Am I Too Cynical For A Better Life?
by Maria Niles

While watching So You Think You Can Dance? the other night I saw a commercial that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll let the blog "Live Manly" describe the action:

A young boy is tossing a baseball to himself and trying to hit it. Before each pitch he yells, “I am the greatest hitter in the world!” and promptly misses it. Before the 3rd pitch, he spits in his hands, gets serious and takes another swing… missing entirely and technically striking out. He looks sullen at first, but then looks up triumphant and declares, “I am the greatest pitcher in the world!”


Sounds cute, right? But what's it for? Optimism. And who is selling optimism I hear you asking. That would be the Foundation for a Better Life.

When I saw that sponsor I immediately thought "religious cult." Cynical much, Maria? But their "About" section says this:

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the values that make a difference in our communities. We create public service campaigns that model the benefits of a life lived by positive values. In turn, we hope to inspire people to make values a part of their own lives, and then to communicate the benefits to others.

And their FAQ dispels a bunch of other notions by explaining that they are a non-profit organization, funded anonymously by a family and unaffiliated with any religion.

So I decided to do a bit of online sleuthing to see if bloggers were inspired or suspicious of the campaign and I found a bit of both. Alison at She Blogs She Blogs saw billboards and cried.

Anyway. I’m sure you’re not as much of an emotional mess as I am. And you keep your cool when you see billboards. But you can go to the Foundation for a Better Life website and read more about the stories of any of the people on the billboards.

Deborah Knight at Shear Bagatelle saw billboards, checked out the foundation and messages and decided:

I'm glad there are organizations like Foundation For A Better Life that remind us that there is still a lot of good in the world. All we have to do is to look for it.

However, it turns out that FBL has been around for nearly a decade and bloggers have unearthed some information about the family behind the foundation.

Notably Lindsay Beyerstein and Majikthise hit up her readers for help and learned that the campaign is funded by:

Philip Anschutz, who the BBC described as having "a reputation as one of the hungriest of US corporate vultures", is currently using his wealth and power to support a slick ad campaign appearing on 10,000 billboards, in hundreds of movie theaters, and on nearly a thousand TV stations across the country. [Read the entire post here for links to further information]

Fenriss is cynical like me. But then also does a bit of digging and is disturbed:

Well, see, if you check out their FAQ, you’ll find that the Foundation is funded by “a family that wishes to remain anonymous.” But in fact, all you have to do is check Wiki to find that it is actually funded by one Philip Frederick Anschutz, an evangelical Christian, a vocal supporter of anti gay rights legislation, and a wildly successful oil man with a penchant for drilling in protected forests and Native American sites.

This fine citizen, who would like us all to return to a set of beneficial personal values, was named America’s greediest executive by Fortune magazine. He’s also given tons of cash to Colorado for Family Values. Those are the guys whose stated goal is to halt "the militant gay agenda." You’ll remember them for inspiring the boycott on Celestial Seasonings tea in the early 90s.

Alrighty then. So I've discovered that the the funding for a series of positive, uplifting messages - one of which put a smile on my face - comes from a person who apparently does not share my values. What do I do? It seems that they are running ads weekly on SYTYCD and I'm going to see more of them. Do I ignore them? Do I try not to laugh, cry or be inspired? Do I overlook that the funding comes from a place and spirit which I don't? Do I pass the message along anyway? Do I harden my heart and look away or do I not fear a different point of view and open my heart instead?

What would you do?


BlogHer CE Maria Niles blogs about television, pop culture and her love for dance competition shows at Beyond Help.

Submitted by Maria Niles (view blog) on Sat, 06/07/2008 - 3:42pm
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Comments

 

First I Look At The Purse - All That Glitters
Is Not Good

In Los Angeles TV stations do not run PSAs anymore unless they come from the network or it is in response to a national disaster. Local stations are not going to let anything eat up profits for the public good. Not even on PBS.

So when you see ads like this they are coming from wealthy organizations or people with an agenda and a huge bankroll. So long as they are honest with me about that agenda and I have a means of verification I'm fine with it. I shouldn't have to do as much work as you did to find out however.

A message tainted by bad intentions is no longer good and I would be less likely to accept anything the group had to say. But if that same message is being spoken by other people and organizations that I do trust then I just fuzz out or flip the channel.

