The new faces of advertising

Source: Market Watch
Outside the Box: Social-media stars are advertising’s darlings
Jan. 15, 2011, 1:48 p.m. EST
The hits keep coming
By Larry Kramer

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — It’s a time-honored tradition for companies to hire stars and celebrities as spokespersons for their products.

General Electric Co. /quotes/comstock/13*!ge/quotes/nls/ge (GE 18.82, +0.22, +1.17%) had Ronald Reagan host the GE Theater on TV. Hanesbrands Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!hbi/quotes/nls/hbi (HBI 24.49, +0.02, +0.08%) featured Joe Namath trying on a pair of panty hose; Chrysler had Ricardo Montalban talk about “Corinthian leather.” Brooke Shields put Calvin Klein jeans on the map, and James Earl Jones announced the call letters for CNN /quotes/comstock/13*!twx/quotes/nls/twx (TWX 33.13, -0.47, -1.40%) . Nike Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!nke/quotes/nls/nke (NKE 84.07, +1.51, +1.83%) used Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods to endorse shoes and clothing. Nestle SA’s /quotes/comstock/11i!nsrgy (NSRGY 53.79, -0.03, -0.06%) Nespresso shows George Clooney drinking its coffee.

But today the world is changing. While actors and athletes are still being hired, many companies are going after a new breed of endorser. The rise of the Internet and particularly YouTube /quotes/comstock/15*!goog/quotes/nls/goog (GOOG 624.18, +7.49, +1.21%) has resulted in a new breed of star, the unknown talent that captures our imagination with a short but clever, funny or poignant video.

Meet the new faces of advertising

These are our people. They aren’t rich or famous, but they captivate us with their ability to tell a story in short-form clips. They call themselves names like “Smosh,” “Katers17” and “MysteryGuitarMan,” and are often the people who make social media interesting and fun. Between just those three, they probably have accounted for almost 1 billion video viewings over the past few years. They can garner a million page views a day.

Many of them work with an interesting, small but bicoastal company called Hitviews, which serves as both a talent agency for dozens of online stars and talent “finder” for traditional brands and their ad agencies. Hitviews is a great example of a business that couldn’t have existed until the last few years, but could grow rapidly as brand advertisers begin to understand the growing power of the medium.

The company was founded in 2007 by media consultant Walter Sabo — a former radio executive who has run radio networks and stations for ABC /quotes/comstock/13*!dis/quotes/nls/dis (DIS 39.29, +0.03, +0.08%) and NBC, as well as worked for Sirius XM Radio Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!siri/quotes/nls/siri (SIRI 1.56, +0.03, +1.96%) and Clear Channel — along with his partner, Caitlin Hill, an Australian woman who created Web videos under the name “Thehill88.” They got funding from some of Sabo’s friends from his long broadcasting career, including network-TV executives Fred Silverman and Ed Hersh, advertising guru Jack Myers and others. See MysteryGuitarMan’s YouTube channel.

Hitviews has a roster of more than 50 “talents” who collectively have more than 3.2 million subscribers, or regular viewers, and routinely reach more than 100 million people a month with their work. These are startling numbers, considering that these new-media stars were attracting just thousands of viewers only five short years ago.

Over the past few years, more companies have begun to understand the power of social media. Increasingly we are talking to each other about what products or services to use, eschewing the traditional advertising or media influences. Those who sell things know they need to join the conversations, and reach out to us where we are spending our time.

So it is that PepsiCo Inc.’s /quotes/comstock/13*!pep/quotes/nls/pep (PEP 66.78, -0.13, -0.19%) Mountain Dew has hired Katers17, also known as Kate Elliott, to create short, fun YouTube videos using its product. PepsiCo is letting Elliott do her thing, not follow a script written by the company’s ad agency. See Katers17’s YouTube channel.

