{"id":307,"date":"2019-11-18T10:31:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T16:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/?p=307"},"modified":"2019-11-18T10:31:08","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T16:31:08","slug":"three-socially-aware-ads-that-did-their-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/three-socially-aware-ads-that-did-their-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Three socially aware ads that did their best"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Any excuse to include a picture of Danai Gurira. (Credit Nike)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

(Full disclosure: Yes, I\u2019m a ball-busting, man-hating, bra-burning, hairy-legged feminist. I\u2019m sure you\u2019re shocked.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Clarification, because I know some folks will need it: I\u2019m not actually all of those things. These are the jokes, people.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some brands, social involvement just makes sense. Patagonia is fighting for public lands? Of course they are. Ben and Jerry\u2019s have been a bunch of Vermont hippies from the start. Dove\u2019s personal-care brand flows nicely into a campaign encouraging women to love themselves. It lines up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, though, a brand decides to capitalize on wokeness and whiffs in a truly spectacular way<\/a>. The Pepsi ad suggesting that the solution to racial strife is to share a nice, cold soda? Nope. Starbucks trying to solve racial misunderstanding with coffee cups? Hyundai demonstrating their lack of emissions by showing a man\u2026 I\u2019m not even going to say, because it could be intensely triggering, but seriously, Hyundai? Seriously?<\/em> There are plenty of ways to get it wrong \u2014 not thoroughly understanding the issue you\u2019re jumping into, not listening to diverse voices, or even just not having the brand equity to back up your abrupt wokeitude. Socially aware advertising is a tightrope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some campaigns actually do get there, though \u2014 for all that it caused a lot of\u2026 let\u2019s say impassioned<\/em> conversation<\/em>, Nike\u2019s campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick<\/a> was an overall success, and Always\u2019 #LikeAGirl campaign<\/a> generated tons of engagement, positive sentiment, and heartwarming imagery and messaging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And some campaigns just about <\/em>get there. They meant well, they tried hard, and only one or two little trip-ups kept them from raging success. Here are three campaigns that got pretty darn close, along with minor tweaks that could take them over the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reebok, #BeMoreHuman<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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First launched in 2015 and revived in 2018, Reebok\u2019s #BeMoreHuman campaign<\/a> is a celebration of women who make a difference. Featured are women like WWB founder Reese Scott, Women\u2019s Strength Coalition founder Shannon Kim Wagner, Movemeant Foundation founder and CEO Jenny Gaither, and Camel Assembly founder Yelda Ali, along with a number of female athletes and celebrities. The campaign includes traditional media as well as video interviews letting each woman tell her story. #BeMoreHuman encourages women to be the best version of themselves they can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem came, as it so frequently does, with having to boil complex messaging down to a simple, striking headline. Amid a collection of great executions, Reebok fumbled with an ad featuring actress, activist, and writer Danai Gurira with the copy, \u201cWe have to make our shoulders strong enough for somebody else to stand on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inclusion of Gurira was widely \u2014 and rightly \u2014 praised<\/a>. Between her writing<\/a>, her activism<\/a>, and (of course) her turn as Okoye<\/a>, leader of the Dora Milaje, in the Black Panther<\/em> movies, she is the very personification of strength. And the ad copy conveys a lovely sentiment, encouraging us to make ourselves strong so we can help others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Juxtaposed with this particular photo, though, it has been criticized as a perpetuation of the \u201cstrong black woman\u201d image, wherein black women have, since time immemorial, been expected to carry the weight and shoulder the blame for so many of society\u2019s problems, taking the lead in family, work, politics, and activism whether they want to or not. Said writer Tanya Hayles in an article about the campaign that you really should read<\/a>, \u201cBlack women have not been allowed to be their whole selves; we can\u2019t express a full range of human emotions \u2014 lest we become the \u2018Angry Black Woman.\u2019 There\u2019s no opportunity to relish in our strength. We are constantly asked to build up and help others, usually without reciprocation, recognition or even gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they could have done<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Had someone in the creative department empowered to raise a hand and say, \u201cYou know, maybe we should shuffle some things around so we don\u2019t have an ad specifically inviting people to step on a black woman.\u201d It\u2019s one of many reasons diversity is crucial in our industry \u2014 different perspectives make our work richer and help us pick up on inadvisable messaging we might otherwise miss. Put that same headline on an ad with Jenny Gaither instead of Danai Guirira, and now you have an ad encouraging women to use their strength to help others be strong, not encouraging black women to get good and fit so we can walk on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heineken, Worlds Apart<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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