17566: Only You Can Prevent… NVM.

 

Should Smokey Bear take responsibility for the extreme rise in wildfires—or will the iconic critter blame California Governor Gavin Newsom?

17017: WTF Is Smokey Bear Smoking?

 

Smokey Bear is celebrating 80 years of preventing wildfires together.

 

Yeah, nice job on preventing those California wildfires, dude.

16751: Trump Gets Burnt By Smokey Bear…?

 

Did the Ad Council and Smokey Bear approve this message? Former President Donald Trump will undoubtedly wonder if Smokey is a Black bear.

16744: No Love For Love Has No Labels…?

 

AgencySpy posted on the latest performative propaganda involving Ad Council and its Love Has No Labels campaign.

 

Ad Council President and CEO Lisa Sherman gushed, “No one should face discrimination because of who they are. There is more that unites us than divides us, and this new campaign was designed to empower individuals across the country to see the inequities impacting so many…”

 

Okay, except Ad Council consistently discriminates, handing big-budget projects to White advertising agencies and brushing crumbs to non-White shops.

 

It’s also ironic that the White digital agency responsible for Love Has No Labels—R/GA—is getting no love from White holding company IPG.

 

There is a label for this scenario: Bullshit.

 

The Latest ‘Love Has No Labels’ PSAs Target LGBTQ+ Discrimination

 

By Kyle O'Brien

 

The Ad Council has launched the latest effort in its Emmy-Award-winning “Love Has No Labels” campaign, to raise awareness of the ongoing discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ people and to remind audiences how they can help create a more accepting and inclusive society.

 

The new “American Dreams” PSAs highlight the barriers that exist in achieving equality and protection against discrimination and threats of violence.

 

Since the initial launch of the campaign nearly a decade ago, hatred and division are still rampant, with rising discrimination targeting LGBTQ+ people and increasing their risks of experiencing housing and broader discrimination. Many people across the country are unaware of the current threats to the LGBTQ+ community.

 

“American Dreams” was developed pro bono by R/GA, directed by Luke Gilford, and produced by Golden LA highlights the shared humanity, dreams and hopes of people across all walks of life, juxtaposed against the reality for LGBTQ+ people.

 

In “A Place to Call Home,” we see an idyllic suburban home with a diverse, happy cast of people enjoying their home and yard. The tone changes when the front door shuts and the reality of discrimination sets in. It ends with “In over 50% of U.S. states, you could legally be denied housing.”

 

“The Freedom to Live in Safety” shows a same sex family in a diner, with the reality being that LGBTQ+ are four times more likely to be victims of violent crime.

 

A third spot, “The Opportunity to Work for a Better Life” highlights the discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the workplace.

 

All spots direct audiences to the LoveHasNoLabels.com website, where people are encouraged to learn about the legal protections, or lack thereof, in their state, read stories from LGBTQ+ people about their experiences with discrimination, and access resources to help foster more accepting communities.

 

“No one should face discrimination because of who they are,” said Ad Council president and CEO Lisa Sherman in a statement. “There is more that unites us than divides us, and this new campaign was designed to empower individuals across the country to see the inequities impacting so many and take actions that help ensure that LGBTQ+ people also have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.”

 

The campaign’s latest initiative was funded by California’s Bridge Project Fund, state bill 447, which creates a fund that can be used to create non-partisan, inclusive messaging, discourage discrimination, and help members of the LGBTQ+ community feel less isolated.

 

“The Ad Council’s Love Has No Labels ‘American Dreams’ campaign is more than just a message—it’s a call to action,” said Robin Forbes, global chief executive officer at R/GA. “It’s an urgent reminder that we must all take steps to ensure LGBTQ+ individuals are treated with the respect and equality they deserve. R/GA is proud to partner with The Ad Council to tackle these issues head-on, reinforcing that we’re all human before anything else.”

 

The campaign will appear nationwide through inventory donated by the media industry, including iHeartMedia which also produced audio assets for the campaign.

16703: Tearing Into Tear The Paper Ceiling.

 

Continue to be annoyed by the hypocrisy of the Tear The Paper Ceiling campaign. Sure, the endeavor is positive, praise-worthy, and progressive. But are the high-paid executives at the Ad Council and White advertising agency behind the concept hiring degree-free people of color?

 

There’s probably no ceiling to the stacks of paper being collected by the culturally clueless creators—while the depicted job seekers receive crumbs.

 

16314: Ad Council Elevates Diego Scotti.

