13877: C’MON WHITE MAN! Episode 52.

(MultiCultClassics credits ESPN’s C’MON MAN! for sparking this semi-regular blog series.)

Campaign published head-scratching history lessons from Creativebrief Managing Director Charlie Carpenter. Creativebrief, incidentally, claims to “provide real-time market intelligence that enables brands to look beyond their own universe, monitor the flows of the industry around them, and supercharge the success of their marketing activity.” Too bad Carpenter’s perspective lacks intelligence, doesn’t really look beyond Carpenter’s own universe, seems oblivious to the flows of the advertising industry and is unlikely to supercharge the success of anything—except maybe diverted diversity and exclusivity.

Inspired by his father-in-law’s book—The Real Mad Men—Carpenter declared that Madison Avenue circa 1950 was a bastion of diversity and inclusion. After all, Bill Bernbach broke through barriers for Jewish people, while others represented people of Greek and Italian descent. Additionally, Mary Wells Lawrence and Phyllis Robinson were trailblazing for White women. Why, the Mad Men era featured a cornucopia of Caucasian classes and categories. Forget that Blacks were still struggling in subservient roles or operating elevators.

Carpenter proudly proclaimed his company is now collaborating with Creative Equals to advocate for arguable advancement. Oh, and a peek at the Creativebrief crew shows a lack of creative equals—or any significant equality, for that matter.

C’MON WHITE MAN!

Lost horizons: unlikely lessons in diversity from 1950s New York

By Charlie Carpenter

Diversity is the key to unlocking raw and unbridled creativity. It is time to step up and challenge the status quo, writes Creativebrief’s managing director.

In looking to build an industry business case for diversity, I can appreciate it might seem odd to hark back to 1950s New York.

Complex and delicate as it may be though, that’s exactly what I intend to do having recently re-read The Real Mad Men by Andrew Cracknell.

There are two things I should state here in full disclosure. Andrew is (for better or worse) my father-in-law. Andrew (sadly) is paying me nothing to write this piece. Hey-ho.

But I do believe there are valuable lessons to be learned from an era that might more immediately conjure up images of discrimination, misogyny and racism.

It’s important to start by setting the scene.

Against an uncertain social backdrop, New York at the time was entering an intoxicating period of experimentation in the worlds of art, literature and music.

Miles Davis was a growing force on the jazz scene, Kerouac and Ginsberg dazzled, Warhol was finding his feet and just shy of establishing The Factory, a young Dylan was about to bowl into town.

Vigilance and activism is the only route forward

Raw and unbridled creativity was fizzing through the city. In the ad industry, a handful of revolutionaries were beginning to have a disproportionate impact on the advertising landscape that would change things forever.

One man in particular set about tearing-up the rule book.

In 1949, Bill Bernbach wrote his now infamous resignation letter at Grey and in a flash set-up Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). This was the agency that would become the beating heart of the ensuing ‘Creative Revolution’.

The entirety of what Bernbach and his peers achieved is simply too long to list, but the impact on the industry in little more than a decade was nothing short of remarkable.

The established advertising formula of the time was one of structured, rule-based, rational messaging; often pushy and selling hard.

Under the pioneering approach of DDB (and others that followed), there was a palpable shift from didactic and sometimes patronising to deferent and more respectful of consumers’ intelligence: fresh, challenging, playful and often funny.

But the point is less about the change itself, and more about those behind it.

Bernbach himself was the son of Russian and Austrian Jewish parents.

His head of copy (and key linchpin in both the work and ethics of the emerging DDB) was a lady by the name of Phyllis Robinson, who built a creative department around her that boasted more women than men.

Other key architects in the dramatic developments of the era were Mary Wells Laurence (the First Lady of advertising), George Lois (the son of Greek immigrants), Carl Ally (the son of an American-Italian mother and a Turkish father), Jerry Della Femina (of Italian descent) amongst numerous others.

It transpires then, that this era many look back on as the Golden Age in advertising was driven by a cohort of key protagonists who were minority group representatives: women, Jews, second- and third-generation immigrants from all manner of nationalities.

Bernbach and his contemporaries, led by the desire for ‘different’ above all else had recognised that a diversity of ideas (the real advertising currency) was born from wide-ranging backgrounds, perspectives and frames of reference.

As any dominant group feels power begin to slip away, the most instinctive reaction is an ominous tightening of the grip

Surely that is a blueprint for diversity that we should all be looking more closely at today? A fiercely compelling business case for change in contemporary times.

Yet somehow we have failed to learn. The “mature and developed” advertising world seems to have taken little but retrograde steps since that seminal period.

This is particularly hard to stomach when you consider the environment of discrimination that Bernbach and his peers fought against (there were still reports of some clients specifying “no blacks or Jews” on their account, even in the late 60s).

Now thankfully we’re operating in an ostensibly different environment today. Febrile still, yes (for good reason), but finally more pliable and accommodating to the need for change.

The broader cultural stage would suggest as much too. Doctor Who will soon return to our screens in the form of Jodie Whittaker. Star Wars now has a kick-ass female lead, fast-becoming cult feminist icon. Clamours rise for James Bond to be played by either a female or black actor.

So surely our industry’s journey to greater diversity will be a straightforward undertaking from here? Only it won’t be; know that.

As any dominant group feels power begin to slip away, the most instinctive reaction is an ominous tightening of the grip. (Did anyone watch the very brilliant television adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale?).

So vigilance and activism is the only route forward. We all must take responsibility for not becoming fatigued by the regularity with which the topic now arises.

It’s for this reason that at Creativebrief we’re establishing an ongoing partnership with Creative Equals.

In February we outlined in Campaign the launch of a section on our digital platform that challenged agencies to be ever-more transparent about diversity in their personnel make-up at all levels of the organization.

With Creative Equals we will take this a stage further, enabling those agencies signed-up to their Creative Industry Equality Standard to display the kitemark and demonstrate a serious commitment to change.

The aims of our efforts are simple.

Firstly to continue to urge a more open (and less defensive) dialogue around the topic industry-wide; to drive a symbiosis between brands and agencies that sees them hold each other to account.

Secondly to use technology to generate greater commercial benefit for both parties in shifting the dial on diversity; a key thing for us in the fight to pilot a more prescient industry vision.

Because whilst Bernbach may have been a diversifier, his decisions were led by what he believed was best for his business and those of his clients. And while we mustn’t lose sight of the moral arguments, practicality is what will propel the next phase of our industry’s diversity struggle.

Charlie Carpenter is managing director at Creativebrief

13876: Kellogg’s Pop Quiz.

Oh, look! Kellogg Company is seeking a Graphic Design Associate Director. All applicants should be required to pass a Corn Pops Cultural Competence Test.

