Adweek reported the Dove Global Chief Marketing Officer is ending a 28-year run at Unilever. Admittedly did not know (or care) that a key “architect” of the Dove Real Beauty campaign is a White man—who partnered with a White advertising agency likely led by White men to produce patronizingly propagandistic poop intended to revise women’s beauty standards. Unbelievable. Or not.
Seems like only a handful of White advertising agencies and White holding companies bothered to acknowledge MLK Day via social media. The messages are contrived, including the standard sentiments such as:
“Today we honor…”
“Today, we celebrate…”
“As we pay tribute…”
Tomorrow, we go back to systemic racism.
Hopefully, the companies recognize that the words and images of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are not in the public domain—and the King estate has been paid for usage rights.
Advertising Age reported on Clean Creatives—another do-gooder group promoting themselves as “a movement of advertisers, PR professionals, and their clients cutting ties with fossil fuels”—whose latest campaign publicly calls out Edelman, McCann, Ogilvy, and Publicis for working with fossil fuels.
Not quite sure why anyone’s surprised to uncover fossil fuels being hyped via firms run by fossil fools.
Regardless, it’s more outrageous to realize the list of Adland enterprises into fossil fuels would be totally eclipsed by the directory of White advertising agencies fueled by systemic racism. Yet no one seems inspired to clean up that mess.
This ain’t a new rant, but it’s always worth repeating.
Harvard Business Review published a report titled, “How to Effectively—and Legally—Use Racial Data for DEI,” which included the following two paragraphs:
To understand how to best act on this complex topic, it’s important to start with the legal foundations. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it’s illegal to consider any single candidate’s or employee’s race—even with the intention of creating a more diverse, equitable, or inclusive workforce—in any employment decision. Employers can’t create de facto hiring quotas (e.g., “50% of the employees hired in this department must be women”), or “reserve seats” for employees from certain groups, even in the interest of diversity.
According to the law, even after the recent Supreme Court ruling, gender-conscious or race-conscious hiring practices are permitted, but only as part of limited, temporary, and highly structured voluntary affirmative action programs, undertaken only if employers find evidence of company-wide or industry-wide hiring discrimination, only to correct the initial imbalance, and only without “undue harm” on members of non-targeted groups (meaning that employers cannot lay off white workers to hire workers of color).
The paragraphs explain recent maneuvers in Adland—as well as underscore the systemic racism so prevalent in the field.
In 2016, Omnicom President-CEO-Pioneer of Diversity John Wren vowed to double the number of female creative leaders at BBDO within the calendar year. In 2018, Ogilvy publicly declared that 20 women would be hired into creative leadership roles by 2020. In short, White advertising agencies took advantage of legal loopholes to promote White women via voluntary affirmative action programs.
Yet despite generating heat shields and performative PR in response to George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, White ad agencies have not even suggested implementing quotas to increase Black representation. Affirmative action is deemed reverse discrimination. No one has openly pursued the processes proffered by Elizabeth (Dori) Tunstall, executing cluster hires to correct the fully acknowledged imbalances.
In Adland, quotas and affirmative action are exclusively presented by the privileged—without question or hesitation—to the privileged. It’s systemic racism positioned as progress.
Advertising Age reported Ogilvy hired Juan Woodbury as North America Creative and Entertainment Lead for the Coke account.
Woodbury’s previous roles include: Dentsu Creative Global Head of Branded Content and Entertainment, where he reportedly helped launch its entertainment offering; FCB Chicago EVP Director of Branded Content and Entertainment, where he reportedly helped launch its branded content and entertainment practice, and; Leo Burnett EVP Creative Director and Executive Producer, where he probably helped launch entertaining initiatives.
Given that Woodbury’s stints at Dentsu and FCB lasted well under two years at each place—and neither has been established as an entertainment powerhouse (or even entertainment outhouse)—it’ll be interesting to see how long the Ogilvy position runs. No knock against Woodbury—whose talent appears to be extraordinary—but it feels like advertising agencies are seeking to create the illusion of entertainment prowess without a clear vision or mission. Or credibility.
