Adweek interviewed JWT NY CCO Brent Choi, who discussed the Black Lives Matter app that now lets Blacks mark themselves “unsafe” for being Black in America. The Adweek story claimed the special app function was “[t]imed to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President Trump’s inauguration.” Hey, it should also automatically activate for anyone coming within a mile radius of former JWT Worldwide Chairman and CEO Gustavo Martinez. Plus, add a GPS feature to identify White advertising agencies like JWT as unsafe places of employment for Blacks.
JWT Explains Its Black Lives Matter App That Lets Black Americans Mark Themselves ‘Unsafe’
CCO Brent Choi also picks his 3 favorite ads
By Tim Nudd
In a powerful twist on Facebook’s “Safety Check” feature, which lets users in a crisis area tell friends they’re safe, J. Walter Thompson and Black Lives Matter recently launched “Unsafety Check”—a web app that allows black people on social media to mark themselves unsafe for being black in America.
Timed to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and President Trump’s inauguration, it’s a clever and sobering way to raise awareness of the impact of race and racism on American society.
Brent Choi, chief creative officer of JWT New York and Canada, revealed some backstory about the app when he sat down with Adweek for a video interview in our ongoing “Best Ads Ever” series.
Check out the [video], in which Choi picks his three favorite ads ever (including a recent masterpiece from another JWT office)—and tells us about a certain pop star who’s been inspiring to him (and his 11-year-old daughter) lately.
Is JWT's plan to battle Erin Johnson in court just to continue launching half baked apps and websites and flashy PR bait until the public thinks they give a shit about diversity? Legit question.
ReplyDeleteBecause I see right through this, I'm probably not the only one, and I'm wondering who else out there caught on that most of these initiatives are empty and hollow inside.
I wonder if a jury will fall for this, and only ad people can see that JWT is doing the bare minimum to get a press release out, not anything meaningful or really thought through.
What I want to tell them is just hire some damn black and brown Americans. I'd rather have creatives hired inside the agency than see JWT spinning wheels and doing back bends like this in order to do anything BUT hire actual ethnic human beings.