17349: BHM 2026—Pru.

 

For Black History Month, did Pru in Chicago use Shutterstock or other royalty-free image sources?

17342: BHM 2026—Shutterstock.

 

For all your Black History Month royalty-free image needs, visit Shutterstock.

17031: Overreaction Of The Week.

 

Is Epidemic Sound engaging in multicultural marketing?

 

The service offers the most inclusive music license, and probably presents a diverse range of soundtrack solutions created by global artists. Depicting multiracial and multigender thumbs-up images—probably royalty-free stock photography—feels forced too.

 

Yep, the promotion has all the key characteristics of multicultural marketing—right down to looking like it was produced for crumbs.

17018: Performative Promotion For Patronizing Prizes.

 

This promotion for Campaign’s Inspiring Women Awards is uninspiring and unworthy of awards. It appears to be stereotypical stock imagery too.

 

Despite that, the event will probably draw plenty of entrants seeking performative prizes, as well as generate profit for the publication.

16932: Rerunning Redefining Rhetoric For DEIBA+ Rejuvenation.

 

Advertising Age published yet another perspective on the imperative for redefining DEIBA+—this one presenting 5 directives for success.

 

The problem is all 5 suggestions are unoriginal—as well as proven failures. And each one is being further countered by the political agenda of President Donald J. Trump.

 

To underscore the contrived and clichéd characteristics, Ad Age illustrated the opinion piece with a stereotypical stock image (depicted above).

 

Redefining DEI—how to frame diversity as a business imperative

 

5 ways to align diversity goals with bottom-line success

 

By Mike Valdes-Fauli

 

One of the most prevalent trends from 2024 has escalated in the new year. In the face of a tidal wave of criticism of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, many companies have reversed established policies to avoid public scrutiny.

 

As the proud son of immigrant parents from Cuba and Mexico, I believe in championing diversity in all facets of society, including the business landscape. However, I also understand reasonable people can disagree on complex topics and that a new approach is direly needed. 

 

A few social media activists are leading a pressure campaign against publicly traded companies that champion diversity programs, causing shifts from companies including Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, Lowe’s, McDonald’s and Toyota. Perhaps the most significant retreat came from Walmart, America’s largest private employer, which recently announced a reversal of programs focused on LGBTQ, climate change and other societal issues.

 

The tipping point for this movement may have been Bud Light’s now infamous 2023 partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which sparked a months-long boycott, dethroned America’s best-selling beer and caused a $1.4 billion drop in sales, according to the company. 

 

These reversals are actually cyclical. It was only four years ago during the pandemic when DEI initiatives grew exponentially, ignited by racial justice protests and COVID-caused inequities. According to McKinsey & Co., large enterprises spent an estimated $7.5 billion on DEI-related efforts.

 

In this unpredictable see-saw, it’s natural to wonder what the right balance is and whether we’ll ever emerge from this quagmire. I’m reminded of the old joke about a pessimist who laments; “Things really can’t get any worse.” To which his optimist friend replies, “Oh, yes it can!”    

 

Both sides of the debate are fixated on terms that spark rancor. Rather than fall prey to trigger words and acronyms, perhaps there’s a better way forward. Our path to collective success should be rooted in narrowing the discussion to areas of common ground.

 

Take “global warming,” another polarizing term that elicits venom from entrenched groups. In my hometown of Miami, there is disagreement about the cause of climate change (and whether it even exists), but our community found common ground by reframing the issue around undeniable facts. 

 

Regardless of whether you believe in global warming, there is no question that we are enduring “sea level rise.” This newer term has brought together liberals, conservatives, scientists, business leaders and politicians whose common pursuit is reinforcing our diminished sea wall to prevent coastal flooding and ensure the future of waterfront real estate. The key component was narrowing this issue to a smaller, shared goal while focusing less on blame for how we got here in the first place.

