And Now, a Word From Our Censors

In keeping with my preference for offensive, tasteless and derogatory material, I now present The Adver- tisement They Didn’t Want You to See.

It was an ad for Select-a-Car, a San Diego-based service that promises to take the haggle out of buying a new car by acting as your surrogate shopper/ negotiator.

The ad showed a woebegone sap trapped in a cell.

The caption:

“In Some Countries Putting People in Little Rooms for a Long Time Is Called Torture. In America We Call It Buying a Car.”

Ad executive Neal Melden thought his creation was downright clever.

He tried to buy space in several newspapers, all of which have taken other Select-a-Car ads.

This one proved to be an ad too far.

“We rejected it because, personally, I found it offensive,” said Ira Rosenthal, classified advertising manager for the North County Blade-Citizen.

“We rejected it on the basis that it is tasteless,” said Gerry Wilson, director of marketing for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

He said it seems to smack of poking fun at the hostages in the Middle East.

(The U-T ran the ad for one day by mistake.)

The Los Angeles Times rejected the ad because of the newspaper’s code banning ads with “derogatory statements which attack or slur any company, line of work or individual.”

Also joining the rejection chorus: the Riverside Press-Enterprise, the Escondido Times Advocate and the Temecula Californian.

Melden sensed the hot breath of the auto dealers association, prime buyers of newspaper advertising space. Not so, said the newspapers.

Melden has decided to redesign the ad.

But he’s still puzzled over hitting a solid wall of newsprint.

“I had asked that the ad be in the A section, near all the stories about rape, incest, AIDS, murder and mayhem,” he said.

“The ad must have been pretty bad not to be able to be printed alongside that stuff.”

She’s Been There

Evelyne Hall-Adams, 80, a retired recreation supervisor living in an Oceanside mobile home park, will be attending a Republican Party gala for high rollers this week in Washington.

The Republicans sent her complimentary plane tickets and hotel reservations.

The event is the spring meeting of the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle.

Two days of insider briefings and a party with President and Mrs. Bush.

Invited are people who have given $1,000 or more to the party, plus a few honored guests such as Hall-Adams. Republicans figure that several races this fall are going to be close.

That’s where Hall-Adams comes in. She’s an expert on close races.

She and Babe Didrikson finished in an apparent dead heat in the 80-meter hurdles in the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The time: a world record 11.7 seconds.

In a disputed decision, judges gave the Gold Medal to Didrikson, the Silver to Hall-Adams.

Hall-Adams later turned pro and in 1988 was inducted into the Track Hall of Fame.

She’ll be among 3 dozen sports Hall of Famers invited to the Republican bash. Another: former Charger Coach Sid Gillman.

Hall-Adams doesn’t run much anymore, but the competitive spirit is undimmed.

She feels she was robbed in ‘32, and that she and Babe should have shared the gold.

Did I Say That?

It says here.

* Former San Diego Councilman Mike Gotch, running for Assembly, is using an old quote from Pete Wilson in his campaign literature: “Mike, working with you has been a great pleasure for me . . . “

Right, such a pleasure that in his latter years as mayor, Wilson put Gotch in political deep freeze and broke with council tradition to deny him a committee chairmanship.

* Law, language and lucre.

Warning in the felony arraignment division of San Diego Superior Court:”Front row reserved for attorneys, translators and revenue recovery.”

* North County bumper sticker: “Free Tibet.”