A speech by Suzanne Keeler
Some of you may know of the Canadian Advertising Foundation (CAF). For those who don't, a 30-second commercial.
It was established some years ago by advertising industry leaders to act on its behalf as a forum, educator and advocate on behalf of the advertising process. I'm here today not talk about the Foundation's history, or its world renowned work in self-regulation, but of its activities with regard to the use and portrayal of all Canadians in advertising.
And who am I to discuss these matters? I have been with the Foundation for 24 years. As a member of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Task Force on the Portrayal of Women in the Broadcast Media, I took part in crafting the Gender Portrayal Guidelines. I now administer them. I have been participating in conferences, seminars and workshops on the inclusion of all Canadians - women, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, in Canadian advertising for about 15 years.
What have I learned? All issues are not the same and all solutions are not the same.
Let me cast back a moment to the early 80's. It was December 3rd, 1983. A conference was held by the Urban Alliance on Race Relations at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. The purpose of the workshop in question was to discuss strategies for reaching advertisers... letter writing, boycotts. The special guest was Oscar Peterson. The event has gained some of the mythology usually associated with Woodstock... you know, I was there, I was there, I was there.
Well, I'm here to tell you, I was there. Mr. Peterson's comments were eloquent and heart-felt. Mr. Peterson received a standing ovation when he finished speaking and left the room. I was left conducting a workshop with an angry, impatient audience. And that is as it should have been at the time.
Social change doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't ever happen quickly. Permanent social change usually requires commitment, tenacity and real action on several levels - the public, government and industry. It requires attitudinal change at all these levels as well and that doesn't take place overnight either. I would like to talk to you today about how I believe that, first of all, social change is already happening in advertising and secondly, how it is being furthered by the industry and lastly, that I believe the development of guidelines for the media may not be the way to go.
The first thing we need to remember here is: advertising is a business. Advertising is created to sell products, change ideas, gain new customers. Advertisers will use the approach that works with the majority of their target audience. Advertising is indeed a reflection of our society. The argument that an advertiser is marketing a secondary message - the environment, the people, the relationships - within their primary message continues to rage.
Their primary intent is not to sell you a way of life, but to sell you a breakfast cereal, a chocolate bar, a car, or a lottery ticket. And they need to do it - quickly - on TV, in 30 seconds. And thus we get stereotypes. They abound in advertising.
But if they, the advertisers, can be convinced they are alienating potential customers through their use, or lack of use, of any particular group in Canadian society, they'll change - and quickly. So we at the Canadian Advertising Foundation set out to prove to advertisers that using a diversity of Canadians in their advertising would positively affect their bottom line. The Race Relations Council on Advertising (RRCA) was set up in 1990 with a mandate to encourage proactive cooperation and contribution by the advertising community in ensuring that, throughout the country, Canadians of diverse racial and multicultural backgrounds are appropriately represented within advertising messages and amongst the community itself.
Council members recognized two points early in their deliberations. That their primary goal should be the integration of visible minorities into mainstream advertising. Members agreed that, should a marketer decide to develop messages in Cantonese, for example, they should certainly have the freedom to do so. However, the Council felt, and still feels, that they could be most effective with advertisers and the general public by encouraging inclusion in mainstream advertising. And that if advertisers were to be convinced of the validity of Point #1, it would be necessary to provide them with hard, valid facts - money talks.
The first Council project was a demographic projections study entitled Visible Minorities in Canada: A Projection. This study used 1986 census data as a base and developed projections to the year 2001.
One thing lacking in all the conferences, seminars and workshops over the years has been solid population figures for all of the groups living in Canada When you're talking to a business person, you have to talk business. Dollars and cents, facts and figures. We asked Dr. John T. Samuel to develop projections of all races living in Canada now, and expected to be in the year 2001, and we got them, with such information as:
- Chinese Canadians will likely be the largest group, with 1.29 million, followed by South Asians, and Blacks, who would account for more than 1 million each.
- The Toronto census metropolitan area is expected to be 45% visible minorities by 2001, with smaller figures in other cities, such as 20% in Montreal, 39% in Vancouver, and 14% in Halifax.
- By 2001, Canada as a whole is expected to have a diversity of colors, with 17.7% of the population defined as visible minorities (For the purposes of this study, visible minorities are defined as non-white, non Caucasian and non-Aboriginal).
We knew the results of Dr. Samuel's work were valuable; we also knew there still would not be enough to help advertisers move faster on embracing diversity in advertising. We knew we needed further research to dispel some myths about the issue and we particularly felt, but had no proof, that consumers across the country, not just in the large centres, would respond positively to the concept of diversity in mainstream advertising.
With full support and funding from Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada (now Canadian Heritage), Goldfarb Consultants was commissioned to do research on corporate and public attitudes. There were three stages to the research.
