By now, you may have heard about the Richards Group in Dallas–a very large ad agency with a roster of national brands. The New York Times reports on the news:
During a Zoom gathering of more than three dozen Richards Group employees on Thursday, a creative team working on the Motel 6 account presented an idea for an ad to Stan Richards, who founded the Richards Group in 1976. Mr. Richards responded to the idea by saying, “It’s too Black,” according to a person at the meeting, who said the ad would have featured Black, white and Hispanic guests. Mr. Richards, who is white, added that the ad might offend or alienate Motel 6’s “white supremacist constituents,” the person said.
A Richards Group spokeswoman confirmed that Mr. Richards, 87, had made the “too Black” remark, but said in an email that he was trying to convey that the proposed ad “was not multiculturally inclusive enough.”
When asked about Mr. Richards’ comment on white supremacists, which was first reported by the publication AdAge, the agency spokeswoman said, “Although his comments did reference that group, that quote is not correct.” Mr. Richards apologized to hundreds of the agency’s employees on a Zoom call on Friday.
A year ago, the apology may have been enough. But today, when agencies and brands alike struggle to be more diverse and to create a culture of inclusivity, the apology isn’t going to cut out. So far, The Richards Group has lost four major clients: HEB, Motel 6, Home Depot, and Dr. Pepper. Client Cracker Barrel, which is under review, has removed the agency from its review.
Of interest to many of us here at the UO is the fact that the University of Texas’ Advertising and PR Department is named the Stan Richards School of Advertising and PR. Several donors, including Richards, made a $10 million donation in 2014. It is unclear how much Richards donated, or what the terms of the gift are. A press release from the Moody College at the time included this:
“Stan Richards’ gift and the campaign for the Richards School will have a lasting legacy for our advertising and public relations students, for which I am deeply thankful,” said Bill Powers, president of The University of Texas at Austin. “These contributions were vital to both the Moody College’s pursuit of excellence and the university’s successful, record-breaking capital campaign.”
“We are tremendously grateful for the overwhelming support of Mr. Richards,” Hart said. “Stan Richards’ legacy as a creative force and visionary in the advertising industry will serve as an inspiration to students and faculty. His generosity will enhance the credibility of the school and the opportunities available to our students.”
More recently, Richards donated a media lab to house an advertising agency at the School. The agency, to be called The Lab, is scheduled to be ready for students in January 2021. According to the Daily Texan, every student who graduates with an advertising or public relations degree must complete a capstone project in The Lab within their field of study.
The Moody College (the home of the Stan Richards School, and the journalism and communication college at UT-Austin) has a big decision to make.
“University of Texas—whose advertising and PR school carries Stan Richards’ name—is holding discussions with staff, students and faculty about how to respond,” writes Ad Age’s Judann Pollack.
Universities love donations. And donors love to put their names on buildings. Whether it is ego, or virtue signaling, or simply lacking a better name, I would guess the majority of buildings at public and private universities are named, and many are named for a donor. But what happens when these names get scrutinized, and are found to represent something that goes against the mission and values of the school?
At UO, for example, buildings named for people who represent Oregon’s racist past are being renamed. McKenzie Hall, home of the history department and other units, was called Grayson Hall. Jeffrey Grayson gave an $800,000 gift; however, the company he ran was closed down for bilking investors and making bad loans. The name was changed to McKenzie in 2002.
Now, I don’t know the ins and outs of what the donors agreed to regarding that $10 million endowment. There could be all kinds of things that are tying the hands of our colleagues at UT-Austin. This has to be an incredibly tense time for them.
What I do know is what the school stands for. The published Mission of the Stan Richards school is “to continually seek ways to train and empower students, staff and faculty of all ethnicities, races, genders and identities to work collaboratively to produce world-changing ads, PR campaigns and research. This mission will ensure our positioning as one of the nation’s leading advertising and public relations programs and a formidable presence in the canon of communication theory and research.”
Their mission statement sets out the following goals:
Generate top-tier research and creative work that contribute to the overarching theories that explain success and failure in the practice of advertising and public relations.
Attract and retain the best student, staff and faculty talent—individuals who offer diversity in experience, background, culture and perspective.
Maintain strong, positive relations with key publics served by the school.
Cultivate graduate students with skills in critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, creative problem solving, active listening, efficient communication, evidence-based strategies and ethical decision-making.
What should UT do? What will they do? It seems like there are a few choices–none of them optimal.
1. Keep the name, as well as the donations. To state another way: do nothing. This seems to be an awful choice–how could the school welcome diverse students to the school, knowing about Richard’s statement?
2. Change the name, keep the donations. Changing the name seems to be the least the school should do. The $10million endowment is a hard thing to say no to–it probably generates around $300,000 each year to support school operations, which could fund scholarships, support faculty and educational programming, and provide exceptional student experiences. Are these funds tainted now?
3. Change the name and give back the donations. This is clearly the most courageous action. But what would the school look like–be like–without these funds?
In class during Week 3 we talked about the ‘Red Hen’ case–where a business owner had to make a snap decision based on her brand values and her business’s stakeholders. We talked about the importance of thinking of all stakeholders, and matching the decision with the brand’s values. Values, of course, can be interpreted in different ways.
I’m glad that UT is reaching out to students, staff and faculty. Bringing in all these stakeholders is necessary, in addition to talking to current and future donors. I hope they listen empathetically to how students, in particular, feel about being in the physical space donated by Richards. Do they feel safe, supported, and valued?
I wish our colleagues at UT the best as they struggle with this challenging decision.
Update: UT Austin issued the following to their stakeholder:
We continue to listen to the voices who have shared their disappointment and outrage at the racially intolerant and bigoted remarks recently spoken by Stan Richards, for whom our School of Advertising and Public Relations is named. We recognize and acknowledge the hurt his words have caused to many in our community and we conclude that they are not consistent with our core values.
We have now had the opportunity to speak directly to Stan and he has expressed to us his deep regret and remorse. He has asked for an opportunity to apologize directly to our students, faculty, staff, and alumni and we have agreed to that request. Please view the video below for Stan’s remarks to our community.
Stan Richards’ Video
We remain firmly committed to building and sustaining a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in Moody College, and we sincerely hope that the learning from this incident can be used to help us accelerate our progress toward those goals.
In the days ahead, we will continue to gather information and engage our community, internally and externally, to inform our path forward. We invite you to reach out to us with your thoughts and feelings.
