BANNER LOOPHOLE ANTI-AD RULE NO BAR TO ABC PROMOTION.Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer A year after advertisements were banned from utility poles A utility pole, telegraph pole, telephone pole, power pole, or telegraph post is a post or pole upon which telecommunication network equipment is situated. , ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. has again found a way to promote itself through street banners. The Disney-owned network promoted its Emmy telecast recently with pole signs that said where the event was and what time it was broadcast - what would seem to be a violation of the ad ban. But ABC apparently utilized a loophole An omission or Ambiguity in a legal document that allows the intent of the document to be evaded. Loopholes come into being through the passage of statutes, the enactment of regulations, the drafting of contracts or the decisions of courts. in the law so it could promote the Emmys because the awards show is owned by the nonprofit Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Under the new law, nonprofit groups can use a for-profit corporations A for-profit corporation is a corporation that is intended to operate a business which will return a profit to the owners. A for-profit corporation, depending on the jurisdiction to which it is incorporated, may be operated either as a stock corporation or as a non-stock to help them offset the cost of the banners as long as the corporate logo amounts to no more than 20 percent of the banner. Though the banners may have technically met the city requirements, some City Council members say the Emmy banners could violate the spirit of the law they rewrote last fall. ``They should not be looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. loopholes,'' Councilman Nate Holden Nathaniel "Nate" R. Holden (1929-) served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1987 to 2002. He previously served a term on the California State Senate and was Assistant Chief Deputy to then Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. said. ``They should be looking for ways to sincerely comply with the law. You make the law and then everybody just tries to break it.'' ABC sparked a controversy last fall when the network hung 2,000 banners promoting its lineup, violating a city ban on commercial advertisements on city property. That prompted a review of the city's policy and a revision of the law. The ABC banners now hanging throughout Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. were initially rejected by the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office, said Christopher M. Westhoff, assistant city attorney. ``There is no doubt in my mind that they thought they were going to advertise their television show,'' Westhoff said. Westhoff required the ABC logo to be moved to the bottom of the banner and ordered the date, time and location of the awards program to be included. Even with the downplaying of the corporate aspect, Westhoff agrees the banner could still be considered an advertisement for ABC. ``I can certainly understand why a citizen would look at that and see ABC even though the logo was pretty small,'' he said. ABC officials declined comment. Meanwhile, the Northridge Fashion Center Northridge Fashion Center is a large shopping mall located in Northridge, California. It opened in 1971. It was severely damaged during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, but renovated extensively in 1995 and 1998. Mall sponsors banners for the nonprofit group that organizes a farmers market at the mall each week, encouraging shoppers to come to the mall. ``Let's face it. I am sure there is a benevolent reason why for-profits assist nonprofits, but to them, it's got to be an advertising benefit or they wouldn't put their name on it,'' Westhoff said. ``They are getting some benefit from it. There's no doubt.'' Officials at the nonprofit group that runs the farmers market say the street banners are a daily reminder about an event attended by some 2,000 people each week, said Mario Kalb, market development specialist for the Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. Farmers Market Association. ``Banners are always really helpful in getting people to the market.'' Unlike the farmers market, Holden said that the ABC banners exploit the law because the Emmys are not something members of the general public can easily attend. Also, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the nonprofit group that sponsors the event, is more like a corporation, despite its nonprofit status, Holden said. ``The academy is, in a way, kind of a profit (group),'' Holden said. ``They just promote the (television) industry.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Banners promoting the recent Emmy awards hang on utility poles at Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades. . Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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