CREATIVE BRIEF: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Final Print Creative
UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS: THE RISE AND FALL OF JACK JOHNSON Creative Brief 9.16.05
Background (Pertinent program information)
“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it. “
- Thomas Paine
And so was the life of Jack Johnson who rose to fame and whose legend faded in Jim Crow south. Who was this man? Why was he famous? Why did people love and loathe him?
Johnson, famous for being the first African-American heavyweight champ, he was also “a balletic fighter, a wit, a world-class beauty, a maverick and a persecuted playboy.” Johnson should be among the names that flow and ebb when we speak of boxing greats - yet his legend has been erased. Johnson’s legend looms large in comparison to other sports greats. Jack Johnson was not just an American boxer; he is the greatest American boxer.
He battled his way to the top of the heavyweight ranks; remarkable in the ring, he played the ultimate game of cat and mouse, toying with opponents until he was tired of the game. Johnson was so good that he could read a fighter’s style and predict exactly how he was going to go down. A true champ, he held off all challengers to his title for 7 years – a feat that only Lance Armstrong is close to accomplishing. In comparison, Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali had career highs that rivaled Johnson’s, but they were not achieved over consecutive years.
Johnson was terrifying to the black and white communities alike because he lacked modesty and self control. Johnson’s trademark cockiness and self-confidence was unheard of in an era when most blacks suffered from economic hardship, were portrayed as lazy and lived in fear of being lynched. .Johnson, a unique mixture of talents, was well read, a student of history, a musician and an inventor. Johnson was fast, outrageous, affable and easy on the eyes. He surrounded himself with the best cars, the best clothes; he mingled with white men in fast bars with even faster women. He performed in vaudeville shows across the country, even making it to Broadway.
Johnson initiated the celebrity culture we live in today. His “Anything to Suit” taunt was heard long before Muhammad Ali’s “I am the Greatest.” Arrogant and charismatic Johnson generated a wide range of emotions from those who loved and hated him.
Communications Objective (What is the aim, the goal, of the advertising/promotion?)
Resurrect this champion from obscurity.
Target Audience (With whom do we want to talk? What is their mindset?)
Social Athletes: Folks who turned out for Ali and Baseball because these stories aren’t so much boxing and baseball tales as they are social histories through the prism of sport; Social histories told through the lives of champions. This topic resonates with their personal and cultural history, but delivers a new and positive message. They will watch because it provides insight to the world of boxing and the obstacles that we as a country overcame in the last century. They are interested in hearing this particular story, the man against the times. We will also attract devotees of the “sweet science” (e.g. watch HBO Saturday Night Boxing); and, admirers of sport (e.g., read SI, watch the Olympics, play fantasy football). (Targeting 35+ college educated adults, Affluent ($60K) with a male skew.)
Main Idea (How will we attract people to our program? What is the main idea of the message?)
Jack Johnson, the greatest boxer you never knew, wouldn’t let anything stop him. (Impossible is nothing)
Idea Support (Why does this make sense? Why should I, as a viewer, believe it?)
Man vs. The Times. This is a man who fought against social policies and cultural norms. This is Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe, Tommie Smith and John Carlos; all those who continued to defy American social standards of the day and continued to come out on top. This is the story of a society, era, and nation that believed in white supremacy and would do anything to separate the races. Always defiant, Johnson was ready for each white hope that he faced in the ring asking with a Cheshire grin, “What have they got? Cause I have anything to suit.” In Johnson’s first fight, against a white opponent, cameras were ordered to stop rolling so that America would not see a white boxer being knocked out by Johnson. Congress enacted a law that banned the interstate shipment of all fight films out of fear that the spectacle of another white boxer losing to Johnson would spark more unrest. Johnson’s victory spurned a search for the “great white hope” who could beat Johnson and reclaim the heavyweight title for white America. And in Johnson’s last fight, where he stood his ground for an amazing 26 rounds (today’s standard = 15 rounds) spectators waved white flags in support of Johnson’s white opponent. For Jack Johnson, more prone to fight back than hold back, impossible did not exist.
Personality/Tone (This is the manner in which we will present the program to viewers)
Powerful, Heroic, Positive, Provocative & Poignant. (David vs. Goliath)
CREDITS
Creative Director: Anne Zangara