A-list clients

The Hitviews client list is impressive, including CBS Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!cbs/quotes/nls/cbs (CBS 19.94, +0.07, +0.35%) , Fox /quotes/comstock/15*!nws/quotes/nls/nws (NWS 15.94, -0.03, -0.19%) , Kraft Foods Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!kft/quotes/nls/kft (KFT 31.34, -0.10, -0.32%) , Logitech International SA /quotes/comstock/15*!logi/quotes/nls/logi (LOGI 18.62, +0.50, +2.76%) , Microsoft Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 28.30, +0.11, +0.39%) , MTV /quotes/comstock/13*!via/quotes/nls/via (VIA 47.85, +0.44, +0.93%) , Panasonic Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!pc/quotes/nls/pc (PC 14.26, +0.10, +0.71%) , Reader’s Digest, Sony Pictures /quotes/comstock/13*!sne/quotes/nls/sne (SNE 35.88, +0.26, +0.73%) , TiVo Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!tivo/quotes/nls/tivo (TIVO 9.77, 0.00, 0.00%) , Virgin Mobile and the Weinstein Co., among others. Many are repeat customers.

“You no longer have to hire the top sports star or biggest actress to promote your product,” says John Moore, chief media officer of the Mullen advertising agency in Boston. “Web stars are the rising stars, and their influence provides brands with built in viral reach and authentic association to the passions of their target audience.”

Andy Pray, senior vice president of public-relations firm Ruder Finn, said he has worked with Hitviews to create videos for clients including TiVo, Virgin Mobile and Logitech. “Each time Hitviews helped deliver results that spoke for themselves. One campaign netted nearly 2 million views … another got 250,000 in one week. But it’s not just about views. They were able to drive traffic to my clients’ websites, helping to spur sales and amplify awareness.”

One of the more interesting ironies is the fact that traditional television networks have embraced Hitviews’s nontraditional video stars to help launch network programs.

When Peter Liguori was at Fox, the network hired Hitviews to help promote two new shows, “Lie To Me,” and “Fringe.” Hitviews Web stars produced a dozen videos in January 2009 and helped pop awareness of “Lie To Me,” which became the first regular series in the history of the network to debut at No. 1 for the week.

‘Unbiased anarchy’

While Liguori can’t correlate the work of Hitviews to ratings success, he did say the talent company generated “very sizable numbers of views online.”

He added that he likes the Web stars, because “the key for me was that it was the audience, and not some manager, publicist or marketing exec who made these folks into Web stars.”

Describing the Internet as “a form of unbiased anarchy,” Liguori said the audience found these stars, “liked them and trusted them. We did not ask them to like the shows, nor did we put any words in their mouths. Cool begets cool. As these Web stars were popular and influential, we assumed their followers were as well. It kick-started the whole social-media discussion” inside Fox.

Hitviews talent has promoted several TV shows, including “Glee” and “Melissa & Joey.”

“Our talent will only speak for products they like and use,” said Elliott, who now is working for Hitviews as its West Coast talent coordinator. In the early days of Internet video, most of the “stars” were “hot young girls,” she noted. “But that’s changed now. Actually now the most popular video artists are guys. The common denominator among the stars — men and women — is their personality and their talent making video.”

The number of Internet-video artists that make significant money is probably “several hundred,” according to Elliott. “People are making a living at it now … it’s a whole new career.” Some have their own agents; many use Hitviews to coordinate their gigs.

Industry sources say some of the top artists are making six-figure incomes regularly, with some up around $250,000 a year. They also come from all over the world, many working from homes in Europe and Asia, as well as throughout the United States.

Ruder Finn’s Pray said he has used Hitviews to find people for “five or six different business situations, and they have given me a different solution each time.” He added that he considered every campaign successful. Some have used multiple artists, some single artists doing multiple videos.

It’s easy to sell to clients, Pray commented, because success is quantifiable in viewing and hit numbers. Clients also treat this as PR as well as marketing.

For Hitviews founder Walter Sabo, the company has become his obsession. He believes that it can help many brands reach audiences by weaving products into creative content.

“Brands can be part of the show,” he said. “not a preroll or pop-up ad, but rather have their message woven into content that speaks to what online audiences are thinking and saying online.”

Larry Kramer was a founder of MarketWatch and is the author of “Cscape: Conquer the Forces Changing Business Today.” He does not have a financial or other affiliation with Hitviews.

