17004: White Advertising Agencies Spotlighting White Women.

 

Many White advertising agencies celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month by spotlighting their own female staffers—ultimately displaying an abject lack of international representation and minimal diversity overall.

17003: Pathetic Performative Posturing Post.

This performative post celebrates Women’s History Month in a Black Inventors style—which is, well, uninventive. The responsible White healthcare advertising agency will probably submit it for a Nobel Prize.

17002: Awarding Patronizing, Performative Prizes.

 

Chicago Advertising Federation celebrates Women’s History Month by spotlighting women serving as judges for its annual trophy show. Now that’s award-winning performative PR.

17001: Havas Presents Performative Performance.

 

Havas celebrates International Women’s Day, Women’s History Month, and DEIBA+ initiatives—and promotes its Superwomen report to boot. That’s checking lots of boxes at once.

16996: Adland Supports DEIBA+—For An Exclusive Group.

Like the brands they service, most White holding companies and White advertising agencies dramatically decreased public acknowledgement of Black History Month 2025.

 

However, also like the brands they service, holding companies and agencies enthusiastically embraced and performatively promoted International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month.

 

In Adland, White women enjoy priority, privileged, and power status on the DEIBA+ org chart.

16990: BHM 2025—Post Mortem.

A few closing thoughts on Black History Month 2025 in Adland…

 

Brands, White holding companies, and White advertising agencies decreased BHM-related public acknowledgments, performative PR, and heat shields versus recent previous years.

 

It’s not clear if the decrease resulted from political pressure—or if enterprises simply took advantage of the social climate to excuse a lack of engagement.

 

It’s unlikely Adland completely abandoned the annual event. Rather, the “celebrations” became internal affairs, delegated to ERGs, CDOs, and resident representatives for the underrepresented—optional lunch-and-learns that staffers declined, talent exhibitions that received polite applause, and/or templated companywide emails that were unopened or immediately trashed. In these anti-DEIBA+ times, internal equals indifferent at best, and disinterested at least—with a growing legion of not-so-silent hostile resistors.

 

Will International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month be equally ignored? Unlikely, as White women still receive priority and privileged status on the DEIBA+ org chart.

 

As for BHM in Adland, it’s time to put twists on the popular clichés associated with the annual event:

 

It’s not just Black history, it’s, well, history.

 

Black History. Now ignored during February—and all year long.

16571: Putting The Men In Menopause…?

 

Adweek reported White advertising agency Mekanism released a “Menoclause” to promote menopause-friendly workplaces. How opportunistic to announce such performative PR during Women’s History Month.

 

The corporate website doesn’t prominently display leadership or staffers, so it’s hard to guess how female-friendly the place might actually be—although its cofounders are publicized as four White men.

 

Expect an inevitable campaign to foster awareness and advocacy for low testosterone.

 

16568: Surfing The Internet & Intersectionality…?

 

Coming Soon Lisboa—an advertising agency in Portugal—partnered with Betclic, Shutterstock Studios, and SOMA Surf to address an unmet need: the abysmal lack of stock images featuring Black girls surfing.

 

Huh?

 

Expect a new wave of possibilities for Black History Month advertising—as well as performative PR during Women’s History Month—provided the photographs are royalty-free content.

 

16566: Perfectly Performative Picture Of Women Leaders In Adland…?

Advertising Age is commemorating Women’s History Month with guest essays by “women industry leaders” sharing their career lessons.

 

Okay, except the image illustrating the series (depicted above) is hardly representative of the women leading in Adland. The image below delivers far greater accuracy—and would be a perfect representation with the addition of many more blondes.

 

15761: Adweek’s Revisionist Women’s History…?

 

Adweek celebrated “the Most Iconic Women Brand Mascots” with a video that is not worth the subscription fee to view. So, it’s not certain if the video—like the illustration above—failed to salute Aunt Jemima, the Land O’Lakes Native American Maiden, or Annie the Chicken Queen. Did the Pine-Sol and Honey Bunches of Oats Ladies get a cameo appearance? Also, does the Morton Salt Girl qualify as a woman?

14937: Buh-Bye Blacks, Welcome White Women!

