NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following letter was released by Gravity Media in response to the outpouring of hate after Coca-Cola’s airing of the ‘America the Beautiful’ multicultural ad.
Few things in life shock me. I am a lifelong New Yorker and am use to navigating the opinions of others. Sometimes we are on the same page, sometimes we are not, but we are always ready for a debate. However, when listening to fellow Americans respond with hate and intolerance to Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful” commercial, I am floored. Truly.
Maybe it is because I am a New Yorker living in such a multicultural, urban environment, that I am shielded from the latest hatred spewed from some of my fellow Americans. Maybe because I am a partner in a multicultural advertising agency, which opens up conversations and meetings with, “we have 45 team members that speak over 20 languages,” which is our most cherished asset. Maybe because on a daily basis we work with Fortune 500 companies that understand the value of multicultural consumers and cherish their relationship with this key audience.
Whatever the ‘maybe’ is, it doesn’t matter, because I am wrong. I live in a multicultural bubble.
I don’t want to dissect the details of the backlash. I don’t want to give it any value. What I want to do is address this with action.
It is clear from the loud response that there is a complete sense of fear of multiculturalism by a certain population in America. Fear of the foreigner. Fear of diversity. Fear of losing what is “true America.” However, I also know that fear is a symptom of misunderstanding. It is only by exposing ourselves and putting a face on our fears that we are able to overcome and move toward understanding.
Here is my humble effort to combat the current and existing fear: These individuals are fearful because they have not been exposed and we have the resources to expose them. We have over 20 ethnicities and languages spoken in our offices at Gravity Media – everyone from Russians to Asians, and Hispanics, to Afghans. All of whom work very hard and are great contributors to our American society. As a group we take great offense to the racial and ethnic comments that were made, none of which are worth repeating.
In an effort to combat such lack of understanding of the multicultural nation we live in, we open our doors to you for dialogue and greater understanding.
We will personally invite some of the people who expressed themselves so vehemently along with any public official that found the ad offensive, to visit our office for what we call a “Family Dinner.” A platform during which we will do our best to introduce you to our Multicultural America, made up of individuals that would sing America is beautiful in any language, for that is what they truly feel. America represents all that is beautiful. We will eat, drink, and laugh. We will debate, for certain, but we will come out better for it. It is our way of doing the little we can to expose others to the wonderful resources we have in our office – Our Multicultural Team.
Air and hotel will be paid for by Gravity Media. All you have to do is come with an open mind and a willingness to build relationships.
Let’s try this, it may change us both.
Luba Tolkachyov, Co-Founder Gravity Media
About Gravity Media
Gravity Media (mediagravity.com) is an award-winning, full-service advertising agency. Gravity is a member of Findr Group (FindrGroup.com), a group of marketing and communications agencies focused on building integrated campaigns with international perspectives on marketing, digital, creative, communications and public relations. AdAge listed Gravity as one of the fastest growing ad agencies in the U.S. in 2011 and 2012, and the agency was named one of the top growing firms by Inc. 500 in 2013. Most recent awards include the 2013 AAF Mosaic Award for “Best Multicultural Campaign” along with many others. Clients include: Caesars Entertainment, CenterLight Healthcare, U.S. Army, NBA, Abu Dhabi Travel and Tourism, IDT Telecommunications. Gravity has offices in New York and Los Angeles. More info: www.FindrGroup.com.
