The sad reality of corporate America today is the moral relativism, globalist agenda called DEI "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion." "Each of these words means the opposite of what we think. At best, diversity has come to mean an identity-based approach to society and racial quotas which are literally illegal. Inclusion is a call for language codes. Equity, perhaps the worst distortion of the three, has come to mean that the government must treat people differently because of their race, country of origin, or other immutable characteristics.
The basic idea of DEI is that all disparities equal discrimination and must be rectified by government interventionism.
The goal is to guarantee an equality of outcomes not the equality of opportunity, which used to be the Marxist goal, not the American one." (4) Diversion, Exclusion & Influence is more accurate. The reason this woke mind virus was allowed to creap into society and corporate culture was for financial incentives. Company's were paid to hire along Wall Street's ESG / DEI agenda's to positively impact their asset funds. This is something I have discussed previously: "Woke is a political agenda, not a product marketing strategy."
The US Government is also investigating this exact matter. On June 13, 2024 Semafor wrote: "A House Judiciary Committee report accused blue-state pension funds, climate nonprofits, global alliances, activist investors, and giant money managers including BlackRock and Vanguard, of forming an illegal cartel to force companies to cut their carbon emissions, set diversity quotas, and curb their political contributions." (8) It's called Corporate Governance and it is illegal. Fortunately most of corporate America has turned its back and shut down these openly racist agenda's. Zoom laid off its DEI staff in February. (12) Google and Meta made DEI cuts last year. Microsoft went so far as to drop the E-for-equity in DEI in a statement to Business Insider. (13)
Anti-woke crusader Robby Starbuck has been on a mission to shift the corporate landscape in America from insanity and rainbows to what he considers "sanity and neutrality." He has successfully pressured companies such as Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe's, Ford, Coors, Stanley Black & Decker, Jack Daniel's, DeWalt Tools, Craftsman, Caterpillar, Boeing, and Toyota to move away from toxic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices. "Now, Starbuck is at it again," he wrote on X that America's largest employer, Walmart, has decided to end its woke policies after he "had productive conversations to find solutions" with management. (16) Overall 2024 seems to have made huge progress in ending corporate DEI/Woke political agenda's. At least a dozen major U.S. companies and hundreds of universities rolled back these commitments. (18 - 21)
Sadly there are still woke CMO's like Sydney Sloan who prioritize DEI. At the end of "Mastering Partner Marketing: What NOT to Do and How to Excel with Drata CMO Sydney Sloan" a clearly Left leaning interviewer, Jason Lemkin CEO of SAAStr, asks about their passion for implementing DEI. Ironically they sound self-serving calling for less "bro" culture, AKA less heterosexual males? Notice how neither speak of hiring the best talent, skill-sets or experienced candidates to bring more value to the company? Their motivations seem manipulative and disingenuous. Hiring candidates soley on the basis of their skin color is racist and hiring candidates solely based on the gender, unless there is a strong case for "Bona Fide Occupational Qualification" (5) is bias based bigotry. Disney is so blatant The Babylon Bee is paroding them. (10)
'Employment discrimination' is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (6) Even universities Affirmitive Action agenda's were struck down by SCOTUS. (1) Fortunately the VC DEI/ESG money is drying up and these racist and sexist practices are with it, as tech companies regain their focus on innovation, growth and efficience.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs meant to tackle discrimination might instead actually foment hostility and racial tensions. Research by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) and Rutgers University’s Social Perception Lab found that certain DEI practices pushed on participants led some of them to become irrationally confrontational and antagonistic. (15)
Yet today unrealistic or fairytale casting is still prevelent in the advertising industry. Blending diversity in advertising is no longer inclusive it is a political agenda intended to promote the war on women and dilute certain biological realities to blend society in order to make them more controlable under one government and replace populations due to low birth rates. All native born citizens should be wary of these agendas. It is not a way for qualified, competent, adept biological women to breakthrough the glass ceiling. It is modern Marxism. (11)
As creative's we must stop agreeing to destroy society under this false narrative and promote targeting of audiences under the placement of media to help further sales and the success of our clients products and brands. The most useful demographic characteristics for marketing strategies are age, gender, income, family status, religion/race/nationality, and education. Casting against the statistical realities of targeted media placement and growth is unethical and a detriment to one's business. In the article "Let’s talk about forced diversity in TV commercials" (14) starts off with the premise: "If you only watched TV, you might think that white people (including fumbling, bumbling white males) are a minority in the United States. Depending on the commercial break, you might even guess that the population is nearly 70 percent black and 30 percent “other.”" White's alone make up 61.6% of the U.S. populstion. Casting for the sake of diversity and inclusion is immoral, unethical and dishonest. It is a flase pretense to sell such approaches to clients as it can not represent their potential target base. Perhaps Didn't Earn It is a better analysis of the phrase. The best way to stop discrimination is to stop discriminating.
If you're a company looking to target a new audience or create an integrated marketing campaign, contact Kevin Amter. His nationally awarded campaign for the New York Times and dozens of other Fortune 500 brands will strategically move your company in a winning direction.
SOURCE LINKS:
(1) Supreme Court Ruling on Race in Admission(2) Gender and racial diversity in commercial brands' advertising
(3) The absurdity and dangers of the woke agenda: enough is enough
(4) DEI Hasn’t Just Infected the Left
(5) Can an Employer Specify a Preferred Gender When Hiring
(6) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
(7) DEI under siege: Why more businesses are being accused of ‘reverse discrimination’
(8) This BlackRock left-wing conspiracy theory has more to it than meets the eye
(9) Missouri sues IBM for alleged discrimination against whites, Asians
(10) Disney 'blatantly discriminates against whites'
(11) Modern Marxist Theory
(12) Zoom Cuts DEI-Focused Team as Corporate America Retreats on Diversity Initiatives
(13) Microsoft layoffs DEI leader email 2024
(14) Let’s talk about forced diversity in TV commercials
(15) DEI programs can actually escalate hostility and racial tensions, new study claims
(16) Walmart Nukes DEI As Anti-Woke
(17) Parents' Rights Group Reveals Dept Of Ed Spent $1 Billion On DEI Since 2021
(18) The major companies, universities that ditched the DEI policy this year 2024
(19) Another DEI-mino Falls: McDonald's Latest To Bail On Diversity Goals
(20) Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Nukes DEI Programs in Latest Olive Branch to MAGA
(21) Amazon Quietly Rolls Back DEI Programs After Evaluating 'Effectiveness'
(22) DEI Was The Biggest Con Of The Century