WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strike - Ripple Effects in the Advertising Creative Community?

WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strike Should Have Ripple Effects in the Advertising Creative Community. Why the Silence?

At the recent Cannes International Festival of Creativity, there was zero – nada- no visible support for creative professionals. AI was at the forefront, so shouldn’t there have been some recognition of the challenge AI presents for the creators of advertising? Shouldn’t marketers be concerned about the implications of AI to their agency partners and to the creators of their advertising? The issues being fought over in Hollywood will soon be confronting advertising creative teams globally, yet the community appears oblivious to the common threat. As WGA pickets lined up at the network television Upfront presentations, the agency community never raised a question about the righteousness of crossing the picket lines. Sure, these were media executives, but AI will impact on every part of the advertising business sooner than the industry appears to realize.

The strike should serve as a wakeup call to the advertising-supported media industry. But like so many other wake-up calls, advertisers remain disconcertingly indifferent to the implications of this labor dispute. This strike exposes the vulnerabilities and dependence on talented content creators who are essential to engaging audiences by creating impactful advertising messages. Failing to address the concerns of WGA and SAG-AFTRA reinforces the perceived disposability of creative professionals, further alienating them from joining and staying in this industry and inevitably resulting in a decline in quality content and diminishing returns for advertisers.

This is just one visible example of corporate brand and marketing executives failing to acknowledge important industry issues and taking responsibility for the billions of dollars their corporations and agencies are investing without their due diligence or oversight. There are several additional examples in The Media Ecologist Substack column here. https://open.substack.com/pub/themediaecologist/p/advertisers-investing-billions-with?r=6mtau&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web