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Diversity Study: Super Bowl Ads Less Gender Offensive

Published

10 years ago

April 23, 2015

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, left, and Denver Broncos head coach John Fox laugh as they pose behind the Vince Lombardi Trophy before speaking at a news conference Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer

While Super Bowl XLIX commercials were more sensitive and less gender offensive than in past years, women and people of color remain vastly underrepresented among the creative directors who are producing those ads, according to a diversity study released Wednesday.

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida released its annual report showing the advertising industry’s continuing disparity in hiring practices in terms of race and gender.

The study found that of the 42 Super Bowl ads in 2015 for which data was available, only three — or seven percent — featured exclusively a person of color as the lead creative director. By contrast, 86 percent featured a white creative director and seven percent featured both a white person and person of color.

In terms of gender, 81 percent of the creative directors were male, 13 percent of creative directors featured both a male and a female. Only seven percent were exclusively females.

Richard Lapchick, the primary author of this study and director of TIDES, said that the percentage of people of color and women in creating and producing the Super Bowl ads hasn’t changed much.

“It’s one of those industries where there has not been much movement over the years,” Lapchick said. “The NFL and the Super Bowl audience is very diverse, and it’s just not reflected in the people who are preparing and creating these ads.”

The study also pointed out that of 61 commercials, 19 had African-Americans in a lead role, a significant increase since when the study was first conducted in 2011.

Lapchick believes that the key figures of Madison Avenue advertising agencies should mirror the NFL’s efforts when it comes to the improved hiring practices of people of color and women in recent years.

The adoption of the Rooney Rule, which increases the pool of minority coaching candidates, has helped the NFL has received an overall A grade for its racial hiring practice in each of the last five years. The NFL earned a C- for its gender hiring practices in 2014, for an overall grade of B.

Lapchick said he was pleasantly surprised with the overall content of this year’s Super Bowl commercials compared to recent years.

In previous years, Super Bowl ads routinely used gratuitous sexual content, gender stereotypes and gender roles to sell a company’s product or service. However, he said the use of sex to sell and objectifying women was very limited in 2015.

“As our team watched the Super Bowl and watched the individual ads there was a large degree of surprise at the non-stereotypical ads, but also the positive images that were being portrayed,” Lapchick said.

Lapchick also believes advertising directors were more sensitive about gender violence following the Ray Rice domestic abuse case and, to a lesser degree, the Adrian Peterson child abuse case.

“I think that had a tremendous impact on the ads this year,” Lapchick said. “… I don’t have any doubt that factored into not only the toning down of the ads, but the fact they were actually sensitive, particularly to gender issues.”

Racial and gender data was only available for 42 of the 61 advertisements aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, compared to 58 out of 66 in 2011. Lapchick said this was due to advertisement agencies being unwilling to provide the names of their creative directors for the respective advertisements.

The study finds that 50 of the advertisements were produced by major advertising industries, compared to 48 in 2011. The remaining 11 were produced in-house by corporate marketing departments or through third parties, by contest winners or other non-professionals.

___

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL

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BWOPA Honors Black Leadership and Legacy at 2024 Ella Hill Hutch Awards Dinner

On Dec. 5, BWOPA held its Annual Ella Hill Hutch Awards Ceremony, at the Fairmont Claremont Hotel in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills. At the event, the group comprised of Black women from various professional backgrounds, honored distinguished local and state leaders whose contributions have shaped civic engagement and advanced critical social issues impacting Black communities.

Published

13 hours ago

December 18, 2024

Oakland Post

L-R: BWOPA State Executive Director LaNiece Jones; State Asm. Mia Bonta; BWOPA 2024 Man of The Year/Urban League SFBA CEO Ken Maxey; BWOPA State President Hon. Dezie Woods-Jones; State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas; Rowena Brown, Oakland Councilmember At-Large, Elect; BWOPA State Regional Director Vashone Huff. Courtesy photo.

By Oakland Post Staff

Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) is a statewide non-profit advocacy and membership organization committed to solving problems affecting Black Californians.

On Dec. 5, BWOPA held its Annual Ella Hill Hutch Awards Ceremony, at the Fairmont Claremont Hotel in the Oakland/Berkeley Hills.

At the event, the group comprised of Black women from various professional backgrounds, honored distinguished local and state leaders whose contributions have shaped civic engagement and advanced critical social issues impacting Black communities.

The evening was hosted by Dr. Shawna Charles, founder of The Charles Communications Group (CCG) headquartered in Los Angeles. Charles served as mistress of ceremonies.

With a track record of elevating voices and empowering communities, Charles’ leadership and insight brought a certain dynamism to the celebration.

