Yesterday, the OTL phone got a very interesting missed call. The caller ID said Time2Ad. This is the company responsible for the giant scaffolding wrap billboard on the corner of St-Laurent and Sherbrooke Street, so it’s quite surprising that they would be calling us. Maybe it was to apologize for violating the historic status of the Main, a protected site – we could only hope. Today, we got our answer.
Time2Ad called back, this time from a blocked number. Once they established that they were indeed speaking with a member of the collective responsible for this blog, the phone was passed to someone identified to us as Matthew Alzubi, president of the company.
Alzubi said that we have until midnight tonight to remove this post dealing with what Time2Ad did on the Main or else face legal consequences. Just what consequences may arise over a post that states facts and gives voice to people opposed to the cultural effects a company’s project has in their opinion is unclear at best.
This might explain why Mr. Alzubi merely repeated his statement about midnight tonight and added that we didn’t know what he was capable of “so help me God” when asked to send what he was saying in written form. That could also explain why no one left a message when they called our phone yesterday.
Maybe they don’t want any record of what Time2Ad and Matthew Alzubi said to us to exist. Maybe they know that we have a right to freedom of speech and any court that looked at their case against us would throw it out. Maybe they thought they could scare us with some tough talk. Sadly for them, they can’t. Sadly for Montreal, it looks like Time2Ad still plan to put up more scaffolding wrap billboards.
From May 28th – 31st the Société de Développement du Boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL) hosted a four day party known as the Mainfest. Despite bad weather reports, the sun shone radiantly throughout most of the festival. This was wonderful for local merchants, musicians, performers, and pedestrians who converged at the Mainfest to participate in a multitude of activities. This was also fantastic for the Schering-Plough Corporation because their brand Coppertone set up a promotional stand at the festival to distribute sunscreen and inform pedestrians about Coppertone products as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign. An entire weekend of rain would have put a damper on Coppertone’s sunscreen publicity.
Under the bright sun, Coppertone promoters gave pedestrians free samples of sunscreen while warning them about the problems caused by the sun’s ultra violet rays. They also invited people to have a free evaluation of their facial skin to test for existing sun damage. The test was administered by a man in a white laboratory coat in the shade beneath a Coppertone branded umbrella. He performed his test with a “diagnostic camera” which took one picture, developed it in two different ways laid out side by side. On the left, the picture appeared overexposed and hid any skin blemish and on the right, the picture was underexposed revealing every wrinkle and spot on one’s face. The diagnosis was performed by comparing the two pictures. The man pointed out skin abnormalities from the underexposed picture. If he found skin problems participants were told that they could prevent further harm by using Coppertone products. If he found no damage, people were told to use Coppertone to prevent future skin problems.
Instead of thanking Coppertone for caring so much about my well being, I approached the Coppertone display to ask some very important questions. Why was Coppertone so concerned about my skin? Do they truly care or is this another marketing ploy to brand the Coppertone name? Is their diagnosis real or is it a sales tactic? How qualified is the man giving the diagnosis? I know that sun exposure can cause skin damage, but can Coppertone really protect me? Does Coppertone contain any ingredients which cause skin damage? These questions induced a little panic in the Coppertone promotion team. I guess the presence of my camera man didn’t help. Though, I didn’t get to the bottom of all these questions, I did discover some awful truths about their campaign.
Since the promoters didn’t work for Coppertone it was hard to find out anything about their products. Coppertone paid actors and event organizers from New Ad, a marketing company who delivers young people to corporations, and a nurse from Quality Health Services LTD. The nurse alleged that he could not make any formal diagnoses because he was not a doctor. In fact, none of the promotional staff could not answer any questions about how the product worked, how it was made, what ingredients were in the sunscreen or if any ingredients used in the sunscreen were harmful.
Like the glare of the sun, light shed on the true intentions of Coppertone’s promotional spectacle. Coppertone’s campaign was not designed to help people but to scare them. If someone is told that they may develop skin cancer because they are not well protected from the sun, they should be more likely to take advice from the street promoters and apply Coppertone sunscreen. Furthermore, if people are told they have skin problems from someone that resembles a doctor, they may be scared enough to use Coppertone more frequently so the ‘damage’ doesn’t escalate, especially if the Coppertone name is associated with cancer prevention. If Coppertone was really concerned about people’s skin, they would have hired real doctors to make real medical assessments instead of contracting a nurse from Quality Health Services LTD who can only provide an unprofessional opinion. He only told me he was a nurse and that he was not making an actual diagnosis after I inquired. Those who didn’t ask may have assumed he was a doctor giving valid evaluations, prescribing Coppertone to prevent skin cancer.
If Coppertone sunscreen really prevented skin cancer, my argument could be moot. Maybe a little scare for something healthy wouldn’t be so bad after all. These tactics are commonly used in anti-smoking and anti-drinking and driving commercials. The main problem is that Coppertone sunscreen does not do very well in research conducted by independent sources.
