13575: BHM 2017—U.K.

Hey, look! The U.K. celebrates Black History Month too! Not surprisingly, the Diversity Dashboard doesn’t feature any job listings for U.K. advertising agencies.

13573: BHM 2017—Colgate-Palmolive.

For Black History Month, Colgate-Palmolive connected with Black Girls CODE—which deserves all the support and donations you can offer.

13571: BHM 2017—Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola saluted Black History Month by spotlighting Shirley Hasley, a social and advertising pioneer.

Meet Shirley Hasley: The Accidental Coke Model Who Helped Make History

By Elliott Smith

By the time Shirley Hasley became an advertising pioneer, she’d already made history in her day job.

In 1965, Hasley was hired as the first African-American teacher in Mill Valley, Calif., a predominately white and affluent suburb of San Francisco. A recent graduate of San Francisco State, what should have been an exciting time for a young professional was instead fraught with the regressive racial politics of the day.

“It was not a welcome time for me,” Hasley recalled. “The parents really didn’t want me, and they were going to protest. That wasn’t the kind of welcome I wanted.”

But with the support of the superintendent and a strong reliance on her faith, Hasley stayed in her teaching position.

Then, in early-1966, a random encounter brought Coca-Cola into her life in an unexpected way.

“I was crossing the street going to my car, and a PR person for Coke said to me, ‘We are embarking on a new ad campaign that I thought you might be interested in,’” Hasley recalled. “He took a Polaroid and said he was sending it to headquarters, and if they liked me they would pursue the next step.”

Indeed, Coke was working on a new campaign that featured African-American professionals, including doctors, lawyers and, yes, teachers for a series of ads that asked readers “Do Things Go Better With Coke?”

Many of Coke’s early ads featuring African-Americans were centered around sports heroes and entertainment figures before shifting to people in “everyday life”. Mary Alexander made history when she was selected as the first female African-American Coke model in 1955.

“The intent was pretty obvious,” said Coca-Cola Archivist Ted Ryan. “Coke had been doing African-American focused ads since 1950, and this series was Coke’s way of normalizing race in America.”

Much to her surprise, Hasley got the call to be in an ad the following Monday, and initially deferred due to her impending wedding. But Coke persuaded the young teacher to fly to New York in December 1966 as part of a “honeymoon” trip for the photo shoot.

“I was really excited because I got to stay at the Plaza Hotel, which was quite ritzy,” Hasley remembers. “It’s exciting just to think back on it. It was quite an eye-opener for me. I was interested in horses, and we got to do part of the shoot in Central Park with horses. There were takes and takes and takes. It’s hard work!”

Another aspect Hasley said made the shoot special was that noted photographer Richard Avedon was taking the pictures. She shot at a local school, the Plaza and Central Park as part of the triptych in the advertisement. When the ads appeared in magazines like Ebony and Jet in the fall of 1967, it sent shockwaves through Halsey’s community.

“When I came back from the shoot, everyone was very excited,” she said. “That’s how I kind of became accepted in the community. It didn’t solve all the problems, but it was a way to be a part of the community.”

After the Coca-Cola ad, Hasley modeled in a few other pieces, but came to realize that her true calling was in the classroom.

“It challenged me to really look at what was important. If I had continued doing commercials, I would not have had my teaching career,” she said. “I’m glad I decided to continue with teaching.”

Hasley taught elementary school for 38 years before retiring to work on charitable causes in her community. She recently remarried, and as part of her honeymoon, took a trip to Atlanta, where she visited the World of Coca-Cola. To her surprise, she was recognized by employees and given a tour of the attraction.

Hasley took it as a sign that, after all these years, she and Coke are still connected.

“Back then, I didn’t really think about what the ad meant,” Hasley said. “I wasn’t thinking about making inroads. But now that it’s a proud memory, I’m pleased to be a part of the early (African-American) models. I’m glad that it is a part of my memory and has been a focal point of my life for all these years.”

13569: BHM 2017—SNL.

From Saturday Night Live, it’s the Russell Stover Black History Heart Shaped Box commercial.

13567: BHM 2017—Truth Initiative.

Okay, it’s technically not a Black History Month moment, but Campaign reported the Truth Initiative is turning smoking into a social justice issue by comparing Big Tobacco’s targeting of Blacks to racial profiling. The concept was hatched by 72andSunny, which adds layers of hypocrisy and deceit to the propaganda. Plus, it’s not even an original notion—simply type “Newport” into this blog’s search field to see. “We hope young people will help us spread the word,” said Truth Initiative CEO and President Robin Koval. “When you see a social injustice, when you see tobacco being advertised up to 10 times more in black neighborhoods, call it out. We’re always looking to get young people to engage with us whether sharing our hashtag or coming to thetruth.com to enroll. The way we’ll stop this is by getting young people engaged.” Hey, wait until the young people gain awareness of the discriminatory exclusivity happening at White advertising agencies like 72andSunny. It’s bona fide social injustice—and that’s the truth.

