For an anti-racist rhetoric: the inclusion of black men and women by advertising agencies

Abstract

With the popularization of digital media, criticisms against the exclusionary and stereotyped ways of being promoted by different advertisements became more frequent, affecting the institutional image of corporations. In this context, in addition to competition for advertising amounts that are currently shared with other strategic players for the promotion of brands, the public's lack of identification with the adverts has affected the credibility of agencies. In a scenario in which corporate social responsibility actions are fundamental for business, some of biggest Brazilian ad agencies have implemented initiatives to include black men and women in their staffs to add new world visions to the production of advertisements and, thus, adapting to the current market demands by advertisers. In this article, we analyze the socioeconomic context in which such inclusion initiatives take place, in which social agendas, such as anti-racism, have been shown to be important for the construction of public opinion's goodwill towards brands.