12891: Raise Your Voice Repercussions.

The theme for Blog Action Day 2015 is Raise Your Voice.

If you raise your voice for the alleged plight of White women in the advertising industry, expect to receive respect, reverence, rewards, kisses, kudos, compliments, applause, accolades, acclaim, praise, prestige and payouts—even if you’re a pathetic and patronizing douchebag.

If you raise your voice for the acknowledged plight of Black people in the advertising industry, expect to be blacklisted, blackballed, black eyed and blacked out—unless you’re a White, wonderful, wise, witty, worldly douchebag. Or a Chief Diversity Officer.

It’s time to raise your voice over such disparities in raising one’s voice on Madison Avenue.

12149: Subliminal Inequality.

Blog Action Day took place on October 16, 2014. Sorry for the tardy entry.

In 1974, Wilson Bryan Key published Subliminal Seduction, exposing the sexual symbols or objects advertisers allegedly used in secrecy to attract and manipulate consumers on unconscious levels. Prior to Key, Vance Packard also accused advertising practitioners of employing psychological and subliminal tactics via the 1957 publication of The Hidden Persuaders. Despite the classic books’ contentions—as well as arguments made by numerous related books, articles and reports produced over the years—there is little evidence of advertisers deliberately and successfully executing the insidious schemes.

However, no one ever spotlighted a phenomenon that has absolutely been happening in the advertising industry since its very beginning: Subliminal Inequality.

Subliminal Inequality covers the ways in which the industry’s leaders and managers with hiring authority have maintained White exclusivity despite decades of alleged commitment to equality. Most importantly, the discriminatory tactics persist without any negative backlash or responsibility being assigned to Whites in the industry.

Traditional Subliminal Inequality includes:

• Insisting there’s a limited talent pool

• Believing minorities are not aware of the opportunities

• Thinking non-Whites are non-interested

• Delegating diversity to cheery minorities with no authority

• Conducting inner-city outreach programs

• Bankrolling ADCOLOR®

• Saying minority hiring reduces quality

• Blaming Jesse Jackson for anything

Subliminal Inequality lets Whites arouse the desires of minority job candidates, yet fails to actually consummate a career connection.

How can you prove Subliminal Inequality happens? For starters, White agencies continue to flourish and get off scot-free—feigning concern and dedication to change—even though Black underrepresentation is actually worse today than ever. For a field measured by results and ROI, this factoid alone is grounds for immediate termination.

To conclude, with Subliminal Inequality, minorities get fucked. It’s as plain to see as obscene images in ice cubes.

11512: Human Rights On Madison Avenue.

Blog Action Day 2013 is focused on the topic of Human Rights. For a quick primer, scan The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

Has the dearth of diversity on Madison Avenue ever been properly framed as a human rights issue? Certainly not in recent years, despite the occasional intervention of the New York City Commission on Human Rights. Rather, today’s diversity discussions tend to dwell on the standard “it’s a good business decision” angle, emphasizing the importance of building staffs that reflect and relate to the U.S. audiences targeted by most major advertisers. Unfortunately, the popular, polite and passive route doesn’t succeed for a couple of reasons.

First of all, the standard “it’s a good business decision” angle has not been proven. In fact, Whites might argue that based on indicators like awards and account assignments, exclusivity works just fine. Because the advertising industry has been predominately Caucasian forever, it would be extraordinarily difficult to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that a diverse company could produce better creative.

Secondly, in situations involving human rights, politeness has never led to dramatic progress. This has been proven time and again. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stressed non-violence; however, they were not polite in their protests. Polite people are not typically thrown into jails or assassinated. On Madison Avenue, politeness will get you promoted to Chief Diversity Officer or elected to Diversity Advisory Committees—plus, you can win prizes like ADCOLOR® Awards and Pioneers of Diversity honors—but you won’t truly impact change.

The second point is particularly sobering and even offensive when considering the advertising field. The greater society usually comes around to showing respect to rabble-rousers such as Gandhi and Dr. King; conversely, adland has traditionally blacklisted (pun intended) revolutionaries while crowning Whites who essentially expressed the same opinions.

For example, Dan Wieden exclaimed the industry was fucked up in the area of inclusiveness, and he ultimately nabbed an ADCOLOR® trophy. Harry Webber pretty much said the same thing in 1969 and hasn’t been welcome in a White agency since. And although he’s made unprecedented contributions for diversity and equality, as well as produced award-winning campaigns, Webber has yet to be invited to an ADCOLOR® gala.

Jeff Goodby wondered, “Where Are All The Black People?”—and he received praise and accolades for asking. Sanford Moore has posed the question for decades and is still waiting to be thanked for his inquiries and groundbreaking achievements.

John Wren, Michael Roth, John Seifert and other advertising leaders have admitted there’s a lot of work to do in order to end the separate-but-unequal conditions. Lowell Thompson and Hadji Williams offered identical observations and suddenly found a lot less work.

Shunning the industry’s real heroes for human rights makes us look a little inhuman—and it definitely ain’t right.

10623: The Power Of WE On Madison Avenue.

