Marketing Pop Culture

Barack Obama on race

What was on display today was the power of Obama.  Let me explain.  He frequently talks about unity and some dismiss it as naive dreaming.  However, what was clear today was that there is a strength in talking openly and honestly about the issues that lie ahead of us.  Race is such an issue, and he's right that every time there's an opportunity to have an open dialogue about it, the country tends to sidestep it.  Usually, whites end up feeling defensive and black folks come across as too angry.  And it's true, we do end up retreating to our respective corners.

But, by not pandering, by providing powerful contexts for behaviors and feelings on both sides of the divide, Obama has not only clarified his position on this issue, but he has provided ways for ordinary Americans to begin honest discussions in their own neighborhoods on this subject.

Bravo, Barack!  Now let's see if the country is brave enough to follow where you lead.

Click here for the transcript.

Gladwell on the Black-White I.Q. Gap

Elsewhere on this blog, I've talked about how culture provides a context not only for how marketing communications are understood, but also for how we understand the world.  Malcolm Gladwell comes at this from a slightly different angle as he explores the supposed I.Q. gap between Blacks and White in his review of James Flynn's  "What is Intelligence?", where he reaches the following conclusion:

I.Q. measures not just the quality of a person's mind but the quality of the world that person lives in.

This should put to rest all of those who want to make the case that Blacks are somehow intellectually inferior to Whites based on genetics.  More importantly, it highlights how providing an environment rich in experiences helps the mind become accustomed to "cognitive complexity".  The brain is, in fact, a muscle that requires exercise like any other part of the body.

Read the full New Yorker article here.

And African American ad shops wonder why they get no respect

The production is great.  The choir is rousing.  It's made it into the media rotation during "Ugly Betty".  So what's wrong with this spot?

It's lazy.

Cynical.

Perhaps the brief read something like this: "Create awareness among an African-American audience of Mazda's Motor Trend award."  So some lazy CD turned to the client and said:

"I know.  Let's go with the idea of gospel.  It's celebratory.  And, after, all this award is a big deal.  It should be celebrated."

So we end up with brothas and sistas catching the holy spirit over a car.  A car?  I can't wait for the version where some Jews launch into "Hava Nagila".

At a time when there's heated discussions about the need for more diversity as well as ways to bring more  multicultural shops to the strategic table, the need for great ideas can't be overlooked.  There's absolutely no big idea here.  Is this the fault of the agency?  Not entirely.  Did they do the best they could with what they were given?  Maybe.

But multicultural shops can't demand to be treated with respect and parity, and then turn around and do completely unimaginative work.  Clients, on the other hand, have to stop looking at ethnic agencies in such narrow terms, limiting their work to what they think will get past the cultural filters of brown audiences.

Psychology of rappers and wounded young, Black men

Bravo for Jay Smooth and his compassionate and nuanced outlook. Jay's is useful food for thought into the minds of so many young men who drive the engine of American popular culture. Major hat tip to Stone and Rome at The Couch Sessions for the heads-up.

Just so you know, this ain't cool either. . .

Not to put too fine a point on it, but here's yet another example of the industry's need for greater diversity.  Shout-outs to the folks at AgencySpy and to my friends at Bluegum for bringing this to my attention.  To quote our "friends" at BET, "C'mon, y'all.  We got to do better."

Will the genius behind this campaign please stand up?

Okay, so is this a fatal mistake?  Not really.

It’s just dumb.

Oh, fuck it.  This calls for Angry Black Man mode.

If you’re wondering how something like this happened, I’ll tell you.  Because those lily white, running-to-catch-the Hamptons-Jitney crowd at McCann don’t have one fucking clue about anyone who doesn’t look like them.  Sadly, I don't think really give a fuck.

I mean, it’s 2007 for crissakes!  You mean to tell me that no one had an iota of an inkling that this ad was leveraging some tired stereotypes?  Such as:

1. White guy=in charge manager
2. Black guys=physical specimens signifying performance at this beck and call

My wife saw the ad and said, “Looks like a slave ship.”

And, what, there aren’t any white sprinters?

Rob talks marketing on NPR

Among other things.

Yesterday, I participated in a new segment on NPR's "News and Notes with Farai Chideya," where she invited a few black bloggers to comment on hot topics in the news.  In addition to using the topic of BET's new show "Hot Ghetto Mess" to plug Black rock, I also took aim at the NAACP’s symbolic “burial” of the N-word from a marketer’s point of view.  For example, from what I could tell there was no use of new media to further the organization’s message: No video released from the event was released by the organization on Youtube, except for this CNN clip.  How about a pod- or videocast of the speeches?  Turns out I wasn't the only one thinking about this: Clyde Smith wrote a much more in-depth and thoughtful exploration of the event here.  In the end, symbolism is great, but to be effective today, organizations like this desperately need to consider how to effectively reach younger members of their audiences

For my first national broadcast media opportunity, I think I did alright.

