8621: Let’s Do It For The Children.

Concluded the previous post predicting a spike in inner-city internship programs, and sure enough, the press releases appeared. Advertising Age published a piece once again spotlighting Torch, with Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners Chairman Richard Kirshenbaum gushing, “Having founded the agency 23 years ago, I felt it was really time to encourage underserved teens and create a platform for more diverse voices in the creative community. There’s a lot of lip service in the industry to it. At a certain point, I said I really want to get involved.” Well, it took 23 years to move beyond lip service, but it’s a gosh-darned, swell start. Meanwhile, Agency Spy noted Free Throw, which offers a $40,000 scholarship to Compton High School students who can sink a shot on the basketball court. The comments left at the ad blog tell the story here. This endeavor is the brainchild of adman Court Crandall, who also hopes to raise funds via Kickstarter and turn the event into a documentary for the Sundance Film Festival. Um, wasn’t this topic already covered by the 1994 Oscar-nominated Hoop Dreams? Crandall is determined to “highlight the positive changes within Compton and help the good people who live and work there redefine the NWA ‘Straight Outta Compton’ image that has defined the city since the early nineties.” ‘Nuff said.