Ads and Parodies: Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

According to The Detroit News, a new radio ad is causing yet another media stir around Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The sentiment of the ad, that the mayor is innocent until proven guilty, is a fair admonishment to the public that he shouldn’t be tried in the press. Aside from the corny background music, the only real problem with it is that it was the brainchild of Adolph Mongo, the man behind the 2005 “lynching” ad that sought to paint Kilpatrick as a victim of the white media.

The more recent radio ad, however, is not as base or blatant as the “lynching” ad in capitalizing on the city’s racial divide. Even if it is a more subtle and sophisticated attempt along those lines, it’s hard to argue with the content of the ad itself – I just hope the City of Detroit isn’t ultimately paying for yet another cost associated with defending its mayor.

The ad is certainly more than adequately countered by the Kilpatrick bashing to be had from other circles. YouTube.com has a fairly long list of Mayor Kilpatrick parodies, but the Free Press has perhaps the best parody, set to the music of the Beatles' Nowhere Man.