 

Two decades ago, celebrated Harvard Business School Professors Michael E. Porter and Mark Kramer coined the term “creating shared value.” The premise was that corporate social responsibility should deliver mutual benefit for a company as well as society. The more a business combines altruism with profitable strategies, the less criticism it might receive.

 

As it pertains to diversity, such mutual interests could include unlocking greater economic value for companies, employees and shareholders. Like it or not, DEI initiatives have statistically proven to reduce employee attrition and increase employee motivation and innovation, according to Boston Consulting Group, which surveyed more than 27,000 employees in 16 countries. 

 

To strike the right balance, brands and their consultants would be wise to heed five guiding principles:

 

Reframe as a business imperative

 

Rather than a charitable box to check, companies should frame the issue as a competitive advantage and a critical piece of a winning strategy.

 

Embrace demographic change

 

Capitulating to external threats is tempting but will ultimately prove shortsighted. There is no question the future demographics of America are changing and growing more diverse. Gen Z is 51% non-white and 25% Hispanic.  Shareholders ignore these trends at their peril. 

 

Focus on results

 

Rather than extolling a company’s virtue with sweeping public announcements, organizations should operate in stealth mode and do the work of diversifying their customer base, employee makeup and future-proofing their brand. 

 

Be authentic

 

Not all diversity initiatives are created equal. Although the fundamental goals are similar, every company should adhere to its values, unique selling proposition and brand identity. Irrespective of where you sit on LGBTQ issues, does anyone think the Bud Light campaign was consistent with four decades of its marketing? Which one of these things doesn’t belong: Clydesdales, talking frogs, the Super Bowl and … transgender influencers?

 

My point is that companies can and should lean into societal issues, but not by pivoting quickly toward inauthentic directions and forgetting what they worked hard to represent for millions of customers.

 

Nuanced delivery

 

Having to choose between a consistent brand and a diverse organization is a false choice.

 

Companies should preserve one cohesive set of values but amplify them with nuanced internal and external campaigns that resonate culturally for distinct target audiences. 

In the words of the iconic “Mad Men” character Don Draper, “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.” It’s time we realize that words matter and begin reframing DEI around common goals that benefit society as well as the bottom line.

16807: Happy Belated Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

 

What’s most outrageous about the lack of advertisements celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day? Shutterstock offered 476 royalty-free images suitable for patronizing propaganda. It appears there were no takers in Adland.

15977: Royalty-Free & Concept-Free.

 

Your one-stop shop for royalty-free stock—act now for your patronizing DE&I, Kwanzaa and Black History Month initiatives.

15833: Authentic Representation For Only $4.00 With A 1-Month Subscription.

 

Advertising Age published a perspective titled, “LGBTQIA+ Asian American Pacific Islanders—It’s Time For Authentic Representation And Visibility.” Yeah, well, get in line behind White women and a slew of other White segments claiming marginalized status.

 

It’s also hilarious that Ad Age chose to illustrate content about authentic representation with a $4.00 stock image. Perfect.

 

15557: Ad Age Presents Stock Solution For Diversity.

 

Advertising Age published a perspective titled, “Tokenism Versus Diversity: What Does Genuine Inclusivity Look And Feel Like?”—and illustrated the piece with the most tokenistic, nongenuine iStock photo imaginable. Brilliant.

15395: Getty Images Has History Covered—Black And White.

This campaign hypes Getty Images for its vast archive of historical images available for creative needs. Hey, for Black History Month, the hardest-working man in Black advertising gets a lot of usage.

 

 

14588: Dove’s Latest Bullshit Is A Real Beauty.

Adweek reported on divertsity depicted by Dove and Getty, who teamed up to create a stock photography collection that “shows women as they are, not as others believe they should be, ” and featuring “no digital distortion, just an unapologetically inclusive vision of beauty.” Oh goody! More royalty-free images for Black History Month campaigns.

