BreakTheChain.org
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NUD on Your Life!Date Added: Jan. 14, 2004
In the Information Age, consumers have unprecedented power. Previously informal or invisible practices are given names, examined at length and broadcasted to the public. Such is the case with non urban dictates. However, when broadcasted via e-mail chain letter, the information gets twisted, mixed up with conspiracy and ultimately associated with innocent groups. NUD (Non Urban Dictate) Tom Joyner wants this information to reach his listeners..... You have probably heard of "NUD" as a result of the Tom Joyner morning show related to CompUSA. NUD is the acronym for a very subtle and little-known marketing term specifically directed toward people of color. NUD stands for Non Urban Dictate. These three words essentially mean that a company is not interested in the Black consumer. A NUD label means that a company does not want their marketing and advertising materials placed in media that claim an urban audience(black folks)as their main target. There are legitimate reasons for companies not using urban radio. It may be that Blacks don't index high in certain categories or that a company's strategy is to market to the Black consumer down the road after they have established a strong position in their primary target. But NUD usually means that a company is not interested in the Black consumer. Companies evade discrimination liability by embracing it as theory rather than policy. As a service to Black consumers, the Urban Institute will list all companies that have a NUD policy. Armed with this information, we feel that Black consumers will be able to make informed buying decisions. Companies with NUD policies: a.. Starbucks
Please forward this information on to any other consumer that you consider a friend and advise them to do likewise. Remember, we can't act wisely unless we are informed wisely. The Urban Institute
An under-valuing of minorities is real and has long been a plague on the advertising industry. Corporations rely on stereotypes and outdated statistics to tell them that minorities are not consumers (at least not of certain products), so campaigns are not usually targeted with them in mind. The origin of the term Non Urban Dictate (or No Urban Dictate) is unknown and few companies would use the term, let alone admit that they have NUDs in place. In 1998, Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner, host of the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show, discovered a Katz Media Group corporate memo that instructed sales staff not to do business on black radio. A year later they organized a massive listener movement against CompUSA for not advertising in black markets. Both companies eventually agreed to improve their black outreach. It was at about this time that this chain letter originated. According to a statement on their web site, the Urban Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization, is in no way "associated with the purported research or with any supposed list of companies with NUDs, and never was." They were dragged into this one into the late 1990s because their name is similar to that of another group that is. Urban Insite, a black broadcasting trade group, posted a list of companies known to follow NUDs in 1998. An Urban Insite spokesperson told BreakTheChain.org, that, while Non Urban Dictates do still exist, the chain letter and list above are "inaccurate and outdated." They recommend it be ignored. BreakTheChain.or recommends against participating in boycott campaigns organized via e-mail chain letters. As you can see, this letter has failed to keep up with developments on the issue, has acquired incorrect information (and caused a great deal of hardship for the Urban Institute) and has been abandoned by former supporters. Break this chain. References: The Maynard Institute, Urban Institute Statement, Urban Insite |