This actual job listing seeks a partner for an executive search firm specializing in DEIBA+ candidates.
The base salary is $175k; plus, incentives could escalate income to greater than $750k annually.
Given the current anti-DEIBA+ vibe—especially in the US—it seems like a dead-end role. Yet the posting quickly lured over 100 Human Heat Shield applicants.
Probably lots of former Chief Diversity Officers from White advertising agencies.
Advertising Age published the monthly employment report for US advertising, public relations, and related services—and here’s the topline summary:
Employment in advertising, public relations and related services tumbled by 2,800 jobs in December, erasing most of the job gains made in the previous two months.
Advertising, PR and related services
U.S. employment in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classification of advertising, PR and related services fell to 493,800 jobs in December based on seasonally adjusted figures, a loss of 2,800 jobs.
Agency employment has been under pressure, with significant cuts at Omnicom Group in the wake of its November acquisition of Interpublic Group of Cos.
It’s only a matter of time before these monthly reports—like so many White advertising agency jobs—will be executed by AI, impacting trade journal workers too.
In short, the future of US Adland looks bad. Happy New Year.
Instead of the regular “Year In Review” post, MultiCultClassics introduces White Man Of The Year 2025.
The new honor spotlights the White Man who made the greatest negative impact on Adland in the last 12 months—as well as contributed to DEIBA+ devolution.
The inaugural award goes to two White men whose actions have dramatically affected the global industry, albeit in extraordinarily different ways.
Omnicom Chairman, CEO, and Pioneer of Diversity John Wren
Wren orchestrated the Omnicom acquisition of IPG, which technically began and was announced in 2024 (maybe earlier).
The scheme ignited global pruning, radical RIFs, and iconic nameplate erasures. And the corporate demolition/deconstruction/desecration is expected to extend into 2026 and beyond.
Blending an organization led by the Pioneer of Diversity with a gobbledygook-vomiting enterprise recognized for leadership in diversity and inclusion marked the pinnacle of performative PR. Then again, the lack of transparency involving anti-DEIBA+ maneuvers prohibited assessing how much collateral damage of color occurred. It’s a safe bet, however, that the acquisition accelerated the employment challenges faced by US Black women.
In short, thousands of livelihoods—along with countless uncounted Dawn Chambers—were eliminated.
President Donald J. Trump
Tylenol, Tariffs, Bashing Big Pharma, and Anti-Woke + Anti-DEIBA+ are just the tip of the Trump iceberg that might sink Adland. ‘Nuff said.
Digiday published a report on Essence launching WeLoveUs.shop, an online marketplace dedicated to Black women-led brands.
The content is definitely worth reading, as it underscores how everything from Target to Trump Tariffs have contributed and conspired to accelerate the employment challenges impacting US Black women.
Media giant Essence launches a marketplace for Black women-led brands
By Allison Smith
The story was first published by Digiday sibling ModernRetail
When LaToya Stirrup’s brand Kazmaleje first landed on Target’s shelves in 2022, it felt like a dream come true. The Miami-based founder had spent years building her hair-tool brand — which she launched in 2019 — and securing placement at a national big-box retailer gave her scale and visibility that would’ve been harder to achieve on her own.
At the time, Target touted its wholesale partnership with Kazmeleje, along with 20 other Black-owned or founded beauty brands, as part of a broader commitment to spend more than $2 billion with Black-led businesses by 2025. Target said the initiative “will help us create more equitable experiences for our Black guests, and use our company’s size, scale and resources to create economic opportunity for Black-owned businesses that extends outside of Target.”
But earlier this year, Stirrup noticed “a complete sales slowdown” at Target. She attributed it to consumers who had stopped shopping at the retailer because of the company’s DEI rollback. After Target announced it would scale back some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in January, calls to stop shopping at the retailer spread. Modern Retail reported in August that many once-loyal Target shoppers were still boycotting the retailer because of its DEI rollback.
As a result of declining sales — Stirrup declined to share exact figures — Target decided to remove Kazmaleje’s products from its physical stores, she said. Beginning in 2026, she said the brand will be sold online-only at Target, via Target.com. Target declined to comment.