13875: Kellogg’s Corny Cluelessness.

USA TODAY reported Kellogg revised a Corn Pops package illustration deemed culturally clueless. The original image featured a shopping mall filled with Corn Pops characters, where the only brown critter was a janitor pushing a floor waxing machine. After being criticized on social media, the cereal maker quickly responded with an apology and promise that the illustration had been fixed. Or maybe Kellogg will introduce chocolate-flavored Custodian Pops. Gee, how could a company allegedly committed to diversity bungle so badly?

Kellogg’s to replace racially insensitive Corn Pops boxes following Twitter call out

By Mike Snider, USA TODAY

Kellogg’s will be redesigning Corn Pops cereal boxes after a complaint about racially insensitive art on the packaging.

The Battle Creek, Mich.-based cereal and snack maker said on Twitter Wednesday it will replace the cover drawing of cartoon characters shaped like corn kernels populating a shopping mall. The corn pop characters are shown shopping, playing in an arcade or frolicked in a fountain. One skateboards down an escalator.

What struck Saladin Ahmed was that a single brown corn pop was working as a janitor operating a floor waxer. Ahmed, current writer of Marvel Comics’ Black Bolt series and author of 2012 fantasy novel Throne of the Crescent Moon, took to Twitter on Tuesday to ask, “Why is literally the only brown corn pop on the whole cereal box the janitor? this is teaching kids racism.”

He added in a subsequent post: “yes its a tiny thing, but when you see your kid staring at this over breakfast and realize millions of other kids are doing the same…”

Kellogg’s responded to Ahmed on the social media network about five hours later that “Kellogg is committed to diversity & inclusion. We did not intend to offend—we apologize. The artwork is updated & will be in stores soon.”

Ahmed noted that he appreciated “the rapid response” from Kellogg’s.

In a statement to USA TODAY, spokesperson Kris Charles said Kellogg respects all people and is committed to diversity.

“We take feedback very seriously, and it was never our intention to offend anyone,” he said in a statement. “We apologize sincerely.”

He confirmed that the package artwork has been updated and will begin to appear on store shelves.

The Kellogg’s Corn Pops incident follows some other recent marketing snafus.

Earlier this month, Dove apologized for a three-second video posted on Facebook that many found racially insensitive. The clip showed a black woman removing a brown T-shirt to reveal a white woman underneath, who then with another T-shirt removal became an Asian woman. An image showing just the black woman and white woman spread virally on social media, causing additional outrage.

The initial clip “was intended to convey that Dove Body Wash is for every woman and be a celebration of diversity,” the company said in a statement.

In April, Shea Moisture apologized over an online video ad about its hair products being on sale at Target. The commercial featured white women, but the hair product company has long catered to women of color.

13874: Über-Creative Director.

Monster.com perfectly sums up the state of affairs in the advertising industry. For a VP, Executive Creative Director position, the related jobs include: E-Commerce Creative Director, Vice President of Creative Services, Art Director, Sr. Art Director, Production Designer, Creative Director and Uber Driver Partner.

13873: Not-So-Safe At Home.

Who was the art director for this Safe At Home campaign—Hannibal Lector?

13872: Johnnie Walker Fail.

Adweek spotlighted more patronizing and pathetic propaganda for Johnnie Walker from Anomaly. The latest faux patriotic bullshit features an immigrant passing his citizenship interview by answering a basic history question that stumps his buddies, who are presumably U.S. citizens. Not sure what the intended message is here. But it’s a safe bet the immigrant would land a job at Anomaly before any U.S. citizens of color.

Johnnie Walker’s New Spot Toasts Immigrants and Their Grueling Path Toward Citizenship

Latest ad in the ‘Keep Walking America’ campaign

By Lindsay Rittenhouse

Can the average U.S.-born citizen name one of the writers of the Federalist Papers? Can he or she remember which territory America purchased from France in 1803? (The answers are at the end.)

The latest installment of Johnnie Walker’s “Keep Walking America” campaign follows a young immigrant’s path to American citizenship. In the ad, “Citizenship,” created by MDC Partners’ Anomaly, a man celebrates with friends at a bar after passing his citizenship interview.

As part of the interview, a government worker can ask up to 10 questions from the naturalization test of 100 historical and government-related questions. Some viewers may have to suspend their disbelief as none of the man’s friends, who the ad implies are U.S.-born citizens, knows who wrote the Declaration of Independence. But the spot delicately sheds light on the immense amount of time, effort and sacrifice people endure to gain U.S. citizenship.

The citizenship interview is the last major step immigrants face in the grueling road to citizenship after completing the hefty Form N-400 application and passing rigorous background checks.

To support the “Keep Walking America” campaign, Johnnie Walker also partnered with actor Wilmer Valderrama, who surprised hundreds of new American citizens outside two naturalization ceremonies in Los Angeles last week to hear about their journeys.

“Being an immigrant is a blessing and your biggest asset,” Valderrama said in a statement. “Immigrants are the core of this country, and I’m honored to help share their stories with the world.”

(The answers from above are James Madison, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton—or their shared pseudonym “Publius”—and the Louisiana Territory, respectively.)

13871: White PowerOn.

Adweek reported Young & Rubicam Group is launching PowerOn, a program designed to help parents and caregivers transition back into the workforce after taking time off to focus on family matters. The exclusive initiative will probably most benefit White women. Meanwhile, Y&R will continue to douse diversity related to Blacks and people of color.

Young & Rubicam Is Starting a Program to Help Parents and Caregivers Re-enter the Workforce

PowerOn is for people who’ve left to focus on family

By Erik Oster

Young & Rubicam Group is offering full-time parents and caregivers a way to ease back into the workforce.

The agency on Tuesday announced the launch of its own career reboot program called PowerOn. In a statement, Y&R said the training program aims to “reclaim the untapped talent and recruitment potential” of those facing the challenges of re-entering the workforce.

“It’s time for our industry to embrace this untapped pool of talent—so often the decision to depart from the workforce to focus on family or child care unfairly impedes opportunities for growth down the line,” said Young & Rubicam Group chief of talent and operations Madeline Park in a statement. “But we know these candidates offer an incredible skill set, life experience, diverse points of view and much more.”

The challenges of being a parent in the advertising industry are widely known. Stringent parental leave policies are still a problem at ad agencies, even as progress has been made in recent years. In 2016, 11 agencies formed Pledge Parental Leave to implement a system across agencies and have since added over two dozen more shops. Another problem in the industry, talent retention, remains persistent, but programs like PowerOn could give agencies a way to keep millennial parents and other caregivers.

