When we’re talking about the intersection of race, sexuality or immigration, I have skin in the game, we’re not just talking about a handbag or an SUV. There is a personal visceral reaction from me to this stuff, and I can choose to either use the stick or use the carrot. What I’ve had to learn through people that are far more nuanced and diplomatic than me is how to use the carrot because you get a better result.
In a polarized environment, have you found that a more aggressive approach—the stick—just yields more aggression?
It’s kind of a mixture of the two that go hand in hand. You think about the words “lead with love,” “go with care,” “unity,” all of these sorts of things—if I come at you angry, I’m not gonna get the result that I need. And the result that I need is for brands to show up for societal change in appropriate ways for different communities, while still in the business of commerce, which I don’t believe has to be separate.
What does showing up for societal change entail? What is the most basic action a brand or company needs to take if it wants to make that claim?
The way I talk to brands about it is—and I tend to lead with the heart more than the head— if you look at data, [most] of the top 20 cities in America are non-white majority. [Nearly] 50% of Gen Z is non-white. [More than] 60% of the Hispanic community is Mexican-American. You have to look at what the data is telling you society actually is—what the numbers are and understand the intersections of that.
Brands have a place to reflect that in the same way as popular culture. For me, it’s undeniable that featuring LGBTQ+ characters, different people of color, different people of varying abilities and people who are HIV positive in popular entertainment and culture can change hearts and minds. If brands are in the business of creating branded entertainment, which advertising is to a degree, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be in that conversation.
How do brands work toward that change while avoiding or weathering backlash?
I think there is a difference in philosophy: What is politics and what is human rights? Human rights and the idea of equality, equity or the pursuit of happiness. Undeniable things. It comes from your perspective. Do you see these things being debated as human rights or as politics? That is a gray area that we are all having to traverse, and the traversing of that often depends on the consumer, the target consumer, the style of the product, the geography of the product, right, the history and heritage of the product. So you have to take all of these factors into place.