 

Advertising Age reported that the Ad Council appointed soon-to-be-departing Verizon CMO Diego Scotti as the new chair of its board of directors. Whoop-dee-damn-doo.

 

The role is a volunteer status position, right? Would hate to think the chair—a gig that rotates yearly—might receive any monetary compensation.

 

In contrast, various sources show Ad Council executives collecting generous salaries, with President & CEO Lisa Sherman raking in nearly $1.2 million annually—and many other executives pocketing at least $200k and up to $475k. That’s a lot for a nonprofit organization.

 

To make a semi-sloppy segue, it begs questions regarding the Ad Council’s diversity vendor budget—that is, how much money goes to minority-owned enterprises versus White-women-owned companies? And how does the diversity vendor budget compare to the loot awarded to White advertising agencies? Crumbs to cake, no doubt.

 

Hey, Ad Council even has a history of hiring White people to play minorities.

 

Ad Council Appoints Diego Scotti As New Board Chair

 

Scotti is set to depart Verizon as CMO later this year

 

By Asa Hiken

 

The Ad Council has appointed Diego Scotti as the new chair of its board of directors. The longtime marketing executive is slated to step down from his current role as chief marketing officer and executive VP at Verizon later this year, though it’s unclear whether he has another job lined up.

 

Scotti joined the Ad Council board of directors in 2016, led its diversity task force from 2018 to 2021 and has served as its vice chair since 2020. He succeeds Jacki Kelley, executive VP, chief client officer and chief business officer at IPG, who served the typical chair term of one year. Tara Walpert Levy, VP at YouTube, Americas, and co-vice chair of the Ad Council’s board of directors, will succeed Scotti as chair this time next year.

 

In his new role, Scotti will work with the Ad Council’s governing body and other leadership to spearhead the communication industry’s efforts to address social issues such as mental health, gun violence and racial justice. The non-profit organization typically creates national campaigns to draw attention to these issues; for example, in April the Ad Council teamed with Amazon for an audio-focused campaign addressing teen mental health.

 

At Verizon, where he has served as CMO since 2014, Scotti helped formulate the Responsible Marketing Action Plan, which is the telecom company’s long-term commitment to furthering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). He also founded Adfellows, a marketing fellowship targeted toward building diversity at Verizon.

 

“Diego’s unrelenting commitment to DEI and social impact has been an invaluable asset to the Ad Council and is one of the many reasons he is going to be extraordinary in his role as Board Chair,” said Lisa Sherman, president and chief executive of the Ad Council, in a press statement.

 

Scotti’s appointment follows recent additions to the Ad Council that were made in April, which included a new chief media officer, DJ Perrera, and new board members.

16272: COVID-19 & Crumbs.

 

An image used to promote COVID-19 vaccinations for Latinx audiences has been recycled to hype flu shots. Ad Council, AMA, and CDC seem to be saying, “We have time for our loved ones. But not much of a budget—so enjoy these crumbs.”

16109: Paper Tigers Roaring Over The Paper Ceiling.

 

Advertising Age published PR puffery from Ad Council, hyping its “Tear the Paper Ceiling” campaign—featured in a previous post—which was created in partnership with Opportunity@Work and Ogilvy. To recap, the concept is designed to build awareness for degree discrimination, whereby people allegedly face bias because they don’t have a college education.

 

The Ad Age piece is particularly offensive in featuring executives with ties to Ogilvy and Ad Council, as well as assorted cronies. The quoted promoters gush with enthusiasm for the program and condemnation for degree discrimination. Sorry, but advertising agency officers feigning outrage over biased hiring practices involving diplomas is hypocrisy to the highest degree.

 

Indeed, Adland is extraordinarily guilty of showing favoritism to graduates of White universities and White ad portfolio schools. Why, the industry only recently discovered the existence of HBCUs.

 

Keep in mind, too, how Ad Council assigns its most prestigious assignments to White advertising agencies, while brushing crumbs at minority-owned firms.

 

For the folks behind the article and campaign, bullshit has no ceiling.

 

How You Can Tear Down The ‘Paper Ceiling’ And Uncover New Talent

 

By Lisa Sherman

 

STARs are all around us, the more than 70 million workers in the U.S. who are “skilled through alternative routes” (STARs), rather than via college degrees, and they make up 50% of the U.S. workforce.

 

But in an industry driven by breakthrough ideas, why is it that so many of us still screen candidates based on their educational backgrounds and pedigrees instead of the skills and potential they bring to the table? And how many leaders truly know the number of talented STARs already working within their organizations who should be given more opportunities to advance?