“Each year, this event not only celebrates the enduring legacy of our beloved BWOPA founding member, Ella Hill Hutch, but also reaffirms and amplifies our unwavering commitment to building and sustaining Black political power across California,” said Dezie Woods-Jones, BWOPA founding member and State president.

“Ella Hill Hutch’s trailblazing leadership continues to inspire us as we forge ahead, empowering Black women to lead, advocate, and shape a more equitable future for all,” added Woods-Jones.

This year’s event introduced the DWJ Rising Star Award, honoring young leaders like Solano County Board Supervisors-elect Cassandra James, Danielle Motley-Lewis, Naomi Waters and newly elected State Assemblymember elect Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton).

According to organizers, the awardees all exemplify “the next generation of changemakers.”

Other awardees included:

Lifetime Achievement Awardees: Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12) and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson
Man of the Year: Kenneth Maxey, CEO of the Greater SF Bay Area Urban League
President’s Corporate Award: Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente
In the Spirit of Ella State and Chapter Awards: Dr. Carolyn Greene, Dr. Marcella K. Smith, Dr. Carolyn Drake, Tinisch Hollins, Jackie Jones, Gloria Burgess Johnson, Tamika L’Ecluse, Ellen Nash, Betty Reid Soskin, and Ay’Anna Moody.

BWOPA also celebrated local champions across its chapters, including leaders in voter education, healthcare, criminal justice reform, and community advocacy.

In a statement, BWOPA said, “Honoring Ella Hill Hutch’s legacy, BWOPA recognizes her pioneering efforts as the first Black woman elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Her tireless work amplifying underrepresented voices continues to inspire BWOPA’s mission to build Black political power across California.”

“We extend our heartfelt thanks to our members, partners and allies who believe in BWOPA’s vision to invest in building power for Black women’s leadership,” said LaNiece Jones, BWOPA State executive director. “Your support ensures that Black women have a voice at decision-making tables locally, regionally, statewide, and nationally, advancing diversity and equity in leadership spaces.”

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Oakland Post: Week of December 11 – 17, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 11 – 17, 2024

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5 days ago

December 13, 2024

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Post News Group to Host Second Town Hall on Racism, Hate Crimes

The mission of CRD is to protect the people of California from unlawful discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations (businesses) and from hate violence and human trafficking in accordance with the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Unruh Civil Rights Act, Disabled Persons Act, and Ralph Civil Rights Act. The employment anti-discrimination provisions of the FEHA apply to public and private employers, labor organizations and employment agencies. “Housing providers” includes public and private owners, real estate agents and brokers, banks, mortgage companies, and financial institutions.

Published

1 week ago

December 10, 2024

Oakland Post

By Oakland Post Staff

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, from 5-6:30 p.m. PT, Post News Group Global Features Journalist Carla Thomas will host a second Virtual Town Hall on Racism.

Guests will include community builders Trevor Parham of Oakstop and Shawn Granberry of Hip Hop TV.

“There’s been an uptick of blatant racist acts going on in the community and it’s important for communities to have a forum, an outlet, and to be educated on the California Vs. Hate initiative that has resources available for victims and witnesses,” said Thomas. People like Trevor Parham and Shawn Granberry have found a multitude of ways to strengthen, heal, and protect the community through their entrepreneurial networks, special events, and mentoring.”

While community leaders step up, the state has added extra support with the CA vs. Hate, initiative, a non-emergency hate incident and hate crime reporting system to support individuals and communities targeted for hate.

“We are committed to making California a safer and inclusive place for all,” said James Williams, Jr. of the California Civil Rights Department.

In partnership with organizations across the state, the network is designed to support and protect diverse and underserved communities.

“Through CA vs. Hate, we support individuals and communities targeted for hate, identify options for next steps after an act of hate, and connect people with culturally competent resources and care coordination services,” said Williams.

“It’s important to report these incidents in order for us to use the data to enhance prevention and response services,” said Williams.

Funded by the California State Legislature, the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) received funding and authorization from the State Legislature to establish the non-emergency, CA vs. Hate Resource Line and Network to support individuals and communities targeted for hate.

CRD began in 1959 with the creation of the Fair Employment Practices Commission to implement California’s first state-wide protections against discrimination in the workplace. In 1980, the 1959 Fair Employment Practices Act, and the 1963 Rumford Fair Housing Act were combined and rebranded FEHA. The Fair Employment Practices Commission became a department-level agency named the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to enforce that law.

In July 2022, DFEH’s name changed to CRD to more accurately reflect the Department’s powers and duties, which include enforcement of laws prohibiting hate violence, human trafficking, discrimination in business establishments, and discrimination in government-funded programs and activities, among others.

For more information visit the PostNewsGroup.com and CAvsHATE.ORG.