Essay 1250

More comments responding to the latest Marc Brownstein perspective presented in Essay 1245…

> Dana and Mark — In my previous post, I offered kind words to Mark for the effort before I explained why, though valiant, the effort is misguided. Here’s an attempt to clarify: First, while Mark did not specifically label the kids he wishes to target as “underprivileged,” this is exactly who he is going after when he says he wants to seek out student bodies “primarily of color.” Let’s pretend for a second that I was merely being assumptive and there was no intention to associate minorities with the needy — regardless, a minimum amount of research about primarily minority communities will lead you to statistics that will make that connection for you. Second, nevertheless, doing something good for minorities, the colored, underprivileged, or whatever you want to call them is great. Those kids will learn something about an exciting industry and will hopefully be inspired. However, diversity in advertising is beyond this sort of help — it’s about hiring qualified individuals from all backgrounds and experiences to feed an industry that lives and breathes on diverse insights and creative ideas. Mr. Brownstein’s middle-school-aged targets won’t even be old enough to work for another 10 years. What are we going to do until then? Third and last, when these children are of age, they will STILL be faced with the ad agency culture issues I already spoke about. You can do good things for them while they’re young and give them internships when they get older, but when they graduate and are on the job hunt, they will STILL face an industry that promotes hiring clones of current employees. How can this be fixed? Step out of your comfort zone and hire different people. If you can’t find them, LOOK. While it may be more difficult to find a qualified candidate on the senior level, it certainly is not on the junior level. Mr. Brownstein is in Philadelphia, home of several institutions of higher learning. I suggest that he contact some university career centers and find out when and where he can set up a booth at a career day or recruiting fair. Create some materials that promote advertising as an exciting career choice full of diverse experiences and people. That would be a good start until the middle-schoolers graduate next decade. P.S. Dana — the whole “it’s about the students, not us” thing is a poor excuse for neglecting to take a look at what the real problem is. It’s these excuses that people use to make themselves feel better that keep real progress from happening. — Chicago, IL

> Mark, you can’t seem to catch a break! I commend you for putting actions behind your words, even if some people disagree with your approach. Brandon, you are obviously very close and passionate about this issue. The unfortunate thing is that I believe you have misinterpreted Mark’s words. I cannot see where Mr. Brownstein mentions “the underprivileged” or “inner-city dwellers are minorities.” Mark mentions schools whose student body is primarily of color, but I think it is a bit assumptive on your part, don’t you think? Don’t get me wrong, Brandon, I agree with searching for qualified candidates of color, but Mark’s point is that he’d like to see more. I don’t see his efforts as a charity, it seems like a conscious effort to educate an untapped market of talent. Let’s be honest, the people who are going to [benefit] the most from his efforts are the students, not him. Thanks, Mark! — Minneapolis, MN

> What happens when you’re not the average “white” guy? Where does that person go? Where can he fit in? You know…the white guy who grew up in black/hispanic communities and has a strong sense of what would work and what wouldn’t. Should he/she go to the “ethnic” agencies where there is a slight chance of getting in or go to the GM agencies where he he/she might not fit in? — Philadelphia, PA

> bravo to brandon burns. well put. i would also add the following based on 15 years at big and mid-sized and small agencies in Chicago, NYC and out west: hiring is only part of the problem. as a black male, when I was at GM shops i always had the luxury of knowing that our budgets and treatment was 10 times that of what every ethnic shop received. it wasn’t [clear] until i went to ethnic/targeted shops. imagine, mr. brownstein being told that no matter how good your shop’s work is, no matter how valid your research and insights may be, that you are not even allowed to compete for AOR status. why? because you are white. that’s what it is to work at black and hispanic agencies--to be relegated to the “ethnic” business even when your ideas and insights outperform the GM shops. hiring is just the tip of a very big, ugly and entrenched iceberg. as for the internship program, i tried launching a minority internship program while at several GM shops in the 90s and 2000s. in each case i was accused of “reverse discrimination.” the programs had to be open not just to blacks and hispanics and asians but also to whites. guess what the companies did: hire all white interns. please don’t do this with your program, mr. brownstein. you seem like you want to do better, so let’s see you do better. — chicago, IL