First, the Chief Executive Officers Survey. A total of six hundred (600) questionnaires were mailed out to the CEO's of Canada's biggest companies and advertisers. The list of 600 companies included in the mail-out survey were selected from Financial Post and Globe and Mail listings of Canada's biggest companies, and a list of Canada's top advertisers compiled by the CAF. One hundred and twenty five (125) companies responded to the survey. This is a respectable response rate for a mail-out survey, particularly given the sensitive nature of the subject matter investigated in the questionnaire.
Second, the National Consumer Survey. The survey was designed to include a random sample of 2,000 Canadians, 18 years of age or over. All interviewing was conducted by telephone. Sampling was carried out in two stages. A random probability sample of 1,600 Canadians was initially drawn. This was then supplemented with a separately-drawn, random sample of 400 visible minorities. This provided a large enough sample of visible minorities to allow us to break out and compare their responses independently to the population as a whole.
Third, focus group interviewing. Three (3) groups were conducted in Toronto - one group with Blacks, one with Chinese and one with Indo-Pakistanis. One group was conducted in Montreal with French-speaking Blacks. I would like to read you some of the most important conclusions from the research.
Public opinion is out in front of executive thinking on this issue. The large majority of Canadians expect and want to see visible minorities included in advertising. There is a need for senior executive thinking to get somewhat more in step with public opinion on this issue, and, it is marketplace realities and opportunities, not social pressures, that show the most potential to encourage management to include more visible minorities in their advertising.
Once the research was completed, we set to work on the video Color of Your Money. The video was produced with the assistance of Canadian Heritage in both English and French. It gathers all the facts and figures revealed in the research in an entertaining, informative format. It was produced earlier this year and is targeted to advertisers and their advertising agencies.
Showings have been held in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg and Halifax to members of the advertising industry. In June of this year, the video will be featured at a Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations Conference to be held in Montreal. That will be the first major French-language showing and we expect there will be many requests for private sessions after it has been screened.
Our approach in Toronto has been a little different. We recognize the majority of the advertising industry - both advertisers and agencies - are located in this city. We also know they are tremendously busy people. So, to date, we have been doing some private showings to major advertiser companies and have also made a presentation to the Marketing Council of the Grocery Product Manufacturers of Canada. We have prepared an especially eye-catching advertisement, directed at the industry, which will be running in Marketing Magazine and Strategy, two trade publications, over the next little while. We are expecting a tremendous response.
The time is right, the time is now. When we put together the video, we had no trouble finding samples of ads including positive role models, nor did we have a problem getting advertisers and marketers to speak on-screen. That would not have been true even five years ago.
The tide has begun to turn in the advertising business. Advertising industry practitioners recognized the diversity in this country and are knowledgeable about the impact of potential buying power. The mix of individuals working both behind the scenes and up front helps guarantee we won't see simple lip service paid to this issue any longer.
I would suggest there are several positive things that can and should be done with regard to advertising and some of them translate to other parts of the media world:
Make the effort to congratulate an advertiser who creates a positive message. Too often, we only hear from those who are complaining.
Get a copy of the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards - and use it. I'd like to read you Clause 15 of the Code which deals with taste and public decency:
"It is recognized that standards of taste are subjective and vary widely from person to person and community to community, and are, indeed, subject to constant change. Advertising must not present demeaning or derogatory portrayals of individuals or groups; must not exploit violence, sexuality, children, the customs, convictions or characteristics of religious or ethno-cultural groups, persons with disabilities or any other person, group or institution in a manner which is offensive to generally prevailing standards."
If an advertiser makes use of anyone in a demeaning or derogatory manner, we want to hear about it. Take to task any advertiser you feel isn't making enough use of the diversity of Canada's population. But do some homework first. Who/what is the advertiser's target group? Do they perhaps have other ads you haven't seen which do respond to diversity issues?
We need to remember there are constraints on some advertisers. Some companies are owned by U.S. head offices and have to use material produced there. They have no choice. The population mix in the U.S. is different and it shows in their advertising. Some companies have a very small budget for advertising, and can only produce one or two ads a year, which then may be used for several years. And, I agree, some companies still don't get it. That's where we need to work together to educate and promote change.
Encourage young people in your community to train to work in journalism, the broadcasting industry, in advertising, in any area of the ever-expanding media world. We, as a country, must have the best and brightest working in the media to allow the rest of us to understand the world around us. And the best and brightest of all races means we'll all get to look beyond our own fences.
Lastly, talk to members of the media with which you're concerned. I know the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Canadian Daily Newspaper Association both have committees prepared to address the issues being discussed today. I urge you to send them copies of your deliberations. I urge you to meet with them face to face.
Throughout history, the cycle of change has always been too slow for some. Let's be sure though, that as we try to affect the change, we applaud the change that has happened, and we stop, and take a look a those beside us. They're on a different track, but they're going in the same direction. Thank you.
Source: Presented at
Racism in the Media, a conference sponsored by the Toronto Community Reference Group on Ethno-Racial and Aboriginal Access to Metropolitan Services, October 1995. Reprinted with permission.