A 12-week training program, PowerOn is open to men and women who have left the industry to focus on parenting or caregiving and offers training, resources and hands-on experience to facilitate the transition back. Teams of mentors will support PowerOn participants as they make their way through the program’s professional workshops, speakers series, skills development and knowledge training sessions with the goal of placing participants in full-time positions upon completion.

The PowerOn program starts Jan. 18 and operates out of Y&R’s New York office. Participants include Y&R, Wunderman, WPP Health and Wellness companies, Red Fuse, Sudler & Hennessey, Grey Healthcare and Hogarth. Applications are open through Dec. 1.

13870: Delayed WTF 36—72andClueless.

MultiCultClassics is often occupied with real work. As a result, a handful of events occur without the expected blog commentary. This limited series—Delayed WTF—seeks to make belated amends for the absence of malice.

Adweek reported White advertising agency 72andSunny invented “The 72andSunny Playbook” to ignite inclusion and “expand and diversify the creative class” across the industry. A peek at 72andSunny leadership—as well as agency work recently produced—shows the organization is hardly qualified to instruct anyone on extinguishing exclusivity. The White advertising agency views the publishing effort as pioneering, trailblazing and groundbreaking, but it’s really self-absorbed bullshitting. “One of the things we’ve realized over the last six months to a year, was the more conversations we’ve had with people the more we’ve realized there’s an unmet need for sharing the basics of how to even get started,” explained 72andSunny COO Partner Evin Shutt. “It’s a daunting thing to jump in to especially if you’re a smaller company, even a bigger company, figuring out how to do this.” Actually, it’s daunting if you’re a culturally clueless ignoramus. Shutt’s statement reflects a sadly common response to diversity from typical advertising executives. That is, advertising executives confronted with addressing diversity tend to hit the reset button—seemingly presuming they are facing an undiscovered country with unprecedented challenges that no one in the history of advertising has ever encountered. The truth is, the only people who see an “unmet need” are uneducated, unconcerned, uninterested and just plain lazy. There are plenty of existing resources to help. Why, the 4A’s literally published a diversity how-to book by Adonis Hoffman many years ago. Plus, it’s easy to acquire classic tomes like Beyond Race and Gender and Redefining Diversity by the late Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. White advertising agencies are encouraged to check out Corporate Tribalism by Thomas Kochman and Jean Mavrelis too. Sorry, but finding diversity solutions simply involves two directives: 1) open your eyes, and; 2) open your mind. Instead, White advertising agencies opt to print playbooks, zines, comic books and other patronizing publications. Anything to avoid taking constructive, measurable and professional action.

72andSunny Published a Diversity Playbook That It Wants All Companies to ‘Steal’

Offering key insights as well as actions organizations can take

By Katie Richards

72andSunny wants the whole industry to be more diverse, not just its own offices. Today its North American operation (L.A. and New York) are launching a diversity playbook, “The 72andSunny Playbook.” The goal of the playbook is to “expand and diversify the creative class.”

The whole purpose of putting these findings out there for the world to read is for others in the business to “steal” them and learn from them.

“One of the things we’ve realized over the last six months to a year, was the more conversations we’ve had with people the more we’ve realized there’s an unmet need for sharing the basics of how to even get started. It’s a daunting thing to jump in to especially if you’re a smaller company, even a bigger company, figuring out how to do this,” Evin Shutt, COO, partner, 72andSunny, said.

The playbook focuses on the creative class–the second fastest growing job class, according to 72andSunny–which represents one third of the total workforce. Unfortunately the creative class doesn’t accurately portray society at large, and 72andSunny wants to help correct that.

Compared to the most recent U.S. Census, 64 percent of the U.S. population is white, but 81 percent of the creative class is white. Of the overall population, 13.3 percent is black and 17.8 percent is Hispanic, but in the creative class the numbers are 7 and 6 percent, respectively.

With that in mind, 72andSunny got to work pulling all of its insights and learnings into one document that it is now sharing broadly.

“[Diversity] is bigger than all of us and so important that we need to share it. As an industry the only way to move forward is through openly sharing and having these conversations. Our hope is it can be a catalyst for that,” Shutt added.

Inside the playbook companies will find nine key points, or plays, from “set clear, measurable goals,” to “invest in bespoke retention programs.” Each play includes an insight that 72andSunny has learned in the past few years about diversity, an approach that either worked well for the agency or did not and what the team learned from that approach.

“We don’t know it all by any means, we need to learn a lot. We’ve included a bit of the stuff we’ve learned the hard way. The stuff that’s in there is everything from internal programs to recruitment programs to external partners both within our industry and outside our industry,” Shutt added.

One play that Shutt finds most helpful is the scorecard designed to help agencies and clients make strategic decisions without hurting people’s feelings or stepping on any toes.

The idea behind the scorecard is that sometimes there are so many good ideas out there, but only so much bandwidth to bring them to life. The scorecard (basically just a checklist) helps filter out the best ideas that align with the company’s business. Does this idea build the creative class? Does it generate wide-scale interest for the staff? Does it grow diversity? All are criteria 72andSunny uses to decide whether or not and idea is worth pursuing.

Another play suggests that “saying yes to other people’s good ideas” is a great way to boost diversity. The playbook explains that in the creative business there’s a tendency to shut out other creative ideas from competitors or other companies. “We’d rather channel the energy we’d bring trying to beat something, into making it better,” the playbook says.

72andSunny lists a host of initiatives that it has invested in, from Free the Bid to AdColor and One Club: Here Are All the Black People. The takeaway here is that other agencies wanting to become more inclusive and diverse should invest in existing industry initiatives because sometimes it makes more sense to learn from others rather than learning on your own.

You might ask why 72andSunny’s playbook should be something your company adopts. At the end of the playbook the agency shared some of its own numbers, highlighting that while its not perfect, the organization is trying to change its own diversity metrics.

In the past few years 72andSunny has introduced the creative class (and all the opportunities people can have within that class) to 10,000 people. The agency is 6 percent away from reflecting the U.S. population in terms of diversity. Fifteen percent of the agency’s creative directors are women (globally) and 35 percent of employees at the group director level and above are women.

72andSunny’s playbook, for the time being, focuses on learnings from its New York and L.A. offices, but the agency is already talking about how its three international operations (Amsterdam, Singapore and Sydney) can be part of the 2.0 version.

“Obviously what it means to diversify the creative class in those markets is a lot different,” explained Shutt. “We’re just at different stages of it. Version 2.0 will include what they are doing and what their focuses are.”

Both version 1.0 and 2.0 are housed in an agency Google doc so that team members can continue to edit, change and make notes as internal and external feedback comes in.

13869: Boring Bigots.