The scenario perhaps semi-mirrors advertisers naming celebrity artists as brand ambassadors, as if a lack of inherent entertainment value can be offset by hiring an entertainer.
Hell, it’s barely entertaining to watch the escapades.
Ogilvy Hires Dentsu Exec For Coke Business, Leading North America Creative And Entertainment
Juan Woodbury previously led Dentsu Creative’s global entertainment offering
By Brian Bonilla
Ogilvy has hired Juan Woodbury as North America creative and entertainment lead for its Coca-Cola Co. business. As part of the role, he will collaborate with the larger Open X team that is dedicated to Coke within parent WPP.
Woodbury joins from Dentsu Creative, where he helped launch its entertainment offering as global head of branded content and entertainment. Prior to that, Woodbury was executive VP, director of branded content and entertainment at Interpublic Group of Cos.’ FCB Chicago, where he helped launch its branded content and entertainment practice.
He will report to Guillermo Vega, who moved to global creative lead for Ogilvy’s Coke business in September 2022. Woodbury is expected to start his new role at the end of July.
Beyond advertising, Woodbury won a Grammy Award this year for his work with J. Ivy on “The Poet Who Sat By the Door,” which earned the first-ever Best Spoken Poetry Album.
Woodbury also produced the feature film “Birds of a Feather,” starring Snoop Dogg and singer Iza Lach, and regularly publishes his photography and video work. He also is a DJ and recently directed a music video for Mos Def.
These experiences helped Woodbury stand out as a candidate, according to Vega, who said he was specifically looking for someone that had more than just a creative background.
“Woodbury can not only present the idea but also make it happen,” Vega said. “That was a clear differentiator when you think about him and think about his output and his real connection to culture is what made it a no-brainer for us.”
In his new role, Woodbury will focus on areas such as film, music and music videos, said Vega. He will also help lead the 40-plus Ogilvy employees dedicated to the Coke business.
Coke for years has created original content and it made a significant push in the music world last year when it launched the “Coke Studio.” The initiative is meant to create original music such as its most recent release, “Be Who You Are (Real Magic),” which was written and performed by Jon Batiste alongside artists NewJeans, J.I.D., Camilo, and Cat Burns. Ogilvy, as part of the Open X team, also helped launch Sprite’s first global music campaign.
“The way people move through the landscape is not linear anymore,” Vega said regarding the recent push for brands and agencies to be more involved in entertainment. “They move through platforms. They go from Spotify to TikTok, from TikTok to other platforms. They go to HBO Max. They move all around these different places, or they take elements from culture and they become part of social media … so it has to be part of the delivery.”
Woodbury said, “Work that resonates and elevates culture is what I’ve built my career on. It’s my driving ambition. The ability to continue to do the same for The Coca-Cola Company, the globally iconic leader in culture marketing, is a treasured opportunity.”
AgencySpy posted on Ogilvy hosting a lunch at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity featuring White Lotus creator Mike White and a bunch of industry female marketers and leaders. Based on the accompanying photographs—and in keeping with the Ogilvy tradition—the event appeared to be predominately White.
Ogilvy Hosts Lunch With White Lotus Creator Mike White
By Kyle O’Brien
There are plenty of swanky gatherings at Cannes, but some of the best meetings happen over good food and colleagues.
Amidst the vibrant celebration of creativity in Cannes this week, Ogilvy global CEO Devika Bulchandani and global chief creative officer Liz Taylor hosted a lunch that brought together over a dozen female marketers and leaders from across the industry. The women were joined by White Lotus creator Mike White, who Taylor interviewed in the Palais earlier. For the two Ogilvy leaders, it was a unique moment to create a sense of community and connection.
“As if sharing the stage with Mike White wasn’t enough, breaking bread with him and a truly awe-inspiring group of women was one of the highlights of the week. It was a unique opportunity to give many of our clients a unique look into the creative process with a multihyphenate creative mind,” added Taylor.
