Academy takes on diversity issue, marketers (mainly) stay clear
Twitter was active last night during the Academy Awards, social media managers skirted the controversy—except for one brand representative’s misstep.
During Sunday night’s Academy Awards, diversity and Leonardo DiCaprio took center stage, while brand managers jostled to be recognized as well.
The New York Times reported that Rock approached the diversity controversy both early and often:
Mr. Rock spent virtually the whole monologue on the subject of diversity, mostly spoofing it but occasionally adding more biting commentary, as when he quipped that the annual “In Memoriam” tribute would honor black people who were “shot by the cops on their way to the movies.”
The controversy caused some celebrities to boycott the event and social media users to criticize the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences under the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
Rock’s opening monologue was certainly not the only time that diversity took a front-and-center spot, The New York Times reported:
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