Wieden+Kennedy has something to say about the rampant violence in our society, and they’re saying it with a homepage takeover on WK.com.
I like it when a company takes a strong stand about things that matter in the world. Things beyond the bottom line. Therefore, I see this as a good thing.
Thankfully, timid is not something that’s part of W+K’s DNA. In addition to the statement above, the agency is clearly saying don’t bring your racist shit anywhere near us.
How might this make the execs at Nike and other clients feel about their agency’s fire in the belly? Some may love it while others may not. I’m not sure that matters to the decision makers at W+K. If the agency’s critics see it as bravado or worse, political correctness, so what? Is it going to hurt their bottom line? Not nearly as much as the constant threat of gun violence.
Creative companies are filled with passionate people who get fired up when presented with real life problems. That’s who W+K is, and it’s who we are as an industry. We’re people with informed opinions, and the ability to act on them.
UPDATE: A strong counter-opinion hit these Intertubes recently, and I feel the need to point you to it, given my support above. Brandon Burns ripped the pious white liberals in Portland’s Pearl District a new one.
As a black man with more than a decade of experience in the ad industry—most recently at Wieden+Kennedy— I have seen small men hide behind big words. I have seen them discriminate, whether it was intentional or not, and then use the agency’s prior good deeds as a shield against any blame for the current offense.