Truth turns tobacco advertising into a social justice issue

By Alison Kanski

In the new #StopProfiling campaign, Truth Initiative accuses the tobacco industry of profiling African-Americans and people in low-income communities.

The Truth Initiative has made smoking not just a health issue, but a social justice issue in its new campaign #StopProfiling.

One thing the campaign is capitalizing on is the recent surge in protests and renewed focus on social justice issues since Donald Trump’s inauguration. In the past, many of its campaigns have been more lighthearted, like a campaign showing smokers are less likely to get dates on Tinder, said Robin Koval, CEO and president of Truth Initiative.

“We felt that there is a shift in the cultural mood right now,” Koval explained. “Young people are feeling that they want to make a statement about this country and that they care about all the things going on. We know young people care a lot about social justice issues. It felt like a good time to pivot a little bit and take a more serious tone in our advertising.”

The campaign, which began Sunday, takes aim at tobacco’s advertising tactics. The campaign focuses on tobacco’s targeting of African-Americans and people with lower incomes. In two videos featuring comedian Amanda Seales, the campaign points out that black neighborhoods have up to 10 times more tobacco advertisements and low-income neighborhoods are more likely to have tobacco retailers near schools.

“Some people might say, ‘Isn’t the tobacco industry just targeting their best customers? Isn’t that what all brands do?’” said Koval. “It’s not as innocent as that. That’s not just marketing, that’s singling people out and that’s called profiling.”

Along with the videos, which premiered during the Grammys on Sunday night, the Truth Initiative is running a robust digital campaign for #StopProfiling aimed at young people from 15 to 24 years old. The initiative used the MTV Video Music Awards last August to kick off another campaign called #Squadless.

“We like to use these tentpole events where you can aggregate lots of young viewers in a single moment and start to generate awareness,” Koval said. “We’re igniting the spark on a major event like the Grammys, but the real power is in all of our finishers, the people who follow and engage with us afterward.”

The initiative took over YouTube on Sunday with the campaign and promoted the hashtag on Twitter Monday, Koval said. The campaign will also include work with influencers on Snapchat and Twitter.

Truth worked with several agencies to help create the campaign: Ketchum for PR, 72andsunny for advertising, and Assembly for media planning. This campaign is an extension of Truth’s Finish It campaign, which began in 2014 and aims to make this generation of young people the generation that ends smoking.

“We hope young people will help us spread the word,” Koval said. “When you see a social injustice, when you see tobacco being advertised up to 10 times more in black neighborhoods, call it out. We’re always looking to get young people to engage with us whether sharing our hashtag or coming to thetruth.com to enroll. The way we’ll stop this is by getting young people engaged.”

13565: BHM 2017—Havas.

Adweek reported Havas in Chicago pooped out a pathetic promotion to pay tribute to Black History Month. The agency created a “jobstacle course” designed to help non-Black employees get a sense of what it’s like for Black people to work in the predominately White advertising industry. Ironically, the wannabe breakthrough concept features all the standard clichés involved with being Black on Madison Avenue and beyond. “I love reading these articles about how white and old the industry is, and the industry itself acknowledges and talks about the problem versus actually changing and activating on the kind of issues we have,” said Havas Chicago CCO Jason Peterson. “We are by no means perfect, but acknowledging the issue and talking about it is something we take really seriously. I think everyone needs to look at it and think about how we are going to change and act differently if we want this industry to evolve and be better.” Well, for starters, Peterson might consider the simplicity of substance over style, sharing the hiring figures at his own office and within the nepotistic Havas network. Of course, such an act doesn’t allow for self-absorbed hype in trade publications. But it would clearly underscore the true obstacles Blacks face from idiots like Peterson—the results of which can be fully experienced by peeking at the Havas careers section on the company website.

This Agency Created an Obstacle Course to Show People What It’s Like to Be ‘Black at Work’

Havas Chicago’s plan for Black History Month

By Katie Richards

In honor of Black History Month, Havas Chicago wanted to do something that would get its employees and the people of Chicago to not only reflect, but also learn a little something about what it’s like to be black in an ad agency today.

A team of employees decided to create an obstacle course in the lobby of the building. Each obstacle was designed to teach the rest of the agency about what a black man or woman might experience in the workplace while also starting a much needed conversation about the lack of diversity in the advertising industry.

“I love reading these articles about how white and old the industry is, and the industry itself acknowledges and talks about the problem versus actually changing and activating on the kind of issues we have,” Jason Peterson, the agency’s chief creative officer, said. “In my point of view, America is multicultural, so if you’re an agency that doesn’t have or isn’t made up of a multicultural point of view, there’s no way you can do your job properly.”

Peterson went to Jason LaFlore, an art director at Havas Chicago, and a few other creative and strategy people at the agency and asked them to come up with “something that’s going to show our point of view and not be passive and have a real active positioning,” Peterson said, in honor of Black History Month.

