Adweek published another perspective from Carta Head of Inclusion, Equity and Impact Mita Mallick, whereby the author positioned Procter & Gamble as an organization that others should emulate for building allyship with the Black community.
Mallick has typed editorials on subjects including Black Santa Claus, Black History Month, and colorism, offering reasoned yet unoriginal thoughts—that is, she’s covered familiar terrain with common critiques. Regardless, Mallick deserves a salute for trying to keep cultural topics in the public eye. This latest piece, however, invites some scrutiny. So, here it comes:
• For starters, Mallick referred to “My Black is Beautiful hair care brand,” apparently unaware the initiative is not a product line. To be clear, the platform was launched in 2006 with the goal of spotlighting and empowering Black women, supported by a variety of P&G brands. In recent years, the concept has expanded to cover broader Black issues—it has arguably become a heat shield for P&G. Do your research.
• Mallick wrote, “P&G shows us that when serving the Black community on an issue as deeply personal as hair care and beauty, you can hire an all-Black creative and all-Black production team. No more excuses. The talent is out there waiting to work with you.” Okay, except that most of the prominent pieces—which received greater attention and budgets—were handled by White advertising agencies. And there’s zero evidence of hiring all-Black production teams. For example, “The Talk” was done by White advertising agency BBDO, who reportedly hired a Black consultant to uncover the insight that served as inspiration for the spot.
• Related to the previous point, contrary to Mallick’s implications, P&G does not provide equal opportunities to Black-owned advertising agencies—rather, the advertiser delivers crumbs. No knock against Cartwright Advertising, but the shop is backed by WPP and Grey, longtime sycophants of P&G. Sorry, it wouldn’t be surprising if WPP and Grey viewed Cartwright Advertising as a heat shield of sorts.
• Mallick closed by stating, “P&G’s film Unbecoming serves as a best-in-class example and a reminder of how we as marketers can represent and serve the Black community; not with shortcuts or by checking the boxes, but with authenticity.” No, it serves as a worst-in-class example of patronizing propaganda. P&G is probably checking plenty of boxes with My Black is Beautiful.
• In summation, Mallick ought to consider what P&G is not doing. The global client has the power to demand diversity from its White advertising agencies, to positively affect meaningful and measurable change in an industry plagued by systemic racism. Instead, the premier advertiser has failed to hold any talks with or alter looks at the offices of predominately White partners, which is quite unbecoming indeed. Oh, and P&G has not helped to elevate the status of Black-owned advertising agencies—ironically, Black shops have not significantly benefited from My Black is Beautiful.
P&G Continues to do the Work in Its Allyship Journey to the Black Community
The latest campaign film Unbecoming digs deep into consumers’ lived experiences
By Mita Mallick
In Procter and Gamble’s latest film for My Black is Beautiful hair care brand, Unbecoming, we see Black women and girls slowly and gently undo their hair. The campaign tackles the acceptance of Black women and natural hair.
The stunning film joins a series of acclaimed P&G films hitting on the stereotypes and the racism the Black community faces, which includes “The Talk,” “The Look” and “The Choice.” It’s clear that P&G continues to do the work on its journey to be an ally to the Black community.
Marketers, it’s time to take notes. P&G reminds us once again that we can represent and serve the Black community authentically, without shortcuts, quick fixes or checking the boxes.
Here are three lessons to remember as we race to build products and campaigns.
Diversify your portfolio of production partners
Too often, I have heard “I’m all for diverse talent as long as they are good,” “It’s a pipeline issue” or “The talent is just not there.” P&G shows us that when serving the Black community on an issue as deeply personal as hair care and beauty, you can hire an all-Black creative and all-Black production team. No more excuses. The talent is out there waiting to work with you.
Make hiring an all-Black creative and all-Black production team a priority from the start. Don’t keep that priority a secret; share it with the broader team. Build a diverse slate of agencies to consider, just like you would create a diverse slate of candidates when hiring for a role. Start with resources like Agency Spotter, Agency Vista and WP Engine; they share an expansive list of Black-owned agencies that have expertise in digital, creative, production and more.
Make it an ongoing priority to meet with new agencies even when you don’t have a particular project in mind. Because when there’s a campaign you do need help on in the future, you can with intention invite the right partners into your ecosystem.
Dig deep into consumers’ lived experiences
“When we got this brief, we realized we had never seen undone Black hair and unfiltered Black womanhood celebrated on screen together,” says Cartwright creative partners Chelsea Ceasor and Taylor Whitelow, who led the creative work for the P&G film. The film goes on to tackle all the things “they” (society) tell Black women they need to become: patient enough, desirable enough, manageable enough. And that Black women are taught and told that beautiful is something “we become.”
The film redefines what the word “unbecoming” means for Black women; that by unraveling themselves, and their hair, they are free to define beauty as who they are. It ends with: “What’s unbecoming of a Black women? It’s becoming who you are.”
As marketers, let’s not forget it’s that powerful insight we uncover that helps us understand how we can surprise and delight our consumers. In order to find that insight, we need to truly understand the lived experience of our consumers.
The P&G film reminds us we have a responsibility to help shatter stereotypes of what Black women face every single day. This includes facing white beauty standards that do not represent and reflect who they are, as well as the pressure they face to conform to what society deems is beautiful. We as marketers have the power to help reimagine and redefine what beautiful means in the beauty industry.
Deliver products that serve the community
“While Black women love the versatility, pride and strength derived from their hair, there is inherent tension there,” shares Lela Coffey, P&G Beauty’s vp for North America hair care. “Through Unbecoming and our My Black is Beautiful products, we are re-affirming our prioritization of hair health for Black women, with formulas that embrace the inherent beauty of their hair texture.”
P&G’s journey to be an ally to the Black community doesn’t just include representation of Black women in this film; it also includes representation with products that work for Black women. The My Black is Beautiful collection celebrates Black beauty and culture, created by Black women for Black women. All products are designed to nourish type 4 natural hair, for healthy coils and curls, from styling, scalp care and moisture for natural hair, with specially formulated ingredients like coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, honey and coconut oil.
As marketers, let’s continue to educate ourselves on the deep inequities Black women have faced in the beauty industry. According to a recent McKinsey Report, Black consumers are three times more likely to be dissatisfied with their choices for hair care, skincare and makeup vs. non-Black consumers. And addressing these racial inequities in beauty is a $2.6 billion opportunity.
We must go beyond just simply casting Black talent in campaigns and sharing their stories; we must also provide products and services that meet their beauty needs. P&G’s film Unbecoming serves as a best-in-class example and a reminder of how we as marketers can represent and serve the Black community; not with shortcuts or by checking the boxes, but with authenticity.
P&G cares about performative diversity, not actual diversity.
ReplyDeleteWhen P&G has $$$$$ big campaigns, they give that money to white ad agencies, who turn around and hire white production and editorial companies, who turn around and hire white directors and editors and crews, and then hire white media companies to place it all. Everyone white gets fat.
When P&G has smaller $$$ diversity oriented campaigns, they give that money to white ad agencies, who turn around and hire white production companies, who turn around and hire white women directors or a single BIPOC freelance director or editor, and surround them with white crews, and then hire white media companies to place it all. Everyone white gets fat.
Then when P&G has tiny $ campaigns that are more cents than dollars, they divvy them up between several different multicultural agencies that all have to fight to get a crumb at the table. Everyone BIPOC starves while fighting for a portion of a crumb.
And if you push P&G about diversity? They turn around and loudly announce an initiative or spend money overseas and call it “global diversity,” or "gender equality," claiming that media buys, productions and hiring in Mumbai or Buenos Aires is peak DE&I.