Word: smiley
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...think of anyone I'd rather share a foxhole with than Tom Joyner and Tavis Smiley. The host of the widely syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show and his commentator sidekick are very tough guys. Yet the victory they scored last week by persuading CompUSA Inc., the largest U.S. computer retailer, to dramatically expand its advertising in black-owned media really belongs to the show's 7 million, mostly African-American, listeners. They showed how powerful consumers can be in the fight for racial respect...
Joyner and Smiley's crusade started more than a year ago when Smiley delivered a blistering commentary about a memo from the Katz Radio Group, a New York City-based ad-sales firm, advising clients to forgo buying spots on minority-oriented radio stations because "advertisers should want prospects, not suspects." Within days, Joyner's fans had heaped so much protest on Katz that its president came on the show and promised to double its billings for black radio stations. Next, Joyner and Smiley compiled a list of companies that get millions of dollars from black customers and started pressuring...
...weeks ago, Joyner and Smiley decided to up the ante. Smiley vowed that unless CompUSA responded to their demands within 48 hours, "we will shift into third gear"--an implied threat to launch a boycott. That got CompUSA's attention. The company complained to the ABC Radio Network, which syndicates Joyner's show, about the false letter Joyner had read. It's not clear what happened next. Though CompUSA's president and CEO, James Halpin, says he never told ABC he was planning legal action against Joyner, ABC got weak in the knees. According to Joyner and Smiley, the network...
...Smiley, "this was high noon. If we backed down, the next time we challenged anybody, the word would be out that if you call ABC, [it] will make us shut up." The next day, with Joyner's blessing, Smiley blasted ABC for threatening to cancel the show. ABC's and CompUSA's switchboards were overwhelmed with angry phone calls from Joyner's fans. Last week Halpin appeared on Joyner's show and promised to hire a black-owned ad agency and to give a 10% discount to those who had sent in CompUSA receipts. Everyone's happy...
...daughter's 17-year-old friend, triggering an entirely hedonistic lifestyle in which he buys whatever he wants and smokes pot all day. This is a direct reaction to his prior condition of too much independence. It is no coincidence that he chooses to work at "Mr. Smiley's" and asks for the job that will require the least amount of responsibility...