17424: Delayed WTF 67—Holding Company Of The Year Award Is Totally BS.

 

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

A previous post noted WPP was named White Holding Company of the Year at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2025, receiving the title for the second consecutive year.

 

As noted in another previous post, winning the award is based on a point system adding up the number of trophies and shortlisted entries nabbed by corporations—meaning the top White holding companies dominate an exclusive competitive field by virtue of sheer volume.

 

The honor poses questions in 2026, underscoring the absolute stupidity of the trophy.

 

If WPP scores a threepeat, will the White holding company decline to accept? After all, WPP CEO Cindy Rose declared the enterprise is no longer a holding company, but rather, a single operating company.

 

If IPG wins, will it be disqualified since the company no longer exists?

 

If Omnicom wins, will it be asterisked if the victory is a result of acquiring IPG?

 

If Dentsu wins, will Jerry Della Femina and President Donald J. Trump make racist jokes?

17332: Delayed WTF 66—On Hiring Local.

 

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

Advertising Age published a perspective recommending White advertising agencies hire local talent, especially to serve regional clients.

 

Okay, but will local hiring reflect regional demographics?

 

According to recent US Census data: Black residents make up approximately 47%–48% of the population within the city limits of Atlanta, Georgia; Blacks make up roughly 42% of the population in Richmond, Virginia; In Chicago, Illinois, the Black population is 28%–29% of the city; Blacks in Dallas, Texas, comprise around 23%–24% of the city’s total population.

 

Will Blacks employed at White advertising agencies in such areas be fairly represented? Ditto other racial and ethnic minorities?

 

Sorry, White advertising agencies do not invest in local talent through a DEIBA+ lens.

 

There is a continuing reinvestment in systemic racism.

 

Why agencies should invest in local talent to serve regional clients

 

By Kristi Lind

 

Remember those flush days when agency networks were made up of multiple regional offices servicing key markets in client verticals? Then we became a data-driven industry engaged in a frothy arms race for audiences, and the in-person approach began to wane.

 

It’s a far cry from where we are today, as agency land has become the protagonist in a modern-day war of attrition. The age of client procurement has been marked by a general confusion about agencies’ value proposition, with consultancies encroaching upon their turf. Then the pandemic happened, which made agency real estate prohibitive in many markets and #WFH has become an ongoing bone of contention with talent.

 

These macro industry trends over the years have had many knock-on effects, namely, agencies’ struggle to partner with and service clients with comprehensive regional needs. Many agencies cite shifting resources and P&L pressures.

 

At the end of the day, clients will demand speed and nimbleness from their agencies and will not think twice about finding it elsewhere. While there are challenges, an agency can figure out a paradigm that fits the modern age.

 

Here are three best practices to embrace:

 

IRL is where client relationships are forged

 

Against relentless cost headwinds, some agencies may be tempted to conduct business virtually. It may sound quaint, but the personal touch never goes out of style. For regional and local clients, an agency needs to have talent in the market.

 

Local talent knows how to solve local problems, and their presence is powerful in building client trust. Or it could be an agency over-indexing on staff to service the account with a good balance of virtual and in-person interaction.

 

It makes sense to have your agency lead drive half the day to see an out-of-town client; the opportunity cost is well worth the trust, rapport and creativity that can be nurtured in efficient strategizing, planning and rapport-building. This is how trust is built and how solutions are hatched. This is where inspiration can lead to new avenues of brand expression and engagement, more so than over the flatness of email or the detached interaction on Zoom.

 

Geography is just as important now as 10 years ago

 

The granular understanding of nuanced differences in specific markets is vital for modern success. Fixating on the “must-win” markets, states and ZIP codes, mapped against client strongholds, is mission-critical in growing market share across key verticals.

 

Invest regional business savvy

 

“Do more with less” is a mantra that has come to dominate the agency business in recent times. But adequate investment in talent resources can be a strong differentiator. Even if you don’t have a regional office in a particular market, if you have the headcount and the expertise, it will be easier to allocate talent to those markets on an as-needed basis.

 

Technology has made us better. AI certainly lightens the administrative load—no more banging out client reports at a rest stop—and it allows us to be smarter, faster and more efficient with media buying and campaign management.

 

Technology can solve some troublesome back-of-the-house challenges, but agencies mustn’t lose sight of the equal importance of the front of the house. As transformational as tech’s impact may be, there is no replacement for IRL relationship-building. Tools are additive to the foundational human bond forged between the client and the agency team.

