Adweek reported on a diversity doubleheader celebrating Black History Month and the Lunar New Year: Shutterstock partnered with Pocc to offer grants totaling $6000—that’s six $1000 awards—to artists from Black, East and South-East Asian backgrounds. Um, thanks for contributing the crumbs. At least they didn’t advertise the promotion with royalty-free stock photography.
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It's part of a new trend for big brands to make a big show of diversity by creating a "fund" for "BIPOC artists." Or musicians, or photographers, or directors, or "content creators," etc.
What they actually do is spend a ton of money to come up with that campaign with ad agencies owned by holding companies that are in turn owned by old white men. Then they spend even more money to get the word out with media companies also owned by old white men.
So the breakdown is something like:
$1.5 million spent with the white ad agency (or a "multicultural agency" that's just a front for a white holding company).
$2.0 million spent with the white media company.
$6k spent with BIPOC youth.
So while 6 individual photographers get a whopping $1,000 each, white businesses continue to pocket millions.
Sometimes you'll get a few individuals getting $50k, but they're required to make something (like a "branded content film") that costs $48k in hard costs, so they really only get $2k in the end.
And white businesses continue to pocket millions, while the brand seemingly "invests in POC communities."
These funds aren't funds at all, they're Public Relations expenditures for the brands.
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