11917: Lupita Nyong’o Is In Vogue.

11916: Run DMC Adidas Ad Tops.

Campaign reported the 1985 adidas spot starring Run DMC was named the best music ad of all time—demonstrating once again that adpeople love hip hop.

Run DMC Adidas spot named best music ad of all time

By Ian Griggs

Adidas’s “my Adidas” ad from 1985 featuring music by Run DMC has topped the list of the greatest ads of all time featuring music, according to a study

The ad tops a list compiled by the global music-licensing platform Synkio.

At number two on the list is the 1991 Chevrolet ad with music ‘Like a Rock’ by Bob Seger.

At number three is the 1971 Coca-Cola advert featuring ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing’ by the Hillside Singers and at number four is the iconic 1989 British Airways ad using Lakme’s “Flower Duet”.

Many of the campaigns on the top ten are 20 years old or more, such as the 1987 Pepsi ad, in seventh place, featuring David Bowie and Tina Turner singing ‘Modern Love’ and the ninth-placed 1995 ad for Microsoft Windows 95 featuring ‘Start Me Up’ by The Rolling Stones.

The most recent ad on the list is the 2012 cartoon ad for the Melbourne Metro, featuring the song ‘Dumb Ways To Die’ by Tangerine Kitty, which went viral on social media after its release. The 1965 jingle for the American hot-dog brand Oscar Meyer is the oldest ad and is at number ten.

Synkio compiled the list using research and in conjunction with a panel of expert judges from the advertising and music business, including Ricki Askin, the music supervisor from Vice, and the rap artist Ko: The Legend.

It spent 18 months investigating top ads, based on its criteria of brand message, context of imagery and lyrics and composition, as well as considering the impact of the advert on a music artist’s career or vice versa.

Ben Perreau, chief executive of Synkio, said: “Music can make or create an ad – behind that is always a talented artist and brand team.

“We’re spending time with agencies and artists, to learn more about what will make the best great ad of tomorrow.

“The combination of great music and powerful, iconic brand messaging creates an impact nothing can compete with.”

11915: New CD Coming To Pornhub.

Pornhub announced a winner in its search for a creative director, choosing a jerk-off copywriter from Istanbul. Ironically, the Turkish government inspired violent protests earlier in the year after introducing legislation designed to restrict public access to Internet pornography. So maybe the contrived, victorious idea depicted above is actually revolutionary. “The concept is smart, relatable and it has potential to work across all advertisement platforms,” said Pornhub VP Corey Price via a press release. “We’re thrilled to announce…the winner and are looking forward to working with him to roll out the industry’s first mainstream ad campaign.” Damn, the guy is an ignorant dick. And he didn’t realize the highly qualified Dov Charney is actually available for the position now.

11914: 15+ Racist Brand Mascots.

Business Insider presented 15 Racist Brand Mascots And Logos That Make The Redskins Look Progressive. Notably absent from the list: Annie the Chicken Queen, The Pine-Sol Lady, Chad and Ranjit, Ancient Chinese Secret Lady, Honey Bunches of Oats Woman and Talking Vaginas.

11913: Cannes Invents New Clichés.

Cannes broke away from the clichéd convention of only spotlighting Black recording artists by featuring Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson in an Ogilvy & Mather-sponsored lecture. It was probably an OgilvyCulture initiative. Look for the agency to turn the event into a Black inventors ad next February.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: We Must Celebrate Innovators or ‘Move Back Into the Cave’

Cannes creatives challenged to be part of the solution

By David Griner

CANNES, France—He is one of the world’s only household names in the field of science, but Neil deGrasse Tyson definitely wishes that weren’t the case.

Standing before an audience of global creatives today, the astrophysicist and host of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey told Cannes Lions attendees that the world needs to return to the time when it valued great thinkers and honored them as national heroes.

Instead of showing slides of star maps or X-ray images of distant galaxies, Tyson chose to feature pictures of money in his appearance at the festival’s fourth annual Ogilvy & Mather Inspire lecture. He presented slide after slide of international currency that featured and honored scientists as cultural icons. Today, few such bills can be found, and Tyson fears the world is losing its admiration for science.

“Somebody cared enough about it to put it on the currency. These are the things that affect your culture. A whole culture can be given to problem solving simply by the forces operating within it and around it, forces you might not even be aware of while you’re in the middle of it.”

Instead, Tyson cited his home nation of the United States as a place where politicians, media and pop culture are often scientifically ignorant or even hostile.

To highlight how nations and cultures can lose their focus on science, he gave the example of the Islamic world around 1000 AD, “one of the most intellectually fertile periods in the history of the human species.”

“Mathematics, agriculture, engineering, medicine, navigation—all of that happened while Europe was disemboweling heretics at the same time. So what happened? Well, it wasn’t forever.”

The rise of one influential philosopher, Al-Ghazali, early in the 11th century popularized the idea that “manipulating numbers was outside your spiritual accountability.” The result, Tyson said, was a centuries-long evaporation of scientific emphasis in Muslim culture.