 

This bond of trust is increasingly vital against the backdrop of the dizzying speed of channel proliferation and fragmentation. With the stakes even higher, business at the speed of IRL should be driven by seasoned and talented humans, supported by best-in-class tech.

 

Properly running regional client business is certainly not for the faint of heart. It’s been all too easy for agency heads to rationalize marginalizing or even giving up on regional business in today’s tough climate. Or you could just double down and prove to clients that they can trust you to deliver on a sophisticated regional strategy with diligence and vigilance.

17329: Delayed WTF 65—On Blackweek Awards.

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

Adweek reported Blackweek partnered with Cannes Lions to launch its first awards program, designed to “celebrate work that moves representation forward, both in the creative itself and the teams behind it.”

 

Blackweek, its founders, and operating crew deserve respect. Full stop.

 

Yet can’t help but feel the awards angle represents a concession of sorts.

 

It’s a common stunt in Adland to generate interest—and income—by introducing trophy contests. Adpeople love shiny hardware more than they love hip hop.

 

Is another non-White awards spectacle necessary? Aren’t matters covered—albeit in segregated, underrepresented style—by ADCOLOR®, ANA Multicultural and Inclusive Marketing Excellence Awards, and 4As MAIP Awards? Not to mention performative PR, pseudo philanthropical propaganda, and heat shields fabricated by prominent White awards sources.

 

Teaming up with Cannes Lions sorta compounds the outrageousness too.

 

Sorry to close on a cynical note, but here it is:

 

In Adland, you can’t beat the system. Or the systemic racism.

 

Blackweek and Cannes Lions Partner on Awards Centering Representation 

 

The awards program will debut at Blackweek 2026.

 

By Alison Weissbrot

 

Blackweek, an industry forum dedicated to advancing business by helping brands, creators, and innovators connect with culture, is launching its first awards program in partnership with Cannes Lions. 

 

Debuting at Blackweek 2026 next October, the awards, which are in the process of being WARC-certified, will celebrate work that moves representation forward, both in the creative itself and the teams behind it. 

 

Blackweek and Cannes plan to announce categories, submission timelines, and an official name for the awards in the coming weeks. Both agency and client teams are eligible to apply. 

 

While some categories will focus directly on representation, others will purely be about the work, Andre Gray, Blackweek founder and chief activation officer, head of culture and entertainment, Havas Lynx.

 

“We want to just be like, ‘This is the best work.’ That’s what we’re geeked about,” he said. 

 

The key difference between these and other industry awards, however, will be the diverse pool of jurors evaluating the work from their different backgrounds and perspectives.

 

“Being in those jury rooms where I have to argue for the cultural relevance, the cultural competency, the nuance—we need something that is going to have that type of integrity,” Gray said. “We’re creating jury rooms where you don’t have to educate.”

 

Cannes Lions will consult closely with Blackweek on the awards, lending its expertise, processes, judging criteria, and other aspects of its blueprint. Both parties are still working out financial and ownership details of the partnership. 

 

“We’re taking the equity, the integrity, and the trust that we have with the Black and Brown community and combining it with the best-in-class awards,” Gray said. “Our strategic partnership and endorsement from Cannes Lions is about soaking up their blueprint, not reinventing the wheel.”

 

In a statement, Simon Cook, CEO of Cannes Lions, added that the organization is “proud to support and endorse the Blackweek Awards, and glad to share our experience in shaping world-class benchmarks that drive economic and societal change.”

 

“The Blackweek Awards are a necessary and powerful evolution in how we celebrate creativity—one that ensures historically marginalized voices are not only heard but celebrated on a global stage,” he continued. 

 

A different starting point

 

The launch of the awards comes on the heels of another successful Blackweek, which drew 2,000 attendees to its annual forum in New York City from Oct. 6-9, which is up from 1,300 attendees at its inaugural event in 2024. According to Gray, Blackweek has grown more than 200% in sponsorship and ticket sales year-over-year. 

 

While Blackweek’s founders didn’t always plan to launch an awards program, the support from Cannes Lions will allow them to provide the rigor needed to create a credible new industry program, Gray said. 

 

“We want to give a Cannes Lions-level experience, but do it with the trust and integrity that we have in our community,” he added. 

