6300: 2008—A MultiCultClassics Odyssey.

The past year featured a cornucopia of cultural cluelessness.

Studies showed most adpeople have never studied what multicultural marketing experts have been studying forever. OMD Worldwide conducted a study concluding it’s important to be culturally relevant when targeting multicultural audiences, which warrants the response, “OMG OMD WTF.” Starcom MediaVest discovered Blacks, unveiling a segmentation study that essentially regurgitated everything every Black advertising agency has realized since at least 1930. Brandiosity ran a study for recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles, learning marketers still admit to lots of confusion about multicultural marketing. A study from the Association of National Advertisers revealed multicultural marketing receives insufficient funding, inadequate commitment and inferior performance measurement resources—insights that could have been acquired by simply asking any multicultural shop. Somebody should launch a study to determine what the typical adperson actually does know.

Cultural cluelessness continued in creative communications. SalesGenie was super offensive on the Super Bowl. The New York State Lottery faced mobs of angry Italian Americans for its “Ba Da Bling” campaign. Absolut vodka started a border war with a Mexican print ad. Hanes aired dirty laundry in India. Media-watchdog group Fathers and Husbands blasted Madison Avenue’s disparaging portrayals of fathers and husbands. Pit Bull-watchdog groups barked at Verizon. Bob Garfield wrote a “Dear John” letter to Omnicom’s CEO over homophobic commercials. Six Flags deserved penalty flags for the hollering Asian guy. Quiznos got a mouthful of complaints after broadcasting an Asian Laundromat owner eating a $5 bill. Subway went the wrong way by animating a $5 bill. Rachael Ray and Dunkin’ Donuts were accused of promoting terrorism and iced lattes. L’Oréal was charged with whitewashing Beyoncé. Unilever advertised whitewashing with pride. Protestors gave the evil eye to Spain’s Olympic Men’s Basketball Team and Argentina’s Olympic Women’s Soccer Team. Burger King sacrificed sensitivity with Whopper Virgins. Mommy bloggers spanked Motrin. And suicidal Pepsi Max cans were killed in Germany.

The Madison Avenue Diversity Drama dragged on. Advertising Age initially described the progress as cloudy, despite most of the agencies making good on their promises. However, Omnicom shops recorded the worst results, with Merkley + Partners scoring a fat zero. The 4As Leadership Conference unveiled a “major new initiative” and strong words from President-CEO Nancy Hill. MultiCultClassics followed through with an Open Letter to Nancy Hill, who ultimately elaborated on the press releases. Next came the infamous July 7 meeting. Ad Age editor Ken Wheaton blew a gasket, reprimanding the no-show agency representatives. Bill Green of Make The Logo Bigger attended the event, adding his two cents. But the VIP visitor was famed civil-rights attorney Cyrus Mehri, a man expected to ignite serious moves. The September hearing in New York City blossomed into a love fest, starring Patricia Gatling of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Councilman Larry Seabrook and numerous industry figures. Yet questions and concerns linger. And Omnicom is still having a devil of a time.

A crop of cultural clueless cases defied categorization. Bob Garfield predicted Barack Obama would win the hardened racist vote. Drawing on its aging staff, Adweek examined ageism. Then Adweek printed “The Minority Report,” essentially repeating reports from Advertising Age. Nina DiSesa hustled her book, and tangled with Knock The Hustle’s Hadji Williams. DiSesa later attempted to praise Millennials, yet wound up looking outdated. Marian Salzman wrote on Millennials too, and the trendspotter spouted information that the rest of us spotted generations ago. Bob Jeffrey pushed his idea racism concept. The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies argued Arbitron would miscount minority audiences. Marketing y Medios said adios to existence. Steve Biegel appeared to break his settlement agreement with Dentsu via verbal judo in an Ad Age interview. The ageism discrimination lawsuit against Universal McCann grew older. Another McCann unit announced plans to profit from the poor. An Ad Age fluff piece hyping General Motors’ commitment to multicultural marketing disclosed the automaker dumped its Asian American agency—plus, GM seemingly lied about handing Black assignments to White shops. Mercedes-Benz took a peculiar route with its minority partners. Nissan took a familiar route with its multicultural marketing review. All of which drove MultiCultClassics to publish a recommendation.

MultiCultClassics had a little fun with the happenings. The Madison Avenue Mea Culpa was one sorry act. Blog Action Day pinpointed the poverty in our industry. A fresh batch of diversity ad parodies supplemented the 2007 series, and included a Diversity Job Fair version. Tired excuses were highlighted with the Diversity Best Protestations collection. The 15-part Tagging Diversity Ads slammed advertisers. When Adweek wondered about ageism, MultiCultClassics pondered racism. And the Madison Avenue Diversity Best Practices Webinar delivered a final click.

The year certainly had bright moments, both definite and dubious. Steve Stoute and Jay-Z kicked off a new agency. Jermaine Dupri was tagged by Procter & Gamble. The High School for Innovation in Advertising and Media opened in Brooklyn. David Brown schooled students in Philadelphia. The One Club introduced Adversity. Arnold hired a Multicultural Marketing Chief. DDB hired a Diversity Chief. Enfatico hired Chief Executive Officer Torrence Boone. Jason Chambers wrote the book on Blacks and Madison Avenue. Hadji Williams said, “We Want Our Kids Back, Too.” Craig Brimm said, “Kiss My Black Ads.” Renetta McCann said, “I’m taking a break.” Advergirl had her say on sexism. Sociological Images kept saying lots of provocative stuff. The hardest-working man in Black advertising remained employed. And oh yeah, a Black dude was elected President of the United States, utilizing compelling communications strategies that inspired the industry—and nabbed Marketer of the Year honors.