When your financial advisor isn't "so clean"

Source: Investment News
Saturday January 15, 2011
By Liz Skinner
SEC hits Long Island investment adviser with fraud charges
Money manager Warren Nadel and two firms he owned — an investment advisory firm called Registered Investment Advisers LLC and an eponymous broker-dealer in Glen Cove, N.Y. — bilked investors out of $8 million in commissions and fees through a fraudulent investment management program, federal regulators claim.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Mr. Nadel told institutional investors from early 2007 through 2009 that they were putting their money into a “liquid cash management strategy” that included market transactions.

Mr. Nadel deliberately overstated the value of holdings by withholding details about the strategy in his communications with clients — including monthly statements he provided, the SEC said.

Mr. Nadel claimed he was investing in preferred utility securities that were held for short periods of time in order to generate capital appreciation or dividends, according to the SEC complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

But Mr. Nadel and his firms knew by 2007 that the market wasn't liquid enough to allow for frequent purchases at attractive prices, the complaint said.

He told clients he was making “open-market transactions,” but the “vast majority of transactions” were really an exchange of securities between clients, often at inflated prices that Mr. Nadel set, the SEC said.

Of 11,250 trades, 90% of them were fraudulent, however, according to the complaint.

A lawyer for Mr. Nadel and his two firms disputed the allegations and said they will litigate the case.

"Our client made money for his clients," said Sam Lieberman, an attorney with Sadis & Goldberg LLP. "We reject claims that he duped investors."

The SEC, however, alleged that while creating the false impression of a liquid market, Mr. Nadel collected $6 million in commissions and $2.4 million in advisory fees over the three years.

The only time he told clients about the illiquidity of the investments was if a client tried to redeem assets. At that point, Mr. Nadel would tell them it would take “an extended period of time” to reach the prices that he had been reporting, the compliant said.

Mr. Nadel deprived his clients of “the opportunity to make meaningful investment decisions with their money,” said George S. Canellos, director of the SEC's New York regional office.

Mr. Nadel also said his firm managed $400 million in assets, when it was really less than one-third of that, according to the commission.

The SEC is seeking a return of ill-gotten gains, interest and penalties from Mr. Nadel — who is 59 years old and a resident of Upper Brookville, N.Y. — and his firms.
************************************************************************************
More on Warren Nadel
Source: wrapmanager.com
Company Information
Name: Warren D. Nadel & Co.
Address
7 Walnut Road
Glen Cove, NY 11542
Phone: 516-656-3636
Investment Products
Tax Advantage Cash Alternative
Preferred Stock Dividend Capture Strategy
Web Site: www.wdnco.com
Education: New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University

Tunisia today. Is it a good spot for investment ?

Source: Forbes
By Chris Barth
The Facts On Investing In Tunisia
Jan. 14 2011 - 1:57 pm
Rare spreading that Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has left the country, after increasing unrest came to a head today. His government has been disbanded, and Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi will reportedly serve as the leader of a temporary government.

Prior to the government’s fall, Tunisia — the northernmost country in Africa — had been undergoing efforts to become more open to foreign investment; over the past half decade the nation had been making strides in attracting foreign investment. A look at Anima Investment Network reveals an ongoing stream of recent investment in Tunisia by a number of sizeable foreign corporations in recent months.

Currently, the country has two free trade zones – the Bizerte free trade zone and the Zfzarzis free trade zone. Additionally, Tunisia has an Association Agreement with the European Union, which includes a Free Trade Agreement. At the 2010 World Economic Forum, Tunisia was declared the most competitive economy in Africa.

The CIA, in its World Factbook outlines some of the challenges facing the Tunisia as: “privatizing industry, liberalizing the investment code to increase foreign investment, improving government efficiency, reducing the trade deficit.”

It remains to be seen what the governmental change will mean for investments in Tunisia.