Stirrup is one of dozens of Black women founders navigating a particularly challenging moment for small businesses. Corporate rollbacks of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including at major retailers like Target, have created new uncertainty around distribution, visibility and consumer demand for Black-owned brands. At the same time, President Donald Trump’s trade war has driven up costs through steep tariffs on top trading partners, squeezing margins for founders who rely on overseas manufacturing.
Against that backdrop, Essence has launched WeLoveUs.shop, a new online marketplace dedicated to Black women-led brands. The platform, which officially launched earlier this month, aims to give founders an alternative sales channel at a moment when the larger retail industry has become more volatile. WeLoveUs.shop currently features about 100 brands and 1,000 products across categories like beauty, wellness, fashion and home, with more than 400 additional brands expressing interest in joining future cohorts, according to Essence.
The idea for WeLoveUs.shop crystallized earlier this year as the toll on Black women in business became increasingly clear, Michele Ghee, Essence’s chief content officer, told Modern Retail. Since February, nearly 600,000 Black women have been sidelined by job losses and unemployment, according to Fortune. That reality, combined with rising costs from tariffs and shrinking opportunities tied to DEI rollbacks, made the launch of WeLoveUs.shop feel urgent. It was “all hands on deck” to get the marketplace up and running as quickly as possible, with key executives and stakeholders even working over Thanksgiving. The site quietly launched in beta just after Thanksgiving, before a wider public rollout around Cyber Monday.
“We know so many businesses are hurting right now,” said Ghee. “Nobody is immune to what is happening in the world today, especially for marginalized communities.”
For Stirrup, the consumer backlash against Target made it harder for her to promote Kazmaleje’s products at the retailer. “There was a lot of pushback, especially on social media, and you couldn’t really talk about being in [Target],” she said. “That limits you from being able to advertise, because we were getting the response of, ‘We’re not shopping there.’”
On an earnings call in May, Target CEO Brian Cornell said the company’s first-quarter performance was dented by several factors, including “the reaction to the updates we shared on belonging in January.” He also flagged tariff uncertainty and declining consumer confidence as other headwinds. He added, “While we believe each of these factors played a role in our first quarter performance, we can’t reliably estimate the impact of each one separately.”
The boycott against Target underscored the risk of relying too heavily on any one channel, making WeLoveUs.shop an attractive opportunity. “You really have to have a diverse revenue stream because you never know how the market will impact you,” she said.
This year has also been tough for small business owners because of tariffs, which have raised costs for founders importing materials or finished goods. For Brittny Horne, founder of RVL Wellness Co., tariffs have significantly constrained growth. RVL makes therapeutic jigsaw puzzles, and the brand’s products are entirely manufactured in China, one of the most heavily tariffed countries.
Tariffs “definitely slowed down our production of new products,” Horne said. “It’s just one of those things — another issue we have to try to navigate and figure out a solution.”
Horne said she explored moving production to the U.S., but quickly ran into cost barriers. “It’s way more expensive to manufacture in the U.S., especially unless you are ordering at least 5,000 units per SKU,” she said. With 11 SKUs in her lineup, she said, “There’s no way we could afford that much at this time.”
The uncertainty has forced her to rethink where and how RVL can grow. “It just kind of makes you now have to rethink, ‘OK, well, what do we look forward to next?’” she said. “‘Where’s a safe space for us to go?’”
That led to Horne’s decision to join WeLoveUs.shop, which has led to a “really big boost” in sales since the marketplace launched at the beginning of the month. Even though it’s only been a couple of weeks since the partnership began, the majority of RVL’s orders are now coming from WeLoveUs.shop, Horne said.
WeLoveUs.shop takes a 35% commission per transaction. That’s higher than what other marketplaces charge. Amazon, for example, takes a cut ranging from 8-15% per transaction, depending on the product category. But Amazon also charges sellers for other services, including advertising and fulfillment. In exchange for WeLoveUs.shop’s 35% commission rate, brands gain access not just to Essence’s audience but also to its full media ecosystem, including editorial coverage, social promotion, newsletters and PR support. Other brands that spoke to Modern Retail for this story said WeLoveUs.shop’s bi-weekly payouts were also more appealing than the 90- to 120-day payment cycles common in wholesale and consignment arrangements.