“If something falls, and you say, ‘Allah did that.’ If you’re content with that, you will not be the one who discovers gravity. If you’re content with everything you see as being the will of a divine force, you have been removed from the equation of all those whose curiosity leads to solutions to problems.”

Today, Tyson told the audience, the United States and many other nations are in danger of similarly losing their appreciation for “scientific creativity.” The solution he proposes is not just to be more respectful of science, but also to be more respectful of creativity.

Speaking to Adweek after the Cannes Lions session, Tyson said the stakes are incredibly high—up to and including our own species’ destruction.

“I’m an acute observer of trends in cultures, because some trends are away from innovation. And if it’s away from innovation and creativity, then problems you already know exist, and especially problems that you don’t know will yet arise, can be the unweaving of your civilization, and I don’t want to be in that world.”

Reversing the trend, he said, is partly the responsibility of marketers and media influencers, many of whom are in attendance here at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

We must return to celebrating those who combine creativity with science and discovery, Tyson said, or we risk falling into an intellectual tailspin that might prove irreversible.

“Their activities should be cherished These are the people we should hold up high. We should build statues to those people. We used to. Those are the folks who advance frontiers. The inventors, the explorers, the discoverers, the innovators,” Tyson said.

“These are the people who shape civilization. If you don’t cultivate and nurture that, you might as well just move back into the cave, because that’s where we’re going to end up without it.”

11912: Donald Sterling Is Jerky.

The Los Angeles Times published voicemail recordings left by former L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling for psychiatrists who ruled he was mentally incompetent. As if Sterling’s original infamous recording wasn’t proof enough. Sterling should apply for a job with The Jerky Boys.

11911: This Dov’s No Real Beauty.

George Zimmer. Chip Wilson. Mike Jeffries. And now, Dov Charney. These guys are the Four Horsemen of the Apparelocalypse.

American Apparel boots CEO for being a pervert, stock surges

By James Covert

Dov Charney’s luck has finally run out — and American Apparel is likely headed for the sales block.

The controversial founder and CEO of American Apparel was ousted Wednesday by the retailer’s board, paving the way for a potential sale of the company, insiders said.

The board of directors cited “an ongoing investigation into alleged misconduct” that it initiated earlier this year, announcing that it had voted unanimously after its annual meeting Wednesday to fire Charney for cause.

While the board didn’t elaborate, sources said Charney’s personal conduct with women, which had been the subject of a string of sex-harassment suits by former female employees, was among the longstanding issues. The issues didn’t appear to be criminal or related to troubles with the company’s operations, sources said.

Shares of the struggling clothier surged as much as 22 percent to trade as high as 78 cents in early trades Thursday. Recently, the stock was up 7 percent at 69 cents.

Prior to the announcement on Wednesday afternoon, 45-year-old Charney didn’t respond to repeated messages from The Post, as unconfirmed speculation spread among insiders that a brewing conflict between him and the board might end with his ouster.

Another possible bone of contention, according to one source, was that Charney recently had been seeking ways to reverse the dilution of his ownership stake in the company, which had resulted from a March stock offering of $30.5 million to cover near-term debt payments.

“He was asking for advice on what to do about the situation,” according to one source, noting that the recent equity raise had diluted Charney’s stake in the company to about 27 percent — well below the minimum of 35 percent generally seen as necessary to retain control of a board.

Indeed, Charney’s dilution from the equity deal appears to have left him vulnerable in his final defeat after a string of close calls during previous liquidity crises for the company.

Charney, who founded American Apparel in 1998 as a T-shirt supplier, in some ways had been a retail visionary.

Courting controversy with smutty ads that featured young, scantily clad women in compromising positions, Charney produced his fashions at a factory in Los Angeles, championing “Made in the USA” clothing.

While Charney campaigned to legalize Mexican workers at his LA plant, the rest of the US clothing industry had moved its manufacturing to sourcing overseas.

But he was continually dogged by operational disasters, even as consternation about his personal behavior grew.

In 2009, American Apparel was forced to fire 1,500 undocumented immigrant workers at its Los Angeles factory following a federal raid, spurring manufacturing shortfalls that led to a major cash crunch. In 2013, the company’s loss widened to $106 million from $37 million a year earlier, partly because of software glitches at a new manufacturing facility.

“We take no joy in this, but the board felt it was the right thing to do,” said American Apparel director Allen Mayer, newly appointed as co-chairman. “Dov Charney created American Apparel, but the company has grown much larger than any one individual and we are confident that its greatest days are ahead.”

Firing Charney for cause will require a 30-day period to resolve under his contract, and could trigger defaults on debt obligations that could, in turn, force a sale of the company, insiders said.

Financial chief John Luttrell will serve as interim CEO while the company hires a search firm to replace Charney.

American Apparel only narrowly escaped getting taken over by lenders this spring, as a group of debt holders including Goldman Sachs demanded a $13.6 million interest payment on more than $200 million in obligations.

The racy clothing brand is now expected to attract a bevy of suitors, including private-equity firms as well as competing retailers.

“The only thing that’s been standing in the way of a sale has been Dov Charney,” according to one banker close to the situation. “People love the brand, and they hate him.”