Definitely relates to information literacy issues.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Submitted by Gena Haskett on Sat, 06/07/2008 - 18:17
 

Transparency

You raise a good point, Gena about the lack of transparency here. In claiming that this is an agenda-less act of good will from a kindly anonymous source when that source has an well defined agenda for the rest of his money it makes it more difficult to trust.

If they were honest about the agenda it might turn people off or make it more difficult to get clearance to run the ads. It's a balancing act but I'm with you - I'm for honesty.

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 07:57
 

It's the Intent, Not The Message.

Thank you for this post. I'm so cynical and skeptical and hate to get taken. Great research - I agree with Gena above and get angry that you had to do some detective work to pull out the lies because you know so many other people aren't aware of the scam. This small coward ('but he's a greeeeedy coward', to quote Daffy Duck) gives Christianity AND peace lovers a bad name. Shame on him.

And you ask a very thought-provoking question.

I think if you look at this with the right perspective, it's easier to see what to do or how to feel about it.  You have to separate the message from the intent, because the message is coming from a deceiptful liar.

Here's another way of looking at it:    What would you do if your adulterous boyfriend came home drunk with lipstick on his collar and said "I love you and save the whales and I've never looked at another woman."?

A wonderful post, Maria.

 Margaret from Nanny Goats In Panties

(www.nannygoatsinpanties.com)

Submitted by nannygoats on Sat, 06/07/2008 - 18:58
 

Save the whales

Thanks for your comment, Margaret. I can't stop giggling at your analogy. :)

And I agree, it shouldn't require so much work to verify in order to trust. Anonymous donors to existing campaigns or organizations are one thing - you can look at the agenda of the groups but when the group is itself anonymous it makes it much more difficult to examine or trust the mission.

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:02
 

Tend to be a cynic at times but

I saw that ad and thought "Yeah, keep thinking that, kid, but you sure better practice your pitching."  I thought FOX was behind the ad. LOL.  

Thanks for digging through this, Maria.   Shows me I need to pay closer attention.

I watch So You Think You Can Dance because I think dancers are so much more inspiring than wannabe singers. :-)

 

Nordette Adams is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.org.

Submitted by Nordette on Sat, 06/07/2008 - 19:04
 

Glad it's not just me

who tends to be a cynic! I'm in good company.

And I'm resisting the temptation to write a novel about why I love SYTYCD and much more than it's sister show American Idol. Perhaps I'll get my rant on over on my blog. ;)

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:05
 

I guess I'm not as cynical as I thought or

I'm more of a Republican than ever? ;-)

I have no problem with these. No problem at all.

I do wish the "family" was a little more up front about who they are and what they stand for. I am all for "transparency". So if I knew right away that these GOOD messages are from folks I don't agree with on a lot of issues, and am steadfastly opposed to on a lot of issues, I can still appreciate the message and their attempt to do something positive.

It's a free country, full of people with all sorts of beliefs and ideas and all people do good things. They do, even the most right wing, conservative, evangelical. I won't send them any money but I do have to say "nice job" when they really DO something good for people who need help.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

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Submitted by Denise on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 04:05
 

But there's the rub

Because I've learned the agenda of the family behind the message and believe it to be one that is attempting to impose a set of moral and religious values on the country I am finding it difficult to believe that somehow this campaign is completely divorced from the other efforts. And that the were not transparent makes me wonder if that isn't an agenda in itself in someway.

Sigh, this is bringing out the conspiracy nut in me!

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:17
 

No donations solicited or accepted

And I forgot to mention that they neither solicit nor accept donations so at least there is that level of freely offering the message and not asking you literally buy it or buy in.

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:37
 

I just don't know

I've not seen the ads here on Long Island, but from what I've read in your post, the ads remind me of those from years past from the Church of Latter Day Saints. Although I would never consider becoming a Mormon personally, I really couldn't discount the message of hope and inspiration that the ads represented.

I think that a positive message is just that: a good one. Just because I see an ad does not mean that I'll contribute to the organization. But I can still take the good message and apply it to my life.

I've even been inspired by the Nike "just do it" ads, even though I don't have one pair of Nikes in my home!

But, I'm forever an idealist. I hope for a better world every day, and although I'm often called a "sucker" because of that, I press on.