The other sources of research on Coppertone products are conducted and/ or sponsored by Coppertone themselves. The Coppertone Solar Research Center is responsible for testing Coppertone’s sunscreen for safety and effectiveness. This center was opened in 1971 and is described by Coppertone as the world’s largest state of the art facility for testing the quality of their sun-care products. In addition, the Coppertone Research Fund was established to provide financial support for dermatology research in Canada. Research on Coppertone sunscreen is mainly conducted by their research center through their charity fund, a blatant conflict of interest. In addition, they hire promoters, like those at the Mainfest, who cannot answer basic questions regarding the safety or effectiveness of their sunscreen.
Coppertone’s Mainfest masquerade came to an end when members of the Optative Theatrical Laboratories drew attention to the hypocrisy of associating Coppertone sunscreen to cancer prevention, especially by promoters who know nothing about the product. Since Coppertone paid actors to promote their sunscreen at the Mainfest, we intervened by sending in actors of our own. Because of the insincerity of their campaign, they were culture jammed. Here is what transpired:
Montreal’s “Quartier des Spectacles” project is proceeding at a fast clip. The neighbourhood is currently undergoing major transformations as new parks are laid out, a state-of-the-art concert hall goes up, and select buildings are appropriated and destroyed to make way for “development”. Designed to transform Montreal’s old red light district and environs into a less-seedy destination for those seeking spectacles of theatre, music, dance, and other performances, the project is attracting more and more controversy.
For reasons unexplained, developers have been busy trying to raze existing authentic performance venues in the area, despite their historical value and ongoing use by various artists and spectators. The storied Spectrum concert hall was unceremoniously demolished to make way for a box store, and now developers are threatening to appropriate and raze the Café Cleopatra, a burlesque venue that should probably be a heritage site by now, and Katacombes, an activist co-op spectacle hall. That St. Laurent boulevard is a historic site where “intrusive elements must be minimal” has not deterred a so-called French “starchitect” from drawing up plans to construct a gigantic 12-story glass office tower called the Quadrilatère Saint-Laurent on the footprint of the destroyed venues, which would only have their facades preserved.
The irony that the “Quartier des Spectacles” project is destroying real spectacle venues and replacing them with office towers is not lost on local artists or residents. Now the very artists who create the spectacles from which the Quartier takes its name are raising their voices in dissent. Many are demanding that developers respect existing venues and stop their plan to destroy local culture and heritage. The Coalition des Artistes du Cabaret Cleo has issued a RED ALERT! and is mobilizing. They are hoping to “integrate the creative spirit of the last 5 years at Cabaret Cleo’s within a constructive, honest and positive plan to revitalize Montreal’s legendary Main,” and have prepared a petition, which you can read and sign here.
You can sign the petition Saturday June 6th starting a 8pm on the occasion of a “Friends of Cabaret Cleo” rally event (1230 St-Laurent, 2nd floor). There will be a lively evening of performances, lectures and cultural resistance, so join in and add your voice to the chorus of diasapproval. Velma Candyass of the Dead Dolls Dancers, frequent performers at the threatened venue, asks:
“How is a 12 story office tower part of the Quartier des Spectacles? As alternative artists we were looking forward to learning about the proposed revitalization plans for the Quartier des Spectacles. However by eliminating the 2nd floor show bar, a vital venue for local alternative artists in the proposed plans does not endear us to the proposed ideas. They wish to have ‘ethical business’ such as ‘ethical flower shops’ ‘quebec artisinal soaps ‘ or or chic bistros. somehow neo vaudeville, neo burlesque and cheap hotdogs do not fit their image of things to be. Cleo is a special venue that has supported and mentored alternative artists. The stage setup is quite unique as it is the only cabaret style setup here in montreal. We simply wish to continue doing our shows and to be included in the Quartier des Spectacles.”
On Tuesday June 9th the Coalition will deliver a lecture of memorandums and a presentation of their petition at the final Public Consultation on the project, to be held at the ballroom of Hôtel Holiday Inn Select, 99 Viger ave. W. (corner St-Urbain), Place-d’Armes metro. The petition will be presented to Société de développement Angus (SDA), officials of the Ville de Montréal as well as the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) and Conseil du Patrimoine de Montréal.
Now is the time to support the real Montreal artists and the real Montreal culture. Destroying authentic and storied performance venues in a Historic Site should be illegal. To destroy them in a “Quartier des Spectacles” makes no sense whatsoever. If anything, they should receive protected designation for their authenticity. The idea of bringing in a French “Starchitect” to destroy Montreal culture is utterly appalling, and the notion that a 12-story office tower belongs in a Historic Site suggests that the “Starchitect” is misguided. The tough-guy tactics of threatening appropriation demonstrate once again that Mayor Tremblay is ignoring artists, heritage activists, and business owners in his attempt to push through yet another ill-conceived project. The “Quartier des Spectacles” has a history of kicking out artists who express themsevles in alternative ways, and with an election coming up in November, now is the time to voice your opposition to these disrespectful and counterproductive plans. Sign the petition, and join the artists of Café Cleo in demanding protection for our culture!