Another Black History Month has passed with lackluster support and interest from adland. Appropriately enough, March is Women’s History Month—so watch for adland to undoubtedly and enthusiastically jump on the White women’s bandwagon.

14049: Annie’s Time Of The Month.

Two new commercials starring Annie the Chicken Queen perfectly bridge Black History Month and Women’s History Month.

14046: BHM Fades To Black.

As another Black History Month draws to a close, it’s hard to ignore how the event underscores and symbolizes divertsity in the advertising industry. That is, the majority of work displayed over the past 28 days was contrived, clichéd and created with crumbs. On the flip side, March is Women’s History Month, and it’s a safe bet that advertisers and White advertising agencies will go all out to celebrate—even while battling sexual harassment charges.

13600: Chipping In Ignorance.

Stacy’s Pita Chips celebrates Women’s History Month with limited-edition bags, a donation drive and more. Goodby Silverstein & Partners created the campaign, which makes at least one bag’s proclamation—“Men Of Quality Do Not Fear Equality”—particularly pathetic and hypocritical. After all, GS&P originally and continues to ask, “Where Are All The Black People?” Plus, the 30-year-old White advertising agency only named its first female partner less than five years ago. For GS&P, cultural cluelessness is in the bag.

13577: WHM Versus BHM.

Adweek reported on the Brawny campaign saluting Women’s History Month. Did Brawny do anything to celebrate Black History Month? The Women’s History Month propaganda features a video starring Vernice Armour, the first Black female fighter pilot—so maybe the brand is playing catch-up for the BHM snub. In the end, Brawny perfectly mirrors the advertising industry and its trade press. That is, expect to see lots of Women’s History Month diverted diversity doodads, in contrast to the pathetic lack of interest the industry and trade press showed to Black History Month—and Blacks in general.

6596: Janet Jagan (1920-2009)

From The Chicago Tribune…

Janet Jagan, 1920-2009: Chicago native was 1st female and white president of Guyana

Tribune staff report, Associated Press

GEORGETOWN, Guyana —Janet Jagan, a Chicago native who became Guyana’s first white and first female president, died Saturday, a government official said. She was 88.

Ms. Jagan died at a state-run hospital of an abdominal aneurysm, Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy said.

Ms. Jagan, a Jewish woman and a naturalized Guyanese, was elected president of the English-speaking South American country in December 1997, succeeding her husband, Cheddi Jagan, who died earlier that year.

At 77, she was the first white president of a country whose politics are polarized between its majority Guyanese of Indian descent—the backbone of her ruling party—and Afro-Guyanese, supporters of the opposition People’s National Congress.

“My husband told me I should take over should anything happen to him,” she told The Associated Press while contemplating her presidential run.

Opposition leaders repeatedly accused Ms. Jagan’s government of racism and took to the streets in sometimes violent protest. Ms. Jagan, in turn, claimed the opposition was trying to destabilize her government.

Citing reduced energy and stamina after a mild heart attack, she stepped down in August 1999, less than two years after taking office.

Ms. Jagan had lived in the former British Guiana, situated on the Caribbean in northern South America, since 1943. She met her husband in Chicago, where he was a dentist studying for his doctorate at Northwestern University. She was his assistant.

After they moved to his native Guyana, the two hard-line communists became active in politics. British and American administrations blocked Cheddi Jagan from power for decades, alarmed by his ties to Cuba and Moscow. She endured three years of house arrest and five months in jail with her husband in the 1950s, when he first won an election.

Cheddi Jagan got to rule Guyana in 1992, but he died before serving a full term.

6584: Does My Boxer® Look Big?

You look a little like an SUV…?

6580: You Go, Girl.

Not really sure where this ad is going…

6573: Bracelets Against Belts

Um, anyone else think a better spokeswoman for this campaign would be Rihanna?

6571: Insuring Stereotypes.

Two insurance companies portray Latinas with plant-related jobs. Perhaps it’s the latest stereotype: Latinas are florists and landscapers; Black women are fashion designers and hairdressers; White women are caterers and boutique owners; Asian women are IT directors and dry cleaners.