• by Steve McClellan , May 25, 2012

AMC and multicultural shop Muse Communications are about to turn up the volume on the discussion about the ad industry’s lack of diversity.

On the Sunday, May 27 show, Muse is the featured shop in AMC’s reality show about the ad industry, "The Pitch." (It is the only multicultural agency highlighted in the series.) During the program, a Muse-created 30-spot will air, essentially calling out the ad industry for paying lip service to diversity without taking any effective steps to expand the number of non-whites entering or advancing in the industry.

At one point, an African-American woman featured in the ad says: “They say it's because they can't find us. But they can find us when they want our money.” The woman, who appears in an all-white office-type environment, concludes: ““You say you want diversity … that you want to do more, and we say to you: Advertising should not have this much white space.” The ad is also posted on www.museusa.com. 

Jo Muse, chairman and chief creative officer of Muse, stated: “The rate of hiring and retention of people of color has always been dismal in the advertising industry. It’s time the public felt the outrage of these people who, even now, can’t find a job in this business, much less move up to the executive ranks.”

The spot comes just as the diversity issue is heating up again.

In the courts, several discrimination lawsuits have been filed against agencies and holding companies, while a new study of the ad industry unveiled by Tangerine Watson last month revealed the widely held perception that career advancement takes longer for minorities.

As a group, the study concluded, minorities were more likely to feel a need to consistently prove themselves, work harder and overcome more hurdles than their white counterparts.