Why advertising needs more voices
[Music]
i’m going to take this opportunity today
to tell you the story of what it
feels like to have bowls
bowls a very personal male story
do you think i can do it and if
there is an owner of an actual set of
balls standing next to me
should they tell the story consider it
companies right now are investing
billions in shaping the way
we see things through stories
in short advertising is shaping
the way we think through their stories
i’m not here today to tell you there is
anything wrong with that
i have been producing ads for many years
and
i actually love how ads can have impact
on the way we see the world and
do good
who is actually telling us these stories
an example a global makeup brand
makes a campaign about the uh
story of a woman’s journey through to
old age
and her relationship with her own image
in short what it feels like to be a
woman
i hear the voice over it goes
all these questions we women ask
ourselves is it my body
am i getting old will somebody love this
face wait
i have never said that and no one i know
has
but i’m thinking it now
will somebody love this face is in my
consciousness
and it’s starting to shape and influence
how i shape my story
it may come as a surprise to you that
this ad
was directed by a man and in the course
of shaping things behind the camera
he went on to make some changes to the
copy
initially written by a woman creative
the result paints a picture of
insecurity
and the solution to this insecurity
is to fall in love with one’s own beauty
no doubt and to be fair the brand’s
directive
but no one behind the camera pushed back
on this
the brand found an ally in a director
whose story
it isn’t her story
his lens the campaign went on to get
much praise so many likes and positive
press
he told us what it’s like growing up as
a woman
yeah the brand got lauded and
for moving the needle and celebrating
woman’s
power by not questioning the messaging
we let them
i’m not here today to single out this
particular brand or
that male director for accepting the job
the concept and system of
her story his lens is so normalized that
it
simply may never even cross the male
director’s mind
to say no
it’s funny right if i’m about to tell
you what it feels like to have
bowls in fact it’s perfectly normal for
a male director to be invited to tell a
woman’s very personal story
to a global audience
what it feels like to have balls it
lands in your inbox
you are a dude you reply i
got this a large part of the industry
doesn’t see a problem they’re too
invested
it truly is a collective blind spot
now this isn’t the isolated story of
man versus woman nor am i saying
that a woman should never tell a man’s
story
or vice versa it’s more than that
let’s look a bit deeper
if you are talking to black people
about their experience in racism
you’d hire a black director no a dating
app didn’t think so
they hired an entire white crew to
talk to people of color about their
experience with racism
you’re making a campaign wanting to
empower
middle eastern hijab-wearing muslim
women
and their amazing feats and successes in
professional
sports you hire a middle eastern muslim
women director to talk to them
to give the lens through which to view
this story no
a huge global sports brand didn’t think
so
why not hire a muslim director just do
it
and it’s not like there isn’t any you
know
directors available or great talent
around
great stories are being made everywhere
there really is no need to keep the
collective experience
and their lifting experience out
of stories that brands tell
and you know what it’s not just these
really deeply personal stories that
brands tell us these days
although you gotta admit that we should
at least get these
it is in fact more so about whether
diverse groups are getting the
opportunity to tell the
other stories that brands tell as well
the ones that shape our society
this is not the case at all men
directed 94 of the awarded 266
awards at the british arrows advertising
awards
1996 story
of the super bowl ads in america in 2020
of all of them
were directed by men of the best work
of 2020 per the apa in the uk
none were directed by people of color
85 percent by men it’s just
that simple no matter what anyone says
diversity behind the lens is lacking
with our collective demands for
diversity in front of the camera
the optic at least are getting great
so because
for the public it’s been so invisible
what happens behind the camera the
demand has simply
not been there okay
so why do we care besides our you know
collective and general desire for
diversity having met its tipping point
this year
it’s more than that it’s
actually the way we see messages
and receive them up to
000 times a day ads tell each and every
one of us
what is good what is acceptable what is
not
it is the way we meet the concepts and
the objects
in our world and who is giving us the
lens through which to view them
take cars historically right
they have been let’s say directed by 99
by white men right so
you see speed tight curves
really handsome man behind the wheel no
problem there
but given all this it might give you a
certain
i don’t know what cars are all about who
they belong to
who they appeal to now
rewind see all of them with women
drivers
directed by women i guarantee you
her lens will see the car different
don’t stop there imagine we had more
diverse
opinions about what cars are all about
about who
is and who isn’t a good and capable
driver
about i don’t know who can legally drive
just because we demanded
diversity of who shapes the story of
cars
pretty cool right
get this a woman
pioneered the automobile
her name was bertha benz
that german car giant made a story and a
commercial about her life
she believed in herself
they made it with a man i mean
seriously who is questioning advertising
and what is the solution to all of this
there is a system and a process that
maintains the status quo that
urgently needs to change
it is nearly impossible to get the
client’s trust
if you do not have a body of acclaimed
work on your reel
what this means is if you haven’t gotten
big advertising jobs before like women
and people of color you will not get
them
in the future you simply won’t it’s that
simple and that’s the system
big budget directors are shaping the way
we think they have
awards the patterns the formulas in
which to keep us
thinking the way we do clients think
there is a trade-off between diversity
and
excellence despite
a myriad of great efforts the industry
lags
there are millions of stories being told
every day
and we can create a broader
understanding of what storytelling could
be
we must make space for new narratives
as an audience we do not want to be
brainwashed
we want advertising that we can feel
good about that is trustworthy
authentic and entertaining
demand that you see the credits
demand transparency of the process be
conscious of what you are seeing and
what is influencing you
appreciate brands that do good there
are many great progresses to be made
and actually the optics are helping a
lot
but the industry the advertising
industry is tiptoeing
in private around these systemic
issues make them public
i no longer feel vulnerable to call
these out
awards underrepresented creators with
all types of stories including those
that matter
their stories will change global
consciousness
you have to trust they got
this