 

For Cannes, the awards can help accelerate change more rapidly outside of its jury rooms, which “can only move forward so quickly,” Gray said.

 

“We need to create a different room of people, so that they can also look at work and say, ‘From our vantage point, this is the work that should be heralded.’”

 

Like Blackweek, the awards will focus on quality and start from the perspective of underrepresented groups “and their safety, recognition, and community,” instead of “starting de facto from the winners of history, which are white, male, cis, heterosexual,” Gray said. “When you come from a different place, your solutions are very different.”

 

They also aim to give diverse people recognition that can translate into cultural capital in an industry where there’s pressure to stand out while doing more with less. 

 

“The easiest way to get known for your work is to get recognized for your work,” Gray said. “Awards do so much for people. That’s the work that some young person is going to look at today or in 10 years, and say, ‘I need to be like that.’”

 

CORRECTION 10/15/25 at 10:25 am ET: A previous version of this article stated that Blackweek’s awards are WARC-certified. It has been updated to reflect that the awards are in the process of being WARC-certified.

17273: Delayed WTF 64—Saluting International ERG Day.

 

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

International Employee Resource Group Day was celebrated on November 17, 2025.

 

Or was it? Don’t recall any White advertising agencies or White holding companies commemorating the occasion via performative PR and social media posts.

 

Then again, executing such messages would’ve undoubtedly been delegated to resident ERGs.

 

Also, Omnicom and IPG were probably plotting to prune and/or eliminate redundant ERGs.

16923: Delayed WTF 63—Washington NFL Team Rumored Reverting To Redskins.

 

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

In December 2024, Newsweek reported the Washington Commanders are considering changing the team’s name back to the Washington Redskins.

 

If it comes to fruition, expect a celebratory breakfast with Aunt Jemima pancakes and Rastus-rebranded Cream of Wheat—in addition to plenty of Land O’Lakes butter featuring the Native American maiden mascot.

 

MultiCultClassics recommends team officials halt any renaming announcements for the time being, as the Commanders’ playoff progress could be thwarted by Offensive Karma.

 

Indeed, the team’s decisively dominating win over the Detroit Lions proves the revised name re-energized the franchise—along with new ownership including NBA Legend Magic Johnson. Spirited players—led by breakthrough Quarterback Jayden Daniels—have established the Commanders as championship contenders.

 

Cultural competence and diversity lead to victory.

 

Washington Commanders Rumored to Change Their Name Back to Redskins

 

The NFL’s Redskins became the Washington Football Team in 2020, then the Commanders in 2022, but the team may return to the identity it previously held for 87 years.

 

Commanders owner Josh Harris has expressed support for a name reversal since he took over the team last year. Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell visited Capitol Hill on Monday to lobby for a bill that would help revitalize Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. A senior Senate staffer told Newsweek that U.S. Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota was among the lawmakers who met with Harris and Goodell.

 

Newsweek reached out to the NFL and Harris’ representatives for comment Tuesday morning.

 

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources recently passed the D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, which would transfer the land with the former stadium and its vicinity to the D.C. government for up to 99 years. The bill now moves to the Senate floor for a full vote.

 

There is no guarantee that the Commanders would build their next stadium at the site, but it’s possible that the football team returns to its home from 1961 to 1996.

 

A name reversal would be “a win against this woke mindset / sensitivity we’ve seen the last couple of years,” conservative influencer Amir Odom told Newsweek.

 

“Why are we politicizing sports team names?” he asked. “There’s more to worry about in this country than grown men fondling balls on a field and what name we refer to them as.”

 

“Let’s let this be a cultural and community thing. It’s one thing for politicians to share their opinion but to get this involved is a bit much.”

 

Is the Redskins Name Coming Back?

 

Harris, who bought the football team from longtime owner Dan Snyder last year for $6.05 billion, had previously said the old Redskins name, originating in 1933, would not return.

 

But Harris’ group includes NBA legend Magic Johnson, who told NBC News otherwise.

 

“Everything’s on the table, especially after this year,” Johnson told journalist Craig Melvin last year. “We’ll see where we are with the name.”

 

Some fans have even urged President-elect Donald Trump to change the team’s name back when he returns to office.

 

Do Native Americans Want the Redskins Name Back?

 

In September, ML Football, the credentialed media for everything football related, announced that the family of the Blackfeet chief featured in the logo wants the team to change its name back to Redskins.