Ogilvy Italia and WPP produced this patronizing Pride campaign that declares, “Where others see only colours, we see the fight.” Feigning a colorblind perspective is typical bullshit delivered by the culturally clueless and deceptively racist. Also, save for one potential Puerto Rican, the advertisements lack LGBTQIA+ individuals of colour.
Advertising Age published PR puffery from Ad Council, hyping its “Tear the Paper Ceiling” campaign—featured in a previous post—which was created in partnership with Opportunity@Work and Ogilvy. To recap, the concept is designed to build awareness for degree discrimination, whereby people allegedly face bias because they don’t have a college education.
The Ad Age piece is particularly offensive in featuring executives with ties to Ogilvy and Ad Council, as well as assorted cronies. The quoted promoters gush with enthusiasm for the program and condemnation for degree discrimination. Sorry, but advertising agency officers feigning outrage over biased hiring practices involving diplomas is hypocrisy to the highest degree.
Indeed, Adland is extraordinarily guilty of showing favoritism to graduates of White universities and White ad portfolio schools. Why, the industry only recently discovered the existence of HBCUs.
Keep in mind, too, how Ad Council assigns its most prestigious assignments to White advertising agencies, while brushing crumbs at minority-owned firms.
For the folks behind the article and campaign, bullshit has no ceiling.
How You Can Tear Down The ‘Paper Ceiling’ And Uncover New Talent
By Lisa Sherman
STARs are all around us, the more than 70 million workers in the U.S. who are “skilled through alternative routes” (STARs), rather than via college degrees, and they make up 50% of the U.S. workforce.
But in an industry driven by breakthrough ideas, why is it that so many of us still screen candidates based on their educational backgrounds and pedigrees instead of the skills and potential they bring to the table? And how many leaders truly know the number of talented STARs already working within their organizations who should be given more opportunities to advance?
Last fall, the Ad Council partnered with Opportunity@Work (with the support of nearly 50 national organizations) to launch a national campaign to change the narrative around the value of STARs. With a PSA calling on all of us to “Tear the Paper Ceiling”—a rallying cry coined by our volunteer ad agency Ogilvy NY—we’re bringing attention to the invisible barrier that holds STARs back from opportunity and prevents employers from tapping into their skills.
I asked a few of our incredible partners to reflect on their involvement and the lessons they’ve learned: Devika Bulchandani, global CEO, Ogilvy; Jacki Kelly, CEO, Dentsu, and board chair at the Ad Council; Byron Auguste, CEO, Opportunity@Work; Aneesh Raman, VP and head of Opportunity Project, LinkedIn; Michelle Hillman, chief campaign development officer, the Ad Council; and Justin Hutchinson, director of business development, ThreeSixtyEight, and a STAR himself. Here’s what they shared.
Devika Bulchandani: Nothing unifies people like a common enemy. In this case, our enemy is an unseen, unspoken barrier between talented workers and the companies that need their skills. Our creative team wanted to give the enemy a name, something that we can all rally against: the paper ceiling.
Our hope is that storytellers, leaders and creative thinkers across our industry will join us in using the language of the paper ceiling to raise awareness of this issue, which is deeply embedded in hiring and advancement practices. The more people hear about the paper ceiling, the easier it is for them to remember it, recognize it when they see it and ultimately work together to dismantle it.
Jacki Kelley: Dentsu is honored to partner with the Ad Council to provide pro bono media strategy and outreach to this effort and we are committed to “tearing the paper ceiling” within our own walls.
We’ve equipped our interview teams with the tools to identify potential and to challenge their own biases by looking for culture adds, not culture fit. We’ve also launched Dentsu’s Media Experience, an apprenticeship program designed to remove barriers to entering the industry, which welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
We believe in securing high performing talent that enhances our work and culture through diverse lived experiences. Skills-based hiring helps us accomplish just that.