LaFlore and his team got to work and came up with the idea of the #BlackAtWork campaign. Each obstacle in the “jobstacle course” came from real experiences or conversations members of the team previously had in their careers.

The first obstacle, the beam of perception, is a balance beam that participants have to cross. On one side of the beam, the agency printed the word “angry.” On the other side, it printed “lazy.” The purpose of the beam is to illustrate some common stereotypes that present themselves in the workplace.

“If you’re too nonchalant about your job, you’re automatically seen as lazy,” LaFlore explained. “If you’re too passionate about your job, you might be seen as the angry black man or the angry black woman.” The beam is meant to illustrate the fine line between falling into one or the other stereotype.

A second obstacle, the speech bubbles, is about why certain questions and comments are inappropriate. Examples include “Can you teach me how to Dougie?” and “That’s so ghetto.” The team hung the comments and questions from the ceiling, teaching people to dodge the culturally insensitive words.

A similar obstacle, the Hollywood shuffle, tackles the weight many black people feel when co-workers ask them about black culture, the assumption being that one person knows everything from the latest dance moves to slang or cultural trends.

“It spoke to the idea that a lot of times, whether it’s a company party or something, people expect that the black guys are going to dance,” LaFlore said. “I don’t always know all the dance moves and all the trends that are happening just because I’m a minority in the office.”

The obstacle course will be up in Havas Chicago’s office for the rest of February. As with past activations the agency has set up in its lobby, the hope is that people will see the sign on the lobby window (it currently reads “Black At Work”) and pop in to see what’s going on. Anyone can take the challenge, even other agencies in the Chicago area.

“We are by no means perfect, but acknowledging the issue and talking about it is something we take really seriously,” Peterson said. “I think everyone needs to look at it and think about how we are going to change and act differently if we want this industry to evolve and be better.”

13562: BHM 2017—Regions.

Regions flies through Black History Month by saluting Tuskegee Airmen and launching scholarships.

13560: BHM 2017—AT&T Again.

Technically, this is also not a BHM advertisement; rather, it’s yet another example of self-promotional pap tied to the EBONY Power 100, this time from AT&T. Saluting its SVP of Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer, the communications company bragged, “It’s not just what she brings to the table, it’s who she brings with her.” Really? Who does she bring with her? Milana Vayntrub? Unfortunately, like most Chief Diversity Officers, she has no power to influence inclusiveness at advertising agencies.

13558: BHM 2017—NBA Logos.

To celebrate Black History Month, Artist Hebru Brantley redesigned and reimagined all 30 NBA logos.

13556: BHM 2017—President Trump.

Black History Month would not be complete without replaying President Donald Trump honoring the tremendous history of African Americans throughout the world.

13554: BHM 2017—Comcast NBCUniversal.

Technically, this is not a BHM advertisement; rather, it’s another example of self-promotional pap tied to the EBONY Power 100, this time from Comcast NBCUniversal. Congratulating its VP of Inclusion & Multicultural Marketing, the company proclaimed, “Leaders Drive Innovation.” Okay, but the advertisement is anything but innovative.

13552: BHM 2017—Verizon.

Black History Month is child’s play for Verizon.

13550: BHM 2017—Nationwide.

Technically, this is not a BHM advertisement; rather, it’s self-promotional pap from Nationwide, touting the insurance company’s sponsorship of the EBONY Power 100. The headline declares, “You Are Inspiring.” The advertisement, ironically, is uninspiring.

13548: BHM 2017—Publix.

Publix serves up the Black inventors angle for BHM.

13546: BHM 2017—Nike.

Nike salutes Black History Month in two ways:

1. Its annual BHM collection.

2. Its Equality campaign that declares, “This field of play. … If we can be equals here, we can be equals everywhere.” Um, except when you’re talking about the advertising field. Now that’s fucked up!

13544: BHM 2017—Macy’s.

Macy’s salutes Black History Month—and damn near every other minority celebration.

13542: BHM 2017—CBRW.

Not sure why Black History Month only receives a Chicago Black Restaurant Week, but don’t let that deter you from celebrating.

13540: BHM 2017—Vogue.

Okay, it’s technically not a Black History Month moment, but the Vogue “diversity cover” controversy is worth spotlighting. Plus, it seems like Vogue produced a second-rate knock off of the iconic “Black Girls Rule” theme from Trace magazine.

13538: BHM 2017—USPS.

For Black History Month, the United States Postal Service once again mailed it in with commemorative stamps. Wonder if Dorothy Height beat out Wonder Woman.

13537: BHM 2017—Bank Of America.

This Bank of America advertisement is technically not for BHM; rather, it salutes the bank’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for being recognized in the 2016 EBONY POWER 100 list. But the headline quote from Lonnie G. Bunch III takes on added meaning when applied to the African American experience in the advertising industry.