11910: Redskins Lose Trademarks.

From Politico…

Redskins stripped of trademarks

By Jonathan Topaz and Lucy McCalmont

In a major blow to the Washington Redskins, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday canceled six federal trademarks of the team name because it was found to be “disparaging” to Native Americans.

“We decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that these registrations must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered,” the Patent Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board wrote in a 2-1 decision.

The Redskins’ team name has become a divisive political issue over the past few years, with even President Barack Obama saying the club should consider changing it. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Democrats also have pressed owner Dan Snyder to change the name. On the other side, conservatives have either defended keeping the name, arguing that it isn’t a slur, or been silent on the uproar.

The trademark attorney for the Redskins, Bob Raskopf, downplayed the ruling and vowed the team will win an ensuing appeal.

“We’ve seen this story before. And just like last time, today’s ruling will have no effect at all on the team’s ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo,” he said in a statement, citing rulings in 1999 and 2003. “We are confident we will prevail once again, and that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s divided ruling will be overturned on appeal.”

Reid lauded the trademark decision on the Senate floor Wednesday, saying it reinforces the push for the Redskins to change the name.

Reid called the name a “sad reminder” of the bigotry Native Americans have faced and said the issue “is extremely important to Native Americans all across the country.”

“Daniel Snyder may be the last person in the world to realize this, but it’s just a matter of time until he is forced to do the right thing and change the name,” he said.

“The writing is on the wall,” Reid added. “It’s on the wall in giant, blinking, neon lights.”

The majority leader also praised the work of Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the former Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairwoman who has been a major leader on the issue. She spoke on the Senate floor to hail the “landmark decision.”

“This is not the end of this case, but this is a landmark decision by the Patent Office that says that the NFL team here in Washington, D.C., does not have a patentable name, and that this is an offensive term not patentable by the Patent Office,” she said.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) also hailed the ruling, saying on Twitter: “This decision is a step forward for Indian Country & for all Americans who champion tolerance.”

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), a vocal critic of the team name, slammed Snyder for trying to have the decision overturned.

“I don’t know how many times he needs to be told that the name is disparaging. I understand he says he’s going to appeal. Shame on him,” she said in an interview. “I mean, does he like losing?”

Norton had co-sponsored a bill last year to amend the 1946 Lanham Act, the law that prohibits the registration of trademarks that disparage any group. Her legislation would include “redskins” as a disparaging term if it is contained in a trademark with connotations to the Native American community.

A National Football League spokesperson said the league would not be issuing a separate statement from the team.

Five Native Americans in 2006 brought the petition Blackhorse v. Pro Football, Inc., aimed at stripping the team’s half-dozen trademark registrations for the term “Redskins.”

“I hope this ruling brings us a step closer to that inevitable day when the name of the Washington football team will be changed,” said plaintiff Amanda Blackhorse. “The team’s name is racist and derogatory.”

11909: Kanye At Cannes.

Adweek highlighted Kanye West’s perspectives at Cannes, which included comparing himself to the late Steve Jobs and his mandate “to work with the No. 1.” As always, West is only looking out for No. 1. Also as always, our industry is only interested in hearing from Blacks who are award-winning recording artists—or who have access to such celebrities as Steve Stoute does. Hiring Blacks is another story.

11908: The Tanning Of Cannes.

A Cannes seminar slated for Tuesday will feature Translation Founder and CEO Steve Stoute and Kanye West. Not sure which of the two is less qualified to be participating in a Cannes seminar.

11907: Pornhub Review Obscenely Bad.

MultiCultClassics is a little tardy on this story, but Digiday spotlighted Pornhub’s search for a new creative director. The competition took the form of a crowdsourced endeavor, and Pornhub whittled down the submissions to 15 finalists. Viewing the top-selected entants really underscores two things: 1) Crowdsourcing leads to shitty work and; 2) There are lots of hacks in the advertising industry.

For starters, all the concepts look like stuff done by portfolio school students—and bad students at that. The thinking is crude, sophomoric and clichéd. Did anyone even try to consider the audience? The contrived attempts at humor ultimately insult the site’s users. That Pornhub deemed the finalists as viable only shows the client is idiotic too.

The entrants represent the worst of our ranks—people desperately attempting to gain notoriety by excreting dreck that the creators probably consider “edgy” and cool. These clowns have undoubtedly already drafted ADDY and Cannes entry forms. Save your money, dudes. Buy yourselves some porn instead.

11906: Why We Sold…Out.

Aren’t all mergers and acquisitions ultimately about the agency leaders getting paid?

11905: Four Stooges On Cannes.

Campaign let the four stooges in charge of the major holding companies—Publicis Groupe, Omnicom Group, IPG and WPP—share their thoughts on Cannes. Maurice Lévy whined over the failed merger between Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group, while John Wren made zero mention of the event. Michael Roth opened with a thinly veiled reference to the non-marriage, segueing to brag about his company’s focus on doing award-winning work. Gee, it seems like only yesterday when Howard Draft admitted that 80 percent of his agency’s output sucked, arguably quite an underestimation. Sir Martin Sorrell offered the best commentary:

This year’s event will, no doubt, be the biggest yet and I have some sympathy for those who worry if it has become a little too corpulent. How long, they wonder, before it collapses under its own weight?