Why the healthcare field is hot

Source: The Ithaca Journal
Aging population provides job opportunities in health care field
By G. Jeffrey Aaron •jgaaron@gannett.com • January 14, 2011, 7:00 pm
Looking for work? The top five jobs in the Southern Tier over the next few years have one thing in common: serving the needs of an aging population.
Each of the following occupations is projected by the state Labor Department to be most in demand by 2018 in the Broome, Chemung and Tompkins county areas:

* Personal and home care aides. These jobs focus on assisting elderly or disabled adults with daily living activities at the person's home. Duties may include housekeeping tasks. The job has an average annual salary of $19,100.

* Network system and data analysts. Workers in these jobs analyze, design, test and evaluate network systems, such as Internet, intranet, and other data communications systems. Average annual salary of $57,180.

* Home health aides. These workers are required to have a higher certification than home care aides, according to Jim Silkworth, Vice President of Human Resources at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton. While they are not registered nurses, they work under the direction of one, providing personal health care, such as bathing, dressing or grooming to elderly, convalescent, or disabled persons in the patient's home or in a residential care facility. The average annual salary for these positions is $24,380.

* Medical scientists. Workers in this field conduct research dealing with understanding of human diseases and the improvement of human health. They also engage in clinical investigation or other research. The average annual salary for these positions is $89,540.

* Medical equipment repair specialists. Workers in this field are responsible for testing, adjusting or repairing biomedical or electro medical equipment. Average annual salary is $39,490.

Another up-and-comer -- not in the top five of in-demand jobs but rising fast, labor market analysts and career planners say -- is the medical assisting field. Medical assisting combines administrative duties, like scheduling appointments and maintaining medical records, with clinical duties such as drawing blood, taking and recording vital signs or administering medicines as directed by a physician. The average annual salary is $24,500.

The list of jobs is not as disparate as it might appear, said Christian Harris, an analyst with the Labor Department's Research and Statistics Division in Endicott.

Medical-based job options top the list because the region's aging population will require a higher level of medical care. And as healthcare institutions digitize their record keeping and billing operations and invest in new diagnostic equipment -- much of it computer-based -- the need for people to install, operate and repair the equipment will grow as well.

"We usually see computer-related and health care careers intermingled because our technology-driven economy is increasing efficiencies and taking the place of a lot of what used to be hands-on work," said Harris.

Eileen Head, undergraduate computer sciences program director at Binghamton University's Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, agrees.

"Everything is going digital, it's all part of the green movement," she said.

But Head also warned that computer science undergoes a revolution every five years and what's hot today, such as the medical-based computer science tie-in, might be cold tomorrow.

"Every couple of years we have a student who goes through computer sciences and then goes to med school," she said. "But I would tell a student to get a four-year degree in order to get the fundamentals. If you have the fundamentals and they need you, then you can specialize."

Silkworth agrees that the aging population is driving the need for more health care workers.

"We need physical therapists, occupational therapists," Silkworth said. "Opportunities in nursing; that's a good field to get into."

He also sees growth in mid-level positions, such as physician assistants or nurse practitioners, and noted there are many entry-level jobs, too. Lourdes also offers tuition assistance and internal training opportunities, he said.
High need, low pay

While demand in the top five job categories is projected to be strong over the next seven years, the pay for two of the top five -- home care aides and home health aides -- is relatively low.

The Labor Department anticipates the number of available positions in the personal/home care field to grow by nearly 50 percent through 2018. But the median salary for these jobs is below $20,000.

The number of positions open in the home health care aide category is projected to grow by 31 percent by 2018, but it carries a median salary of $24,380, according to the Labor Department.

Both job categories require a minimal amount of training -- most of it provided by the hiring agencies -- and the low pay scale can lead to high turnover ratios.

Caregivers Inc., a national company with offices in Elmira and Ithaca, provides home health care and personal care services to its clients. Demand for those services is increasing, said Vera Sharpsteen, administrator at the Elmira office, as New York State's Health Department seeks to reduce the number of beds in its long-term care facilities and as people live longer.

Four years ago, she said, aides assigned from her office provided about 1,000 hours of care each week. The figure has now risen to about 1,700 hours. She's also noticed that a larger number of younger people are seeking employment.