 

“90 percent of Native Americans supported the Redskins name,” the post reads.

 

“People are fed up with everything being offensive,” Odom said. “If they change the name back it’s definitely a cultural win for keeping things how they are no matter the origin since context has changed. I feel like this could be a nod to keeping historic statues up despite the origins.”

 

Why Did the Washington Redskins Change Their Name?

 

“Redskin” is sometimes used as a discriminatory slang term against Indigenous people in the United States.

 

Amid the Black Lives Matter protests that followed the death of George Floyd, Snyder faced growing pressure from sponsors, including Nike, FedEx and PepsiCo, to change the team’s name. The league and team announced in July 2020 that it was “undergoing a thorough review of the team name.”

 

Snyder had insisted for over two decades, however, that he was not going to abandon the Redskins name, even as Indigenous advocacy groups fought to get rid of it. In 2020, more than a dozen tribal leaders and organizations sent a letter to Goodell calling for the league to force Snyder into changing the team’s name.

 

Criticism surrounding the name started in the 1960s and gained larger public traction in the 1990s. The team rebranded itself as the Washington Football Team in 2020 before becoming the Commanders in 2022.

 

But another name change could hurt the team, Jim Rocco, author of the coming book, Sports Crisis Communications: Cases & Controversies, told Newsweek.

 

“It’s always bad for a sports brand to sway this way and that in the face of changing political winds. You tend to make your fans dizzy,” he said. “In this case, the idea is actually a little crazy. What’s going to happen if the Democrats retake control of Congress? Will they change the name again?”

 

David Aaker, known as the “father of modern branding,” agreed that the team is in “a lose-lose situation.”

 

“Whatever route will upset some people and cause their support of the team to be reduced and that will not be offset by those that ‘won,’” Aaker told Newsweek. “If the name change is made I would not make a big deal out of it.”

 

Will the Original Redskins Logo Be Used?

 

Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines of Montana previously threatened to block legislation pertaining to the RFK stadium site until the NFL and Commanders agreed to honor the old Redskins logo.

 

In a letter to Fox 5 WTTG, Daines said that the former logo, which depicted Blackfeet Chief Two Guns White Calf, acted as “a symbol of pride, strength and honor” and that it should not be censored.

 

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which Daines leads, approved legislation last week that would fund revitalization of the D.C. football stadium site.

 

Who Is the Face of the Original Redskins Logo?

 

Daines told Newsweek he is now in favor of the bill because the Indigenous family credited with designing the original logo is now satisfied with the team’s efforts to honor Walter “Blackie” Wetzel’s work. There seems to be “good faith negotiations” with the league around the old logo. It is expected to be included on alumni shirts for those who played while sporting the Redskins logo.

 

“My goal has always been to support the Wetzel family and tribal stakeholders in their goal to bring the iconic Blackfeet logo back to a place of prominence,” Daines told Newsweek. “Native Americans in Montana have diverse views on the Redskins nickname but they overwhelmingly agree that the Blackfeet logo is a symbol of pride, strength and honor. I’ve insisted that the NFL, Commanders and their corporate sponsors celebrate it, not censor it.”

 

A Commanders team spokesperson on Monday told Newsweek that there are no plans to bring the logo back. It was developed in 1971 by Wetzel, a former leader of Blackfeet Nation. The Redskins image is a composite of Native American photographs, including one featuring a Blackfeet chief.

16813: Delayed WTF 62—Decoding Women For Delinquent Predators.

 

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

Muse by Clios spotlighted an International Women’s Day stunt—Decoding Women—designed to address gender abuse and sexual violence by helping predatory French men figure out women.

 

The 2,000-page book featured a single sentence repeated on each page: “If it’s not yes, it’s no!”

 

Quick! Somebody send copies to the skunks at Havas Paris.

 

 

To Combat Gender Abuse, This 2,000-Page Book Helps Men ‘Decode’ Women

 

It repeats a single phrase over and over

 

By David Gianatasio

 

There’s zero need to read between the lines.

 

Consentis, HandsAway and TBWAParis created a 2,000-page book that subverts expectations and crushes cliches to help men gain a clearer understanding of women.

 

“Courting women has always condemned men to hypothesis, trial and error, total doubt and sometimes even regrettable mistakes,” the tome’s synopsis says. “‘Decoding Women’ offers, at last, to lift the veil on feminine complexity by delivering exhaustively and without concession everything you absolutely need to know before embarking on the conquest of women.”

