McKenzie and Andrade on Black Culture in Media: A Podcast with E.B. Moss - Part 2

Phil McKenzie pictured top right a cultural anthropologist and expert in influencer marketing and Ainsley Andrade pictured top left an entertainment criticamp160with a background in the arts himself discuss programs like The Neighborhood blackishamp160and Atlanta and cultural authenticity which is written up in Part 1amp160 This topline of the rest of the conversation is on the Super Bowl quotto be in or not to be inquotamp160Black Panther the opportunities for multicultural creators in audio and moreEB Mossamp160 A recent MediaVillage article by Frank Washington of Crossings TV talked about the importance of accurate measurement of diverse media audiences writing that quot if manufacturers retailers content creators and media platforms do not have a multicultural strategy we are committing economic malpracticequotamp160 This is interesting Ainsley apropos your article on ads in the Super Bowlamp160 You wrote quot while I wanted to come away feeling like advertisers 39got it39 so to speak I got a much stronger impression that they were issuedodging Representationwise it was a messamp160 I barely remember a handful of commercials starring people of colorquot amp160Ainsley Andradeamp160 It felt like there was an underlying tone of divisiveness like nobody wanted to touch any of the real topicsamp160 During the National Anthem many players mostly of color had their hands up by their neck instead of putting their hand over their heart like that39s all they have left besides taking a fine or not being able to playamp160 And then nobody was really touching the topic at handamp160 Usually advertisers go out of their way to really push some kind of themeamp160 The one who really did it was Google with The Hundred Billion Words adamp160 Normally there39s more of that especially at a time when everything feels so divisive this time it all felt like everybody was being very laissezfaireMossamp160 What about the lack of diversity in the spots themselves are we seeing any progressPhil McKenzieamp160 I don39t know why people are even spending money on Super Bowl Adsamp160 I don39t know anyone in my world who watched that gameMossamp160 Well it39s the whole scale story rightMcKenzieamp160 I was watching Twitteramp160amp160I didn39t watch the game at all I don39t watch the NFL and a lot of people were ragging about not watchingamp160 I think if you39re an advertiser and you39re in media you have to feel that rightamp160 Like it39s your job to understand that the current is not moving in that wayamp160 If you39re building out your budgets for the next three to five years in terms of a strategy that39s not really where I would say it makes sense to spend your money if you39re saying this audience is importantamp160because the audience is shifting away from that amp160So it39s not so much about whether or not you have to make a political stand on thisamp160 It39s more understanding like the article by Washington amp160that the growth is coming in multicultural spaces and a big chunk of those audiences is shifting away from this spectacle called the Super Bowlamp160 If you39re a media planner or strategist it seems it would behoove you to understand where that audience is and what39s important to them and speak to that rather than dumping an ad in a game that fewer and fewer people are going to engage with and if they are engaging with it they39re engaging with it negativelyMossamp160 Where then to place more inclusive advertisementsMcKenzieamp160 Well that39s a different thing but they kind of go hand in handamp160 Is it just you got the right sprinkle of different colors in the commercial or is the messaging speaking to audiences in a way that they39re going to get itamp160 Those are two really different thingsAndradeamp160 I wouldn39t totally say thatamp160 I could definitely get behind some portion of that sentiment but I feel like seeing people who look like you is super importantamp160 I39m a big gamer and for a long time when you could create your own character it was 90 percent white guys and if it was a character of color it was all the same hair that the white guys hadamp160 Seeing somebody who looks like me in a really slick highend car commercial like a Jaguar or a Benz type like something they39d put Matthew McConaughey in and seeing someone like Idris Elba instead that would draw a little bit more of my attentionMy issue with the ads that happened during the Super Bowl was more that everybody seemed to have babysittersamp160 Like you got Cardi B and Little John but Steve Carell also had to be thereamp160 You had 2 Chainz but he had to be there with Adam Scottamp160 The big news was that Travis Scott was doing the halftime show but he was on stage for two minutes and then he vanishedamp160 I feel like it just all goes back to this stuff with Kaepernick and the NFL has already kind of made some moves that one could very strongly argue makes them seem like they don39t support this particular plight of people of color and then you39re not even representing us in a way that made sense to meamp160 Then you39ve got these ads where when we do get black people they39re like but here39s this white guy so it goes down easieramp160 That39s what it felt like to meMcKenzieamp160 I think audiences are more sophisticated than just representation being a function of what we seeamp160 I think back in a funny way to Atlanta in its first seasonamp160 They did an episode where Paper Boi was being interviewed on a talk showamp160 And then within that show they had a bunch of different commercialsamp160 But every ad was stereotypical a Dodge is going down the street there39s a cool black guy then a woman gets in the car like there are all these different contrived ads that we39ve all seen beforeamp160 I think they were making fun of theamp160idea that if you just sprinkled a little brown on it I39m going to forget that this is cornyMossamp160 Phil you wrote about Black Panther which had a complete crosssection of audiences who loved it across the board amp160McKenzieamp160 Definitely And beyond the fact that it was a historically huge crossover hit like third or fourth grossing movie of alltime type of hit it also highlighted very different opinions as to who39s really the hero in the movieamp160 That39s a serious conversationamp160 It39s a Malcolm Martin Marcus Garveytype of conversation in the black community and I think the fact that they were able to get that nuance and make that a real part of the conflict shows what happens when the creators and the team are empowered to create something that39s going to be if an overused word authenticAndradeamp160 Black Panther39s goal wasn39t to pander it was to tell the story rooted in real black cultureamp160 That39s all I mean by representationamp160 Like don39t just give me a black guy in the group or have a role that was written for a character that would probably have been white and just give that to a black guy but somebody who feels real to meMossamp160 Are there any exciting projects you39re looking forward to Andradeamp160 Personally I39m looking forward to more stuff like Dear White People on Netflixamp160 The movie was dope and the way they transitioned into the show was really dope and I think that kind of goes back to what Phil was saying about authenticityMossamp160 Phil where do you think black culture and media is going in the next five years McKenzieamp160 I39m really excited about audio spacesamp160 When I look at podcasting for example Desus and Mero came out of podcastingamp160 Now they39ve got a Showtime dealamp160 Or 2 Dope Queens with HBO amp160We need to have more and more of these voices it39s just vital throughout media not just in the branded marketing world that we39re talking about but even in journalists39 facesamp160 When you39re not getting people there who can authentically speak to stories the coverage suffersMossamp160 Yes then that birds of a feather mentality kind of obfuscates truth and factsAndradeamp160 There39s always an audience for whatever you39re pushingMossamp160 So it39s authenticity accessibility and obviouslyamp160the need for greater inclusion across all forms and resourcesMcKenzieamp160 And cut checksAndradeamp160 I39ll second thatMcKenzieamp160 And give people a longer leashamp160 You need time to build audiences and get people on board but I feel the issue with the studios is that they don39t see the bottom lineamp160 I guess what they feel is like we39re a niche demographicAndradeamp160 I watch stuff from BBC all the time and it almost shocks me how much nobody cares that some particular character is blackamp160 Like being black doesn39t play into this black lady character as a police officeramp160 She39s just a police officeramp160 Why is it so easy over there amp160McKenzieamp160 It39s the mundanity of the experience in a way you want to just have these things be assumedClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers amp160amp160amp160amp160

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McKenzie and Andrade on Black Culture in Media: A Podcast with E.B. Moss - Part 2

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