"They are leaning toward the field because they hear that it is growing," Sharpsteen said.

The agency provides 24-hour care where it's needed, but Sharpsteen said her office is getting an increasing number of calls for two- to three-hour stints during the waking hours or at bedtime.

Her agency offers financial incentives to workers to retain them and the office administrators hold quarterly reviews to brainstorm ways to attract quality staffers.

"What we do is give incentives and bonuses, and the more work the aides do, the more incentives they are eligible for," Sharpsteen said. "We will pay them bonus money between clients and for working mothers; we are extremely flexible with the scheduling, which is a definite plus. We are also careful about placing the aides according to their skill level and their specialties, which helps create better matches and helps them form better relationships with the clients."

Another perk, she said, is offering vacation bonuses. Aides have the option of take a paid vacation or receive extra money and still work with clients.

"If another agency comes to town and one of our aides talks to us about leaving, we'll sit down and talk about wages and incentives they can get here. We are very flexible," she said.
Seeking job stability

The salaries for medical assistants -- just under $25,000 -- is only a little better than the pay earned by personal and home health care aides. But that has not affected the number of students who have enrolled in the medical assisting programs at Elmira Business Institute's Vestal and Elmira campuses.

"A lot of us who are Baby Boomers are aging and more doctors offices will need to open up to care for us, said Patricia Aukema, EBI's career services director. "More doctors are needed and more assistants will be needed. The medical field is also needing more research."

he state Labor Department numbers back up Aukema's observation: the medical assisting field is projected to see a 22 percent rate of growth through 2018.

Of the 450 students at the two Elmira Business Institute campuses, Aukema said, close to 80 percent are studying to become medical assistants. Because the job category does not experience the high turnover rates found in the other personal/home health care categories, those who choose to enter the medical assisting field are usually willing to accept a smaller paycheck, if it means more job stability.

"Sometimes, our incoming students ask about the wages, but what they are more concerned about is the fact that they will probably not be laid off," Aukema said. "A lot of them come to us from manufacturing and they want a stable job."

Why the government think what our kids eat in school is important

Source: SFGate
Friday, January 14, 2011
U.S. plan aims to make school meals more healthful
Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Chronicle January 14, 2011 04:00 AM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
It's a smackdown on french fries and a cry for more fruits and vegetables.
For the first time in 15 years, the federal government is calling for significant changes in school meals, including limiting the amount of trans fat, salt and calories in the cafeteria and increasing the produce and whole grains served. The hope is that the 32 million children who participate daily in school meal programs will have more healthful foods to chew on.

The proposed rule, which would raise reimbursements to schools by 6 cents a meal, was released on Thursday, and it is being applauded by nutrition and children's outreach groups across the country.

"The United States is facing an obesity epidemic, and the crisis of poor diets threatens the future of our children and our nation," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in a news release. "With many children consuming as many as half their daily calories at school, strengthening nutritional standards is an important step in the Obama administration's effort to combat childhood obesity and improve the health and well-being of our kids."

About 17 percent of the nation's children and adolescents are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's triple the rate from one generation ago. Overweight kids run the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes.
A good start

"I think it's a wonderful step and we really should be optimistic about it," said Ann Cooper, a school food consultant and chef who helped build Berkeley Unified School District's lauded school meal program and has been vocal about the ills of cafeteria lunches.

Cooper isn't enamored with everything in the proposed rules: "Six cents is about the price of a quarter apple" and "I'd like to see a faster crackdown on the levels of sodium we're serving as opposed to the USDA's proposal of (reducing it incrementally) over a 10-year period," she said, but called the rules a move in the right direction.

The proposal calls for:

-- A decrease in potatoes (those french fries), corn and other starchy vegetables to a maximum of one cup a week.

-- A gradual reduction in sodium levels over the next decade to 740 milligrams per lunch or less for high school students, 710 milligrams or less for grades six through eight and 640 milligrams or less for kindergarten through fifth grade.

-- Serving only unflavored milk with a 1 percent fat content or fat-free flavored or unflavored milk.

