{"id":165792,"date":"2021-04-09T10:14:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T14:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=165792"},"modified":"2021-04-09T12:43:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T16:43:07","slug":"sean-diddy-combs-takes-aim-at-gm-over-black-media-warns-of-possible-boycott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2021\/04\/sean-diddy-combs-takes-aim-at-gm-over-black-media-warns-of-possible-boycott\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs Takes Aim at GM Over Black Media, Warns of Possible Boycott"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sean<\/a>
Music and media mogul Sean Combs weighed in on the call for GM to increase its ad spending in Black-owned media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The debate about General Motors\u2019 ad spending with Black-owned media is heating up, music and fashion mogul Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs the latest to speak out against the automaker.<\/p>\n

In a statement titled, \u201cWE DEMAND MORE: A LETTER FROM SEAN COMBS,\u201d the 51-year-old artist and entrepreneur weighed in on a debate kicked off two weeks ago. Seven of the nation\u2019s leading Black media owners accused GM and CEO Mary Barra of \u201csystemic racism\u201d in a full-page ad in the Detroit Free Press. But Combs takes things a step further, suggesting a black boycott of the automaker could follow if it doesn\u2019t move to spend more with Black-owned media.<\/p>\n

“Exposing GM\u2019s historic refusal to fairly invest in Black-owned media is not an assassination of character, it\u2019s exposing the way GM and many other advertisers have always treated us,” Combs wrote. “No longer can Corporate America manipulate our community into believing that incremental progress is acceptable action.”<\/p>\n

A long-simmering matter<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>The issue of ad spending by General Motors \u2014 and other automakers \u2014 has been simmering for years. It exploded into public view late last month with the publication of the full-page ad signed by Byron Allen, owner of the Weather Channel and other media properties, Ebony publisher Junior Bridgeman, rapper and media entrepreneur Ice Cube and four others.<\/p>\n

The letter claimed GM spends only 0.5% of its estimated $3 billion ad budget with Black-owned media, asserting that is the result of \u201csystemic racism.\u201d But it took things further by directly targeting Chairman and CEO Mary Barra who has said that the automaker \u201caspires to be the most inclusive company in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stand on stage, after the death of George Floyd<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, saying, \u2018Black Lives Matter,\u2019 when you have refused to acknowledge us,\u201d the ad said of Barra. \u201cThe very definition of systemic racism is when you are ignored, excluded and you don\u2019t have true economic inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Factual inaccuracies<\/h3>\n

GM responded, noting the full-page ad contained \u201cfactual inaccuracies and character assault,\u201d among other things claiming that 2% of its current ad budget goes to Black-owned media. At the same time, a statement from GM said that it \u201cspends significantly less than $3 billion annually on advertising.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within days, the automaker did schedule a meeting with the seven signatories<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. But the meeting was canceled after they ran the ad again in several more publications, including the Washington Post and the Black-owned Detroit newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle.<\/p>\n

\"GM<\/a>
GM CEO Mary Barra was accused to encouraging systemic racism in the initial advertisement.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Instead, spokesman Pat Morrissey told TheDetroitBureau.com, GM was scheduling a series of meetings with a broad range of Black-media executives, including Benjamin Chavis, CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the largest Black-owned media trade group in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Fighting for crumbs<\/h3>\n

For his part, Combs said it is GM that has made inaccurate statements in its response to the controversy.<\/p>\n

“When confronted by the leaders of several Black-owned media companies, General Motors\u00a0listed my network, REVOLT, as an example of the Black-owned media it supports,” Combs wrote.\u00a0“While REVOLT does receive advertising revenue from GM, our relationship is not an example of success. Instead, REVOLT, just like other Black-owned media companies, fights for crumbs while GM makes billions of dollars every year from the Black community.”<\/p>\n

Exactly what it would take to resolve the controversy is uncertain. The automaker on April 1 said it would increase ad spending with black-owned media to 8% annually<\/strong><\/span><\/a> \u2014 which several industry sources said on background would come to as much as $180 million annually.<\/p>\n

Boycott?<\/h3>\n
\"Byron<\/a>
Byron Allen, head of the Allen Media Group, said the seven signatories on the original ad were seeking a $200 million annual base, to increase by 5% annually.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Allen said in an interview his group was seeking a $200 million annual base, to increase by 5% annually.<\/p>\n

Combs appears to be seeking even more. \u201cIf the Black community represents 15% of your revenue, Black-owned media should receive at least 15% of the advertising spend,” he said in his letter, adding that. “The same way you understand the power of our dollars, we understand our power to take them away from any corporation that doesn\u2019t give us the economic inclusion we deserve. We are prepared to weaponize our dollars.”<\/p>\n

While Combs did not specifically use the word, \u201cboycott,\u201d he added in a tweet, “If you love us, pay us!”<\/p>\n

Combs himself took some criticism in a torrent of tweets, including one from artist Jessica Fyre, who claimed she was recently asked to host a new show on the Revolt network \u201cwithout pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

GM responds<\/h3>\n

But the call for more respect for Black-owned media from the business community has largely generated strong support.<\/p>\n

\"GM's<\/a>
GM\u2019s top marketing executive Deborah Wahl postponed a meeting with seven Black-owned media execs, and plans to reschedule it as a series of smaller \u201cconversations\u201d with even more leaders.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asked for comment on the Combs letter, GM spokesman Pat Morrissey said in an e-mail that, \u201cOur response is similar to what we provided last week.\u201d He pointed to the series of meetings planned with Black-owned media executives and the commitment to quadruple current ad spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur commitment goes beyond advertising and sponsorship revenue,\u201d said a GM statement. \u201cWe want to build long-standing partnerships with Black-owned and diverse media companies in a transparent and meaningful way. This includes investments in business enablers such as customized deal structures and facilitating access to measurement and mentorship tools, which are often a barrier for small and emerging businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The automaker also plans to launch \u201cDiverse Owned Media Upfront” in May, a process \u201cdedicated\u201d to working with minority \u201cpartners and potential partners.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The debate about General Motors\u2019 ad spending with Black-owned media is heating up, music and fashion mogul Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs the latest to speak out against the automaker \u2014 even suggesting a boycott of the company. GM officials reiterated the facts and figures Combs used are wrong, but it’s aiming to increase spending, reports TheDetroitBureau.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5],"tags":[],"make":[58],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,140,174,150,151,123,301,131,282,299,243,169,132,284,125,124,139,148,278,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165792"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165792"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=165792"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=165792"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=165792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}