Adweek presented the fluff piece above, spotlighting White admen sharing their philosophies and strategies for recruiting talent. Of course, there’s zero mention of seeking diversity. In fact, Jeff Goodby said, “We’ve gotten to the point where it feels like all the great people are working either for us or our good friends.” Exclusivity has its privileges. Goodby’s creative recruiter claims to hunt for candidates in nontraditional places like comedy clubs. Gee, what a totally original idea. Adpeople never search for fresh bodies at comedy clubs. “After seeing his Borat-like performances, I knew he was a great writer and would be incredible with clients,” said the Goodby recruiter about a recent hire. Can’t think of a better way to embrace diversity than with a Borat impersonator. However, the agency did bring on a rapper-comedian who calls himself Jelly Donut. davidandgoliath principal David Angelo remarked, “We challenge everyone to look at things differently and that includes how we go about finding fresh creative talent.” Yeah, right.
This piece could've run 5 years ago, 25 years ago, even 55 years ago... And my guess is you'll be able to run the exact same piece roughly 5-25 years from now.
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