-- Creating calorie minimums and maximums for the first time. For lunch, the range would be 550 to 650 calories for kindergarten through fifth grade, 600 to 700 calories for sixth through eighth grades and 750 to 850 calories for high school students.

-- Introducing children to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. A serving of fruit would be offered daily at breakfast and lunch and two vegetables would be available for lunch. Green and leafy vegetables, orange vegetables, beans, starchy vegetables and others must be served over the course of the week so students get one of each.

-- Requiring for the first time that half of the grains served be whole grains.

-- Serving only foods with nutrition labels that show zero grams of trans fat per serving.

Explain the sources

Alice Waters, the Berkeley restaurateur whose Chez Panisse Foundation has been instrumental in funding successful school food programs, is concerned that without an educational component, kids will wind up chucking their whole grains and broccoli.

"Unless they know where their food comes from, it's not going to work," she said, adding that the rules are still "a giant step forward."

"I'm pleased that we're going down this path," she said. "I just want so much more."

The Agriculture Department is scheduled to take public comment until April 13 on the proposal, which is part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, signed into law by President Obama last month. The law requires that the proposed rule be implemented in the next 18 months and state education officials will monitor the program for compliance, said USDA spokeswoman Jean Daniel.

"It's a much-needed and long-awaited change," said Juliet Sims, program coordinator of the Prevention Institute, an Oakland nonprofit dedicated to the well-being of children. "It's what we were all expecting, but a really exciting step, particularly the fruits, vegetables and whole-grain aspects of the rules."

It's not perfect, said Sims, who would have preferred that the agriculture department ban flavored milk altogether. There is debate over whether chocolate and other flavored milk is helpful or hurtful in promoting good nutrition.
Good eating habits

Arnell Hinkle, executive director of the California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program, a Berkeley nonprofit that works on after-school programs, said the most important part of the changes is that they will influence good eating habits at home.

"Children are going to learn what real food is," she said. "It's about lifelong behaviors starting at school."

U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, also praised the proposal.

"The reality is that for many families struggling in this economy, the only chance their child has at eating a healthy meal comes in the school cafeteria," he said in a news release. "This means that our schools have an enormous responsibility to ensure the meals they serve our kids are nutritious, well-balanced and tasty enough that our kids actually want to eat them."

E-mail Stacy Finz at sfinz@sfchronicle.com.

Reform in China is essential according to The United States

Source: Wall Street Journal
Clinton Urges China to Embrace Reform
By IAN TALLEY - Friday January 14, 2011
WASHINGTON—Just days ahead of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday urged China to improve its human rights policies and to accept more responsibility as a global leader.

Ms. Clinton's comments on human rights highlight a sore point for Beijing that may be exacerbated next week when a political dissident and former jailed Tiananmen Square protester takes center stage in the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Calling it a "matter that remains at the heart of American diplomacy," Ms. Clinton reiterated Washington's call for the release of Nobel Peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo and other political prisoners in China.

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"America and China have arrived at a critical juncture, a time when the choices we make—big and small—will shape the trajectory of this relationship," Ms. Clinton said. She added that building trust between the two powers was an essential element if they are to "pursue a positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship."

Foremost among those issues include greater military-to-military engagement, cooperation on enforcing sanctions against Iran and Beijing's influence on North Korea.

"It is vital that China join with us in sending North Korea an unequivocal signal that its recent provocations—including the announced uranium enrichment program—are unacceptable,'' Ms. Clinton said. She also regards the North Korean actions as a violation of United Nations security council resolutions.

"Until North Korea demonstrates in concrete ways its intention to keep its commitments, China, along with the entire international community, must vigorously enforce the sanctions adopted by the Council last year," she added.

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The secretary said the U.S.-China relationship wasn't one that "fits neatly into black-and-white categories like 'friend or rival.' "

Rather, "We are two complex nations with profoundly different political systems and outlooks. But we are both deeply invested in the current order, and we both have much more to gain from cooperation than from conflict."

Ms. Clinton also said Beijing has much work to do to move away from a state-dominated economy to a more market-oriented economy.