Where I part company from the detractors, though, is the point at which they begin to pine for the “glory days” of advertising.

Ask them to describe those days and they will wax heroic with tales of creative derring-do and epic lunches. But listen closely and, all too often, what you hear them describe is essentially an exclusive club: Euro-centric, male and mono-medium.

Today’s Cannes may be big and brash, but it’s also emphatically open, diverse, international and multidisciplinary (extending even to areas such as healthcare communications and data). In other words, it’s a reflection of our modern industry and society.

Um, somebody tell Sir Marty that women comprise 27 percent of this year’s Cannes judges. And minorities are even more underrepresented at the gala. Indeed, Cannes 2014 is an accurate reflection of our modern industry—which continues to not reflect our society at all.

11904: Rick Perry’s A Confused Drunk.

From The New York Post…

Rick Perry: Homosexuality is like alcoholism

By Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO – Texas Gov. Rick Perry, during a visit that focused primarily on economic issues, drew on a reference to alcoholism to explain his view of homosexuality.

Perry’s comments to the Commonwealth Club of California came after Texas’ Republican Convention on Saturday sanctioned platform language allowing Texans to seek voluntary counseling to “cure” being gay.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that in response to a question about it, Perry said he did not know whether the therapy worked.

Perry, a former and potential future GOP presidential candidate, was then asked whether he believed homosexuality was a disorder.

The paper says that the governor responded that “whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not, you have the ability to decide not to do that.”

He said: “I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that, and I look at the homosexual issue the same way.”

The Texas Republican platform stand on the issue is in contrast to California and New Jersey, which have previously banned licensed professionals from providing such therapy to minors.

During the bulk of his talk, Perry held up his own state as a model for responsible energy production and economic growth in California.

Perry said he believes Texas is leading the way in achieving energy independence by producing crude oil and electricity in many forms, including solar power.

Perry also suggested that deregulating electricity had started a boom for renewable energy in Texas, which he called the nation’s leading developer of wind energy.

Perry said shale drilling techniques had doubled oil production in Texas, and he urged Californians to tap the full energy potential in its Monterey Shale.

On Tuesday, Perry drove up to California’s state capital of Sacramento in a Tesla Model S electric car — underscoring his desire to lure a Tesla battery factory to Texas.

11903: Slaves To Technology.

Is this Dignity International campaign addressing the subject matter with proper dignity?

From Ads of the World.

11902: What The Elle, Pharrell.

From DiversityInc…

Pharrell Williams Wears an American Indian Headdress on the Cover of Elle UK, Twitter Creates Hashtag #NotHappy in Response

By Julissa Catalan

Pop star and producer Pharrell Williams has had an amazing year in the public eye, with the commercial success of his single “Happy” and the countless other hits he’s produced—that is, until now.

Williams is featured on Elle UK’s July cover, with the magazine saying its choice of Williams for the cover is “continuing the tradition of featuring cult male icons.”

But photos of the singer wearing a traditional American Indian war bonnet have gone viral and sparked controversy, with the media condemning Williams for misappropriating another culture.

The #NotHappy campaign was created on Twitter within minutes of the photo’s release, where American Indians and fan voiced their disapproval.

Williams has especially become a fashion icon over the last year for popularizing his signature Vivienne Westwood Buffalo hat, aka the Smokey the Bear hat—which he explains is actually an ode to Malcolm McLaren’s Buffalo Gals’ video.

In fact, the singer insists he wore, and was photographed in, that same hat years ago, but that “no one was paying attention at the time.”

Many have been quick to assume Williams is the latest pop star to join the ranks of celebrities like Heidi Klum—who was recently called racist for posting photos of a ‘Redface’ photoshoot—as well as Katy Perry, Avril Lavigne, Nick Cannon and Macklemore, who were also under fire for using another culture’s garb as a costume.

However, in an interview with O Magazine back in 2012, Williams was quoted as saying he has “Native American and Egyptian heritages.”

But according to Indian Country, having native ancestry is not enough, because “not all Indians wear feather headdresses” and “feathers are earned over the course of one’s lifetime.”

The artist released a statement addressing the headdress controversy, simply saying: “I respect and honor every kind of race, background and culture. I am genuinely sorry.”

11901: Young Lions Lick Ass.

This contrived Young Lions campaign from Ecuador unintentionally reflects Cannes quite accurately by depicting wars waged between predominately White men.

From Ads of the World.

11900: The Women Of Cannes.

Advertising Age reported Cannes allowed more female judges to serve this year; however, women only account for 27 percent of jurors. While women make up roughly 50 percent of all workers in U.S. advertising agencies, they remain underrepresented in positions of power. Being a Cannes juror requires being a past Cannes award winner, so the criteria limits eligibility—and perpetuates exclusivity. Then again, given Cannes’ propensity to introduce new trophies, it’s only a matter of time before there’s a Cannes Lioness Award. Oh, and women are still much better represented at the festival than non-Whites.