Byron Auguste: Smart companies are tearing the paper ceiling by removing unnecessary bachelor’s degree screens and tapping into the STAR talent pool featuring a diverse range of skills for in-demand jobs. Without a STARs talent strategy, you only have half a talent strategy.
Opportunity@Work’s STARs hiring playbook and other “Tear the Paper Ceiling” campaign resources illustrate a variety of proven ways for employers to implement STAR talent strategies. This campaign also offers a platform for STARs in our partner organizations to share their own stories and lead the way. Bottom line: Companies that prioritize skills versus pedigree and proactively recruit and grow STAR talent at scale will innovate, adapt and future-proof their workforce.
Aneesh Raman: For too long, the way people got hired was based solely on the job they had, the degree they earned or the people they knew. That's starting to change, and we see it happening on LinkedIn. Nearly one in four U.S. jobs no longer require degrees, as more employers realize that focusing on the actual skills people bring to the table can solve some of our biggest business challenges and unlock opportunities for millions of overlooked candidates. These include the 61% of Black workers or 55% of Hispanic workers who are STARs, as well as the 66% of rural workers and 61% of veterans.
Adopting a skills-first approach that brings these workers into the fold will lead to more resilient businesses, more diverse teams and ultimately a more equitable labor market.
Michelle Hillman: Many communications efforts in this space to date have focused on encouraging STARs to build their skills. We’re now taking a dual-audience approach to help drive demand from the employer side. Everyone can play a role in helping tear the paper ceiling, whether we refer contacts for job openings or help interview candidates.
At the Ad Council, we’re embracing skills-based hiring, including removing education requirements from job descriptions and promoting openings across job boards that reach candidates from a wide range of backgrounds. I look forward to seeing how our industry flourishes when we all help create more opportunities for STARs and give them the chance to shine.
Justin Hutchinson: College football was a dream of mine that could have become reality, but once my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer higher education became an afterthought. After his passing, I worked at a smoothie shop where the CEO of a marketing agency recognized my people skills and offered me an internship. Five years later, I lead our business development department. ThreeSixtyEight developed the campaign website, and our client was so moved by my story, they featured it in a PSA.
STARs like me are everywhere, and it only takes one person to advocate for us so we can show what we’re capable of. I encourage you to be that person in your workplace, and I encourage STARs everywhere to know their worth and go after these opportunities when they come up.
To learn more about this campaign and how your organization can tap STAR talent, visit TearThePaperCeiling.org.
Adweek spotlighted promotional propaganda from Ogilvy, Opportunity@Work, and Ad Council designed to build awareness for the Paper Ceiling—defined as degree discrimination—whereby people allegedly face bias because they don’t have a college degree.
The divershitty showpiece is titled, “Tear the Paper Ceiling,” featuring over 30,000 pieces of paper from actual resumes representing the over 70 million workers in the U.S. Or, more likely, the discarded CVs of minority candidates applying for jobs at White advertising agencies like Ogilvy.
Ogilvy Malaysia is responsible for this Guinness campaign. It’s a matter of taste, but it’s tough to see the conceptual value here…
Advertising Age reported on Ogilvy New York, where the White woman serving as President hired a White man to take the role of Chief Creative Officer at the White advertising agency.
Late Founder David Ogilvy said, “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”
A fresh addition could read, “If each White person hires people who are Whiter than we are, we shall become a company of White people.”
Mission accomplished.
Advertising Age spotlighted the latest patronizing propaganda from Dove—and the report’s opening paragraph underscored the ignorance and hypocrisy:
“A new study from Unilever’s Dove has uncovered startling findings with respect to Black girls—from as early as the age of five, they experience hair-based discrimination at schools. That statistic comes to life in a heart-tugging new spot from Ogilvy and Swift.”
Okay, here’s a breakdown of the ignorance and hypocrisy.
First, why conduct a study to uncover common knowledge? Answer: Because Unilever and Dove are culturally clueless.
Second, why label the findings as “startling”? Answer: Because Unilever, Dove and Advertising Age are culturally clueless.