Campaign published a “private view” from M&C Saatchi Group Chief Creative Officer Justin Tindall that turned into a public glimpse of latent racism. “I’m bored,” declared Tindall, spewing a list of rants including, “Bored of diversity being prioritised over talent.” It’s sad that Tindall sought to express weariness over a perceived lack of innovation in adland, yet communicated his cultural cluelessness with the most clichéd crack conceivable. Even sadder is the contrived counterpoint from Cheil London Executive Creative Director Caitlyn Ryan, who exploited the opportunity to defend diverted diversity and promote her persecuted White sisters. Tindall backpedaled with a dubious apology, submitting his pathetic résumé of diverting, delegating and denying diversity. Viewing the exclusive leadership at M&C Saatchi and Cheil London underscores the lying, hypocritical bullshit being excreted by Tindall and Ryan. The silly spectacle is playing like a poor man’s version of the recent Kevin Roberts-Cindy Gallop brouhaha. This is getting boring indeed.

13868: To BS, Or Not To BS.

“Wendy’s is raising the bar when it comes to chicken,” boasts the fast feeder. The new Chicken Tenders and S’Awesome™ Sauce are so amazing, Blacks respond in Shakespearean style. Now, that’s raising the bar when it comes to stereotypes.

13867: Gustavo Gusto.

Adweek reported ex-JWT Worldwide Chairman and CEO Gustavo Martinez is serving as country manager for WPP Spain. Meanwhile, Erin Johnson is sitting in a cubicle outside of the HR Director’s office. So now who’s getting raped—and not in a nice way?

Former JWT CEO Gustavo Martinez Is Leading WPP’s Operations in Spain as Sexual Harassment Case Against Him Proceeds

Ousted leader is overseeing a country-wide reorganization

By Patrick Coffee

This week, Gustavo Martinez made his first public appearance as the leader of WPP’s operations in Spain more than 18 months after stepping down from his role as global CEO and chairman of J. Walter Thompson amid a sexual harassment and discrimination suit filed by that agency’s global head of public relations, Erin Johnson.

According to a report published in the Spanish trade journal Dircomfidencial, Martinez spoke Wednesday on behalf of the holding group at Orbit, an event organized by the Barcelona offices of WPP-owned firms Hill+Knowlton and SCPF.

Martinez spoke about newfound competition from international consultancies like Deloitte and Accenture. A translation of his comments reads, “When I started in this sector, PwC, Arthur Andersen and Accenture were auditors; today they are my competitors. Before, people like Google were providers; today, my boss Sir Martin Sorrell calls them ‘frenemies.’ But I think they are less friends and more enemies.”

The report also states that Martinez has served as country manager of WPP Spain since being promoted in January.

The report may conflict with claims made last week by Martinez’s law firm Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, which stated in a Manhattan federal court filing that Martinez has been working for WPP on an “ad hoc” basis in an unspecified role since leaving JWT in March 2016 “following his discussions with Sir Martin Sorrell when [Johnson’s] litigation was filed.”

During Wednesday’s event, Martinez also revealed that he is overseeing a reorganization of WPP’s operations in Spain. “We are re-creating the company itself,” he said, adding, “We can no longer do silos or separate business units.”

WPP and Sorrell have largely stood behind Martinez in the wake of a suit that accused him of “an unending stream of racist and sexist comments” that allegedly made Johnson’s job running global communications for JWT “virtually impossible.” He and his lawyers have denied each of the specific claims in the suit filed by the law firm of Vladeck, Raskin & Clark with two exceptions. In April, Johnson’s team submitted a video of the former CEO joking about being “raped … and not in the nice way” at a 2015 company meeting in Miami. The previous month, former Campaign editor in chief Douglas Quenqua confirmed that Martinez had said he and his wife moved out of New York’s Westchester County because it had “too many Jews.”

Johnson’s lawyers have repeatedly requested that Martinez return to New York for continued depositions and provide more information about his current compensation as a WPP employee. They have also implied that, by continuing to employ Martinez, the holding group is effectively condoning the behavior of which he’s been accused. The Martinez team countered those claims last week. “[Johnson’s] argument that Defendant Martinez’s continued compensation evidences [WPP’s] failure to remediate or prevent sexual harassment is baseless,” its filing read, because he “ended his employment with JWT … and left the country.”

The document also stated that his current compensation is irrelevant since he no longer receives bonuses and other benefits that he earned as CEO and chairman of JWT, even though he is “paid the same base rate” by WPP.

In a filing last Friday, the Johnson team argued that the law firm of Davis & Clark, which represents the larger WPP organization, has attempted to slow the case to a near-standstill by declining to make Sorrell available for the requisite seven hours of depositions, stating that he is “too important and too busy” and “refus[ing] to produce him” even after Sorrell himself “agreed without hesitation to continue at a later date.”

They also pointed to last week’s scheduled deposition with JWT chief talent officer Laura Agostini, which was canceled with “virtually no notice” after the team’s own legal counsel “decided to take the day off.”

A WPP spokesperson has not yet responded to requests for comment today.

13866: Weinstein Is Mad Men Material.

Adweek reported on the growing scandal at Weinstein Co., with accusations of sexual harassment and even rape directed at media mogul Harvey Weinstein. Look for Weinstein to ultimately land a job at WPP, Omnicom or Publicis Groupe. Or maybe he’ll produce a new sitcom with Bill Cosby. Hell, he could even wind up in the White House as a special aide to President Donald Trump.

13865: Your Mother Is So Non-Black…

In response to an AgencySpy post announcing 17 fresh creative staffers at Mother New York, a MultiCultClassics visitor remarked, “This is literally the first time I’ve seen an ad agency feature more dogs than black people when celebrating their new hires.”

13864: Jakeman Jumps Out.

Adweek reported Brad Jakeman quit his role as PepsiCo Global Beverage Group President, transitioning from crazy client to crazy consultant. Oh, and his first new patron will be PepsiCo. Maybe he’ll recommend a pool-out to the Kendall Jenner commercial or a reengineering of Creators League Studio. Better yet, Jakeman the diversity defender could team up with Jonathan Mildenhall to teach adland about inclusion. Hell, Jakeman’s Omnicom ties provide endless consultancy opportunities to convert White advertising agencies.

Brad Jakeman Is Leaving Pepsi’s In-House Creative Team to Start His Own Consultancy

He was also president of PepsiCo’s beverage group

By Kristina Monllos

Brad Jakeman is leaving PepsiCo to run his own consultancy but that doesn’t mean he’s done with the company. PepsiCo will be the first client for Jakeman’s new consultancy.

Jakeman served as president of PepsiCo’s beverage group. He also ran the in-house creative shop responsible for the much-maligned Kendall Jenner spot, Creators League Studio.

