The parody advertising agency diversity recruitment ads presented this week drew lots of visitors—special thanks to the folks at Agency Spy, Adrants and Copyranter for hyping the series.
One comment left at another blog warrants a brief response.
The comment read, “From what I’ve seen, most agencies just want top Talent and don’t care about anything physical. It just so happens that the pool to draw from is not very diverse to begin with—that is the real issue.”
This statement actually goes to the heart of problem, and it spotlights the challenges ahead.
First of all, who is defining the pool in such a narrow-minded fashion? The advertising industry is supposedly driven by breakthrough creative thinking. If an art director or copywriter adopted the position that any project had finite solutions, they would be dismissed as hacks. Yet we continue to allow people to present clichéd reasoning when addressing diversity.
An inclusive industry will only come about when everyone—especially the majority figures with hiring authority—becomes more proactive and innovative. Advertising leaders recognize the imperative for new business models to ensure corporate survival. The search for talent demands a similar visionary stance.
The diverse candidates have always been ready and available. It just requires that we sail into deeper waters versus wading in the same small pool of familiarity.
Accept no limitations.
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