WeLoveUs.shop is gaining traction on social media, according to Essence’s Ghee, who said Essence has leaned heavily on its existing audience and distribution muscle to promote the marketplace. Essence reaches about 75 million touchpoints each month across its digital platforms, she said, and has been using a mix of curated gift guides, newsletters and social posts to drive attention to the new shop. One recent gift guide featuring products priced under $50 generated about 10,000 impressions within the first few days, Ghee said. In another example, a social post encouraging followers to “tag a Black business” was shared roughly 5,000 times in a similarly short period.
“For [Essence] to be able to put their media power behind more Black-owned brands at a time of great need, when small incomes are struggling, can really support them,” said Sky Canaves, a principal retail analyst at eMarketer.
Melissa Mitchell, a self-taught designer who sells accessories, apparel and home decor and more through her brand Abeille Creations, echoed that sentiment. “This year has been very up and down,” she said. “With this kind of partnership, this allows me to reach people that I probably would never have on my own.”
LinkedIn Talent Solutions declares: Hires made with LinkedIn are 37% less likely to leave—and ‘before their first year’ is treated like a legal disclaimer. Does the figure jump to nearly 100% more likely at Day 365?
Advertising Age published the monthly employment report for US advertising, public relations, and related services—and here’s the topline summary:
U.S. employment in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) classification of advertising, PR and related services declined to 494,600 jobs in September based on seasonally adjusted figures, a loss of 800 jobs.
Agency employment could face more challenges after Omnicom Group completes its acquisition of rival Interpublic Group of Cos. in the coming weeks. Omnicom is expected to reduce staffing for the combined company as it pursues cost reductions that it has promised Wall Street.
University of Illinois Chicago offers a Master of Science in Marketing, whereby graduates can “craft AI-powered marketing campaigns.”
Based on the advertisement image, it’s possible to achieve such masterful feats solo with a laptop on a rooftop. The instructors are probably AI chatbots too.
BTW, graduates, your chances of landing and retaining a job in Adland are slim to nil.
The actual LinkedIn post depicted above appeared days before Cracker Barrel exploded.
Wonder how many early applicants have withdrawn their candidacy. And how many Cracker Barrel staffers lost their livelihoods because of the logo debacle.
Although any accusations of ageism will be deflected by arguing the Old Timer kept his job.
Adweek reported portfolio schools—including Miami Ad School—are developing curricula incorporating AI coursework.
Last week, Adweek reported Adland was dumping younger workers, opining the employment situation was fueled by the rise of AI. So, it’s odd to train advertising wannabes on the technology that diminishes their employment opportunities.
Can’t help but wonder how long before portfolio school instructors are replaced by AI.
Additionally, as previously noted, Miami Ad School has been pruning its portfolio, creating another cold reality impacting students.
It all reflects the school of hard knocks presented by Adland.
Ad Schools Race to Equip Grads for the AI Age
As portfolio schools add AI training, is it enough to keep their model relevant?
By Brittaney Kiefer & Audrey Kemp
For decades, ad school graduates have entered agencies armed with classic creative skills like copywriting, art direction, and design. The next wave will bring something new to the table: fluency in artificial intelligence.
When a new term begins this fall, ad schools including Miami Ad School, Brandcenter at Virginia Commonwealth University, and London’s School of Communication Arts (SCA) are rolling out curricula that incorporate AI education.
They’re doing so to prepare students for a workforce being reshaped by AI. The tech is already affecting the general job market for entry-level workers, The Wall Street Journal reported. While the national unemployment rate is about 4%, for new college graduates it was 6.6% over the past 12 months ending in May.
The ad industry specifically appears to be shedding younger workers as AI use becomes routine at agencies, as ADWEEK reported last week.