Cannes Taps More Women to Judge at Ad Festival

Cannes Lions CEO Prioritizing Addition of More Women to the Mix

By Emma Hall

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named 327 jury members for 2014, eight more than last year, not to mention 24 judges for the new two-day health-care contest before the main festival. But despite the growing numbers, it’s still tough to get a jury seat.

Cannes Lions CEO Philip Thomas performs a delicate balancing act every year to make sure all holding companies, networks and agencies are fairly represented. This year, he’s also prioritizing the addition of more women and new countries to the mix. Complicating the process is the prerequisite that jury candidates should be prior Lion winners, an incentive for creatives to enter the festival.

Because Cannes decides how many judges a country gets based largely on how many entries the country’s agencies send, it also has “wild card” judges selected from countries with fewer entries. To broaden the geographical spread of jurors, the number of wild cards has been increased to three this year from two, with Guatemala, Uruguay and Hungary getting slots. Peru, a wild card in 2013, sent more entries than last, therefore it earned a judging spot on its own.

Four women are jury presidents, up from two last year, and a woman is president of one of two juries at the new Health Lions festival. In another record, 27% of all judges are women. “Some awards have made all juries 50-50,” Mr. Thomas said. “We didn’t join that campaign, but we wanted to address the issue that senior creatives are dominated by men, and to try to get more women in, because if women see female jury presidents, they see possibility.”

Despite the equality drive, he added, “Merit is the most important issue for us—all our entrants expect the best people to judge, not some quota.”

The female jury presidents are Susan Bonds, co-founder and CEO, 42 Entertainment, USA (cyber); Susan Credle, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett USA (promo and activation); Renee Wilson, president, North America, MSL Group (PR); and Jaime Robinson, exec creative director, Pereira & O’Dell USA (mobile).

“We looked at categories in which women were high profile; for example, Jaime Robinson won three Grand Prix last year for ‘Intel Inside’—she has all the credibility and experience you could possibly wish for,” said Mr. Thomas.

The increase in jury numbers is partly because of the new category (product design) but also because jury numbers fluctuate by the number of entries.

11899: Seeing (RED) Over Cannes.

The 61st Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will present the inaugural Cannes LionHeart Award to musician and activist Bono for spearheading (RED), described as “a creative fusion of branding, activism and philanthropy that has generated more than $250 million for the fight against AIDS in Africa.” Don’t mean to devalue the significant contributions (RED) has made, but to put things into adland perspective, $250 million is half the amount that Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group will pay as a termination fee for the failed merger. And it’s a safe bet that Maurice Lévy and John Wren will be in attendance at the Cannes soiree, trying to rub elbows with the U2 superstar. For further perspective, the total annual compensation received by all the holding companies’ CEOs surpasses $100 million. Keep in mind that the CEOs’ payment packages cover one year—and (RED) was founded in 2006. Wonder how these figures compare to the financial investments made for diversity in the advertising industry.

11898: The Decline Of Black Ad Shops.

Tavis Smiley led a panel discussion on the decline of Black advertising agencies. The event starred Burrell Communications Group Co-CEO McGhee Osse, Carol H. Williams Advertising President and CEO Carol H. Williams and EMorris Communications Founder Eugene Morris (ironically, Morris recently shuttered his shop, underscoring the theme of the panel). There seem to be a few perpetual problems with these examinations that beg for commentary.

First, no one—particularly anyone at a White advertising agency—is listening. The talkfest doesn’t even warrant a post at The Big Tent. It didn’t help that the participants offered nothing new, regurgitating the familiar gripes. For example, Black advertising agencies have been stressing that Black culture innovates and influences popular culture since the 1950s or earlier. Too bad Black advertising agencies have failed to capitalize on this truth—at least in terms of gaining respect and fair billings from clients. Regardless, a productive conversation about the decline of Black advertising agencies must also include White adpeople and clients.

Second, Black advertising agencies are partly responsible for their own predicament. Accepting second-class citizenship—and the crumbs that come with it—is a self-defeating position. Granted, White advertising agencies and clients have co-conspired to prevent minority shops from moving beyond District 9 conditions. Yet Black advertising agencies have contributed to the separate-but-unequal mess by enjoying the political benefits, assuming a lesser role and contentedly swallowing smaller slices of the proverbial marketing pie.

Third, Black advertising agencies appear to be stuck in a rut. When was the last time a Black advertising agency produced consistently outstanding creative work? Even when a shop like Translation manages to win major brand assignments, the resulting ads are not great. The industry is driven by breakthrough campaigns. If you don’t deliver, you won’t leap forward. Unless you establish and secure an identity rooted in conservative mediocrity such as mcgarrybowen or Zimmerman. Unfortunately, Black advertising agencies will never succeed with such a privileged tactic. (On a semi-related note, the Smiley forum took a pathetic turn when participants whined about young White people allegedly running things, as the remarks made the agency leaders sound old and outdated.)

