James Brooks is on the job.

Mr. Brooks, a long-time Campaign Life Coalition supporter spotted an ad in Time magazine ( November 11,1991).

It made his blood boil.

At first glance, Mr. Brooks thought it was an ad for Eaton’s department store. Actually it was an ad for Andrew Fezza, a manufacturer of high quality men’s clothing. With quality clients like Holt Renfrew and Eaton’s, Andrew Fezza markets expensive men’s pure woolen sweaters and jackets under the Assets label

Male customer

Superimposed on the ad depicting a young man wearing an (Assets) woolen sweater were 37 descriptive phrases. The phrases attempted to create the kind of image of the male customer the company wanted to attract.

He was described as:
Lucky at love;
A winning smile;
A lantern law;
Shoulders as broad as Montana;
An open mind;
Pro-choice;
A big heart;
A killer wink;
Honest as the day is long;
A head for math;
Fearless;
Can take the heat;
Eyes as clear as mountain lakes;
Sincere;

Craig Eaton

What was the term ‘Pro-choice’ doing in what looked like and Eaton’s ad?

Mr. Brooks quickly wrote Craig Eaton, the President ( he thought) of Eaton’s and said that he could no longer in good conscience shop at Eaton’s until the matter could be clarified.

Back came a letter of apology from George R. Eaton, the President of Eaton’s, confirming the Time magazine ad was not seen by Eaton’s and was inserted by a manufacturer (Andrew Fezza) using Eaton’s name. The incorrect “Eaton” logo was used, the letter stated, and the advocacy statement was in direct contravention to Eaton’s advertising policy which prohibits this kind of thing.

“ Our procedures are presently being revised to ensure that this situation does not occur in the future,” Mr. Eaton assured him. The letter went on to say that they valued Mr. Brook as an Eaton’s customer and regretted the disappointment that he had experienced in this instance.

Mr. Eaton also promised to take “ appropriate corrective action.”

On January 31, of this year, Mr. Brooks received a letter from Sheila Peevey, Associate Director of Marketing and Public relations for the Andrew Fezza Company, stating that they had received his letter to Mr. Craig Eaton regarding the offending ad.

“ I wish to advise you that we have withdrawn this campaign and terminated the agreement with the advertising agency that produced it. Please accept our apologies for any offense that this advertisement may have caused you,” she wrote.

Good work, James!