Billy Porter, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Daniel Dae Kim Challenge Entertainment Industry to Do Better on Diversity

This year’s Emmy Awards had a marked increase in Black nominees and winners. However, there were still many groups who were underrepresented or unrecognised.

So prior to the Emmys, ANA's Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing – AIMM – partnered with Billy Porter, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daniel Dae Kim, Isis King, Jamie Chung and Nicole Scherzinger on a PSA challenging the entertainment industry to increase diverse and accurate cultural representation in programming and advertising.  

Developed and produced by Walton Isaacson, the PSA is an extension of AIMM's #SeeALL movement, and aired during the ‘Countdown to the Emmys’ preshow on ABC. The spot urges the entertainment industry to unite for change. The message raises awareness for the importance of meaningful, holistic cultural representation, showcasing how diverse and multicultural actors and actresses are more than boxes to be checked on a casting sheet.  

"The Emmys should be applauded for the record increase in Black nominees this year; but there's more work to be done," said Lisette Arsuaga, AIMM co-founder and advisory board member. "That's why we created the #SeeALL PSA to use our voice and influence in the industry to unite us all in this fight for change." 

The PSA opens with a montage of celebrity faces and the evocative statement, ‘We are here.’

Launched last year, AIMM's #SeeALL is a movement to drive increased accurate representation of multicultural and inclusive segments in ads and programming. AIMM's Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM), a proprietary algorithm that can quantitatively assess the impact of culture in advertising and programming, has demonstrated a direct correlation between holistic representation and positive business results.

Beyond the PSA, there also was an open letter in the Hollywood Reporter signed by influential members of the advertising/marketing community pressing for a united  commitment to evaluating the diversity of race, identity, ability, culture and age of talent, as well as how these individuals are portrayed in marketing and entertainment.

Moreover, individuals have been asked to join the campaign by sharing a photo on social media – a close-up that focuses in on their unique identity and captures how they want to be seen-- and then tag  family and friends and ask them to do the same.