I believe that people can change, and so perhaps through the very messages that he sponsors, maybe Philip Anschutz will change too.

In any case, thanks for the post on this subject. It certainly gave me something to think about today!

www.windysblog.com

Submitted by windysblog on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 06:25
 

Mormon connection

A number of observers have also found that these ads remind them of those previous LDS ads (and also some Church of Scientology ads). Apparently the president of the foundation is active in the Mormon church. And, since there are a number of Mormons involved in competitive dance there have been Mormon contestants every season of SYTYCD (and among the professionals of Dancing With The Stars) and they hold auditions in Utah. I suspect that is one of the reasons why the ads are running on this show.

But the previous examples of church-sponsored messages were clearly labeled as coming from a church. I found the LDS ads positive but I also knew that the agenda was to interest me in the church. That then required me to evaluate whether or not the value was one I could take in and pass on separate from the tenants of the church. The answer was generally yes but with an awareness that the goal was to get me to associate the value with the church and consider joining or at least view the church as Bible-based and therefore legitimately Christian and not a cult.

Your Nike example is much the same. Because you know where it is coming from you buy the inspiration and not the agenda.

And I admire your idealism and hope for Mr. Anschutz. Not that I think that he to share my values but rather the values that he proposes anonymously are not ones that he practices when he affixes his name to them. He could learn a lesson from himself :)

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:35
 

Guess I'm an optimist...

I saw one of these a couple years ago and when I didn't see The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints at the end of it, I also wondered, "Well, what religious organization is it?"

 When I couldn't find any reference to a church or religion, I became optimistic that perhaps it was an atheist, humanist, or otherwise secular movement (because I am an atheist and a secular humanist).  I've always wondered, and now I know.

 Still, it doesn't bother me.  All of the ones I've seen are positive and religiously neutral. From what I can tell, neither FBL nor Anchutz are benefitting financially from running the ads, so how is this "a slick ad campaign?"  When I refer to something as being "slick" it means they're getting something out of it under the table.  With FBL trying to remain anonymous, how could this be "slick?"

The information presented so far on these ads doesn't bother me at all, except that maybe I'm a little disappointed it's not an atheist.  Oh well.  :) 

 

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Submitted by Noell on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:42
 

Good Points

You're correct - there is no financial benefit, there is no membership drive, there is no proselytizing. Thus why I'm torn - it's a hard thing for me to trust.

You raise another good point - perhaps atheists could benefit from explicitly sponsoring a similar campaign. Though technically atheists wouldn't be excluded from FBL's, such campaigns have become associated with religious groups and as seen in your reaction and mine - it's our default assumption.

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Submitted by Maria Niles on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 10:08
 

Slick Ad Campaign = Whose Human Values?

These commercials run on television, right or wrong there is an implied "ok-ness" if it appears on TV. From the website:

 

Our sole mission is to promote positive
universal human values.

With
six billion+ people on the planet what are universal human values and
how come they get to decide what those values are? What was the
criteria used to discern positive human values? Was a Humanistic
standpoint considered? Muslim? Judeo-Christian? Wicca?

When you go to the web site they offer to send these materials to schools, churches, hospitals and non-profit organizations. These could be the good side of propaganda. Or not.

Nothing wrong per se, especially if they are footing the bill. But they are building up a marketing database to send other types of information at a later date.

Slick, sneaky and it is a campaign. They are on mission.

Gena - Out On The Stoop

Submitted by Gena Haskett on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 10:08
 

Humanist values

As a humanist myself, I think I can say accurately that humanists do believe there are some universal human values that transcend religion. 

 This is not to say that every single individual will agree on all basic values, but as far as we can find so far, there are shared values that come out of each culture.

 This is from A Secular Humanist Declaration of 1980 from the now Council fo Secular Humanism:

We do not believe that any
particular sect can claim important values as their exclusive property; hence it is the
duty of public education to deal with these values. Accordingly, we support moral
education in the schools that is designed to develop an appreciation for moral virtues,
intelligence, and the building of character. 

 I haven't seen all of their ads or materials, so I can't say whether FBL did a good job choosing and portraying true universal values, but from my experience with friends who are wiccan, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, atheist, or Buddhist, there are plenty of values we all share. 

 

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Submitted by Noell on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 07:41