Third, why assign such a project to White advertising agency Ogilvy? Answer: Because Unilever and Dove are hypocritical piles of shit.
Fourth, why did White advertising agency Ogilvy partner with Swift? Answer: Because Unilever, Dove and Ogilvy (having abandoned OgilvyCulture long ago) are culturally clueless and hypocritical piles of shit.
Fifth, why does Swift boast about being female-founded and female-run with women comprising 80% of leadership, staffed by BIPOC-identifying workers comprising 40% of the team and certified by The 3% Movement? Answer: Because the Portland-based shop can leverage such data points to land gigs with Unilever, Dove and Ogilvy—plus, get promotional PR from Ad Age.
Sixth, this blog has been unimpressed by Dove since it launched the Real Beauty campaign—for reasons detailed in this 2005 post. If anyone needs further evidence that Dove’s campaign is thoroughly unoriginal, check this out. No, really, check this out now.
Finally, there’s no doubt that Unilever, Dove, Ogilvy and Swift will take full advantage of pumping the pathetic poop during Black History Month.
Dove Study Finds That Girls As Young As Five Experience Race-Based Hair Discrimination
Brand’s latest Crown Coalition effort includes emotional ad from Ogilvy and Swift following one girl’s disheartening hair journey
By Ann-Christine Diaz
A new study from Unilever’s Dove has uncovered startling findings with respect to Black girls—from as early as the age of five, they experience hair-based discrimination at schools. That statistic comes to life in a heart-tugging new spot from Ogilvy and Swift.
The ad follows one young woman’s hair journey through the years, opening on a scene of her as a girl. Her father lovingly spends time styling her hair in braids, only to see her turned away at school because her hairstyle doesn’t fit into the “strict hair policy.” In high school, her teacher cautions her against wearing braids during graduation, and as a young adult, she bolts out of a job interview when she sees that her bantu knots fall into the “banned” hairstyles at the company.
It ends on an uplifting note, however, with the young girl’s voiceover saying, “My dad always told me I should fight for my hair. So I am.”
The spot is the latest in Dove’s efforts supporting The Crown Coalition, the organization it established in 2019 alongside National Urban League, Color of Change and the Center of Western Law and Poverty in an effort to end race-based hair discrimination.
The new research, “Dove 2021 Crown Research Study for Girls,” found that 53% of Black mothers said their daughters experienced hair discrimination. Some of those experiences began as early as the age of five. The study also found that approximately 86% of Black teens who endured hair discrimination did so by the age of 12, while 100% of Black elementary school girls in majority-white schools who said they experienced hair bias said they did so by the age of 10.
Dove had co-founded The Crown Coalition following its previous research that uncovered how Black women are 1.5 times more likely to be sent home from work because of their hairstyles. It also found that Black women were 80% more likely to change their natural hair to “fit” into their workplace.
Since its founding, The Crown Coalition has been fighting to pass The Crown Act, local and federal legislation demanding protection against such discrimination at work and in schools. Currently, only 14 states (CA, CT, CO, DE, IL, MD, NE, NM, OR, NY, NJ, NV, VA, WA) and 34 municipalities have laws against race-based hair discrimination.
As part of its inclusive hair efforts, Dove also recently debuted its new “Hair Love” line of products. It was inspired by the Oscar-winning and Dove-backed short created by filmmaker Matthew Cherry, a Crown Act advocate.
“This new body of research illuminates the pervasive nature and deep impact hair discrimination has on Black girls highlighting the horrific multi-generational impact of narrow beauty standards in America,” said Esi Eggleston Bracey, EVP and chief operating officer Unilever North America, in a statement. “These biases continue to perpetuate unfair scrutiny and discrimination against Black women and girls for wearing hairstyles inherent to our culture. This is unacceptable and why it is imperative that everyone join the movement to make hair discrimination illegal nationwide through the passage of The Crown Act.”
Consumers can sign a petition and see more information on The Crown Act at Dove.com/Crown.
