The Big Tent featured a column by Y&R Global CEO David Sable, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the iconic UNCF “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” campaign. Sable’s gushing included this quote:
“A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” has become emblematic of some of the best values of America—a belief in equal opportunity, in education, in human dignity and hope. And some of the best values in advertising, too: the timelessness of great emotional creative that’s rooted in insight, in emotion, in a great story that has the power to create a legacy.
OK, the campaign has accomplished great results and stands the test of time. Yet there is tremendous irony in the fact that at least two Black executives who served at Y&R—Harry Webber and Roy Eaton—have been quite vocal about the advertising industry’s dearth of diversity for over 40 years. And Webber actually worked on the UNCF campaign!
The way that Madison Avenue can create messages like “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste” while showing complete cluelessness on cleaning up their own side of the avenue is enough to drive a person mad. Or as former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle said, “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind.”
Interesting how Curvin O Rielly rushed to let the world know the originators of the campaign were white, just so nobody would mistakenly think somebody Black had anything to do with it.
ReplyDeleteThey can't find anybody to fill their jobs, but they are right on point when they think someone is taking credit for something they don't deserve credit for.