Saturday Morning reveals that P&G, Airbnb and Syracuse University have shown interest in its social mission
After Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and five Dallas police officers were fatally shot in July, four black creatives came together to form an organization called Saturday Morning with the goal of changing the perception that black lives are not as important as others.
Saturday Morning reveals that P&G, Airbnb and Syracuse University have shown interest in its social mission
At an Advertising Week New York event with the nonprofit’s founders on Sept. 29, Twitter’s global group creative director Jayanta Jenkins, BSSP’s executive creative director Keith Cartwright, Amusement Park Universe’s chairman, CEO & CCO Jimmy Smith, and Creative Artist Agency’s creative executive Geoff Edwards revealed that P&G, Airbnb and Syracuse University have all shown interest in the organization’s social efforts. They also said that they have received nearly 800 emails from people interested in their initiative since officially announcing Saturday Morning in August.
During the talk, the group explained the concept of its “Peace Briefs,” which are essentially quarterly statements that reflect a certain issue that Saturday Morning hopes to address through its creative efforts. The first Peace Brief, which is set to officially launch next year, will focus on police, the communities they serve and how violence can be reduced. Future ones will touch on other subjects, like education and jobs.
“Right now, our ambitious minds want to roll out a peace brief every quarter,” said Cartwright. “The peace brief for this quarter for us was a little bit of a no-brainer.”
During the talk, the group told the audience how people, businesses and universities can become involved with Saturday Morning’s coalition. Individuals will have the opportunity to submit their ideas through Saturday Morning’s website, while businesses will be able to help bring those ideas to life through full or partial sponsorship opportunities. Universities that become involved will be delivered Peace Briefs via a school’s chancellor and deans, giving students the opportunity to work on them.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, there’s a way to participate," said Cartwright. "You don’t have to be a creative person. You don’t even have to be in this industry to participate.”
The group also made it clear that Saturday Morning is not going to operate as an ad agency and will not compete with agencies.
"We are a nonprofit organization. We have no dog in the hunt," said Cartwright.
While Saturday Morning’s first Peace Brief addresses the recent spate of police violence against black men, Smith said that the organization “definitely, absolutely” wants to communicate the fact that it also wants to give a voice to “positive police officers” who are not a part of the problem.
“Many of us have relatives that are police officers. There’d be complete chaos without those dudes,” Smith said. “For some reason, even though they’re the majority, it seems like their voices aren’t being heard.”
Sid Lee partner Kwame Taylor-Hayford, who recently joined Saturday Morning and spoke during the event, said that the coalition hopes to generate a lot of earned media to spread its messages.
“We see nontraditional, sort of non-ad-like objects, as the best way to do that,” he said.