Dove and Getty Launch a More-Honest Stock Photo Collection—of Women, by Women

Project #ShowUs offers a much-needed diversity update

By T.L. Stanley

There’s a reason why so many unrealistic images (think thin, white and perpetually bikini clad) get picked up and used across social media, news stories and ad campaigns—it’s possible to find empowered, diverse women in stock photography, but it’s a real slog to get there.

Dove, Getty Images and female-led creative agency Girlgaze are tackling that problem head on with Project #ShowUs, a new collection of 5,000 photos that, they creators say, “shows women as they are, not as others believe they should be.” In other words, there’s “no digital distortion, just an unapologetically inclusive vision of beauty.”

Originating in 39 countries, the photos come from 116 female, non-binary and female-identifying photographers, and, in a first for Getty, the 179 subjects have created their own search descriptions and tags for their images, “so she is defining how she wants to be seen, on her own terms.” (Some of those terms include “blackgirlmagic,” “bosslady” and “enlightened.”)

Don’t expect cheesy representations like “women laughing alone with salad” to go away overnight. But with options like these available, it’s harder to make excuses for falling back on tropes and publishing stereotypical shots. And that’s the point — to make it easier and quicker to find culturally relevant images of a wide variety of confident, successful, kickass females.

Dove, with its long “Real Women” history, commissioned a study of 9,000 women and released its stats to bolster the launch of the photo collection. The numbers are sobering, exposing what Sophie Galvani, global vp of the Unilever brand, called “an appearance anxiety epidemic.”

Women have long reported a blow to their self-esteem because of unrealistic imagery in media, and that figure doubled in the past decade (rising from 14 percent to 36 percent), the research found. On a global scale, 70 percent of women don’t feel accurately represented by the images they see everyday, and 71 percent wish media and advertisers did a better job in portraying age, race, shape and size.

At the same time, searches for a broader swath of women have been increasing, Getty says. “Real people” searches climbed by 192 percent in the past year, “diverse women” by 168 percent, “strong women” by 187 percent” and “women leaders” by 202 percent.

Girlgaze founder Amanda de Cadenet called the project “a game-changing initiative,” and Getty Images’ Rebecca Swift predicted that it will “break visual cliches on an unprecedented scale.”

Getty execs say they hope to double the size of the collection by next year.

It’s another advance in a broader long-fought battle against a stock photo industry that’s often seen as less-than thoughtful. PETA’s years-long concerted effort to wipe out imagery of primates in “unnatural” settings and poses (chimps riding bikes and wearing makeup, for instance) paid off as services like Getty and Shutterstock vowed last year to take those photos out of circulation.

13963: Old New Year’s Greetings.

13901: Thanksgiving Memories.

Gee, why didn’t Getty Images use the image depicted above for its “Elevate Your Work With Powerful Images” campaign?

11144: Stereotypical Mad Men Episode.

The latest installment of AMC series Mad Men Season 6 continued to introduce more Black stereotypes. Dawn Chambers made a handful of cameo appearances, executing subservient secretarial duties. But the new stereotype came in the form of a sassy, heavy Black woman. “Grandma Ida” claimed to be Don Draper’s mama, made a reference to fried chicken and wound up robbing the apartment. So that covers the Black felon category.

9785: BHM 2012—Shutterstock.

Leave it to a stock image supplier to supply stock stereotypes during Black History Month.

8164: Deutsch’s Diversity Dreck.

Deutsch deserves a hand—or a stock photo of many hands—for creating clichéd, contrived crap for the ADCOLOR® Awards.

7902: Verifying Minorities.

E-Verify hypes its experience in identifying undocumented workers—with stock photography typically used to illustrate workplace diversity. Nice.

7384: Stock Stereotypes Holiday Edition.

(Search Words: African American Santa Claus)


I’m Dreaming of a White Wife Christmas


Santa Jemima


Bulging With Holiday Cheer


Ho Ho Ho

7354: Stock Stereotypes 8.

Honestly, why is this image even available?

(Search Words: African American Man Standing)

7351: Stock Stereotypes 7.

Tiger Woods wannabe…?

(Search Words: African American Business Leader)