But, please, decide for yourself. Listen to the segment here.

The Arrogance of a Bottom Feeder

I’ll start out by immediately admitting that this is off topic.  But sometimes, when confronted with blindingly ignorant assertions, you have to respond.  Case in point is yesterday’s NY Times article on the state of Black theater, wherein we find the following bit of text that is attributed to David Talbert:

No figure attracts more conflicting opinions that Mr. [August] Wilson, who died in 2005.  Mr. Talbert. . .is not shy about his view: if the audiences who go to Mr. Wilson’s plays are predominanty nonblack, he asked, then how significant could he be to black people?

"[H]ow significant could he be to black people?"  Huh?  For those of you who are not aware of August Wilson, he was an African American playwright who, through his 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle, illuminates the humanity of African Americans throughout the 20th century.  Along the way, Wilson garnered two Pulitzer prizes (Fences and The Piano Lesson), numerous Tony award nominations, and a National Humanities Medal among others.  So let me re-phrase: August Wilson is an American playwright.  In fact, I pulled this from his obituary in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

In dramatizing the glory, anger, promise and frustration of being black in America, he created a world of the imagination -- August Wilson's Hill District -- to rank with such other transformational fictional worlds as Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha, Hardy's Wessex or Friel's Donegal. Critics from Manhattan to Los Angeles now speak knowingly of "Pittsburgh's Hill District," not just the Hill as it is now or was when Mr. Wilson grew up in the '50s, but August Wilson Country -- the archetypal northern urban black neighborhood, a construct of frustration, nostalgia, anger and dream.

Talbert, on the other hand, has made millions over the last 15 years trafficking in stereotypes and caricatures, leveraging a lowest-common denominator approach.  He wouldn't be the first.  Some of his works include “Lawd Ha’ Mercy” and “Tellin’ It Like It Tiz”.  Such work travels well: According to his site, his plays are seen in over 20 countries around the world.

In addition to Talbert’s dismissiveness of one of the giant’s of American theater, what’s most irksome about the above “quote” is that it seems to equate popularity as the only yardstick of relevance or importance.  Certainly, lots of people see Talbert’s plays.  But few will confuse them with art.  Wilson’s plays, on the other hand, deal with the tragedy and comedy of black life in highly nuanced ways.  So what If Talbert’s assertion is true that a majority “nonblack” audience sees Wilson’s plays?  Could Broadway’s high ticket prices relative to those on Talbert’s “chitlin“ circuit be one of the culprits?  In any case, whoever goes to an August Wilson play sees much more complex depictions of African American life than can typically be found in other media.  For that alone, Wilson deserves all the respect in the world.

Can Black Rock Save Black Culture?

Vernon Reid, originally uploaded by fstop45.

In order for the vast majority of black youth to envision better lives for themselves, we need to bring musicality back into their lives.  By this I mean, get them playing instruments.  Since we can’t count on the school system to get them excited about playing instruments, the impetus must come from popular culture.  Black musicians have to make it seem cool again.  And the only ones who are in a position to do that are black rock musicians.

But let me back up. 

I realize that I’ve been thinking about this topic in some shape or form for over a decade.  Back in the early 90s, I was PR director for the Black Rock Coalition.  Back then, we were focused on creating an environment in which black artists who didn’t fit neatly into the R&B or rap dichotomy could break into the public consciousness and enjoy the financial rewards thereof.  “Black Rock” was—and still is—perceived as an oxymoron.  We used the term to represent the diversity of styles and influences that our members brought to bear in their music.  It was as much a social and political statement as it was a musical one.  But breaking such artists was, and remains, a seemingly insurmountable challenge.  At the time, the question was, Why won’t the industry accept and support black rock?  However, the music industry, like any other, responds to what’s happening in the culture.  Therefore, it’s a short leap to say that black rock’s not happening in the culture, at least on a scale that warrants corporate investment.  But that skirts the race issue only momentarily.

As a marketer, I’m most concerned with the “buyer” of my product, service or content.  Given that, a better question is: Why haven’t audiences supported black rock on a large scale?

Race, the Final Frontier

The third MarketingPopCulture.com podcast can be heard below.  In a nutshell: The NYC Human Rights Commission issued a report on the lack of diversity within the advertising industry in 1978.   Fast forward nearly 30 years, and we have another report and a threat of fines and public embarrassment but, again, no real change.

Before I offer a solution, I share my perspective as an African-American and a marketer.  One correction: I mispronounce the name of Ogilvy Toronto's Co-Chief Creative Officer.  Her correct name is Nancy Vonk.


MP3 File