Union Kids Strike the Commercial World

Fundamental issues are at the core of the AFTRA/SAG work stoppage in the vitally important world of commercials.

Children play a unique role in the advertising world's targeting scheme. In short, Kids Sell. An actor...any actor...puts his of her talent and skill "up for sale" in these commercials, using their appearance, their voice, and their performance skills to get you to buy a particular product. It is a "dog-eat-dog" environment and big dollars are at stake. A successful commercial can radically affect sales. There is simply no argument on that score. Historically, children do about fifty percent more work in the commercial world than their numbers would indicate.

Interestingly, the same industry that puts billions of dollars into product advertising in the full knowledge that 30 and 60 second "spots" affect purchasing habits, is the same industry that says the moral and ethical content of the programs this advertising supports has no effect on our Society...but that's a story for another time.

We've all come to know the term, "residuals," the payment of money for continued use of a particular show or commercial. We take residuals for granted these days, but believe me, the very notion of on-going payments for actors was a hard-fought battle. The Theatrical Unions had to Strike to win residuals in the first place. We take for granted that simple fairness dictates that the actor whose face and talent are spread all over the medium ought to be paid in accordance with this use on a "pay-for-play" basis. It was not always so.

Please keep in mind that "talent costs" are less than Two Percent of the total expenditures of writing, producing, and broadcasting a commercial. Two Percent!

We are talking big money.

An Actor who wins a part in a commercial is bound to that product to the exclusion of all other competing products, and the payment structure reflects the reality that an Actor can "wear out his welcome" if he or she is over-exposed. Product identification is a brutal reality. Ask Mr. Whipple...or the Maytag Repairman.

The major advertisers, who are reporting record profits incidentally, don't want to pay residuals anymore. They want to pay a Flat Fee, period. A major commercial can run up to 2,000 times on Network television, and as many as 5,000 times on Cable! The Advertisers want to be free to broadcast their commercials as many times as they like no matter what the consequences are for the performers. Of course they do. It means more money for THEM.

Worse, the Advertising Agencies refuse to create a "Tracking System" to count the number of times a commercial is shown.

The Cable Industry has generated billions of dollars in profits since its inception, but the Industry doesn't want to apply the old residual scale to this gigantic enterprise.

Just think of it. The Industry wants to pay One Rate. The Theatrical Unions have to Strike.

Moreover, if you are reading this message then you're on the Internet...and commercials are being produced for the Internet, one of the rapidly expanding markets in the history of Man. The Unions are trying to organize this enormous new use of their performer's talents...and the Internet Industry not only doesn't want to pay a living wage, they want nothing to do with residuals either. And some Internet sites measure their "hits" in the millions! Keep in mind that the entire Industry, thanks to consolidation and mergers, is really all One Business.

For children...especially children...the world of commercial production has always been an entryway into the Industry. Commercials are where you start. The endless parade of commercial interviews is where a child learns how to interview, where the smallest tot learns how to "slate" and memorize advertising copy. 75 to 80% of kids on commercial auditions have never worked before, and they are not yet members of the theatrical unions. Yet, when they grab the brass ring and get that crucial "first job" they immediately come under the terms of the Union Contract if the Producer or Advertiser is a signatory to the Basic Agreement.

The Advertisers want to be free to exploit this talent pool as they see fit by paying a single flat fee across the board.

Those are the Three Issues that caused the walk-out of the professional actors. The Advertisers plan to continue to make their commercials by using non-union talent and utilizing off-shore production centers and foreign actors. The Global Conglomerates are waging War on Organized Labor. The battle has now come to the Entertainment Industry. Madison Avenue has decided that concepts like Fairness and Justice are out-moded. They no longer adhere to a Higher Authority's judgment of their actions. Elsewhere in these pages I have told you that despite their carefully crafted image of corporate responsibility the reality is that these global companies simply do not care about the people they employ. In the case of the Entertainment Industry, they are willing to do this to children!

Unions have taken a lot of abuse because of their admitted bias toward their membership and organizations, but what is the reality for Big Business?

It's simple, really. Big Business will always seek to pay as little as possible. Big Business will always employ people in the least safe and least healthy environment they can get away with.

Professional Actors now join the growing list of workers from other industries who have seen their actual wages dropping lower and lower...if their very jobs still exist within the nation's boundaries.

We urge all children and their families...professional and non-union alike...to not only stay away from advertisers who want to hire kids at slave wages, but to take a long hard look at those products and services being shilled by strike-breakers.

It is time to fight back against the employment practices of these trans-national companies who would like you to believe that the products they produce have no relationship to the manner and means by which they were created.

Fraternally,
Paul Petersen