Hasta La Creative!

TBWA’s internal media unit Backslash recently rolled out a short video addressing the issue of being black in the notably diversity-challenged advertising industry, entitled “Candid Conversations: Black in Advertising.”

The video caps off a Black History Month which also saw Havas Chicago’s “#BlackAtWork” obstacle course tackling the same topic.

“Candid Conversations” spotlights creatives at TBWA and other agencies, as well as Airbnb CMO Jonathan Mildenhall, who described himself as “the only brown face” at McCann Erickson in 1990. Creatives express the unique challenges of being black in the advertising industry and the importance of diversity in advertising. TBWAChiatDay junior strategist Jasmine Spraglin also cites the lack of diversity in the ads she saw on TV growing up as one of the reasons she joined the industry in the first place. One of the more appalling anecdotes of racism in the industry comes from chief creative officer Vida Cornelius, who recalls a CMO addressing her shorts and t-shirt clad junior creatives as if they were her bosses.

At one point, shortly after Mildenhall appears onscreen, the camera briefly focuses on a certain industry blog’s post about Mildenhall calling out the lack of diversity in the Cannes Lions Festival’s jury president selections. Thanks, guys.

It’s hard to imagine anyone, barring the willfully ignorant, completely blind to the diversity issues in advertising, Backslash here provides a good perspective on the issue from the creatives and other industry professionals who know it better than anyone. The video was circulated through TBWA’s global network last week and screened at TBWAChiatDay’s Los Angeles office.

“We felt that, for Black History Month, it was important to think about African American culture as it relates to advertising,” TBWA Worldwide chief strategy officer Nick Barham told Adweek.

“There are conversations that people of color in advertising have when they’re by themselves, and I wanted people to hear that,” added Backslash content director Chay Lee. “Change comes from people having conversations. Once you’re on the radar, anything can happen.”

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