“We can confirm Brad’s Jakeman’s resignation and we look forward to working with him in this new capacity,” said a spokesperson for PepsiCo in a statement.

News of Jakeman’s departure was first reported by Ad Age, which obtained a memo written by Eugene Willemsen, vp of global categories and franchise management for PepsiCo. Willemsen will reportedly take over Jakeman’s beverage group duties until a replacement is found.

In a tweet confirming the departure Jakeman wrote that he was “super excited to start this next chapter” and that he was “even more excited that [PepsiCo] will continue to be a part of it.”

It’s unclear what will happen with his leadership role of the Creators League Studio. Representatives for PepsiCo declined to provide any further information

13863: Hill Holliday Horse Hockey.

Advertising Age published diverted diversity directions from Hill Holliday CEO Karen Kaplan, who continued to cruise the White women’s bandwagon by coughing up three ways to hire more creative White women. Kaplan’s commentary actually underscores how White advertising agencies like Hill Holliday maintain exclusivity. For example, in reference to promoting White women, Kaplan admitted, “If you really lean into something and make it a focused effort, you can affect positive change.” Heaven forbid the woman should lean into true diversity, making it a focused effort and affecting positive change. “Listen to women already on the team,” serves as Kaplan’s first suggestion. This wouldn’t work with racial and ethnic minorities, as there aren’t enough of them already on the team—and those who are already on the team occupy roles like mailroom attendant, meaning they aren’t listened to unless something needs to be shipped via FedEx. “Create a place for ‘emotional’ safety,” reads the second bit of advice. In the advertising industry, racial and ethnic minorities who speak up are shut down and shat out. “Be aggressive with recruiting,” completes the trio of tips. The passive aggressive search for people of color typically starts at inner-city high schools, blocking generations of minorities from existing opportunities. “For years I’ve been asking people for insights into why this is an industry problem—why are creative departments the most stubborn to have gender balance and I can never get a good answer,” wondered Kaplan. Does the privileged woman ever bother asking for insights into why there’s a dearth of diversity in the field? She’d never get a good answer—unless she gazed into a mirror.

HILL HOLLIDAY’S KAREN KAPLAN: THREE WAYS TO HIRE MORE WOMEN IN YOUR CREATIVE DEPARTMENT

By Lindsay Stein

It’s a sad truth known throughout the industry: most creative departments are dominated by men. That fact inspired the 3% Conference, which next month will hold its sixth annual meeting to change the ratio for the comparatively small number of female creative directors in the U.S. Upon its founding, only 3 percent of U.S. creative directors were women, which is now up to 11 percent.

But some agencies have managed to beat that percentage, among them Hill Holliday, which has more than doubled the number of women on its creative team since 2014. The agency’s creative department is now 22 percent women creative directors, double the average, and of the agency’s entire 81-person creative team, nearly half are women.

“In 2014, we were 20 percent women in the creative department versus 50 percent-plus everywhere else in the agency, so we said ‘We have to address this,’” says Kaplan. “If you really lean into something and make it a focused effort, you can affect positive change.” We asked her for three ways other shops can accomplish that shift.

Listen to women already on the team

One thing the agency started doing in 2014—which it could and should have done sooner, Kaplan says—is invite input from creative women in order to hear their concerns and needs and allow them to ask questions.

“You have to make institutional change,” says Kaplan. “The default setting in the world is for right-handed people and the default setting in corporate America is male, so when we hire creative women, we have listening sessions and talked to them about benefits and what would be helpful to them.”

Some of the requests were for obvious things, like flexible family leave, but others included career development desires, which is why Hill Holliday allows staffers to move between departments. For example, a woman in digital strategy recently shifted to the creative department as a junior creative.

“You can’t accommodate everything everyone is asking for,” says Kaplan, “but listening is learning.”

Create a place for ‘emotional’ safety

Kaplan suggests creating an “environment of emotional safety” where people feel like they are able to speak up about things, even if they’re seemingly small. During one of the agency’s listening sessions, a woman said she felt that the senior male creatives on the team weren’t making eye contact with her and she didn’t like that they referred to the team as “the guys.” By creating this transparent, trusting atmosphere, staffers who jump to other companies have a stronger chance of “boomeranging” back to the shop, says Kaplan, which is why Hill Holliday maintains contact with former employees. It actually also creates a pipeline of potential hires that it finds at creative schools and personal networks.

“A pipeline is something you are always working on—it takes time to cultivate—it might not result in hires for months or even years, but you always have to be working on it,” says Kaplan.

Be aggressive with recruiting

When it comes to finding female talent, especially in creative, Kaplan says you have to be aggressive. Hill Holliday is sending 15 of its 602 staffers to the 3% Conference in a few weeks and the agency is planning on recruiting during the conference.

The shop has also hired a dedicated creative recruiter—a woman—who focuses solely on recruiting diverse talent.

The one question Kaplan says she still can’t answer is why the female numbers are still so low in agency creative departments. “For years I’ve been asking people for insights into why this is an industry problem—why are creative departments the most stubborn to have gender balance and I can never get a good answer,” she says.

And while all departments and industries should aspire to have gender balance, Kaplan says the creative department is really important because these are the people who have the most impact on the work. “You have to have diverse perspectives in the creative department,” she says. “If it’s bro culture, you’ll put work in the world that doesn’t represent women in a positive way. You have to make change and you don’t move what you don’t measure.”

13862: “Don’t Miss” Hits The Mark.

Take a close look at the AdAge.com “Don’t Miss” links to accurately see the state of the union on Madison Avenue: How to Hire Women, Porn Goes Deeper and Dove Does It Again.

13861: Jive Más.

Adweek published an interview titled, “5 Lessons the Fast-Food Industry Can Teach Brands About Disruption,” featuring the jargon-riddled pontifications of former Taco Bell Director of Advertising and Branded Content Aron North. Disruption, risk and failure pepper the self-absorbed musings of a man boasting about innovations like Doritos Locos Tacos. Thanks for tainting the landscape with Fritos-laced burritos and Mtn Dew-OJ blends too. Sorry, but Taco Bell is responsible for creating faux Mexican food that Latinos think is garbage—and the place throws garbage at Blacks. Even Taco Bell employees diss the shit they serve.

13860: Annie The Chicken Hand.

Is Annie the Chicken Queen on vacation? For Popeyes $4 Popcorn Chicken, she’s only serving as voiceover—with a hand model playing the Chicken Queen’s extremities.

13859: Internal Inclusivity Or Idiocy?

