THE ANNOTICO REPORT

Kudos to Lou Rago, founder of the Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago, and Anthony Baratta, the Chicago-based national chairperson for the Commission for Social Justice of the Sons of Italy for successfully persuading/pressuring Miller-Coors to remove the offensive ads within a week.

'PROTECTION' | Miller Lite spot evokes 'Sopranos' 

Chicago Sun Times; By Lewis Lazare, Media & Marketing Columnist , June 3, 2009 
Miller Lite beer's new "Protection" campaign, prominently featuring actor Frank Vincent from the HBO mobster hit "The Sopranos," is being pulled after Chicago representatives of the Italian-American community lashed out over the stereotypical mafia depiction of Italian Americans in the ads. 

In one commercial, Vincent and his sidekick enter a convenience store and ask the clerk if he needs "protection." The clerk, pointing to a Miller Lite container, says he's got all the protection he needs, which prompts an exaggerated "oh!" from Vincent and his sidekick. In a commercial set in a bar, Vincent asks -- in a threatening tone -- if the bartender needs protection. When the bartender says "no," Vincent asks if he's a wiseguy. 

MillerCoors has pulled their ads starring Frank Vincent of "Sopranos" fame due to complaints from Italian-American organizations. 
"We seem to be the last breed in America that ad agencies think they can take a shot at," said Lou Rago, founder of the Italian American Human Relations Foundation of Chicago, who helped spearhead the effort to force the new Miller Lite ads off the air. The campaign, created by DraftFCB/Chicago, was to run through the summer, but MillerCoors said it will remove the ads within a week.

On Monday, Rago participated in a conference call with MillerCoors executives who indicated they might consider running fewer of the "Protection" commercials. But when Rago and Anthony Baratta, the Chicago-based national chairperson for the Commission for Social Justice, said that was unacceptable and that they would call for a boycott of MillerCoors by Italian Americans, the brewery had by Tuesday decided to dump the entire campaign.

AD: Miller Lite mobster ads pulled over Italian complaints 

http://www.suntimes.com/business/lazare/1604372,CST-NWS-miller03.article
 

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