Throughout the years, many companies of different industries have faced serious backlash and PR nightmares after releasing marketing campaigns or advertisements that are seen as insensitive by multiple communities. Many people believe these company disasters could’ve easily been avoided by having a more inclusive and diverse marketing and/or advertising team in place. While it’s evident that companies never strive to make these “mistakes” in the first place, it is also evident that these could’ve been avoided in the first place. Surface level diversity is something companies take into account when marketing a specific product, but sometimes they don’t take into account deep level diversity, which includes cultural differences, that do make a difference in how you want to market a product.
An example of this could be seen with the recent fiasco clothing company H&M faced. H&M was accused of making a child wear a hoodie that could be interpreted as having a racist slogan. The hoodie said “coolest monkey in the jungle”, which given the context of the child’s race, many interpreted as showing a negative and outdated stereotype. This sparked a huge controversy in which celebrities spoke out in disappointment, rappers G-Eazy and The Weeknd ended their campaigns with the store, and people rioted and destroyed several H&M stores in South Africa. In reaction to this controversy, H&M appointed a new “global leader for diversity and inclusiveness.” While I’m sure most don’t condone the violent tendencies that were sparked by the unfortunate choice of words, it could also be inferred that if perhaps H&M had had a diversity leader before all this took place, it perhaps wouldn’t have been approved.
Another example of an infamous controversial ad by a mega company could be seen by Pepsi’s commercial with Kendall Jenner that was criticized for trivializing Black Lives Matter. The ad showed a Black Lives Matter protest, and Kendall Jenner handing off a Pepsi to the police officer, essentially ending the tensions between the protesters and officers. This ad was criticized by many for being tone-deaf and missing the mark completely with the issues regarding police brutality. This could be seen as another example of brands missing out on the voices of people of color, who perhaps could’ve provided a different perspective.
Studies show that the advertising industry faces diversity disparities, and many people of color reported that they believed many of their coworkers did not value their opinion. However, it is evident how important having a diverse work force and team are for a company to continue being successful and get a positive message across with their products.
References:
Fumo, N. (2018, January 19). H&M Hires Diversity Manager In Wake Of Racist Hoodie Fiasco. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicolafumo/2018/01/18/hm-diversity-manager-hire/#141f32eb5337
Victor, D. (2017, April 05). Pepsi Pulls Ad Accused of Trivializing Black Lives Matter. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/business/kendall-jenner-pepsi-ad.html
E. (2017, November 02). New Adobe Study Highlights Diversity Issues in the Advertising Industry. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from http://www.adweek.com/agencies/new-adobe-study-highlights-diversity-issues-in-the-advertising-industry/
Amanda J Lawson says
I loved reading your blog entry. It’s incredibly sad how society can’t seem to catch up to 2018, or what (in my mind) it should be. Like religion, race is difficult to have conversations within a workplace or school environment. I think having a diverse group of people in any work environment is important. Diversity is not just the color of someones skin; it’s deeper than that, and I believe everyone should be able to voice their opinions and those opinions should be heard. Many people have biased opinions because of what someone looks like. Sometimes I wish we were blindfolded to not see the outward appearance, but I know that’s not possible.
Maygrelin C Yackel says
Natalia,
Great post! I greatly enjoyed reading about about the two advertisement campaigns that failed from what it sounds like a lack of inclusion. I have to agree with you in that maybe this could have been avoided if the marketing team and input from different perspectives. If the marketing teams were diverse, someone would have caught into it that maybe the ad might be insensible to certain people or groups. This goes back to the lesson and the importance of inclusion as it allows for diversity to grow and flourish and promote positive results in the workplace.