Campaign published patronizing and pathetic pap from Stylus Head of Media and Marketing Christian Ward, who blathered on about the imperative for “internal inclusivity” to avert fuck-ups like the latest Dove debacle. In addition to praising the Havas Chicago BHM stunt and Deloitte diversity diversions as signs of progress, Ward actually referred to society’s current youth segment as “a post-diversity generation.” The Dove-inspired soapbox completely falls apart when viewing the “internal inclusivity” of the “Stylus Experts,” which resembles expected exclusivity with a deep dose of diverted diversity.

Inclusivity: The missing denominator behind advertising mishaps

By Christian Ward

Dove had a compelling message it wanted to communicate, but somewhere along the internal process, it got lost in translation, say Stylus’ head of media & marketing.

When a brand strays off-path it can cause great unrest amongst loyal consumers. We saw it last week with Dove—a powerful brand with a long-standing, public-facing mission to champion real beauty. Yet its latest campaign missed the mark.

Diversity, and by natural extension, inclusivity, has been a key brand value for Dove that has—on the whole—previously been delivered both consistently and with care. So where did it go wrong?

Internal inclusivity.

The aim of Dove’s latest campaign wasn’t to offend anyone—there will have been a clear, very compelling message that the brand wanted to communicate. It’s something that Lola Ogunyemi, one of the models in the campaign, spoke out about, telling BBC’s Newsbeat that it was “supposed to be about all skin types deserving gentleness.” Yet somewhere—through the internal process—this message got lost in translation.

The changing narrative on diversity within the advertising industry is forcing brands and agencies to rethink their internal inclusion strategies. Creative agencies are realising that their teams must faithfully reflect diverse demographics to connect with the broadest possible audiences.

And the response can take on multiple forms. Havas Chicago’s interactive #BlackAtWork installation for Black History Month 2017 invited staff, clients and passers-by into a space that addresses some of the everyday micro-aggressions black employees encounter in the workplace. It was a playful and simplified approach, but by physically representing these everyday experiences, Havas turned them into conversation starters. It also closed the loop between agency, brands and consumers.

And we’re seeing efforts made beyond these four walls too. Deloitte begin to phase out affinity groups in favour of inclusivity strategies to help broaden horizons and opportunities across the board.

By the end of 2018, Deloitte will also discontinue its current advocacy programs for minority employees and military veterans, as well as Globe—a support network for gay employees. It plans to replace all of these initiatives with inclusion councils that bring together a variety of viewpoints and can work together on diversity issues.

While expecting minority employees to fit in can undermine the value of a diverse workforce, neglecting the needs of majority employees sparks resistance to change. Instead of isolating minorities in mutual interest, diversity needs to be embedded in a company’s culture at every level. Making diversity everybody’s concern is key.

Not only will this help to overcome “color-blindness” and tokenism—but it levels the playing field, empowering employees at all levels to bring their efforts to the table. Having a team with diverse backgrounds equips companies with a broader variety of viewpoints and crucial problem-solving strategies that facilitates more versatile solutions—giving brands and agencies a critical edge over their competition. It ensures that compelling messages don’t get lost in translation.

And there’s a positive knock-on effect. Inclusive workplaces naturally attract talent from diverse backgrounds and will appeal to Gen—a post-diversity generation. Their sense of inclusivity—celebrating difference, seeking and expressing divergent attitudes—is just part of who they are, and they’ll expect the same of the businesses they want to work for.

To understand each other’s perspectives on life and make them a fruitful contribution to work, we must speak openly about our differences. Brands that want to engage a global audience cannot fully understand that audience’s needs without being powered by diverse thinking.

Christian Ward is head of media & marketing at Stylus.

13858: Brazilian Bully Bullshit.

No, this anti-bullying campaign from Brazil isn’t protesting a new sect of the KKK. Rather, KKKKK translates to “hahahahaha” in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil. Oh, and it’s likely another example of Brazilian sKKKam advertising.

13857: Early Check-Out At Airbnb.

Campaign reported Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall is checking out of the company to start his own consultancy. No word if Mildenhall will continue to “consult” on the dearth of diversity in the advertising industry.

Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall departs

By Diana Bradley

Mildenhall will continue to work with Airbnb on a consulting basis.

Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall is departing the company after three years to launch a marketing consulting firm called 21st Century Brand, according to media reports.

Mildenhall’s last day at Airbnb will be October 20.

He decided to start the firm after high-profile startups and venture capital firms came to him for marketing advice, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said Airbnb is seeking a new CMO and Mildenhall is continuing to work with the company on a consulting basis.

In an emailed statement, Mildenhall noted that since he joined Airbnb, the company has created a “beloved, mission-driven brand that has helped create phenomenal value. Belong Anywhere has become meaningful for our community all over the world.”

He added that Airbnb’s “impact” has inspired him to take what he has learned and work with other founders to get people to “care deeply about their brands.”

“This is why I’ve decided to leave Airbnb to set up my own brand consultancy,” said Mildenhall.

Mildenhall joined Airbnb in June 2014. Previously, he worked at Coca-Cola for seven years in various roles, most recently as SVP of integrated marketing communication and design excellence. He was also responsible for leading the creative vision for Coke’s portfolio of brands.

“I’m happy that [Mildenhall] has found his passion, and his next chapter will be exciting to watch,” Brian Chesky, Airbnb cofounder, CEO, and head of community, said in an emailed statement.

13856: Fearless Girl Is Clueless Too.

Adweek reported the financial firm behind the celebrated Fearless Girl statue agreed to pay $5 million to female and Black employees who were paid less than White men in the company. Of course, critics are blasting the advertiser for its blatant hypocrisy. Yet the responsible White advertising agency—where diversity is a dream deferred, diverted, delegated and denied—gets off scot-free. In fact, the shop continues to accept applause and accolades for the work, despite being arguably more hypocritical than the client. Award shows have cracked down on scam ads. It’s time to deny trophies to agencies producing patronizing pap while perpetuating prejudice and discrimination in their own exclusive hallways.

Financial Firm Behind ‘Fearless Girl’ Will Pay $5 Million for Allegedly Underpaying Women and Minorities

State Street’s subsidiary had been the year’s most celebrated champion of diversity

By Patrick Coffee

State Street Corp., parent company of the investment firm behind Wall Street’s iconic Fearless Girl statue, today agreed to pay a combined $5 million to more than 300 women and 15 black employees who were paid less than their white, male counterparts, according to a federal audit. Bloomberg first broke the news this afternoon.

According to today’s filing, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs audited the bank starting in late 2012 based on data concerning the years 2010 and 2011. On March 31 of this year—the same month Fearless Girl debuted on Wall Street—the government first informed State Street of “corrective actions required.”

The audit concluded that, since “at least December 1, 2010,” the company had discriminated against women in senior-level roles like vp, svp and managing director by paying them lower base salaries, bonuses and total compensation than their male colleagues. The OFCCP’s analysis also found that State Street did the same to 15 black employees at the vice president level.