A fourth problem involves the continued debates featuring Total Market mumbo-jumbo. Osse insisted that minority advertising agencies are actually best qualified to lead Total Market efforts. Bwahahaha! The naïve notion provides a natural segue to a fifth dilemma: namely, the industry power structure fueled by holding companies. For Black advertising agencies, holding companies are Death Stars. If you’re tied to a holding company, as Burrell is tied to Publicis Groupe, expect to be pigeonholed and shackled to minority status. Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy will see to that. No way will even Omnicom CEO and Pioneer of Diversity John Wren permit a non-White agency to chase billings earmarked for White agencies within the network. And if you’re independent, expect to be completely shut out from opportunities to compete for White billings—or non-White billings. In short, holding companies keep minorities and minority agencies in their place.

But again, Black advertising agencies have historically seemed satisfied to stay in their place. Sadly, the leaders at these shops only tend to speak out when their very existences are threatened by extermination. Hell, the decline of Black advertising agencies probably started minutes after the niche was invented. The descent has been happening forever, and it is arguably connected to the industry’s global failure with diversity. It’s tough to stage a revolution when you don’t have the numbers—or a majority support of the ruling White class. And you ultimately wind up presenting your case to Tavis Smiley in the sucky vacuum of minority media.

::

Panel Discussion—The Decline of Black-Owned Advertising Agencies

According to research conducted by the Nielsen Company, African Americans will have collective buying power of $1.1 trillion by next year. Yet, over the past decade, an increasing number of companies have cut budgets for advertising aimed at Black consumers. The trend is directly reflected in the decline of advertising agencies owned and operated by African Americans. Advertising executives McGhee Osse, co-CEO of Burrell Communications Group, Carol H. Williams, president and CEO of Carol H. Williams Advertising, and Eugene Morris, founder of the recently shuttered EMorris Communications, join us for an extensive discussion of the trend.

11897: MGP Infographic WTF.

The Marcus Graham Project created an infographic on the dearth of diversity in the Advertising and Marketing fields, exposing that Black representation is actually declining. See more details here. Or if you’re currently employed in the industry, simply stroll through your company’s hallways to confirm the data.

11896: Head-Scratching Over Scratchgard.

This ad from India is disturbing on a couple of levels. Is the kid using a “Privacy Scratchgard” in order to conceal his phone porn usage? Isn’t there enough controversy surrounding the objectification of and violence against women in India?

From Ads of the World.

11895: DISH Latino Dishes Latinas.

This DISH Latino commercial hypes picture-in-picture capabilities. Hey, you can follow the busty dancers while tuning into porn—all at once!

11894: C’MON WHITE MAN! Episode 35.

(MultiCultClassics credits ESPN’s C’MON MAN! for sparking this semi-regular blog series.)

Campaign published a piece by Isobar CEO and ECD Nick Bailey that feels both patronizing and pathetic. Bailey goes on at length to admit the industry runs on White male privilege, confessing that women and other minority groups remain underrepresented in our ranks. The White man even wrote the following:

I don’t believe our industry is prejudiced against women, people of colour, gay people — any more than the rest of the world. But, like those folk running from that serious-sounding hurricane called Charlie, there’s clearly positive bias at play.

To not believe the industry is prejudiced while acknowledging the existence of a “positive bias” demonstrates clear cultural cluelessness.

Bailey’s solution? Continue ignoring the real problem via smokescreens like the SheSays Awards. Of course, he’s not advocating for any awards to be handed out to other minority groups.

All of which earns Bailey a place among the ignorant jackasses saluted by this semi-regular blog series.

C’MON WHITE MAN!

::

Why we still need a ceremony just for women creative

By Nick Bailey

Nick Bailey, the chief executive and executive creative director of Isobar, explains why the SheSays Awards for female creatives, which the agency is hosting tonight, are needed.

This week, the Washington Post ran the following headline, “Female-named hurricanes kill more than male hurricanes because people don’t respect them.”

I don’t think I’ve come across a more eloquent expression of the subtle but powerful influence of gender on our behaviour than this.

In our business, we’re interested in influence. We recognise that many subtle cues can combine into a powerful, apparently single-minded, measurable effect.

And yet, we’re very good at ignoring the impact of just such an effect inside the companies we work for.

A particular kind of human being seems to do particularly well in our industry, especially in creative leadership roles. Ninety-seven times out of a hundred, this kind of human turns out to be male — and a shamefully disproportionate number of these men also turn out to be white, Anglo-Saxon and heterosexual.

Either this particular category of human really is inherently better at creative leadership than the rest of the population, or there’s some undue influence going on.

I don’t believe our industry is prejudiced against women, people of colour, gay people — any more than the rest of the world. But, like those folk running from that serious-sounding hurricane called Charlie, there’s clearly positive bias at play.

The birthright of the straight white bloke is well rehearsed: praised from childhood for being opinionated; no sense of a system working against him, and accustomed to being listened to. It’s no wonder that those who enjoy these privileges are more likely to prevail.

It’s because the influence of this unearned privilege is so ubiquitous and so powerful that we need to take positive action to level the field.

