This document discusses the issue of cultural appropriation versus cultural exchange in advertising. It defines cultural appropriation as when brands borrow elements from minority cultures for commercial purposes without understanding or respecting their origins and meanings. Examples given include brands using things like cornrows or terms like "fleek" without consideration for the cultures they come from. The document advocates for cultural exchange instead, where brands work with and add value to minority communities through genuine partnerships and ongoing support rather than just temporary or opportunistic promotions. It provides questions for brands to ask themselves to ensure they are engaging in cultural exchange and not appropriation.

1. Culture: Exchange vs.
appropriation

2. Outline
I. What is cultural appropriation?
A. Explanation
B. Examples
II. How can we include culture in advertising without being
appropriative?
A. Explanation (exchange)
B. Examples

3. What is cultural appropriation?

4. It stems from a disparate power dynamic
When brands “drop in and out” of a different culture when they
want to.
“The powerful appropriate the powerless.”
- Leila Fataar, founder, Platform13

5. “Yeah I got cornrows for spring break,
aren’t they fun???”

6. “[Oriental/urban] chic”

7. “Brand blackface”
- Simone Pratt, Saatchi + Saatchi Wellness

9. “There are a lot of agencies that create
work for provocation sake or appropriate
from our culture.”
- Simone Pratt, Saatchi + Saatchi Wellness

10. “...borrowing from our culture not
for celebratory purposes but for a
laugh. Like all the brands who used
‘fleek’ and it did not match their
brand DNA”
- Simone Pratt, Saatchi + Saatchi Wellness

13. ...“brand blackface” dropped

14. The road to hell is paved with “good intentions”
“Pepsi was trying to project a global
message of unity, peace and
understanding.” - Pepsi

15. “A lot of brands would like to be the
Patagonia of X.’”
- Nick Childs, COO of Society

16. “Patagonia fundamentally began as
a company interested in doing
mission-based work. If you don’t do
that, you shouldn’t pretend that you
do.”
- Nick Childs, COO of Society

17. How to include culture without
being appropriative

18. Speak through and with
“Don’t only speak to your community, speak through and with them...If
there is an exchange or a way of having a conversation with the culture
that you’re trying to be a part of… it feels like a different thing”
- Leila Fataar, founder of Platform13

19. Add value
“They also need to see what they can do to add value to that
community instead of just talking to them for a PR story. That’s when
brands do well and, to me, that’s what creates cultural relevance.”
- Leila Fataar, founder of Platform13

20. What is value?
Value is..
● A genuine platform for cultural
expression
● Significant and consistent
economic/political support for
a community
Value is not…
● Expression that isn’t in
conversation with a
community
● Token or temporary
economic/political support

29. Alma Agency: Culture freed from a box

30. Questions to ask ourselves

31. Is a cultural component of this ad
from a community other than the
dominant one in the US?
(white Christian cis American)

32. What are we trying to accomplish
by including (X cultural feature)?

33. Are we being opportunistic?

34. Are we going to stick with this? Or
are we going to “drop out?”

35. Are we offering something of value
to (x community)?

36. Am I in communication with (x
community) in the production
process?

37. Am I giving credit to (x community)
for this feature?

38. An easy way to ask all these: how
would (x community) feel about
this?
(This can be literally asking colleagues/stakeholders in the community.)

39. Discussion

40. Thought starters
Make product responsive
Speak through, not to your audience
Embrace cultural voices
Without values, you stand for nothing
Make sustainability and transparency the norm