State Street officially denies the claims, according to the conciliation agreement released today. The $5 million settlement total includes approximately $4.5 million in back pay and $500,000 in interest.

“State Street is committed to equal pay practices and evaluates on an ongoing basis our internal processes to be sure our compensation, hiring and promotions programs are nondiscriminatory,” said a State Street spokesperson in a statement today. “While we disagreed with the OFCCP’s analysis and findings, we have cooperated fully with them, and made a decision to bring this six-year-old matter to resolution and move forward.”

As a federal contractor, the company is subject to regular audits from the Department of Labor. The settlement also requires the company to conduct compensation analysis for all employees at the levels of those involved in this case every year for the next three years.

State Street’s large payout over allegations of gender and racial pay imbalance comes at an especially awkward time for its subsidiary State Street Global Advisors, whose Fearless Girl campaign has dominated advertising awards shows since debuting in March of this year.

The Fearless Girl statue, created by agency McCann New York (which declined to comment for this article), faces down Wall Street’s famed Charging Bull statue. It was a symbol created by State Street Global Advisors to celebrate women in leadership and encourage investment in corporations with women in top positions. It quickly became the financial world’s most iconic symbol of gender equality and won 18 honors at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, including four Grand Prix top honors.

But the client has been candid in acknowledging that Fearless Girl, or any marketing effort that celebrates a commitment to diversity, can be vulnerable to criticisms from those who feel the campaign’s creator hasn’t made enough progress.

During a recent Advertising Week panel moderated by Adweek managing editor Stephanie Paterik, State Street Global Advisors CMO Stephen Tisdalle discussed the inherent risks of Fearless Girl.

He told the audience: “Do we as an organization reflect the penultimate makeup and reflection in being a diverse organization? No. And that was a risk because a lot of the people felt the message might be diluted by a lot of cynical people saying, ‘Well who are you to talk about gender diversity when you’re not a perfect embodiment of it?’”

He continued: “What I would say to that is we had a foundation we could go back to to say why we did Fearless Girl, and no matter what anybody said, no matter what rocks were thrown, we could say, ‘You’re right, but this is the way we invest, this is the way the world needs to invest, this is a human moral value. How can you argue against it? We have to be doing better ourselves. She’s as much an inspiration to our organization as she is to the world.”

13855: Big Talker At ANA Conference.

Advertising Age posted a video interview with Lane Bryant EVP CMO Brian Beitler, who advocated for “size inclusivity” in marketing and society at large. Sounds like a full-figured version of diverted diversity.

LIVE AT ANA: LANE BRYANT’S CMO ON THE MAINSTREAMING OF SIZE DIVERSITY

By Adrianne Pasquarelli

After a crowd-inspiring presentation about body diversity in marketing at the Association of National Advertisers’ “Masters of Marketing” conference, Brian Beitler, executive VP and CMO of women’s apparel brand Lane Bryant, talked about his expectations for the future. We asked him when diverse body types will no longer make headlines. His response: Not as soon as we might hope.

13854: Dove’s Anti-Social Media Ad.

Adweek reported on continued cultural cluelessness from Dove. As others have already noted, Dove has consistently displayed stupidity throughout the years—or more specifically, its White advertising agencies have displayed stupidity. Sorry, but MultiCultClassics has always believed that Dove Real Beauty is real bullshit.

Dove’s Racially Insensitive Ad Has Agency Veterans Calling for More Minority Hiring

‘We see it over and over and over again. It’s not just Dove.’

By Lindsay Rittenhouse, Patrick Coffee

Responses to Dove’s racially insensitive clip of a black woman appearing to shed her body for a “cleaner” white version in a now-removed Facebook post promoting the brand’s body wash, provided a reminder that the ad industry is still very much divided. The full video included three women with differing skin tones, and social media users compared it to more blatantly racist “whitewashing” ads from the 19th century.

Agency veterans who spoke with Adweek in the wake of the controversy questioned how the ad received approval.

“This is what’s troubling about what’s going on in the space,” said Ryan Ford, vp and chief creative officer at Los Angeles multicultural marketing agency Cashmere. “Either there aren’t minorities in the room when decisions are being made or there are, but they aren’t empowered to say anything.”

Minorities in the agency world are growing tired of seeing brands repeatedly make the same mistakes.

“[When I first saw it], to be honest, I was like, ‘Here we go again,’” said Lewis Williams, chief creative officer at multicultural agency Burrell Communications. “We see it over and over and over again. It’s not just Dove. It’s the entire industry from clients to agencies not seeing the obvious [undertones]. What’s unfortunate is next week we’ll be having the same conversation.”

In April, Shea Moisture came under fire for an ad appearing to exclusively target white women, thereby alienating the African-American women who had historically been the brand’s primary consumers.

This also is not the first time Dove has been accused of racial insensitivity. In 2011, the brand released an ad that depicted a “before and after” skin chart, with a black woman under the “before” sign and a white woman under the “after.” At the time, Dove said all of the women were supposed to depict the “after.”

“Hire more black and brown people. It’s really that simple,” said mono producer Amalia Nicholson when asked what agencies and their clients can to do prevent such controversies in the future. Nicholson produces the podcast Borrowed Interest along with ad professionals Shareina Chandler of Colle McVoy and Leeya Jackson of Fallon that addresses the challenges minority women face in the office along with fellow.

Chaucer Barnes, chief audience officer at Translation, agreed with Nicholson.

“[It’s] is an important issue but one with a fairly simple solution: hire and empower people who reflect the cultural points of view that you’ll face on Twitter no matter what,” he wrote in a statement. “This doesn’t suggest that an objectionable asset can’t come from a well-balanced team. But when it does, if the process has been inclusive, there’s less chance that the brand will add insult to injury with the obligatory ‘oh-my-gosh-that-never-once-occured-to-us-because-we’re-too-pure-of-heart’ apology—which is increasingly as bad than the original sin scenarios like this.”

Nicholson, Ford and Williams also agreed that the following Twitter apology from Dove was in itself insensitive:

“It was flippant,” Nicholson said.

“The response takes you back to why it happened in the first place,” Williams said. “It’s not just a little misstep. [The apology] lacked sincerity.”

“It was a half-assed nonapology,” Ford said.

Dove is a longtime client of the WPP agency Ogilvy & Mather, but it is unclear whether the video was created by Ogilvy or an in-house team. A Dove spokeswoman declined to clarify who was behind the ad, and Ogilvy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Williams said whoever developed and approved of the ad needs to make a personal, public apology beyond Dove’s tweet.

“They need to be very public about what they’re doing, who they’re hiring,” she said. “If you’re not coming forth, how serious are you?”