We need to drive our recruitment agencies harder to deliver more diverse candidate shortlists; we need rigorously to ensure that our internal processes deliver equal opportunity for all. And, until female hurricanes are just as intimidating as male, we need award shows that celebrate creative women.

The SheSays Awards take place tonight at Isobar. Winners and runners-up will receive a handcrafted pendant designed by the jewellery designer Clarice Price Thomas.

11893: UniWorld Group Becomes UWG.

Almost missed the blockbuster scoop at AgencySpy announcing the rebranding of UniWorld Group to UWG. The shop’s website proclaims: “We are more than an agency. We are the curious ones. The seekers who believe invention breeds new ideas. We are makers existing at the intersection of culture, innovation and communication. We are UWG.” Actually, they appear to be roughly 28 minorities desperately scrambling for crumbs. Based on the work depicted, UWG must be struggling. Microsites for Amtrak? AgencySpy published the following statement from UWG Chairman and CEO Monique L. Nelson: “This is a very exciting time. Not just for UWG, but for the industry. The landscape is changing every day, and we have to be nimble and ready to act. As marketers, our clients look to us to tell their story to consumers. We can’t do it without studying and understanding cultural trends that help us tell our clients’ stories with passion, depth and integrity.” Yep, those Amtrak microsites tell the story of UWG’s success quite clearly.

11892: Black Market/Meet Market.

Saw this BlackPeopleMeet.com commercial and wondered about its creators. The spot apparently originated from Feld Direct, which doesn’t appear to have any creative people on the team. The overall campaign has also inspired a parody spot.

11891: Shonda Rhimes Rules.

From Adweek…

The Next Aaron Spelling? Showrunner Shonda Rhimes Is ABC’s Queen of Prime Time

Taking charge of ABC’s full Thursday night lineup

By T.L. Stanley

The pilot of then-unknown hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy was nearly complete in early 2005, but some real heavy lifting remained. Shonda Rhimes, a screenwriter who was taking her first stab at creating a television series, needed to put together synopses of the next eight episodes, telling executives at ABC just where the soapy, hospital-based drama intended to go in the near future. James Parriott, a veteran showrunner who’d been brought in to help steer the ship, offered to take half the workload. They only had a weekend to finish, he remembers, which would’ve been a tall order even for a seasoned TV writer.

Rhimes politely said thanks but no thanks to her colleague, whose credits include hit cable and broadcast programs like Covert Affairs, Sons of Anarchy, Ugly Betty and Dark Skies. Parriott didn’t force the issue with Rhimes, but he says he awaited a frantic Sunday afternoon call asking for a bailout. It would’ve been completely understandable coming from a TV novice under that kind of pressure. While the 11th hour plea never came, Monday morning did, along with rapid recaps of Episodes 2 through 9 for a series that would become a massive prime-time success.

“In that small amount of time, she had written these brilliant, witty, wonderful one-page summations—and not just fast, but good, really superb,” Parriott recalls. “I knew right then that she had it.”

His heavy oversight—network-mandated for an unproven showrunner—became mostly a light touch after that, even though Rhimes had only a single TV credit at that point, as co-writer of HBO’s Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. “It’s always difficult to know,” Parriott muses. “Some feature writers never adjust to TV because the format and pacing are so different, but she learned it so quickly. By Season 2, she was running the show without me.”

And hence, a legendary TV producer was born. From Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes launched hit spinoff Private Practice, which ran for six seasons, overlapping with her current watercooler smash, the Washington, D.C.-set Scandal, which just ended its third season with its best ratings ever in total viewers and the coveted 18-49-year-old demographic.

Come fall, she’ll launch another hour-long drama, How to Get Away With Murder, which ABC describes as a “sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller” starring Viola Davis, making up a three-hour Thursday block with Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. It’s little wonder that ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee dubbed Rhimes “the Charles Dickens of the 21st century” during the net’s recent upfront presentation, a nod to her prolific output and stature in the industry. He added the caveat: “… if Charles Dickens was black and a woman.”

Lee tells Adweek: “Shonda is one of the great storytellers of our time. No one delivers the emotional power and roller-coaster ride of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal like Shonda. She’s at the very top of her game, and we have no doubt that she’s setting a standard on ABC that others will be trying to emulate for years to come. We’re thrilled to be in business with her.”

It’s a huge bet for the third-place broadcast network, stacking up Rhimes’ shows on the most valuable night of the week for big-spending marketers like the movie studios, retailers and automakers. Meanwhile, ABC Studios just renewed a deal reportedly valued at eight figures with Rhimes’ production company, Shondaland. The extension will keep Rhimes, a Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee, in the ABC/Disney fold through mid-2018.

That should give Rhimes some talking points next week when she’s due to give the commencement address at her alma mater, Dartmouth College, where she majored in English literature and creative writing. (Who knows? There may be a few budding Hollywood players—aspiring to Rhimes’ lofty position in Tinseltown—in the graduating class.)

None of Rhimes’ successes surprise Parriott, who says she has “become more confident” and developed “a certain executive quality” while remaining the friendly, down-to-earth person she was when she was new to the medium, fresh off writing teen-targeted movies like Princess Diaries 2 and Crossroads.

