Research shows Lidl and Shelter Christmas ads didn’t resonate with Black community
Sainsbury’s, the National Lottery and Tesco also flagged for tokenism, negative stereotyping and inauthentic representation
Alison Hammond played a medieval countess in Sainsbury’s Christmas ad / Sainsbury's
New research from the Diversity Standards Collective has shown that many of this year’s Christmas ad campaigns have not resonated with members of the Black community at all. Using its Community Certification ad testing tool, the organization found that only five out of 12 ads scored more than 75% and passed, while the other seven were not seen to be representative or authentic.
Brands that missed the mark were Lidl, which was highlighted specifically for “multicultural casting for the sake of representation,” Shelter for “playing into the stereotype of Black people being poor or having less than others” and Sainsbury’s festive spot with Alison Hammond that felt like “tokenism”, with one participant in the study saying that “making a royal person Black in the UK is the furthest from reality ever”.
Advertisement
On the other end of the spectrum, retailer JD Sports was praised for its accurate representation, with one comment reading: “Yes! This is exactly something me and my cousins do when we get together during the holidays. Arcade games together. Board games, fun competition.”
While many agencies and clients do cast Black and mixed-raced people in ad campaigns, there is not nearly enough thought put into the lived experiences of people within those communities, which can then be construed as tokenistic.
Rich Miles, founder and chief executive officer at the Diversity Standards Collective, said: “The advertising industry’s race to become the best Christmas ad is now a cultural event, but this research shows that many of these ads are only representative of, and authentic for, one culture and that’s not the same one as the characters they’ve cast. With this research and this tool, we want to not only puncture the self-congratulatory nature of this whole contest but also help the industry start thinking differently about the ads it’s putting out and make sure they just ask the communities in question first. To enable them to think more and do better. To remember that there are vital audiences who think very differently about our work and don’t just want to see a token Black, brown or queer face on their screens.”
He concluded: “Next year, pause and think about how the work you are making is viewed through the lens of other communities. And you can do this by directly asking those communities. This research wasn’t carried out to expose brands and agencies, merely to shine a light on how people truly feel about representation and where, as an industry, we are.”