13853: Trump Ignores Native Americans.

USA TODAY reported President Donald Trump’s Columbus Day proclamation made no references to Native Americans, focusing instead on U.S. relations with Italy. Gee, it’s a wonder Trump doesn’t feel a bond with Native Americans, at least from a casino ownership perspective.

How Donald Trump’s Columbus Day proclamation compares to previous presidents

By Julia Fair, USA TODAY

President Trump, in his proclamation declaring Monday as Columbus Day, did not include any mention of Native Americans.

The federal holiday honoring the famous Italian explorer Christopher Columbus has become increasingly controversial. Native American groups view it as a celebration of the man responsible for the genocide of indigenous people. Some states are even abandoning Columbus Day and replacing it with Indigenous People Day, also known by some as Native Americans Day.

Trump’s omission of Native Americans appears to track the way former Republican President George W. Bush wrote his proclamations. The two other former presidents in recent history, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, included details about the Native Americans’ history in their proclamations.

Bill Clinton

Former President Clinton, a Democrat, noted Columbus’s journey is historically significant — but in more than one way.

“The encounters between Columbus and other European explorers and the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere also underscore what can happen when cultures clash and when we are unable to understand and respect people who are different from us,” he wrote in his last Proclamation for the controversial holiday, in the year 2000.

George W. Bush

For most of his time in office, Bush mainly addressed how Columbus’s journey sparked the “close ties” between the U.S. and Italy and how the countries continued to work together.

In 2001, in his first Columbus Day proclamation, the Republican president writes how the explorer’s historic journey connected the continents separated by geographic, religious and cultural barriers. He did not mention specifically the Native Americans who resided on the land.

Barack Obama

In his first year in office, 2009, then-president Barack Obama notes how Columbus’s journey revealed new land for European nations. Yet Obama, a Democrat, also noted how the European immigrants joined the “thriving indigenous communities who suffered great hardships as a result of the changes to the land they inhabited,” which was the first specific mention of the Native Americans in the proclamation in eight years.

In his 2016 proclamation, Obama got much more specific about the plight of Native Americans. Obama urged Americans to “acknowledge the pain and suffering reflected in the stories of Native Americans who had long resided” before Europeans crossed the Atlantic Ocean to search for a new life.

Donald Trump

Echoing former President George W. Bush’s Columbus Day proclamations, Trump did not mention Native Americans and instead focused on the U.S. relationship with Italy.

“There can be no doubt that American culture, business, and civic life would all be much less vibrant in the absence of the Italian American community,” Trump wrote. “We also take this opportunity to reaffirm our close ties to Columbus’s country of birth, Italy. Italy is a strong ally and a valued partner in promoting peace and promoting prosperity around the world.”

Read Trump’s full proclamation:

“Five hundred and twenty-five years ago, Christopher Columbus completed an ambitious and daring voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. The voyage was a remarkable and then-unparalleled feat that helped launch the age of exploration and discovery. The permanent arrival of Europeans to the Americas was a transformative event that undeniably and fundamentally changed the course of human history and set the stage for the development of our great Nation. Therefore, on Columbus Day, we honor the skilled navigator and man of faith, whose courageous feat brought together continents and has inspired countless others to pursue their dreams and convictions—even in the face of extreme doubt and tremendous adversity.

More than five centuries after his initial voyage, we remember the ‘Admiral of the Ocean Sea’ for building the critical first link in the strong and enduring bond between the United States and Europe. While Isabella I and Ferdinand II of Spain sponsored his historic voyage, Columbus was a native of the City of Genoa, in present day Italy, and represents the rich history of important Italian American contributions to our great Nation. There can be no doubt that American culture, business, and civic life would all be much less vibrant in the absence of the Italian American community. We also take this opportunity to reaffirm our close ties to Columbus’s country of birth, Italy. Italy is a strong ally and a valued partner in promoting peace and promoting prosperity around the world.

In commemoration of Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage, the Congress, by joint resolution of April 30, 1934, and modified in 1968 (36 U.S.C. 107), as amended, has requested the President proclaim the second Monday of October of each year as ‘Columbus Day.’

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim October 9, 2017, as Columbus Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I also direct that the flag of the United States be displayed on all public buildings on the appointed day in honor of our diverse history and all who have contributed to shaping this Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-second.”

13852: Cadillac Lacks Integrity.

Adweek reported on the patronizing call for unity from Cadillac: “While we’re not the same, we can be one.” Okay, but the automaker has consistently settled for sameness when selecting White advertising agency partners—and Neo-Nazis.

How Cadillac, Loved by Donald Trump and Muhammad Ali Alike, Became a Voice for Unity

A political risk that paid off

By Stephanie Paterik

The most controversial president in the history of the United States rides in a Cadillac. If you’re the brand’s marketing chief, how do you handle that—celebrate it? Ignore it?

Cadillac CMO Uwe Ellinghaus said the iconic car company’s leaders felt compelled to enter the political conversation. That led them to release the ad “Carry” during the Oscars this year, featuring documentary-style footage of Americans over the past century, ranging from soldiers to protesters to Muhammad Ali waxing his Caddy. There’s a hopeful call for unity: “While we’re not the same, we can be one.”

“The 45th president of the United States is chauffeured in a Cadillac—that’s a fact,” Ellinghaus said today in a speech at the ANA Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando, Fla. “I grew up with the belief a brand needs to be bipartisan, but there are times when a brand needs to stand up.”

Dipping into the nation’s roiling political waters was a risk. “Some [brands] just got a shit storm on social media for their efforts,” he said.

But because the president drives its car, Cadillac was uniquely positioned to deliver that ad, Ellinghaus said. Its vehicles symbolize luxury for older, affluent Americans. And the brand has been aggressively targeting younger drivers with influencer campaigns, art installations and a home base in New York. In short, it can speak to both sides of the political spectrum.

“It’s a credible source if it comes from Cadillac that we say dear America, we need to come together,” he said. “We didn’t want to fuel the political divide; we wanted to transcend it.”

After the spot aired, the CMO said he received an email from Breitbart News praising it as one of the best pro-Trump ads it had seen. He also received letters from The New York Times readers hailing it as the best anti-Trump spot.

Trump’s presidential limousine, known as “Cadillac One,” debuted on Inauguration Day. The 8-ton beast is equipped with military-grade armor, a tear gas cannon and vials of the president’s blood type. The New York Post estimated the cost at $1.5 million, and the car captivated the French press when it traveled to Paris this summer.

The mogul’s relationship with Cadillac dates back to the 1980s, when he reportedly planned to release a Trump Cadillac Series of stretch limos. The deal fell through, but the Volo Auto Museum in Illinois recently acquired a prototype, complete with fax machine and paper shredder.