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Shares Artist, Politician and Audience Perspectives on Race Through New Initiative #TheTalk.
MTV this week announced an expansion of its Look Different anti-bias campaign called #TheTalk, a multiscreen effort to encourage its audience to have candid, confident and “colour brave” conversations on race with family and friends. According to a 2014 MTV study, 73% of Millennials believe having more open constructive conversations about bias would help people become less prejudiced.
The network said in a statement: “Millennials believe strongly in fairness, but they can also find it difficult to talk openly about race – to be not simply ‘colour blind’ but ‘colour brave,’” said Stephen Friedman, President of MTV. “Our audience is looking for a way to bring the national conversation on race into their homes and this campaign will give them a forum to express true color bravery.”
#TheTalk began yesterday on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day when MTV will kick off a 12-hour period in which all programming was aired in black and white for the first time in the network’s history. Every commercial block began with personal reflections on race from luminaries including Kendrick Lamar, Common, Big Sean, Ava DuVernay, David Oyelowo, Penn Badgley, Jordin Sparks, Pete Wentz, Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. John Lewis, Sen. Cory Booker and others.
An excerpt from MTV’s “Talk” with Ava DuVernay:
“To be color blind is not a thing I think that one should boast about. See color and celebrate it. See our differences and celebrate it. When someone says to me ‘I’m color blind, I don’t see color’, I’m thinking they’re missing out…”
On-air creative on MTV, MTV2, mtvU, MTV Hits, MTV Jams and a comprehensive editorial push across MTV’s online, mobile and social platforms encouraged audience members to share their own reflections using the #thetalk and get involved through the Look Different website, LookDifferent.org.
MTV’s Look Different campaign launched in April 2014, and continues to be shaped by the network’s research and insights on young people and race, gender and sexual orientation. According to the same 2014 MTV study, many Millennials were raised to believe they shouldn’t acknowledge racial differences with 84% saying their family taught them that everyone should be treated the same, regardless of race.
However, this well-intentioned approach has its drawbacks. Millennials often feel blinded to lingering historical inequities because they’ve so seldom discussed race openly. The MTV study found that 63% of Millennials rarely talk with their family about race and 54% agree that it is hard to have a respectful conversation about bias in person or online. However, 69% of Millennials would love the opportunity to have an open respectful and judgment-free conversation about bias. These findings, coupled with the recent events in Ferguson, Cleveland, New York and elsewhere, inspired the creation of The Talk.
To learn more about #TheTalk and view embeddable video testimonials from artists and activists, visit MTVNews.com and Lookdifferent.org/videos/the-talk. LookDifferent.org will also provide resources for learning more about racial stereotypes, tips on how to take action on issues of racial bias, and different conversations other young people have had on race. Resources include an Implicit Bias Quiz, shareable media and opportunities to get involved with leading organizations fighting bias.
Brand builders and marketeers targeting Millennials will appreciate that having a deep understanding of this group is important. You can download the full results of the 2014 MTV/David Binder Research Study here.