In addition to her being decisive, another of Rhimes’ strengths, Parriott says, is that she surrounds herself with talented people, like great writers and her producing partner and right-hand exec Betsy Beers. Having those in place help her balance her heavy work responsibilities with time with her young daughters.

Read the full story here.

11890: UK Talent Pool Empty & Shallow.

Campaign published a perspective by Matthew Hook, the managing director at Carat UK, on growing the industry’s talent pool. The piece unintentionally reveals a few disturbing points. First, Hook admits the field pulls from “the same finite pool of talent,” essentially confirming how agencies perpetuate “the narrowness and homogeneity of the industry as a whole.” Hook also stresses the need to “engage those ethnic and economic groups that are dramatically under-represented in the business.” You mean poor Black people? Hook’s solution includes a programme targeting students. Gee, that’s a novel idea. Finally, the author concedes the patronizing effort is “a tiny first step.” Not sure what’s worse—that it’s tiny or that it’s a first. Taking a tiny first step on diversity in 2014 is nothing short of shameful.

We must put rivalry aside to grow the talent pool on which our industry relies

By Matthew Hook

It’s a small world, advertising. Barely a week goes by without bumping into someone you last saw in a trading estate reception or on a sweaty university dance floor. We’re a tight social group, which can be fun. However, it’s also testament to the narrowness and homogeneity of the industry as a whole.

We all devote a huge amount of management effort to making ourselves alluring to the same finite pool of talent. It has helped to accelerate the improvement of the working environment, and it was great to see four media agencies (Carat, PHD, MEC and Starcom MediaVest Group) in The Sunday Times’ 100 Best Companies in 2014.

But when it comes to growing the pool, the industry’s record isn’t so good. Media skills are more in demand than ever across all industries, but the talent pool is simply too small. We need to address the long-term thirst for talent in the industry, but the short term grabs all of our attention.

Success stories such as manufacture or plumbing grew their talent pool from new generations, new backgrounds and new markets. Our industry needs to ignite a passion for our business in the next generation, as we are currently pretty low down the pecking order. And we need some sustained efforts to engage those ethnic and economic groups that are dramatically under-represented in the business.

This is why we have recently created the Discover Media programme, in which we bring GCSE students to the agency to give them a taste of the media business. With support from Adidas, Twitter and Google, we aimed to inform, entertain and challenge them and then give work experience to those who want the opportunity. The feedback from the kids has been incredible, going from total confusion to articulate spokespeople in a few hours. And the experience of welcoming them has been fun and motivating for our own people too.

For us, this is a tiny first step, but we are much more likely to make a sustainable impact on the problem as a collective. We are a hyper-competitive business with a poor track record of collective action but, after the talent session at Media360, several clients, agencies and media owners raised their hands to get involved.

It would be great to sustain this momentum and collaborate to grow the talent pool on which all our businesses depend.

Matthew Hook is the managing director at Carat UK

11889: Davey Jones’ $13.5M Locker.

Adweek reported former Havas CEO David Jones nabbed $13.5 million in compensation last year—which included $7 million in severance. That’s roughly $7 million more than the average Havas worker receives along with a pink slip. Jones’ top accomplishments were hiring Lee Garfinkel, buying Victors & Spoils and criticizing the proposed Publicis Groupe-Omnicom merger. Gee, you’d think Jones would feel obligated to pay Havas $7 million as an apology. The douchebag makes IPG CEO Michael Roth look like a bargain.

Havas Paid Former Chief David Jones $13.5 Million Last Year

Total included $7 million in severance

By Noreen O’Leary

David Jones, the former global CEO of Havas and its namesake ad agency, received $13.5 million in compensation last year, which included $7 million in severance, according to the company’s newly-issued annual report.

As CEO of the holding company, Jones was replaced last August by Yannick Bolloré, son of Havas’s controlling shareholder Vincent Bolloré. Jones had held that role since 2011.

Then in January, Jones left the company after being removed from his job as CEO of ad agency Havas Worldwide, with global co-president Andrew Benett assuming that job.

In 2013, Jones received nearly $6.1 million in employment payout. Of that amount, he earned about $1.2 million in fixed compensation and the same amount in total bonus, according to the annual report. In addition, he got about $3.6 million in long-term incentive payments for 2012 and 2013.

Jones, who was employed under a U.S. contract at the Paris-based company, also received $3.6 million in severance, which comprised two years of fixed compensation of about $1.2 million plus one year of bonus at the same amount.

Finally, Jones received another $1.2 million compensation for a non-compete clause and his role as an advisor to the younger Bolloré, the report noted. Jones’ non-compete clause and advisory role ends on Dec. 31.

The holding company had no comment beyond what its report laid out and Jones could not immediately be reached.

11888: Playboy Condoms Dumb-Dumbs.

These ads are infinitely awful.

From Ads of the World.

11887: Holy Shit, Rolling Stone.

Jesus, Rolling Stone is pathetic.

From Ads of the World.