6141: Riding The Subway.

The letters below were published at AdAge.com in response to the Subway post by Karl Carter. A brief MultiCultClassics response immediately follows.

Subway ads prompt race discussion

RE: “You Might Be a Racist When…” (AdAge.com, Oct. 31). There is no objective reality called “racist.” There is only what I see and what you see and they are equally real. For me, the Subway ad is racist because it is sloppy and indifferent and incompetent in its use of black/urban cultural cues to promote its product. The problem with the ad was not that it sucked. The problem with the ad was that it never tried to be good. It never cared enough about the audience to try to be genuinely interesting, relevant or persuasive.

Could a more diverse creative team have done a better job? Undoubtedly. But so could an all-white team, as long as they cared enough to learn their audience, as long as they respected their audience enough not to assume they already knew everything they needed to know.

Contrary to popular opinion, the best advertising does not come from brilliant creative minds. (None were in evidence here.) It comes from well-informed creative minds. And if you don’t have enough respect for your subject and your audience to become well-informed, then perhaps you’re being racist, and so is your work.

Mark Robinson
Ridgefield, Conn.


Recently, at an Orlando Advertising Federation Ad2 event, I enjoyed a spirited and informative discussion with a young African-American professional who said that her culture possessed so many nuances, more than any other culture, that the only people who could truly understand and market to the segment were African-Americans. I have been thinking about that a lot since we spoke, and while I am not sure if she was 100% right, wrong or somewhere in the middle, this article rekindled the discussion in my mind and got me thinking.

According to the definition used in this post, racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. By saying that you have to be African-American, for example, to market to African-Americans, aren’t you racist? Or is that cultural bias?

With all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience, is it truly necessary to “be from” to “market to”?

Larry Meador
Evok
Lake Mary, Fla.

These discussions tend to roll out the same way, presenting the same points of view.

Robinson does a decent job of playing his role. Meador does likewise. So MultiCultClassics will complete the clichéd conversation by examining Meador’s observations and inquiries.

Regarding “all the research that is out there to better understand a target audience,” well, it just ain’t out there. Even the minority shops struggle to find the funding to probe for real insights. In many instances, clients expect their minority partners to inherently “understand a target audience.”

Meador should watch what usually unfolds at traditional big (i.e., White) advertising agencies when a minority project appears. Rest assured, nobody taps into mystical research. Rather, every minority in the building—from staffers to mailroom attendants to cafeteria workers—is summoned into a conference room and frisked for cultural clues. Or like the Subway incident, the matter isn’t considered from a fresh perspective at all. Besides, having research rarely translates to having legitimate understanding.

As for wondering if a minority who believes they are best suited to address other minorities is a racist, well, let’s not get too wrapped up in technicalities. Maybe the minority is demonstrating bias. Whatever.

Then again, one could argue Madison Avenue is filled with Whites who believed—and continue to believe—they are most qualified to communicate to any audience on Earth. What other explanation would account for the lack of diversity? Should we question the possibility of racism in that scenario too?