoft has settled on for its ongoing campaign — has worked well to lift PC users’ perception of the brand as technologically and environmentally advanced.

[source NewYorkTimes.com]

Read More About Mac vs. PC:
New York Times - "In Campaign Wars, Apple Still Has Microsoft’s Number"
K.Melanie Post - Microsoft's Connecting with People Ad


Also, for those of you like myself who despise Windows Vista, here's a little preview into Vista’s successor, Windows 7:

Number One Rated Super Bowl XLII Ad (2009)

DORITO'S "Crystal Ball" ad takes the top spot:



Disagree? Which ad was your fav?

More: YouTube Viewers Crown Doritos SB Champ.