 

Last fall, the Ad Council partnered with Opportunity@Work (with the support of nearly 50 national organizations) to launch a national campaign to change the narrative around the value of STARs. With a PSA calling on all of us to “Tear the Paper Ceiling”—a rallying cry coined by our volunteer ad agency Ogilvy NY—we’re bringing attention to the invisible barrier that holds STARs back from opportunity and prevents employers from tapping into their skills.

 

I asked a few of our incredible partners to reflect on their involvement and the lessons they’ve learned: Devika Bulchandani, global CEO, Ogilvy; Jacki Kelly, CEO, Dentsu, and board chair at the Ad Council; Byron Auguste, CEO, Opportunity@Work; Aneesh Raman, VP and head of Opportunity Project, LinkedIn; Michelle Hillman, chief campaign development officer, the Ad Council; and Justin Hutchinson, director of business development, ThreeSixtyEight, and a STAR himself. Here’s what they shared.

 

Devika Bulchandani: Nothing unifies people like a common enemy. In this case, our enemy is an unseen, unspoken barrier between talented workers and the companies that need their skills. Our creative team wanted to give the enemy a name, something that we can all rally against: the paper ceiling.

 

Our hope is that storytellers, leaders and creative thinkers across our industry will join us in using the language of the paper ceiling to raise awareness of this issue, which is deeply embedded in hiring and advancement practices. The more people hear about the paper ceiling, the easier it is for them to remember it, recognize it when they see it and ultimately work together to dismantle it.

 

Jacki Kelley: Dentsu is honored to partner with the Ad Council to provide pro bono media strategy and outreach to this effort and we are committed to “tearing the paper ceiling” within our own walls.

 

We’ve equipped our interview teams with the tools to identify potential and to challenge their own biases by looking for culture adds, not culture fit. We’ve also launched Dentsu’s Media Experience, an apprenticeship program designed to remove barriers to entering the industry, which welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds and experiences.

 

We believe in securing high performing talent that enhances our work and culture through diverse lived experiences. Skills-based hiring helps us accomplish just that.

 

Byron Auguste: Smart companies are tearing the paper ceiling by removing unnecessary bachelor’s degree screens and tapping into the STAR talent pool featuring a diverse range of skills for in-demand jobs. Without a STARs talent strategy, you only have half a talent strategy.

 

Opportunity@Work’s STARs hiring playbook and other “Tear the Paper Ceiling” campaign resources illustrate a variety of proven ways for employers to implement STAR talent strategies. This campaign also offers a platform for STARs in our partner organizations to share their own stories and lead the way. Bottom line: Companies that prioritize skills versus pedigree and proactively recruit and grow STAR talent at scale will innovate, adapt and future-proof their workforce.

 

Aneesh Raman: For too long, the way people got hired was based solely on the job they had, the degree they earned or the people they knew. That's starting to change, and we see it happening on LinkedIn. Nearly one in four U.S. jobs no longer require degrees, as more employers realize that focusing on the actual skills people bring to the table can solve some of our biggest business challenges and unlock opportunities for millions of overlooked candidates. These include the 61% of Black workers or 55% of Hispanic workers who are STARs, as well as the 66% of rural workers and 61% of veterans.

 

Adopting a skills-first approach that brings these workers into the fold will lead to more resilient businesses, more diverse teams and ultimately a more equitable labor market.

 

Michelle Hillman: Many communications efforts in this space to date have focused on encouraging STARs to build their skills. We’re now taking a dual-audience approach to help drive demand from the employer side. Everyone can play a role in helping tear the paper ceiling, whether we refer contacts for job openings or help interview candidates. 

 

At the Ad Council, we’re embracing skills-based hiring, including removing education requirements from job descriptions and promoting openings across job boards that reach candidates from a wide range of backgrounds. I look forward to seeing how our industry flourishes when we all help create more opportunities for STARs and give them the chance to shine.

 

Justin Hutchinson: College football was a dream of mine that could have become reality, but once my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer higher education became an afterthought. After his passing, I worked at a smoothie shop where the CEO of a marketing agency recognized my people skills and offered me an internship. Five years later, I lead our business development department. ThreeSixtyEight developed the campaign website, and our client was so moved by my story, they featured it in a PSA.

 

STARs like me are everywhere, and it only takes one person to advocate for us so we can show what we’re capable of. I encourage you to be that person in your workplace, and I encourage STARs everywhere to know their worth and go after these opportunities when they come up.

