M&C Saatchi UK Boss: “I’m Bored Of Diversity Being Prioritised Over Talent”

M&C Saatchi UK Boss: “I’m Bored Of Diversity Being Prioritised Over Talent”
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



M&C Saatchi’s UK chief creative officer, Justin Tindall (main picture), has prodded the proverbial industry hornet’s nest declaring he is “bored of diversity being prioritised over talent” within adland.

Tindall’s comments come from a provocative opinion piece he penned for the UK industry title Campaign. You can read the controversial column in full here.

“I’m bored. Bored of how toothless, gutless and increasingly anodyne our industry has become. Bored of diversity being prioritised over talent,” Tindall wrote before adding he was really bored: “I’m bored of virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, user-generated content, bots, driverless cars and speech-recognition technology.”

Screen shot 2017-10-20 at 7.16.23 AM

However, the powers that be at M&C Saatchi have quickly distanced themselves from Tindall’s comments, saying the agency is committed to diversity.

And, as you’d expect, few people are jumping on board Tindall’s new movement.

Senior CMOs in the UK have slammed the comments. “Justin is seriously out of touch. This is embarrassing,” wrote Ford UK’s brand chief Musa Tariq to social media. The fabled Cindy Gallop reposted the column but changed “bored” to “scared” and added, “Probably reflects what many already think but haven’t actually written or verbalised it.”

While a woman who claimed she once worked for Tindall, Emma Brooke, wote: “This generic old-school ad man opinion is why so many women like me leave advertising. It’s too tiring to work with such inflated egos.”

However, Tindall did find a supporter in former OutSmart CMO, Alan Brydon, who posted: “Shouldn’t talent be the prime determinant of recruitment and career development?”




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    1. I agree 100%. Talent & creativity over-rides diversity everyday. Advertising has struggled to hold its relevance for more than 30 years because ads have become boring, sterile and very forgetable. Look at some of the really creative stuff that was produced in the 1930’s, particularly on radio and you will see why some products became household names because the ads were creative and memorable. Diversity is only a poor excuse for the lack of creativity by people with no talent.

Justin Tindall M&C Saatchi

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