Why diversity in advertising is still broken and why white people – yes us lot – aren’t doing nearly enough, writes Manifest Melbourne co-founder and managing director Isabel Thomson-Officer.
Recently I found myself at yet another panel discussion about the future of marketing. Good speakers, interesting topics, the usual AI doom-scrolling. But as I looked at the stage, I felt that familiar disappointing feeling wash over me: six leaders, all white (well as far as I could tell), all roughly the same age. Again.
I spoke to others in the audience who shared this frustration. When are we going to see things change?
The problem isn’t isolated to one event. It’s systemic. Remember when Campaign Brief published their creative leaders feature? All 20 of Australia’s “top advertising creatives” were men. The backlash was swift. Top agencies abandoned the publication, and the trade mag issued a grovelling apology for their “thoughtless all-male visualisation”. The list was rightly condemned as “toxic, misogynistic, and exclusionary. That was just a year ago. But what I am struggling to understand – and I say this as a feminist — is why our outrage doesn’t seem to extend to a lack of ethnic representation in our industry?
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Let’s talk facts. In Australia, less than 10 per cent of executives on top corporate boards are from non-white ethnic backgrounds. Albeit that data is several years old, but I can’t imagine the needle has moved much. Meanwhile, Australia’s multicultural population sits at just over 50 per cent. Globally, the advertising and marketing industry’s ethnic diversity is 31 per cent, far below what the world’s population looks like. Just two years ago, diversity in marketing globally actually dropped. Don’t even get me started on the Trump administration’s take on DE&I.
We’re taking two steps backwards for every step forward.
I have a Black son, and I want him to grow up in a world where he feels seen, represented, and able to aspire to any level, not just middle management. If I don’t speak up, what kind of parent am I?
When Diversity Fails, So Does the Work
What happens when you don’t have diverse voices at the table? American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney campaign is a prime example. Criticised for hyper-sexualised imagery that catered entirely to the male gaze, complete with a tone-deaf “genes/jeans” pun that some interpreted as coded white supremacy messaging. Did they have diverse perspectives reviewing that creative? Given the end result, you tell me.
Closer to home, it was only a few months ago that White Glo toothpaste put out ads about making “the white choice today” and responded to critics calling it “playful wordplay”. Mmhmm.
These aren’t just PR hiccups. THIS is what happens when rooms full of similar people make decisions about campaigns meant for everyone.
When we don’t have the right people in the room, we create work that misses the mark, offends, or worse, becomes completely irrelevant to huge swathes of the population.
Performative Diversity Is Not Diversity
Here’s where it gets uncomfortable: we need to stop congratulating ourselves for doing the bare minimum. Posting a black square on Instagram isn’t diversity. Having one person of colour in your leadership team isn’t diversity. Talking about it at industry events whilst maintaining all-white panels isn’t diversity. And for the record, to the CEO on the panel who kept calling people of colour “minorities”, they’re actually the global majority making up 85 per cent of the world’s population.
Real change requires actual effort. And to start with it means checking a fucking box. Yes, I said it, because sometimes that’s exactly what you need to do.
It means actively seeking out speakers, moderators, and leaders from diverse backgrounds and making it an essential requirement, not a nice-to-have. It means reviewing your hiring practices, your promotion pathways, and your agency culture with brutal honesty.
To be fair, at Manifest we aren’t perfect at this by any means either. Our ethnicity pay gap globally recently increased and is not where it should be, but we’re addressing it head-on and prioritising it because we believe in accountability over performance. We’re making an effort and acknowledging the work we need to do to drive change from within.
This Is Where White People Need to Show Up
And yes, I’m looking at my peers, yes you, fellow white leaders in the industry. This isn’t about guilt; it’s about action. You have power. You get invited to panels, asked to speak at events, consulted for quotes, given opportunities. Use that power to elevate others. Turn down that all-white panel and suggest diverse alternatives. Mentor someone who doesn’t look like you. Challenge your mates when they fill a leadership team with carbon copies of themselves.
The ‘boys’ club’ mentality still runs Australian advertising. While not strictly marketing, a pitch night I attended just last week featured five founders who I’m sure you’ve guessed already were all pale and male. Just a few days ago 30 mentors for a leading marketing scholarship program in Australia were thanked for their efforts supporting this year’s cohort. They’re all brilliant, but they’re also all remarkably similar looking.
Industry power lists are often made up of a sea of the same kind of faces. Things will only change when those inside the club open the goddamn door.
Representation Matters More Than Your Comfort
This is far more than optics. It’s about who is seen, who gets opportunities, and who can lead. Brilliance comes in many shapes and forms. If we keep putting forward only white voices, nothing will change.
The Advertising Council Australia’s Create Space Report has highlighted these gaps. The ANA’s diversity reports keep showing us the same disappointing trends. ANA Research shows that whilst 56 per cent of marketing executives are interested in supporting diverse suppliers, only 38 per cent of those suppliers report having received increased investment. We have the data. We have the evidence. What we lack is the will to make it uncomfortable for ourselves in order to create lasting change.
If you think we’re “already doing enough” or you’re throwing your hands up that there are no brilliant people of colour in our industry to turn to, please, enlighten me. I’ll hold your beer.
Because until my son can look at an industry panel, a creative leadership team, or a board room and see people who look like him leading the conversation, we haven’t done enough. Not even close.
Representation matters. Diversity matters. Equity matters. So check a fucking box. It’s the absolute least you can do.
Isabel Thomson-Officer is co-founder and managing director of Manifest Melbourne