Even before AI’s rise, the traditional ad school model was under pressure from economic factors and digital disruption. Since 2023, Miami Ad School has closed campuses in San Francisco, Toronto, and most recently Atlanta. The Chicago Portfolio School, Atlanta’s Creative Circus, and the U.K.’s Watford Course have also shut down in recent years.
Many ad schools are now racing to keep up with the pace of change and convince both prospective students and industry employers that their education is fit for the future.
As Vann Graves, executive director of Brandcenter, put it: “The industry is moving at a pace so much faster than it has ever moved. Education needs to move even faster than that.”
Cracks in the Ad School Model
Modern portfolio schools emerged in the 1990s, when agencies scaled back on-the-job training. Programs like Miami Ad School, founded in 1993, and Creative Circus, established in 1995, offered intensive instruction in advertising fundamentals and portfolio building to help graduates stand out in hiring rounds.
But the model has drawbacks. Cost is a major barrier: Miami Ad School’s two year portfolio program costs $38,000, while SCA’s three-semester course is about $24,640.
Ad schools can also focus too narrowly on portfolio development meant to catch the eye of advertising creatives at the expense of broader business training, said Alex Grieve, global chief creative officer of BBH.
“I didn’t go to ad school, and I’ve always felt it’s given me an advantage, because I did think differently [when I entered the workforce],” Grieve said. “At ad schools, there’s this kind of obsession with building a portfolio of work that will get you noticed, and not enough on genuine problem solving for clients.”
Linda Carte, a former Miami Ad School instructor and longtime agency creative director, agreed the business side of advertising is sometimes overlooked in ad school training.
“In an ad school or for a student, it might seem unsexy,” she said. “But the business side of it is almost 50%: knowing your client’s business, knowing their concerns, knowing their landscape.”
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily halted in-person education, cracks in the ad school model have begun to appear.
“The pandemic was really hard for [Miami Ad School Toronto] because they had a really great, vibrant culture at their physical location,” said Steve Miller, a former instructor. “[The school] lost some of that vibe… that was just the start.”
AI Education
The recent acceleration of AI has made it even more imperative for ad schools to evolve.
Starting with the current cohort scheduled to graduate in September, Miami Ad School introduced a 10-week boot camp called “AI for Creatives.” The course teaches students how to create with AI tools, culminating with a final project of an AI-powered campaign.
Miami Ad School launched the program after hearing from agencies that want to “bring on more juniors if they know how to use AI tools,” said Rebecca Rovirosa, its chief creative officer and academic director.
Meanwhile, just as some agencies have appointed chief AI officers, Brandcenter recently hired its first director of technical training, Micah Berry from Arts & Letters. Berry will help students and faculty keep abreast of developments in AI and emerging tech, Graves said.
“Young ad folks can’t just be an art director or copywriter now. They have to be polymaths,” he added.
SCA’s changes are more extensive. Starting with the 2025-2026 cohort, the school will conduct a series of 10 two-hour workshops teaching students how to creatively think and problem solve using AI.
The goal is for students to leave with “AI as your personal creative partner,” said Marc Lewis, head of SCA. That’s a change from the previous system of students teaming up with peers, which will now be optional. With AI training, the cohort will also be able to create portfolios and pitch decks much faster, he added.
“They’re going to need to be able to operate like a one-person agency. They now need to think as a creative director, working with AI as your junior and giving it feedback and direction,” Lewis said. “AI should be like an exoskeleton, helping people think further and faster.”
The Future
Many educators agree that ad schools need to quickly adapt. “A school that gets it right is one that knows they need to be nimble,” Carte said.
For Miller, that means having leadership committed to constant curriculum updates, especially as new tools emerge. “Schools need a leader who’s staying on top of the curriculum and making sure that it’s as current as possible,” he said. “With AI, art directors need to have a glimpse into Midjourney… writers [need to] learn how to use ChatGPT.”
One alternative may be agencies taking the reins of education again, giving talent real-world experience. For instance, BBH runs an eight-month program called the Barn, led by the agency’s former executive creative director Nick Gill. The Barn pays participants about $39,000 per year, and many grads get jobs at BBH or other agencies, Grieve said.
