Essay 4841

The GM fiasco—along with the comments for Pepper Miller’s post at AdAge.com’s The Big Tent (see Essay 4834)—leads to another question:

Can we discuss multicultural marketing without igniting a nasty political debate?

Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to separate the racial and ethnic components. And nothing heats up a party like race and ethnicity—especially on Madison Avenue, where the two are often accompanied by sinister and sneaky behavior from the ruling majority.

However, a big issue involves the levels of experience and expertise on the matters. That is, the participants usually range from the culturally clueless to the spirited militant. To be clear, this is not a judgment on anyone in the conference; rather, it’s just an observation meant to acknowledge the conversational challenges. Perhaps a skilled moderator should be enlisted whenever the subject is publicly examined. Although it’s likely an argument would ensue over selecting the role player.

That said, MultiCultClassics would like to respond to a few comments.

One writer offered, “Eventually minority agencies will not be stand-alone entities, they’ll return to the [general-market] tent. It’s just that the definition of [general-market] will change from just implying white. …Progress is eventually making minority agencies obsolete.”

There’s a lot of smart thinking from this individual, but let’s consider a different perspective on the last points.

Minority agencies didn’t defect from “the [general-market] tent,” so it’s incorrect to speculate they’ll return. And in this scenario, progress is absolutely not making minority agencies obsolete.

The truth is, the traditional general-market shops are careening into obsolescence. Hell, most of them are already there. In the desperate attempt to stop the hemorrhaging profits, these companies are grabbing money from every possible source. The multicultural shops are easy targets.

This is a case of reverse Robin Hood, with the rich stealing from the poor to fill their own barren coffers. When times were good, the general-market shops were content to let minorities eat the table scraps. But now, even the crumbs are being seized. Greed is eventually making minority agencies obsolete.

Another blogger called minority shops, “The New Segregationists.” Sorry, we should declare it’s, “The Revival Of The Old Segregationists.”

What makes this totally outrageous is Madison Avenue’s historical failure with diversity. There would be zero problems if the general-market shops were a tiny bit, well, non-White. Then perhaps we could agree the world was moving toward colorblind Nirvana. But even The Big Tent’s self-proclaimed Pollyannaish Tiffany R. Warren would have trouble ratifying that notion. Instead, it appears the White men are raiding the minority villages, plundering and pillaging like the old days.

Finally, the writer accusing MultiCultClassics of acting racist and exhibiting double standards needs to wake up. If you spend time here, you’ll find minority agencies are strongly criticized too—perhaps more than White shops. Additionally, it’s healthy to occasionally put the shoe on the other foot. Feeling hurt over being labeled something you’re not? Welcome to the club. You’re getting a small taste of life across the divide. In the GM spectacle, minority agencies are disrespected and shat upon by gobs of folks. You want to whine about the ravings of a single blog? Please.

To close on a new note, MultiCultClassics presents the latest parody ad…