 

Of course, this isn’t about “complexity” or “conquest” at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. The book simply repeats these six words, over and over, page after page after page: “If it’s not yes, it’s no!”

 

A back-cover QR code guides readers to the HandsAway website and other resources.

 

Deployed ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, the book sells for 1 euro (about $1), with proceeds benefiting the two aforementioned nonprofits in their war against gender abuse and sexual violence.

 

The campaign follows a troubling report from France’s High Council for Equality Between Women and Men. That annual study found that 37 percent of women experienced “situations of non-consent,” while 25 percent of young French men believe it’s sometimes OK to engage in violent behavior to earn respect.

 

Those guys should pick up a copy of “Decoding Women” immediately. And make sure to read every single word. Commit them to memory. Maybe then the message will start to sink in.

16730: Delayed WTF 61—General Motors, General Market, General Mayhem.

 

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

 

GM Authority reported on the General Motors multi-car wreck, whereby the automaker decided to roll with a new line of White advertising agencies.

 

There are key issues in the GM fiasco that warrant rants, including:

 

• The GM Global Chief Transformation Officer gushed the car company “selected the very best-in-class agencies in the entire world.” Um, GM can’t manage to produce best-in-class vehicles, so their ability to identify best-in-class White advertising agencies should be questioned for sure.

 

• The corporation that took full advantage of a bailout in 2008 is now bailing out of Detroit—at least in terms of advertising—effectively decimating the Midwest marketing community. The destruction will include shops literally fabricated to exclusively service GM—as well as workers who ran the promotional assembly lines. Social media voices are reacting to the sad situation, along with even sadder regional White advertising agencies.

 

• In most of the trade journal content, there were no mentions of non-White advertising agencies affected by the GM move. On a related tip, does Shaquille O’Neal—co-founder of multicrumbtual marketing firm Majority—really know about the systemic racism in the industry? Does the NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer realize he’s playing on the B squad? Perhaps he ought to team up with Byron Allen.

 

General Motors has a shiny new fleet of White advertising agencies. But in the end, it’s the same old story.

 

GM Adding New Roster Of Ad Agencies

 

By Rhian Hunt

 

GM is significantly shaking up its advertising partners, hiring an assortment of new creative and media agencies to handle several key marketing aspects while keeping some of the “old guard” ad agencies for certain parts of its promotional strategy.

 

The General is looking outside Detroit for many of its new ad creators, ranging as far afield as both U.S. coasts and Texas as it tries bringing new blood to a challenging sales environment, as Ad Age reports.

 

Ad content creation will now be handled by a lineup of new ad agencies, including Media.Monks, Preacher, Mother, 72andSunny, and Anomaly, with as many as 16 different companies contacted by GM during its advertising review. According to Molly Peck, the automaker’s Global Chief Transformation Officer, GM “selected the very best-in-class agencies in the entire world.”

 

According to Peck, the company will move away from an “agency of record” or AOR model of advertising in which a specific agency is authorized to handle an enterprise’s advertising for it. Instead, GM will set an advertising strategy, and then “a roster of agencies” will execute “the creative vision—the brand, the look, the tone, the feel, the major campaigns” to give customers new ads in “a very fast, efficient and prolific way.”

 

Some of the “old guard” agencies will continue to have roles to play, such as Commonwealth/McCann, which will develop future international Chevy ad campaigns. Commonwealth/McCann created the “Together Let’s Drive” tagline for Chevy, an advertising slogan that also calls for unity at a time of strong U.S. political division.

 

Part of GM’s quest for a more flexible, customized, and varied ad development process seems to be a response to the challenge of marketing electric vehicles at a time when nearly half of previous American EV buyers are returning to ICE vehicles, but GM continues its mission to drastically expand its electric vehicles sales.

 

GM began its ad agency assessment at the start of this year, following its appointment of Norm de Greve as senior vice president and chief marketing officer last July. Molly Peck assumed the mantle of General Motors’ global transformation officer, following years of marketing experience at Buick and GMC, in April of this year and immediately began work on changing GM’s marketing operations to align better with the needs of the times.

 

General Motors spent $2.9 billion in U.S. advertising in 2023, a major chunk of its $3.6 billion global advertising budget, though the amount is down 10 percent year over year, according to Ad Age.