The Memorial Service for Caylee Marie Anthony is scheduled for Tuesday February 10 at 10am at the First Baptist Church, Orlando. I am very much in favor of a public memorial for our “peanut” as some of us refer to her and very much against the current plans for it.

There are thousands of people across the US and outside our borders that fell in love with this child at the first sight of her beaming, trusting smile. As we watched the sickening saga unfold with thinly veiled contempt, we never miss a Nancy Grace or Geraldo. We RSS’d every forum and outlet, and we post and blog our hearts out.  Caylee was found, she was murdered and a new and palpable collective cry for justice has us thirsting for even more “access” to news and those in the “know” of this case.

Problem is, while we are all spending our time consuming every lick of information we can get our hands on, the ratings and media whores are lining their pockets with your money. They are now in receipt of your compassion, time and cash.  Caylee is never seeing any of that.

Stop the Insanity

It is unfortunate, but the truth is the venue and format of this memorial is a hot-bed for trouble. It is a security risk to the enth degree.  Do you recall the Springer family outside the Anthony’s screaming and closing their kid in the car door? Would you pack a room full of people like that and sit in the middle?

The very possibility that once again this child’s memory will be soiled with the Murt and Lert’s of the world, or worse, is unbearable to me. Leonard Padilla is on record saying he is not invited and verbally attacking Cindy over it. So what is he doing in O R L A W N D O? I’ll make this simple, he’s going to do the same thing he did during the TES search, which is stand around and give interviews and take pictures with people that were saying “well, at least he’s looking for her…” I WAS THERE. Leonard, Rob, and Tracy did not search for anything but the nearest TV camera.   The Econ river stunt was PRE-PLANNED. The only information he had about Caylee being in the river was that: SHE WAS NOT IN THE RIVER. It was a contrived publicity stunt and when Greta Van Sustern called him out about it, he has not been back to her show. For the record, in the beginning, I was an advocate of Leonard’s as I believed like most that he was well-intentioned and legitimately looking for Caylee.  Let me count the holes in my Christmas card list as a result.  Don’t take my word for it, he takes everyone’s call; ask him how many pics he and Tracy have been shopping from inside the Anthony home we can expect to see?

Here’s my prediction.  He will be on camera giving commentary on Monday and Tuesday and will say something like “The memorial is a sham anyway because Caylee is still in a box at the funeral home  because her Mother won’t release her and the Anthony’s won’t bury her without  Casey because they  believe they will find the one-armed babysitter responsible for her death.

Inflaming people =Market Value= Cash.  Yep, all boils down to the permissive marketing strategy developed by Seth Godin that all of us in the Agency biz cut our teeth on.  I for one am opting out.

Because IT MATTERS

I have spent countless hours of analytics and investigative work, sharing much of it with you, the reader, on Caylee’s case for 3 reasons:

To find her. The thought of that baby out there discarded like some ill-fitting shoe that gave you calluses so you tossed them for a better fit haunted me. Never mind that the new shoes were stolen out of someone else’s closet. Metaphorically speaking of course. The closet in this scenario being the region of her mind where she stores her reality.

To expose anyone, any entity, any organization that profits or attempts to profit on the death of this baby.

To restore the legacy Caylee deserves.  This innocent child should be remembered for the ethereal cherub she was.  Anytime I ever hear a child say “Are you tired Poppa?” I will think of her sweet voice. She inspired thousands of people to act on her behalf in any way they could contribute their skills, energy, time, and in some cases money.  SHE MATTERS. We could not protect her in her life; I feel obligated to do it in her memory and am asking for your help.

On Tuesday I do not plan to watch once one millisecond of coverage of this memorial. I simply cannot be a witness to what I know ultimately has nothing to do with honoring this baby.  You all have been eulogizing her without agendas or selfishness for months with beautiful YouTube tributes, artwork, poems, etc.  SHARE THAT WITH SOMEONE.  Make a list of things you have wanted to do with your children that you have not had time for; and scratch one off that day.  Say something kind to somebody that needs to hear it.  Research a missing person’s case in your area and ask how you can volunteer. If I haven’t listed anything compelling enough for you and you insist, watch with a pad and pen. Make a list of all the sponsors during the commercials.  Find someone with access to redbook and research their agencies of record. Call them and ask them how much the increase in spot purchase increased and how much of the margin of profit increase they will be passing on to their customers in such an economy. If they don’t hang up on you, follow up with asking what they will be donating philanthropically this year.

Report back and tell me if you wished you went for door number one.