Diversity and How It Will Never Always Work

Griffin Shaivitz

gs813919@ohio.edu

    

  

                                                                   Courtesy of GlobeSmart

Diversity is a big buzzword these days. Every movie, advertisement, and company always sings about how diverse they are and how amazing that is. However, you cannot please everyone, and in this hyper-focused media world that we live in, inclusion and diversity cannot be pushed aside; it now has to be the main focus.

According to Global Monitor and Kantar, 65% of consumers say that it is essential that companies they purchase products from actively promote diversity and inclusion in their business and advertisements. However, this shouldn't come as a surprise as seeing yourself represented in an advertisement usually makes people want to buy the product more. In the graph below, there are simpler terms; however, this proves that diversity pandering does work in a broader scope.

                                                            Courtesy of Think With Google

However, let's look more profound than that. In an article written by Adrianna Waterston for Media Post, there is a big problem in trying to pander to everyone, incredibly mixed and black people. She found that advertisements usually had more light-skinned actors than dark, which had a heavy impact in making those people feel entirely ignored. This problem can also affect businesses, as a study done by Marketing Charts found that 34% surveyed would stop buying from a brand because of them not reflecting their identity. On top of that, 53% of black people polled said that they would stop supporting for that reason. That is incredibly important, considering that not everyone in that community feels like they are being represented.

Overall, diversity is a slippery slope when trying to advertise to people. You can never get everyone, and there will always be someone in the crowd that has a darker skin tone, different culture or look at the world differently. However, a targeted advertisement with diversity will always thrive; we will always see the commercials of women with cleaning products and men with watches or cars. Diversity attracts everyone but doesn't get the entire theoretical pie.