15523: The Economics Of Exclusivity.

 

Current Affairs published a perspective by Bertrand Cooper that expressed the following:

 

A closer look at the economics of Black pop culture reveals that most Black creators (outside music) come from middle-to-upper middle class backgrounds, while the Black poor are written about but rarely get the chance to speak for themselves.

 

The notion could arguably be applied to Blacks in Adland too, although there is probably no data to prove it. In short, this may indicate the pointlessness of recruiting exclusively from underserved communities in the hopes of improving diversity in the field.

13742: Poor & Prejudiced Perspective.

Campaign published a lengthy article titled, “How to embrace socioeconomic diversity,” which initially sounded like yet another diversion to avoid embracing racial and ethnic diversity. However, it appears the story is advocating for people of color by positioning them as being in a different socioeconomic class; i.e., non-Whites are not affluent like the majority of White people in the field. Why is there a tendency to embrace such biased presumptions, which typically lead to only searching for minority candidates in low-income communities? Oddly enough, the photograph illustrating the article (depicted above) shows three White men representing a socioeconomic range of citizens. However, there are never tactics that involve recruiting White applicants from impoverished neighborhoods. Then again, a poor White man still has a better chance of landing a job in adland than a wealthy person of color—unless the wealthy person of color is a famous recording artist.

12790: Diversity Stunt From McKinney…?

McKinney seems awfully proud of itself for hiring the industry’s youngest intern, shamelessly maximizing the PR opportunities via Digiday and Durham magazine. However, MultiCultClassics predicted White advertising agencies would eventually recruit embryos to boost diversity figures—so handing an internship to a 12-year-old is no surprise. A peek at the agency website clearly indicates McKinney is struggling mightily to lure adult minorities. The North Carolina-based agency previously displayed cultural cluelessness when appearing on AMC series The Pitch in 2012. But bringing a kid on board for a mere week is, well, weak. That said, Glenn Green deserves an ADCOLOR® Award at least.

11266: The Heat Is On.

From The Los Angeles Times…

Minorities more likely to live in ‘urban heat islands,’ study finds

By Tony Barboza Los Angeles Times

Blacks, Asians and Latinos are more likely to live in “urban heat islands” that are most at risk during extreme heat waves that are expected to worsen due to climate change, according to a new study.

Researchers at UC Berkeley used satellite imagery to find neighborhoods in hundreds of U.S. cities where there are few shade trees and a lot of heat-absorbing, impervious surfaces like pavement, cement or roofing.

The authors paired that information with data from the 2000 Census to find that blacks were 52 percent more likely than whites to live in “urban heat islands” — microclimates that can get an extra 5 to 10 degrees warmer during heat waves — while Asians were 32 percent more likely and Latinos were 21 percent more likely.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, also found that people who live in more segregated cities, including whites, are more likely to live in heat-absorbing neighborhoods.

“Overall this pattern of racial segregation appears to increase everyone’s risk of living in a heat-prone environment,” study co-author Rachel Morello-Frosch, a professor of public health and environmental science at UC Berkeley, told the Los Angeles Times.

The research highlights one way in which minorities are likely to suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate change. Living in a concrete jungle could put blacks, Asians and Latinos at greater risk during heat waves, which are expected to become more intense, frequent and long-lasting as cities heat up.

Extreme heat waves are responsible for about one in five deaths from natural hazards in the United States, the study said.

To help reduce the risk, the study recommends that city planners plant more trees, paint highly reflective roofs, use pavement that absorbs less heat and consider racial and ethnic inequalities in decisions about adapting to a changing climate.

“Efforts to minimize heat risks in cities need to be more attuned to the racial disparities we see on a national scale,” Morello-Frosch said. “We need to make sure that any heat mitigation strategies really focus on the most vulnerable communities.”

11033: Running Rebels Run Ads.

Learn more here and here.

10586: Baby Bias Builds.

More minority-targeted ads from the Baby Can Wait campaign.

9692: Goodbye, GoodWorks.

Advertising Age announced its GoodWorks blog is going on hiatus. Guess Madison Avenue has decided pro-bono efforts are no longer affordable—unless there’s a sure-win award involved. Wonder where the annual press releases for minority internships and inner-city youth outreach programs will be posted.

GoodWorks Goes on Hiatus

Creativity to Carry Best Cause-Related Work

Ad Age’s GoodWorks blog is on hiatus. If you have cause-related creative work, please share it with the editors of Creativity (Creativityeds@creativity-online.com), who will continue to highlight the best of the best. If you’re interested in finding out more about cause and green marketing issues, please check these blogs:

• Ad Council’s AdLibbing blog

• Cause Marketing Forum’s Companies and Causes blog

• Causecast’s CSR blog

• Jacquie Ottman’s Green Marketing blog

Ad Age will also continue to support the GoodWorks Effie Award. Stay tuned to see who wins this year’s Goodworks Effie.

9191: Over 99 Billion Inner Cities Served.

Corny community outreach ad… or admission that the food at Mickey D’s is not very good?

8621: Let’s Do It For The Children.

Concluded the previous post predicting a spike in inner-city internship programs, and sure enough, the press releases appeared. Advertising Age published a piece once again spotlighting Torch, with Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners Chairman Richard Kirshenbaum gushing, “Having founded the agency 23 years ago, I felt it was really time to encourage underserved teens and create a platform for more diverse voices in the creative community. There’s a lot of lip service in the industry to it. At a certain point, I said I really want to get involved.” Well, it took 23 years to move beyond lip service, but it’s a gosh-darned, swell start. Meanwhile, Agency Spy noted Free Throw, which offers a $40,000 scholarship to Compton High School students who can sink a shot on the basketball court. The comments left at the ad blog tell the story here. This endeavor is the brainchild of adman Court Crandall, who also hopes to raise funds via Kickstarter and turn the event into a documentary for the Sundance Film Festival. Um, wasn’t this topic already covered by the 1994 Oscar-nominated Hoop Dreams? Crandall is determined to “highlight the positive changes within Compton and help the good people who live and work there redefine the NWA ‘Straight Outta Compton’ image that has defined the city since the early nineties.” ‘Nuff said.