Putney Swope

"The revolution willnot be televised," or so say the Last Poets. Not so, once you've seenRobert Downey's spoof on Black Power and the advertising industry.Putney Swope, token Black in a Madison Avenue agency, comes to suddenpower and fires his honky counterparts. An oddly charismatic figure, hedeclares that he's not going to "rock the boat," he's going to "sinkit." Renamed Truth and Soul, Inc., the agency rejects sociallyirresponsible products, like the Junior Miss Flame Thrower, andcommences to revolutionize advertising with a series of tasteless,sexually blatant commercials. Downey's 1969 farce deconstructed thesubmerged content of the 30-second spot years before deconstruction wasa household word. But the revolution lies not simply in bringing thesehidden factors-namely desire, power and sexuality-to the fore. The powerof sabotage lies in redirecting the desires of the viewer. Not one to bea knee-jerk liberal, Downey lets the monolithic nature of theadvertising industry take over. Swope's success with such campaigns as"Face-Off," acne medicine for the inter-racial crowd, and "EtherealCereal," the favorite breakfast food of the ghetto, amasses popularity,money and internecine squabbles. Once a subversive novelty, Truth andSoul, Inc. is subsumed by the System and the revolutionary ideas becomeone more marketable gimmick. When the revolution is televised, it willbe for an audience share, or so implies Putney Swope. Steve Seid

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