I can’t call it for sure but it seems that the Jayhawk brand just wanted to create a show that was culturally relevant and generated buzz but, if family-friendly was the mission, Snoop wasn’t the right choice.
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A lot of college athletics departments operate separately from the overall university, but the idea that a lot of people miss is that, for fans, it all goes together -- KU is KU, Jayhawks...KU. Still, individual brands or not, they should have chosen an artist that aligned with the overall brand and values of the university. 

​Snoop Dogg’s brand doesn’t equate to family-friendly and the rapper should not have been expected to do anything different from what has made him a fortune to meet the needs of a university athletics department.

Keep in mind that when you’re looking to partner with a public figure or another brand, the first question you should ask is “which artist/brand appeals to our audience and aligns with our mission and core values?” Everything should point back to mission and values. If it’s not a fit, don’t risk it.

While vetting the artist and what they stand for should have happened in step one, it’s almost always a better idea to run through your events so that you have an idea of what is happening, how, when and who is doing what.
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The team missed a key opportunity to remind Snoop to a) clean up his performance and b) fix any other issues they might find problematic like money guns, for example, or... poles center court. And, friends, if you honestly aren’t too sure, ask your PR team to come along. I’m sure we’ll find a couple of things to correct so we can attract the right kind of press.

We’ve all made mistakes. They’ve not all gone viral but maybe they’ve been just as controversial or... maybe not. These are transferable lessons you can use to do some preliminary risk management before launching a new campaign or planning an event. It’s not looking good for KU and it’s not fun dealing with a flood of negative media attention. Here’s hoping they’re able to make a come back after this one.

“We sincerely apologize to the Native American community for the insensitivity of our newest campaign. Though it is never our intention to offend or make light of any culture or race of people, we realize that we did not consider the implications of (insert problematic act). Going forward we will seek to have more diversity and inclusion on our team so to avoid these mishaps in the future…” or something like that, right?

​We’ve read the statements time after time that brands repeatedly release after pushing out problematic products and campaigns. Then they almost always follow up with an announcement that they’ve hired a new “VP of Diversity and Inclusion,” whose job it is to hire more underrepresented minorities and migrate them into company culture. Diversity and inclusion should not be an afterthought or hail Mary, they are not safety precautions and they are not buzz words -- they’re conscious efforts. Diversity and inclusion ensures the varied perspectives of underrepresented groups are in the room and at the table. Let’s learn from five examples explicitly showing us why inclusion is an urgency.

The high-fashion brand took to social media to advertise their Balaclava knit top that, coincidentally, looked a lot like blackface when the model pulled the neck of the shirt up over her mouth. It was classic, undeniable blackface -- black, thick red lips... you know, the same as we saw in the satirical cartoons, acted out by non-Black actors in dramatic makeup,  in an effort to poke fun at Blacks.

Additionally, this is problematic because ​those same cartoons intended to visualize stereotypes of us. And while normal middle-class families aren’t the fashion house’s target audience, celebrities took to their social accounts to call for a complete boycott of the brand.

Following an uproar of backlash, the company released the following statement, “We are fully committed to increasing diversity throughout our organization and turning this incident into a powerful learning moment for the Gucci team and beyond." Gucci later announced the hire of a new diversity executive.

Chinese retailers pulled Dolce & Gabbana off the shelves after culturally inaccurate ad videos showed a Chinese woman eating Italian food with...chopsticks?

Yes, chopsticks; and to make matters worse, several screenshots surfaced of the fashion house’s Instagram account where cruel language -- allegedly posted by hackers -- was used in reference to the country and in defense of the videos.

​​Why is this problematic? The videos were seen as racist and they featured outdated stereotypes of Chinese people. According to the CBC, the brand was forced to cancel a major extravaganza that the company dubbed one of its largest shows outside of Italy. The two designers resolutely issued a video apology following the entire fiasco.

The shaving brand tried its hand at taking a stand against toxic masculinity. The brand aimed to show men how they could take a stand against inappropriate behaviors, using the tagline “the best a man can be” -- a switch up from its “the best a man can get” campaign.

The problem is the ad upset a lot of men, many of whom were longtime customers of Gillette. Some called it “feminist propaganda” in regard to the way the video depicted men. At the height of the #metoo movement, we can kind of see the statement they were trying to make, but the way they went about it alienated their primary target audience. As more brands aim to be politically responsive, many walking the fine line often fall off the deep end in by coming close but no cigar in how they use their creativity to demonstrate their stance. It would’ve been easy for the company to simply say they stand with women everywhere who have been victims of sexual assault without throwing all men completely under the bus. But the video, while a likely expensive attempt, did not say that. Pictures are worth 1,000 words.

We preach this mantra all the time: wE NeEd DiVersItY aNd IcLUsIoN IN MaRkEtInG! However, we’re still seeing insensitive and/or politically incorrect ad campaigns. It’s time we start diversifying the executive suite and the creative team. Each of the above examples could have been avoided had someone been around to raise their hand and call attention to the lack of insight that some of these campaigns display. Inauthenticity is obvious and easy to spot, especially in the digital age.

With those numbers, who wouldn’t want to target their products toward women and African Americans? However, if you’re going to target these groups, you have to do serious market research to study A) what gaps your product is filling for that community and B) what your target audience will respond favorably to and vice versa. Blind marketing will lead to pay raises for crisis PR teams time and again if brands aren’t strategic about how they target consumers (we just went through five examples of such). True inclusivity is more than adding minorities to the team. Bring us into the room and be open to learning our unique perspectives and experiences. 

I learned in a Forbes article that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, although women hold 72.8% of public relations (and fundraising) management jobs overall, only 10.7% of roles are held by those who are black, 3.1% by Asians, and 3.1% by Hispanics or Latinos. The article said marketing and sales managers share similar demographics, with blacks making up 6.7%, Asians 5.4%, and Hispanics and Latinos 9.7%. Women managers, overall, make up 47.6% of the industry.

A lot of that comes from a lack of representation in the field, so that means there need to be additional efforts made to increase diversity in marketing and communications overall. Moving forward, be proactive in:

1. Taking a fine-tooth comb through all your marketing and PR efforts and checking for lice (patterns of unconscious bias, negative undertones, disproportionate representation in ad campaigns).
   
   
2. Looking to see if your company spokespeople are diverse. Now, a lot of companies have one designated person who speaks to media, so another way to achieve this is to ensure statements are ran past a diverse team prior to release. That way your messaging is authentic and genuine.
   
   
3. Diversify your recruitment and outreach efforts. PRSA has a diversity and inclusion program, but not every chapter includes a diversity officer on its board (that should change, actually). However, societies like National Association of Black Journalists, ADCOLOR, COLORCOMM... are good to partner with when you’re looking for diverse candidates to join your team, as well as to connect with college students studying marketing and communications for entry level positions.
   
   
4. Conducting proper market research to gain true insight into your target audience and its consumer behaviors.