Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau are still churning out questionable content for
The New America series. The latest
press release publishing—
A Racial Melting Pot?—was authored by Draftfcb Strategic Planning Director Luiz Salles. The piece opens with, “For over 200 years, Americans have proudly referred to our nation as a ‘melting pot’—the intimation being that America is a shining example of the prosperity that can result from divergent cultures coming together to form a homogeneous and (hopefully) more harmonious common culture.” The statement displays a certain sense of revisionist history. According to
Wikipedia, while the melting metaphor has been around since the 1780s, it didn’t become popular in America until the 1908 play titled, “The Melting Pot.” Native Americans, Blacks and other non-White citizens have not “proudly” used the term for over 200 years. Indeed, many minorities have rejected the phrase, favoring metaphors like “mosaic” and “salad bowl” to identify the nation. Don’t know where the
cross-cultural advocates at Draftfcb might stand on the matter. Regardless, it boggles the mind that a concept such as “melting pot” would be addressed by an agency from Madison Avenue, where non-Whites have been systematically rejected for over 70 years. And the outrageous factor is compounded when considering the agency, Draftfcb, remains among the most
culturally clueless in the industry. It’s a wonder the piece didn’t cite
Schoolhouse Rock as its primary reference source.
7 comments:
You missed the point of the article. The point was that America has been a melting pot in name only and that America is not a true melting pot if the only ingredients are white people. I'd be happy to engage in a conversation with you about this topic, but from what I can tell, you're more interested in tearing into people and their places of employment. I like where I work. And I work with good, smart people who don't have an agenda (including Ken, who wrote the Adage article you linked). They just want to do good work. You'd be surprised by how many ad agencies push authenticity and shared values over tokenism when it comes to how different races are portrayed in communications. If you're interested in engaging on this topic, here's my personal email: luiz242@gmail.com. Note the spelling of my name, which you also got wrong. Have a good night - Luiz
Sorry for the misspelled name, which has been corrected. Thanks for the comment.
A few more things, Mr. Salles. You missed the point of the post. Also, you used the wrong form of “its” in the final paragraph of your report. Hey, misspellings happen. Good night.
Actually, I did get your point. And you are wrong. I said that Americans have used the term. I made no mention of minorities or popularity. You did. As for pointing out an extra apostrophe in my write-up, thanks. You did that just because I mentioned that you misspelled my name, which doesn't bother me and happens daily - even in the press release that announced my hiring. Isn't that a bit petty of you? If I had the time, desire and energy to review all of your posts, I'd probably find the occasional mistake. By the way, the DraftFCB I work at is not on "Madison Avenue" and, being non-white, I guess I fell through the "systemic rejection" that goes on at the agency. Have you no interest in engaging in a constructive conversation or are you just going to hide behind a keyboard?
Actually, there is no interest in engaging with you. BTW, Madison Avenue is a term regularly used here to refer to the advertising industry overall. It was understood from your byline that you worked in Chicago. You should consider re-reading the post. It is almost entirely factual, including identifying Draftfcb as among the most culturally clueless agencies around. Additionally, it was never stated all non-Whites have been systematically rejected for over 70 years. But your own leader—Laurence Boschetto—recently acknowledged the discrimination and inequities non-Whites have historically faced in our field. Then again, he’s probably wrong. Or perhaps, Mr. Salles, you are the one who is wrong—about many things. Cheers.
You clearly don't understand the difference between an opinion and a fact. Do you really think I am unaware of the use of the term "Madison Avenue" and how it is used? Nobody even says that anymore. Maybe the occasional hack. Your lack of engagement is probably the reason why a quick scan of your posts shows that you have few readers, if any. Instead of alienating people who work in the field, you cowardly sit behind your keyboard and make petty, snarky comments. You're the Stadler and Waldorf of the industry. And you contribute nothing. Congrats. Don't bother responding. I won't be back.
Buh-bye!
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