But despite the pressures on traditional talent training models, the idea of AI completely replacing entry-level talent is unrealistic, Graves said.
“You still need juniors to train up and implement new ideas,” he said. “There’s going to be a great awakening on what junior roles look like and the expectations of students coming into the field.”
While AI is changing the industry, “it doesn’t remove you,” said Vasti Marcelo, managing director of Miami Ad School.
“This could be a very scary time for students, but please understand that AI is just a tool to help your creativity work faster,” Marcelo said.
Advertising Age published the monthly employment report for US advertising, public relations, and related services, indicating a decline for the seventh month in a row.
The ad game lost 700 players in June, adding to the 1,500 bodies dumped in May.
This year, lots of adpeople are experiencing a sense of independence on the Fourth of July.
Forget fireworks—it’s an explosion of fired workers.
The Washington Informer reported data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Black women experienced the worst job loss of any demographic group last month.
An economist stated, “The unusual nature of this increase in Black women’s unemployment is a testament to and a direct result of the anti-DEI and anti-Black focus of the new administration’s policies. This is demonstrably damaging to the Black community, something we have not seen before.”
This is bad news for every Dawn Chambers in Adland, as they’re already disproportionately underrepresented.
More Than 106,000 Black Women Lost Jobs Last Month
By Stacy M. Brown
Black women experienced the steepest job loss of any demographic group in April, shedding 106,000 jobs, according to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The April report shows a significant setback for Black women in the labor market, even as the U.S. economy added 177,000 jobs and the national unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.
The number of employed Black women dropped from 10.325 million in March to 10.219 million in April. Their unemployment rate jumped from 5.1% to 6.1%, the largest month-to-month increase among all racial and gender groups.
Among other findings, the labor force participation rate for Black women edged to 61.2%, indicating a loss in employment and a possible decline in overall workforce engagement. The unemployment rate for white women remained unchanged at 3.3%. Hispanic women’s unemployment also held at 4.6%. Women in other groups generally do not face the dual barriers of racial and gender discrimination that Black women contend with, a factor in the jobless rate gap.
The overall Black unemployment rate rose to 6.3% in April, up from 6.2% in March, marking the third straight monthly increase and the highest rate since January. In contrast, Black men saw a gain in employment, dropping their jobless rate from 6.1% to 5.6%.
Asian Americans had the lowest unemployment rate in April at 3.0%, while the rate for Hispanic Americans was 5.2% and 3.8% for white Americans.
HBCU Money reported that the number of Black women employed is now at a five-month low, while the number of unemployed Black women is at a five-month high.
Economist William Michael Cunningham, owner of Creative Investment Research, told Black Enterprise that the number of unemployed Black Americans increased by 29,000 in April, reaching nearly 1.4 million. At the same time, the total Black labor force declined by 7,000.
“The unusual nature of this increase in Black women’s unemployment is a testament to and a direct result of the anti-DEI and anti-Black focus of the new administration’s policies,” Cunningham said. “This is demonstrably damaging to the Black community, something we have not seen before.”
Cunningham noted that many Black women are searching for jobs but not finding them. He said eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion roles and cuts in federal government jobs are key contributors. The BLS reported that federal government employment dropped by 9,000 in April and is down 26,000 since January.
“For Black women, the numbers show that those seeking work are not finding jobs,” Cunningham said. “The jobs that have traditionally been a path to stability are disappearing.”
Nationwide, job growth continued in health care, transportation and warehousing, financial activities, and social assistance. Average hourly earnings increased by six cents to $36.06.
The Employment Situation for May is scheduled for release on Friday, June 6.
Advertising Age published a report titled, “US ad employment dropped in March for the fourth straight month”—replete with graphic charts depicting the downslide.
Can’t help but wonder how many of the lost jobs came from eliminating Human Heat Shields in these anti-DEIBA+ times.
Don’t expect Ad Age to design diagrams detailing those figures.