The theme for Blog Action Day 2012: The Power of We.

The advertising industry has always been driven by The Power of WE.

On Madison Avenue, however, WE stands for White Exclusivity.

The Power of WE is an openly acknowledged reality. AMC series Mad Men has glamorized the phenomenon, making it downright sexy. AMC series The Pitch also exposed the monochromatic makeup of the field.

The Power of WE has been officially documented by lawyers and more lawyers, professors and more professors, politicians, more politicians and political commissions. It’s no secret.

The Power of WE is totally obvious to White leaders in the industry. Nearly everyone has publicly confessed there is a problem. Only two modern-day honchos have ever put a deadline on delivering diversity. Omnicom President and CEO John Wren ordered his agencies to come into compliance with the pledges made to New York City’s Commission on Human Rights by the end of 2008. If it happened, no one published a congratulatory announcement. Indeed, the 2009 hiring of Tiffany R. Warren as the holding company’s Chief Diversity Officer indicates there’s still work to do and smokescreens to puff. Meanwhile, Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto proclaimed that by 2014 his company would “be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’” Boschetto still has a couple of years to make it happen, but don’t plan on attending the victory party. After all, the man dubbed his crumbling shop “Agency of the Future” too.

The Power of WE is completely recognized by clients. Clients perpetuate the situation by allocating insufficient funds to multicultural marketing, failing to engage with multicultural advertising agencies or simply assigning White ad agencies to handle multicultural chores. In short, clients help to sustain the separate-but-unequal conditions. Additionally, they knowingly partner with predominately White ad agencies whose inability to embrace diversity sharply contrasts the client’s commitment to inclusion. Yet rather than demand change, clients display hypocrisy of the highest order and turn a colorblind eye.

The Power of WE is maintained via practices such as Corporate Cultural Collusion that permit White ad agencies to keep control of accounts and, well, everything else.

The Power of WE lets the ruling majority dodge responsibility by delegating diversity to resident minorities.

The Power of WE is propped up by lame excuses that lead to lame solutions which have historically not succeeded. The industry boasting creative minds and breakthrough ideas offers contrived clichés to address the issues including:

• Initiatives to reach inner-city kids

• High schools and camps

• More minority internships

• More special programs for underserved kids

• Strange scholarships

• Powerless Chief Diversity Officers and Diversity Committees

• Segregated award shows and events where folks like Dan Wieden and Tanner Colby are honored before folks like Sanford Moore, Harry Webber, Lowell Thompson and Hadji Williams

Of course, minimal thought is given to recruiting and retaining minorities beyond the age of 12—and zero suggestions involve educating White adpeople to raise their collective cultural competence.

The Power of WE will remain overpowering until the advertising industry starts abiding by the notions in a certain document that opens with, “We the People…”

9411: Blog Action Day 2011—Food & Mad Ave.

Blog Action Day 2011 focuses on Food.

Madison Avenue has a storied history of using Blacks to sell food. Aunt Jemima, Rastus and Uncle Ben continue to hawk products, joined by contemporary icons like Annie the Chicken Queen, Honey Bunches of Oats Lady and the KFC Dancing Guy.

Of course, Black celebrities have also pitched for Madison Avenue, including Michael Jackson, MC Hammer and Beyoncé for Pepsi; Michael Jordan for Gatorade, Mickey D’s, Wheaties, Coca-Cola and Ball Park Franks; Mr. T, Patrick Ewing and Aretha Franklin for Snickers; Billy Dee Williams for Colt 45; and countless hip-hop artists, recording stars, sports figures, actors, media personalities and more. Hell, even a Black ex-homeless guy received a piece of the action. Indeed, few food corporations have not employed Blacks to promote brands.

Yet when Blacks seek to sell food with Madison Avenue—serving as advertising executives—suddenly there ain’t enough room at the table. Despite individuals such as Roy Eaton (developing Sugar Bear for Post Sugar Crisp), Jim Glover (launching McDonald’s breakfast business) and Caroline R. Jones (writing “We Do Chicken Right” for KFC), who have created unprecedented breakthroughs in the business, Blacks remain virtually invisible at the senior levels and woefully underrepresented overall. Additionally, Black adpeople separated via Shifty Segregation® or multicultural marketing are forced to eat crumbs, watching White agencies feast on the bulk of the marketing budgets. The food clients, meanwhile, remain silent witnesses to the inequities—and have the audacity to run messages declaring commitments to diversity within their own hallways.

It’s enough to make you sick to your stomach.

8062: Blog Action Day—Water And Advertising.

The advertising industry has always loved issues involving water. Art directors and copywriters drool over the lack of access to clean water. Conserving water inspires splashy campaigns abroad and at home. Agencies dive into any opportunity to expose dirty water in developing nations. Why, the award-winning concern flows nonstop within our professional community.

Yet in the end, water problems allow us to wash our hands of more personal dilemmas—like the dearth of diversity on Madison Avenue. If colored people from impoverished countries need a drink, we go all out to find clever solutions. But if colored people need a job in our business, we pour out the same tired excuses and ineffective minority youth outreach programs. Or we just come up dry.

