29 Mar Advertisers must be punished for spending only 2% at black agencies

It is the aspect of redistribution, reconfiguration and reallocation of work, budget and spend on suppliers and service providers in the industry that has evidenced serious inertia. The South African Human Rights Commission inquiry into racism in the South African advertising industry exposed at least three fundamental challenges to transformation in the industry — responsible creativity, representation and redistribution. The five-day inquiry, held from 14 to 18 March, focused on the production chain in the advertising sector to look at ways to eliminate racism, tribalism, homophobia and sexism, among other forms of discrimination. The first two categories of responsible creativity and racial representation in the industry have received substantial attention over the past two decades, and it would be unfair to claim that there has not been significant progress in both respects. But further reform is still needed. The current pressing problem is not so much racial discrimination in […]