Adweek reported on an April Fools’ Day stunt from the creators of Blackweek, whereby the group changed its name to Blankweek as a response to the anti-DEIBA+ vibe in Adland and the USA.
Can’t help but wonder how Blackweek and its crew will ultimately fare while Adland continues to abandon DEIBA+—along with associated performative PR and heat shields.
When White advertising agencies and White adpeople are probed on their awareness of Blackweek, will they draw a blank? Do they already?
Blackweek April Fools Stunt Puts a Spotlight on DEI Rollbacks
Conference organizers changed the name of the event to ‘Blankweek’ yesterday to spark industry conversation
By Cydney Lee
Ad industry observers may have noticed yesterday that Blackweek, the industry conference dedicated to unlocking the spending power, influence, and potential of diverse consumers, changed its name to “Blankweek” in response to ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks imposed by the government.
ADWEEK can confirm that the name change was an April Fools prank meant to drive awareness to the erasure of DEI progress across U.S. companies and culture.
“In this environment, [descriptors] like ‘Black,’ ‘female,’ ‘LGBTQ,’ and ‘diverse’ are being erased,” explained Walter T. Geer III, Blackweek co-founder and chief creative officer of innovation at VML North America. “We’re poking fun at that and the fact that so many brands and agencies are cowering down on [DEI].”
On Monday, March 31, Geer shared a seemingly truthful LinkedIn post announcing Blackweek had changed its name: “After careful deliberation and conversations with our team and families, and looking at the current climate and movement to erase certain words from the business world, we have made the tough decision to change our name to Blankweek,” he wrote.
In the post, he also shared a link to a new Instagram page for Blankweek, which included another link to the conference’s website complete with the new Blankweek name and logo.
Other Blackweek founders posted about the alleged name change, including Andre Gray, chief activation officer and head of culture and entertainment at Havas Lynx New York; Adan Romero, evp and executive creative director at Razorfish; and Joe Anthony, CEO and founder of Hero Collective.
The war on DEI
Recently, in response to a changing political climate, brands including Target, Lowe’s, Molson Coors, and Walmart have reversed their DEI efforts in various ways, from ditching hiring quotas to ending programs and surveys meant to support diverse employees.
This war on DEI reached the highest levels of the federal government earlier this year as President Donald Trump took office. In January, on inauguration day, he signed an executive order “ending radical and wasteful government DEI programs and preferencing.”
Since then, Trump has signed a series of orders clamping down on DEI programs, most recently urging Vice President JD Vance to remove “divisive, race-centered ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo.
These mandates have forced brands and agencies, which made bold promises and set aggressive goals around DEI in the wake of 2020’s Black Lives Matter movement, to re-strategize.
For Blackweek’s founders, April Fools presented an opportunity to raise awareness of these reversals by showing “how ridiculous it is to issue these mandates,” said Anthony.
“What we’re seeing is a compounding attack on nomenclature, words, and terminology in an attempt to try to make America this homogenous place, which we know is not the foundational principle of what [leads to] great creative ideas,” he continued.
While the founders were hopeful that the stunt would not just drive awareness but outrage among diverse pockets of the industry, reactions to Geer’s LinkedIn post were somewhat muted, with many commenters offering their understanding and support of the “tough decision.”
However, Geer said that out of the public eye, others reached out to him directly to reprimand him for the name change and accusing him of “bending the knee.”
“I think people would never in a million years expect this,” said Geer. “Never in a million years would they expect us to essentially fold in the moment like what many companies are doing.”
Blackweek is here to stay
Despite the ongoing retreat from DEI—and the April Fool’s prank—Blackweek is here to stay, and it’s preparing for a strong second year.
Blackweek held its inaugural conference in New York City in October 2024. The event was self-financed with support from sponsors like WPP, Dentsu, IPG, and TikTok.
In 2025, Blackweek’s founders are looking to expand the event to “an economic forum and festival,” said Gray. The conference will act as a “content accelerator,” highlighting artists and creatives more through programming like showcases, film screenings, and performances.
“We’re doubling down on culture, and we need the community to double down with us,” said Anthony.
Anthony said that the conference is on track to retain nearly 80% of its sponsors this year, but shared that some prospective sponsors (which he declined to name) have expressed concern around Blackweek’s name “and how that aligns with the current climate.”
“The reason why we chose the term ‘Black’ was not necessarily to exclude other communities, but to highlight the cultural contributions and the license that Black culture gives other marginalized and oppressed communities to speak up for themselves,” Anthony said.
Update April 1 8:25am ET: This story was updated to clarify that Blackweek aims to reach diverse audiences, not just Black audiences.
