April 28, 2016
When we last left the Saga of the Citgo Sign, the company had run these two ads in Sunday’s Boston Globe.
We thought the ads were interesting in light of the uncertain fate of the landmark Citgo sign, and we said we’d look into them further.
But splendid reader Greg Turner beat us to the punch.
Your blog post about the Citgo sign just caught my eye; I’m a BU grad and big fan of the landmark. I clicked around the web and it would appear that Citgo itself is behind the Globe ads.
The hashtag you highlighted matches up with this web page – http://www.bostoncitgosign.com/ – which has the same “Boston’s Sign logo” and the photos that are used in the ad. For example: This one and this one are in both places.
The ad campaign is obviously keeping the “petroleum corporation” part of Citgo in the background!
Well, that got us to contact Citgo’s public affairs manager Fernando Garay yesterday and he said he’d be glad to answer a few questions so we sent him this:
Thanks for getting back to [us] so quickly, Mr. Garay.
A few questions:
Are the Boston Globe ads indeed tied to the uncertain future of the Citgo sign?
What kind of response did you get to the ads?
Have you run ads in other media outlets? Did you consider running these two in the Boston Herald?
Do you have plans to run ads in the future or expand your social media efforts beyond #CITGOsign on Twitter?
Thank you [and etc.].
A day later, no word yet from Mr. Garay. But the ads did run again in today’s Globe (and not – again – in the Boston Herald).
Signing off, for now . . .
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
March 17, 2017
As the hardreading staff has noted in vain for the past year, the Boston Globe has reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in Save the Citgo Sign ads. But its coverage of the rumpus over the Kenmore Square icon has never disclosed the paper’s financial interest in the outcome.
Exhibit Umpteen: Today’s Business section story by Jon Chesto about Boston Signage Syndrome.
On Boston’s skyline, signs can be a tricky business
Jeff Immelt wanted a headquarters sign that could be seen from Mars.
Or at least that’s what the General Electric CEO jokingly told a crowd of local business leaders when he came to Boston a year ago to celebrate the company’s decision to relocate here.
Good luck with that, Jeff. The Boston Planning & Development Agency is reviewing the company’s new sign as part of broader construction plans for its future Fort Point office, and the rooftop logo will have more earthly dimensions, maybe 35 feet in diameter.
Still, the approval of a tower sign in Boston remains a rare gift, one bestowed upon a select few.
Among them – yes – the Globe’s own gas light.
The Citgo sign in Kenmore Square probably would never get approved today, and yet it has become a beloved landmark, one that Walsh helped save this week by refereeing lease negotiations.
Still, no disclosure.
Hey, Boston media watchers – don’t any of you want a piece of this?
Seriously?
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
March 6, 2017
From yesterday’s $tately local broadsheet:
As the hardreading staff has dutifully noted for the past year, the Boston Globe has entirely omitted from its extensive coverage of the Citgo sign rumpus any mention that the paper has gleaned at least $25,000 from Save the Sign ads like this one.
(To be sure graf goes here)
To be sure, $25,000 is lunch money at the John Henry Gazette, but it’s lunch money the paper should disclose whenever it moans about the Citgo sign’s ultimate fate.
(To be clear graf goes here)
To be clear, it’s not the fault of Globe reporter Tim Logan that his many Citgo sign pieces have lacked disclosure. The fault lies with the Globe’s editors.
Regardless, given the latest assault on the Kenmore Square icon, it’s not unreasonable to expect there will be more ads forthcoming from the Boston’s Sign campaign. Oh, wait – like this full-page ad that coincidentally appeared in yesterday’s Globe.
Here’s something else that’s not unreasonable: To expect the Globe to disclose its financial interest in the Citgo sign whenever the paper covers that story.
But don’t hold your breath.
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
July 13, 2016
As the hardreading staff recently noted, the Boston Globe has been less than forthcoming in its coverage of the quest for giving landmark status to the renowned Citgo sign.
That’s because the Globe has not disclosed that the paper has profited nicely from Citgo’s campaign to save the Kenmore Square icon.
(Boston University – where the hardreading staff moonlights as a mass communication professor – is looking to sell the Commonwealth Avenue building the Citgo sign sits atop.)
To recap the $tately local broadsheet’s connection:
Citgo has spent tens of thousands of dollars over the past few months running ads such as these in the Globe.
But no Globe stories – including today’s report that “[a] city board voted to launch the process of making the iconic electric sign an official city landmark” – have mentioned the paper’s financial profit from Citgo’s ad campaign.
As we have said before:
Rough estimate: At least eight quarter-page ads costing maybe $20,000.
So you say – $20,000? That’s lunch money at the Boston Globe.
True. But it’s lunch money the Globe should mention whenever it covers the Citgo sign rumpus.
And so we say again.
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
July 1, 2016
From our Late to the Rescue Party desk
The $tately local broadsheet really needs to get better at full disclosure.
Wednesday’s Boston Globe featured this piece about the impending sale of the Kenmore Square building that the fabled Citgo sign sits upon.
Push to protect the Citgo sign
Commission to consider bid for landmark status
Despite the Citgo sign’s storied spot on the Boston skyline, there are no city protections to keep it there.
Now, there’s a growing push to change that.
The Boston Landmarks Commission next month will take up a measure that could grant official landmark status to the sign above Kenmore Square. And an online petition supporting that plan received nearly 1,100 signatures in its first four days.
Back story: As the hardreading staff has dutifully noted, Boston University plans to sell 660 Beacon Street and several other adjoining buildings, but has has not made keeping the Citgo sign a condition of the sale. So, as the Globe piece reported, the Boston Preservation Alliance has launched a Change.org campaign to save the landmark sign.
But what the Globe piece did not report is that Citgo has run a series of Globe ads extolling the virtues of its sign.
Representative samples:
Rough estimate: At least eight quarter-page ads costing maybe $20,000.
So you say – $20,000? That’s lunch money at the Boston Globe.
True. But it’s lunch money the Globe should mention whenever it covers the Citgo sign rumpus.
Or is that just us.
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
May 29, 2017
As the hardreading staff perused yesterday’s Boston Sunday Globe, we happened upon this full-page A3 ad.
That called to mind the Globe’s recent Page One piece about Total Wine’s “total war against alcohol regulations.”
Total Wine uncorks new front in its war on rules
Big-box alcohol retailer targets Mass. regulations
Total Wine & More is waging total war on the nation’s alcohol laws — and Massachusetts is the new front line.
The largest retailer of beer, wine, and liquor in the country, Total Wine has successfully challenged longstanding alcohol laws in numerous states, tilting the marketplace to its advantage through a mix of litigation, lobbying, and rallying support from customers . . .
In Massachusetts, Total Wine has sued to invalidate a state regulation that prevents retailers from selling alcohol below cost, a common practice in other industries. The company is also about to launch a public relations campaign here challenging a state rule prohibiting alcohol retailers from issuing discount coupons and loyalty cards. It has submitted the proposed changes to a task force convened by Treasurer Deborah Goldberg to streamline the state’s alcohol laws.
Here’s the interesting part: Nowhere in the Globe piece is there any mention of the tens of thousands of dollars the $tately local broadsheet has raked in from Total Wine ads over the past few months.
That’s very much like the Globe’s recent non-disclosure of its financial interest while covering the rumpus over the fabled Citgo sign; the paper raked in more than a hundred thousand dollars in ads touting the Kenmore Square icon but never mentioned them in their coverage.
Memo to Globe editor Brian McGrory: We know you need the advertising revenue. But c’mon – at least be honest about it.
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Posted by Campaign Outsider