Nostalgia for Mao Zedong runs high in Chongqing, China

Source: Bloomberg
China's Sentimental Journey Back to Mao
Chongqing Party boss Bo Xilai is glorifying the Mao era as a means of consolidating power
By Dexter Roberts
Chongqing, a megalopolis best known for its industrial might and raw capitalism—think the Chicago of China—is fondly recalling its socialist past.

Bo Xilai is seeking a top Politburo post CQWB/Imaginechina

A local cable channel has just started running Mao-era revolutionary film epics with names like Liberation of the Greater Southwest and Marching Forward for the New China. Residents are being encouraged to sing "red" songs and send text messages promoting collectivist values. These songs sport catchy titles like Ode to the Motherland and Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China. The text messages are upbeat and don't echo the more provocative sentiments of Mao Zedong (remember "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"?). An excerpt from a recently coined online slogan: "It is difficult to work all day, so don't forget to wear extra in this cold weather!"

Do the Chinese of Chongqing really want to give up their Ford Fiestas and bootleg iPhones for a return to the Maoist era? "Ordinary Chinese and particularly those of lower incomes have a high appreciation for the Mao regime," says Li Shi, an economist at Beijing Normal University. "They remember a more equal society."

The red culture campaign isn't just a remembrance of things past. Bo Xilai, Chongqing's Party Secretary and China's former Commerce Minister, has launched this movement with a goal, say political analysts, to beef up his revolutionary bona fides with China's elder statesmen and broaden his appeal to ordinary Chinese who feel bruised by 30-plus years of modernization. If he succeeds, he may land a key seat in China's next government, which takes power shortly after the Communist Party Congress in the fall of 2012. "It's the season to determine the precise positions of the new leaders," says China strategist Robert L. Kuhn, author of How China's Leaders Think. "The ultimate power is on the Politburo Standing Committee—the nine slots at the top."

Bo, 61, is one of roughly 15 candidates vying for these positions, says Cheng Li, a political scientist who studies Chinese leadership politics for the Brookings Institution in Washington. Li says that while officially the standing committee is chosen by the 300-plus members of the Central Committee, in reality the current Standing Committee consults with a few retired political heavyweights before picking their successors behind closed doors.

What has changed in the last three or four years is the importance of public opinion in choosing the final candidates, say Brookings' Li and other analysts. "Beijing cannot appoint people that the public won't support. The storm of protest on the Internet would be embarrassing," says Kuhn.

The positions of Party Secretary/President (held by the same person) and Premier are almost certain to go to 57-year-old Vice-President Xi Jinping and 55-year-old Executive Vice-Premier Li Keqiang. Bo's prospect of landing one of the remaining jobs, perhaps as top official in charge of propaganda, look stronger since Xi voiced support for Bo's leadership of Chongqing during a Dec. 6-8 visit, according to Brookings' Li.

China's wannabe leaders can be divided into two camps. One faction is made up of those officials who rose to power through the Communist Youth League. President Hu Jintao hails from this group and so supports fellow League members such as Li Keqiang, says Li of Brookings. The second camp, which includes Bo and Xi Jinping, are the princelings, the well-connected children of former revolutionary leaders.

Princelings have a special need to burnish their red credentials. "Some people are critical of the princelings" and see them as using their positions to amass power and wealth, says Li. "Bo wants to send the message that princelings are the most reliable people to maintain Communist rule."

The campaign clearly strikes a chord in Chongqing. The older generations recall a tougher yet in some ways more secure era, says Zhang Jiedong, a 26-year-old recent graduate of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing. There was less stress; income was guaranteed and competition for status symbols was almost nonexistent. Younger people are also interested in this period in China's history. Bo's crackdown on organized crime and corruption in Chongqing has been very popular. Says Zhang: "As long as the people are happy, that is most important."

The bottom line: Nostalgia for the simpler comradeship of post-1949 China is taking off. An ambitious high party offical, Bo Xilai, is partly responsible.

Roberts is Bloomberg Businessweek's Asia News Editor and China bureau chief.