 

To learn more about this campaign and how your organization can tap STAR talent, visit TearThePaperCeiling.org.

16104: Shuffling Papers To Avoid Accountability For Exclusivity.

 

Adweek spotlighted promotional propaganda from Ogilvy, Opportunity@Work, and Ad Council designed to build awareness for the Paper Ceiling—defined as degree discrimination—whereby people allegedly face bias because they don’t have a college degree.

 

The divershitty showpiece is titled, “Tear the Paper Ceiling,” featuring over 30,000 pieces of paper from actual resumes representing the over 70 million workers in the U.S. Or, more likely, the discarded CVs of minority candidates applying for jobs at White advertising agencies like Ogilvy.

16027: Ad Council Cannot See The Progress For The Heat Shields.

 

For Ad Council, discovering the forest trumps diversity, equity and inclusion.

16006: Ad Council DEI Strategery.

Advertising Age published another perspective from Ad Council Chief Equity Officer Elise James-DeCruise, providing instructional advice titled, “How To Add A Career-Accelerator To Your DEI Strategy.” Um, most White advertising agencies don’t have a legitimate “DEI Strategy”—besides delegating diversity to resident minorities, fabricating embryo recruitment schemes and hyping heat shields for self-promotional purposes. All of which appears to be the contrived and clichéd maneuver that Ad Council is executing here—right down to having the fluff piece illustrated by a royalty-free stock photograph (depicted above).

 

How To Add A Career-Accelerator Program To Your DEI Strategy

 

By Elise James-DeCruise

 

Last week, the Ad Council launched its first cohort of our new Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program, which aims to provide recent BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) graduates with in-depth experiences, mentorship and targeted training across a range of business functions that will help them advance in their new careers.

 

The five-week program reflects the Ad Council’s diversity, equity and inclusion commitments to not only become a truly equitable organization at every level, but also to create industry-leading programs for the marketplace and community.

 

Building a program like this is a powerful way to uplift members of marginalized communities, address representation, diversify the pipeline and build bridges all at once. If you’re considering launching a similar program for young professionals within your own organization, here are four recommendations to consider.

 

1. Use a six-pillar approach to programming.

 

Our initial three-pillar approach to programming quickly grew to six: mentoring sessions, speakers, “Ask Me Anything” conversations, group projects, professional development education and time for structured reflection.

 

The last pillar is important. While each section offers powerful resources for fellows to take into their careers, building in time and structure for reflection along the way encourages them to understand that taking the time to process is a critical component of taking action.

 

2. Your DEI strategy should go beyond the walls of your organization. This is one way to do it.

 

At the Ad Council we look at DEI initiatives through four lenses: the workforce, the workplace, the marketplace and the community. Your workforce is about eliminating bias in your hiring practices, and workplace efforts focus on culture and retention. So, what about those last two? Building programs such as this are a great way to reach out, lift up and give back.

 

3. There are no competitors, only partners.

 

Programs like this are only possible with the support of a wide network of partners. They take everything from securing financial support at the organizational level to finding people who commit their time and resources to show up as educators and supporters. 

 

And, of course, there are all the people behind the scenes, and the outreach that must be done to build the programming and find the participants who would benefit from the support. A program like this is no small feat, but the ripple effect it can have on a career—and even generational wealth—is immeasurable. In other words, there are no competitors here. When we come together to support historically marginalized groups, everyone wins.

 

4. Use the initiative to examine your own practices.

 

You’ve built the program, you’ve found your fellows, everything goes well—roll credits, right? Not exactly. Take the time to ask yourself and those around you: Would one of these fellows have been considered for a position at your organization? If not, why not?

 

The tools you’ve used to build a productive program are the very same tools you can use to dismantle institutionalized practices that may be biased, inequitable or racist, and these are the tools we must continue to use as we work together to build a truly equitable workforce where everyone can thrive.

15986: Love Has No Labels—But Does It Have Metrics?

 

Ad Council continues to extend its Love Has No Labels propaganda. It would be interesting to see the collected data and measurements—that is, have learnings, actions and donations to fight racial injustice increased as a result of this patronizing puffery? Hell, has it even impacted the systemic racism prevalent in Adland at all?

15985: Puffing Puffery.

 

To put it bluntly: this banner demonstrates high hypocrisy.

 

Adland is lighting up revenue-generating rewards from CBD marketing while Ad Council funds responsible driving messages. Just say whoa.