7631: Delayed WTF 6—Early Recruitment.

Over the past few months, MultiCultClassics has been occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occurred without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

The New York Times recently reported on another diversity program designed to lure minority children into the advertising profession. Minneapolis-based BrandLab woos high school students with classroom curricula, internships and scholarships. “We need to attack the challenge at its root cause, lack of knowledge,” said BrandLab advocate John Olson, rather than “responding with the usual bag of tricks like ‘Let’s have an awards show.’” Nice. Bet the folks at ADCOLOR® loved reading that remark. On the other hand, Olson doesn’t seem to realize reaching out to minority youth is hardly an original idea—and could even be categorized as part of the usual bag of tricks. Yes, White adpeople love to play the philanthropic humanitarian role, rescuing at-risk kids by steering them towards Madison Avenue. And the target keeps getting younger and younger. All of which inspired the advertisement below.