Upbeat Hawaiian Ad Campaign Gets Mixed Reviews

It was definitely a first.

This fall, the chairmen of Hawaii's two biggest banks appeared together in a series of television commercials.

And the two chiefs, Walter A. Dods Jr., of First Hawaiian Inc., and Lawrence M. Johnson, of Bancorp Hawaii, didn't have to study method acting to get their parts right.

After standing side by side without smiling, they broke into wide grins and gave a thumbs-up.

A narrator said:

"These are two of Hawaii's best-known bankers. They spend a lot of their time competing for customers. Now they're focusing their interest on one big idea, that Hawaii's future is in all of our hands."

One of many TV, radio, and print advertisements in a $1.3 million "Thumbs Up Hawaii" campaign led by the two banks, the five-month project is now nearing its conclusion.

Part of the effort is sheer boosterism, to convince Hawaiians that after a five-year slump, the state's economy is about to recover. The ads, along with Thumbs-Up bumper stickers and T-shirts, are also supposed to remind Hawaiians that they can help the recovery by buying local goods and services.

Mr. Dods, who put the campaign together, said Thumbs Up is needed to boost Hawaii's lagging consumer and business confidence.

According to First Hawaiian's chief economist, Leroy O. Laney, Hawaii is poised to start adding jobs next year, after having lost 24,000 jobs since 1992. Mr. Laney also is forecasting 2% growth in 1996, compared with 0% to 1% growth in the last five years. But surveys by the bank indicate that only 30% of Hawaiians believe the economy will improve next year. Last year, 60% were expecting an improvement.

Mr. Dods said he got the idea for Thumbs Up from N.W. "Red" Pope, an executive vice president of the bank. Mr. Pope worked on a similar campaign for Sun Banks in Florida in 1976.

Mr. Dods then recruited Mr. Johnson to support the effort, as well as a newly formed executive council of civic and business leaders.

Both First Hawaiian and Bancorp Hawaii contributed $250,000 of cash and services to the campaign. Thirty other Hawaiian businesses agreed to put in the rest of the money and marketing materials.

Hawaii Gov. Benjamin Cayetano has endorsed the campaign, along with Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, and the mayors of Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. Even President Clinton posed for a thumbs-up photograph.

But has the effort been worth it?

The answer is debatable. The ads apparently rubbed many Hawaiians the wrong way, judging by letters to the Honolulu Advertiser, the state's biggest newspaper.

"The company I work for is a sponsor of Thumbs Up, but as I write this letter the company is asking us for wage and benefit concessions," wrote one reader, Jeff Lilley.

"The hypocrisy knows no bounds. It's great to try to think positively, but how about improving our standard of living so we can join in on the spending?" he added.

Another letter writer, Bobbie Black, suggested that readers join "the hottest new organization in town - PAP(e) - People Against Patronizing (executives)."

The Advertiser wrote in an editorial that about 90% of the letters it was receiving were against the campaign. Jerry Burris, the newspaper's editorial page editor, said that while the campaign was laudable in principle, too many of the early advertisements were thin on specifics.

"It was perceived as things are bad, but these guys are telling us, 'Why don't we whistle like Bobby McFerrin?'" Mr. Burris said.

Mr. Burris said he thought that later advertisements were better because they were more detailed. For example, some ads noted that the number of tourists traveling to Hawaii had risen to all-time highs. Others profiled prospering businesses, or suggested local products to buy, or trips to make.

But Mr. Burris said he believes the initial ads left such a "bad taste in people's mouths" that the campaign "didn't do all that much good."

Mr. Dods disagreed. He said surveys show that 80% of Hawaiians "had some form of positive reaction" to the campaign.

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