Wake-up call to ASME - American Society of Magazine Editors - Column

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct 15, 1993 by Keith J. Kelly

If the American Society of Magazine Editors isn't up in arms over the recent actions by Mercedes Benz, then every editor ought to ask for a dues refund. ASME is meeting this month in Orlando, Florida, as part of the American Magazine Conference with the Magazine Publishers of America. Let's hope the matter is on the agenda.

Here's our beef: New York-based Scali, McCabe, Sloves, ad agency for Mercedes Benz, last August sent a letter to all magazines that carry the German car-maker's ads stating that the ads were to appear only in publications that had "appropriate editorial." One could see Mercedes Benz not wanting to appear near an article that blasted the company. But Mercedes Benz did not want to be in any issue of any magazine that contains negative mention about any German product or about German people.

It's up to ASME to take some constructive action. The tone of the letter--and the requirement that magazines sign and return it--smacks of censorship. In the past, advertisers said they would pull an ad after an unfavorable story appeared. Mercedes is going on record saying in advance it is not going pay unless it gets the editorial environment it wants.

Mercedes Benz claims that it produces the quintessential German product and that whenever negative coverage appears regarding Germany, the cloud is over the company's head. That seems patently ridiculous to me. A strong national identity should not be grounds for the right to pull an ad "at the 11th-hour." Failure to comply, warned the agency, will result in either non-payment or a 100 percent makegood. The real shocker is that at least half of the magazines have meekly signed and returned this letter. ASME ought to find out exactly who signed and issue a strongly worded letter of censure to each. It would be a gutsy move, since Mercedes has a $14 million magazine print-ad budget. And some of the editors may have to criticize their own ad departments. But sometimes, you have to draw a line.