7174: Blog Action Day—Climate Change.

Climate Change is a growing cause of concern, especially as we increasingly believe human activities have contributed to the measurable shifts.

Yet there’s one spot on Earth where climate change has not happened at all: Madison Avenue.

For over 70 years, the advertising industry has remained completely static in the area of workplace diversity. Our business looks Whiter than the shrinking polar ice cap. You don’t have to be a global warming specialist or rocket scientist to recognize human inactivity has contributed to the total lack of measurable shifts in color and culture. The situation does not appear to be a growing cause of concern, especially for top-level executives who delegate matters to ADCOLOR® drones.

Agency leaders allegedly dedicated to company climate change will sporadically heat up the environment by releasing gaseous emissions—usually in the form of announcements for minority internships or inner-city youth outreach programs. But the inconvenient truth is, these initiatives have yielded few visible transformations.

Clients ultimately maintain the atmosphere’s composition by turning blind eyes and deaf ears to the matter. Despite pledging commitment to and embracing diversity in their own ranks, they continue partnering with enterprises where exclusivity pollutes the landscape. Plus, clients prohibit minority shops from going green—at least in terms of revenue—by denying them lucrative AOR status.

White adpeople and clients even blame natural factors for the unchanging world, insisting minorities prefer to pursue alternative sources of employment energy—like professional sports or musical entertainment.

Oddly enough, the Madison Avenue climate change phenomenon has not managed to draw the interest of Al Gore or Al Sharpton. Go figure.

6052: Blog Action Day 2008—Mad Ave Poverty.

Blog Action Day is focused on poverty as this year’s topic.

Madison Avenue suffers from poverty when it comes to minority representation. Some call it a “Dearth of Diversity.” Some view it as segregation, exclusivity and institutionalized racism. Technically, the divisiveness goes beyond race to include gender, lifestyle, age, religion and more. The advertising industry features as many cultural silos as professional silos.

So how does it relate to poverty?

For the sake of simplicity in this post, let’s start by lumping all adpeople into two groups: White Ruling Majority and Others.

Others are typically paid significantly less. Whether it’s based on salaries or the budgetary resources received from clients, Others can expect to face poverty-like conditions compared to the White Ruling Majority.

Others are typically viewed as being less. That is, they rarely see the respect and even common courtesy routinely exhibited to the White Ruling Majority. In this sense, Others are like the homeless or destitute fringe, treated as outsiders and Third-World citizens.

The excuses and explanations offered for the minimal diversity are piss-poor. Hell, the official statements have been regurgitated with little revision since the 1930s at least. The industry claiming to be creative consistently comes up empty when trying to script fresh responses.

The attempted solutions are equally repetitive and ultimately impotent. Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Ad executives are no Albert Einsteins, for sure, but the propensity for acting insane with diversity is disturbing.

Ironically, the White Ruling Majority usually tries to fix things by throwing money. However, the donations are rarely charitable enough to generate social or professional profit. And in times of recession, the insufficient funding quietly vanishes.

To be clear, the final answers demand serious effort from the White Ruling Majority and Others. Yet it’s frustrating and outrageous to witness the perpetual lack of progress.

It’s not as if anyone’s being asked to end global poverty.

Essay 4586

It would be great if the advertising industry would go green for one day. No, not green as in showing concern for the environment. Rather, each agency should show concern for their work environment by hiring some green people.

Now please don’t trot out the tired excuses for excluding green people:

“We just don’t get any resumes from green people.”

“Green people aren’t interested in our business.”

“I’m not hiring someone just because they’re green.”

“There are no green people in my area.”

“You green people should work in green agencies.”

“Why should I lower my standards to satisfy a green quota?”

“I’m sick of Jesse Jackson’s green people shakedown tactics.”

Most agency executives grudgingly admit they could improve in the area of green people recruitment. The typical Madison Avenue shop is quick to list Black security personnel and Latino janitors as officers of the company in the hopes of fooling New York City’s Commission on Human Rights. Yet there is little attempt to conceal the appalling lack of green people on agency rosters. The blatant bias and exclusivity must end.

For those who whine that there are too few green people available, MultiCultClassics presents a cornucopia of qualified candidates.


The Jolly Green Giant has actually been involved in the advertising business for decades. Making a transition to the agency side would be natural. Of course, Mad Ave executives might discriminate based on his age—plus, the fact that he’d require an enormous cubicle.


The Geico Gecko is another insider worth tapping. His foreign accent makes him highly attractive to Mad Ave shops seeking global mystique.


Mr. Mucus of Mucinex fame is disgusting and slimy—satisfying the key criteria for account directors.


Yoda exhibits the smarts to make a brilliant strategist and planner.


The Green Hornet has the right wardrobe. And his sidekick Kato boosts your Asian quota.


Hit the diversity jackpot with She-Hulk. She’s green and a woman.


The Green Lantern is even better. He’s green and he’s Black.

As one can clearly see, there are plenty of green people capable and ready to join the ranks on Madison Avenue. For that matter, there’s an abundance of other minorities too. It just takes a little creativity to identify them.