SoBe it: African American celebrity in ads

I hate this commercial.

But let me explain why, since I know there are avid television-watchers (which I am not) who think this ad is humorous and entertaining.  

I remember when I first saw the Thrillicious: SoBe Life Water ad--it was during Super Bowl XLII this year, and I, like most Super Bowl viewers, watch for the game and the commercials. However, my response after seeing this ad was, huh?

Naomi Campbell and dancing lizards re-creating the choreography to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to sell SoBe water?   I didn't get the concept or the point.

Now, I know one reason why the creators of the ad chose to cast Naomi Campbell--back in the '90s, the model starred in a music video with the King of Pop.  Do you remember 

"In the Closet?"  I do, because I am a loyal MJ fan, despite his eccentricities, and I think Ms. Campbell is a gorgeous and glamorous model, despite her alleged temper and run-ins with the law.  I don't, however, find lizards agreeable.  And the more I watch this SoBe commercial, the more I realize I am also slightly offended by the lizard sporting a diamond-encrusted grill.

The first time I noticed the lizard's grill, I think I was in shock. Now I'm just irritated and disappointed by the advertiser's stereotypical and simple-minded understanding of members of the urban and Hip Hop communities.  You should ask yourself, why is the lizard wearing a grill?  What does this ornament have to do with models, Michael Jackson, "Thriller," or even SoBe beverages?  Some might say it's funny.  But then I challenge you to contemplate, but why is that funny?

It's problematic, to me.  And rather stupid.  Ignorant stupid, not funny stupid.

At any rate, I wish advertisers would think of more creative and innovative ways to create ads that actually link to the product's identity, message, or purpose to sell the product.  When will we tire of recycling old pop culture images, throwing in a celebrity or two for good measure, and adding in some dancing computer-animated lizards and calling that good advertising?  It doesn't help that two African American celebrities are used to further reinforce this cultural pastiche and artlessness.  They are unknowingly the butts of a bad joke.

I wonder if SoBe product sales increased after this commercial aired.  I hope not.

"Yes, We Can"--a non-traditional political ad

Have you seen Barack Obama's music video "Yes, We Can" on Youtube?  I'm sure you have by now; it's a couple of months old.  It was created and produced by Will.I.Am., a member of the (former) Hip Hop group Black Eyed Peas. (I don't think they really classify as Hip Hop anymore--maybe more pop--but that's my personal opinion.)

Anyway, Will.I.Am used text from Obama's speech in New Hampshire in January 2008 as lyrics for the song and video.  Various music recording artists make an appearance in the

 video, singing the lyrics of the speech with an original guitar tune strumming in the background.  A few of the artists I am familiar with are Hip Hop and R&B artists Common, John Legend, and Fonzworth Bentley, but there are many others.  The ones I mentioned are African American, but this is a multi-racial and multi-genre music video. 

Or should I say, ad?    

This is so much more than a music video.  It works as a political ad--created by an entertainer to support a political candidate and his message.  There can be no mistake about its message--the actual recording of the speech is used.  It has all the elements of an effective ad--celebrity appearances; it plays to the emotions; it's memorable, creative, and catchy.  It was probably inexpensive to produce.  I don't know if Obama "officially" endorsed this video, but I know he's aware of its existence.  

It's on his Myspace and Facebook pages.  Which leads me to my other point--this video uses non-traditional media.  I first saw the video on YouTube, but I first heard about it on Facebook, a social networking site.  I've watched it on all three sites (before even visiting Obama's campaign site to view it).  It's not a TV commercial, but it serves the same function.  It advertises Obama, Obama's campaign strategy of hope, Obama's slogan "Yes We Can," and the celebrities who support Obama.  I sing along to the song in this video just as I would sing along to, say, the old Kit Kat commercials.

What's even more remarkable is that regular, everyday Obama supporters continually post the video on their social networking pages, YouTube, and blogs, leave comments, tell their friends, and essentially the video--and the cause--spreads by word-of-mouth.  A modern grassroots effort, if you will.   Obama is truly the multi-media, interactive, new media candidate of the future, but he's campaigning now.  What will be interesting to see is if his opponents, and political leaders in the future, follow in his technologically-savvy footsteps.  No doubt he has young people in their 20's working on his campaign marketing strategy.  I think they're doing a great job to reach one of his most important target markets--young voters under 35.

Not to minimize the importance of Obama's platform, but it's true that this music video is an ad that sells a product: Barack Obama's campaign.  Talk about product placement.  I'd buy it.  

A Touchy Subject

On Thursday, March 27^th at 5:00 PM, I attended my first “webinar.”  For those of you not familiar with the term, a webinar is an online seminar.  This particular panel session was designed and hosted by Adversity and the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program (MAIP).  Adversity is a newly formed non-profit organization dedicated to increasing minority involvement in the ad industry through education and networking, and the Multicultural Advertising Internship Program provides internships at ad agencies for creative advertising students with a multicultural heritage. 

The panel consisted of six individuals: four who are currently working in creative management positions at ad agencies around the country, and two students or former students of the advertising portfolio schools the Creative Circus and VCU Brandcenter.  The panelist make-up was important and effective, because the members were a diverse group in terms of job position, gender, age, and ethnicity.  They discussed their opinions on the preparation needed to secure a job in the ad industry—whether or not to attend a portfolio school, networking, and building your book (portfolio)—as well as experiences they have or have not had that they felt was unique to their race/ethnicity while working in the industry.

I won’t belabor you with details on job requirements or interviewing techniques, both of which were discussed at the webinar but which are not the purpose of my blog.  I’m most interested in the experiences minority individuals have while trying to create the ads we see everyday.  Perry Fair, a former creative director at the True Agency in California and a middle-aged African American, made a most telling comment (although I think he attempted to sugar coat it).  He said, and I’m paraphrasing, that he personally had not run into any obstacles while progressing in his creative career as an African American man.  He’s worked for predominantly African American ad agencies as well as the “big” ad firms.  But he also advised students to not let themselves be pigeon-holed into making only one type of ad, or ads for one particular group (he was referring to racial groups).

To me, that could be a potential obstacle for minority creatives.  Mr. Fair insinuated that there is a possibility that as a minority art director or copywriter, you could be hired by a "big" ad agency to work only on ads that target whatever racial group that you belong to.  I guess that's not a problem if you're Latino and only want to create ads for Latino consumers.  Then you might take a job working at a Latino-owned ad agency.  Otherwise, such hiring practices could potentially stifle your work as a creative.  What if you want to create a diverse group of ads for many different markets?  That won't be possible if the only campaigns your creative director gives you are things like marketing tortilla chips to the Mexican population in Atlanta.  I know that is an extreme example, but my point is that it is problematic to approach diversity in the industry in that way.  

I wish this obstacle that Mr. Fair briefly mentioned had been discussed more in the webinar.  I would have liked to know what he did to overcome it, since for him to mention it means he has some experience with that kind of limited job assignments.  But he didn't elaborate, and no other webinar participant touched the issue, so I was left with more questions than answers.  It was an interesting topic to bring up, though, and I think the webinar would've been stronger and more helpful to attendees if the panelists had discussed similar issues and had not recited the same old "polish your book" and "don't give up" rhetoric that most of us already know. 

Introducing: A New Kind of Advertising

Hello, and welcome to my blog on Advertising for All.  My personal and professional interest in the representation (and misrepresentation) of minorities and women in media sparked the idea for this blog.  The need to diversify the ad industry has become a hot topic in the past couple of years among ad professionals, and it is my intention to highlight ways in which this undertaking is occurring, as well as encourage discussion on places where more improvement is necessary.  It is my belief that the ad industry should accurately and effectively reflect the consumer market that it serves, both in the kinds of ad professionals that are hired and in the types of ads that are produced. 

In February, a good friend of mine, who works at an advertising portfolio school in Atlanta, forwarded me an email with a link to an article in the New York Times.  I was startled and amazed by the subject of this article: Hip Hop recording artist and business mogul, Jay-Z, had just opened a multicultural ad agency in New York City.  The name of the agency is Translation Advertising, and Jay-Z (real name Shawn Carter) will be part owner and co-chairman with another African American entrepreneur, Steve Stoute.

I was amazed by this news because my first thought was, “This man can do it all!”  For those who might not know, Jay-Z is somewhat of a Renaissance man of the Hip Hop generation: he is a rapper, part owner of a basketball team, and the former president of a record label, and owns his own clothing line, not to mention his other projects, marketability, and superstardom.  Now he’s set his sights on the advertising industry.  I think he has all bases of the entertainment industry covered.

But after the “wow factor” wore off, I began to contemplate what this might mean for advertising and diversity.  Mr. Stoute and Jay-Z’s main reason for creating Translation Advertising is to market to the minority consumer group that is underrepresented but accounts for approximately $2 trillion in buying power in the U.S.  Creating ads that understand and relate to the culture is their top priority.

I can see this agency creating jobs and a place for minority ‘creatives’ (the ones who actually create the ads) in the industry.  Additionally, I can see Translation Advertising leading the way for change in the industry over time; a change in how to market to this minority consumer group without the current air of taboo or misunderstanding. 

I’m excited about it.  Mr. Carter should expect to see my resume and portfolio on his desk in 2009.