OGL 350 Course Portfolio

Erin Schick

OGL 350: Diversity and Organizations

Professor Marie Wallace

11/22/2022
Adidas Ad: “Here To Create”

https://youtu.be/LShT-_oi7uQ

“Here to Create” is a well-thought-out ad that shows diversity, equity, and inclusion

throughout the Adidas Brand. It is a short 1-minute video that shows different celebrities from all

around the world. It is made clear that they are all different in many different ways but that

doesn't stop them from who they are and what they do. The video/ad starts with the phrase

“Calling All Creators”. They wanted to get the point across that this is creators from all different

aspects and careers. This connects to the content we discuss in this course as it is all about

multiculturalism. Although these creators all come from different backgrounds, they know that

they all can connect in multiple different ways. In the ad, there were athletes, designers,

musicians, and more all seated around a table talking about how they are similar yet not similar. I

enjoyed seeing how they could simply sit at this table and talk about problems around the world

and how they have dealt with them. I believe that this can easily connect with an audience as a

lot of other brands struggle to do so. Multiculturalism is the way that we can give equal attention

to all different, backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles. In the video, the creators are all different in

a sort and they show how it is possible to be given a similar amount of attention in their

circumstances. I believe that Adidas has an extremely diverse market because they offer all

different types of things. Although many believe that it is strictly a more athletic brand, they

have a lot of offers. With this, they must market that they are a multicultural brand and they are

open to working with all different ethnicities and styles. It was stated in an article, that “75% of

consumers state they are more likely to support a brand when their ethnicity is represented”

(MarketSmith, 2). Overall, I believe that Adidas did a great job portraying this and I’m glad I had

the chance to come across this ad to see what they are truly supporting.
Movie: “Harriet”

Available on HBO Max, Hulu, Apple TV, Vudu, YouTube TV, and Amazon Prime Video

The Movie Harriet was filmed in 2019 and Directed by Kasi Lemmons. This movie was

based on a true story about Harriet Tubman and her escape from slavery in 1849. Harriet Tubman

was instantly a hero in this movie when her main goal was the help as many slaves escape from

Maryland to Philadelphia through the Underground Railroad as the lead conductor. Harriet was

successful in helping over 300 known slaves escape from slavery. At the beginning of the

movie, it shows Harriet asking her “leader” to kindly be freed from her husband. This was a clear

answer of no which is why she did what she did. Harriet never wanted to give up as they showed

a man in Philadelphia tallying off the numbers each time she returned with more slaves. As I’m

not sure what is true and not true from the movie, I want to cover the facts about Harriet

Tubman’s life. Not only was Harriet a hero of inclusion, but she did this while being sort of

disabled as well. Harriet was hit with a brick at a young age which caused many headaches and

seizures for the rest of her life. However, she did not let this stop her from being a true American

hero and legend. During this time she was risking her life and continued to go back for more

slaves and she clearly showed bravery. To add, It was shown that for years Harriet Tubman

received little to no recognition for all the amazing things that she did. Harriet Tubman’s story

relates to this course and what we have learned throughout the semester. For example, she shows

equality through her support for women's rights, her suffrage through the American Civil War as

a Union spy, her work through the Underground Railroad as freed over 300 slaves, and her work

as a nurse. She is a strong woman that many look up to and this movie clearly shows it.
Airbnb Ad: “Belong Anywhere”

https://youtu.be/rQo6zr1nHvw

Airbnb presented me with an Ad called “Belong Anywhere”. This is a very

inclusive-based advertisement that aired about 5 years ago. The goal of “Belong Anywhere” is to

show how they are open to all cultures by leading people in their everyday lives at Airbnb. A

clear message they wanted to convey was that “the more we see each other the more we realize

we are all different”. I thought that this was a very inclusive message because it shows that we all

have differences around the world today but we belong where we are. The ad also states “People

are people no matter which side of the planet they are from”. This shows that Airbnb wants to be

inclusive and they are marketing this so more people are aware of this. This advertisement came

out when it marked their ½ billion guest arrival. I think this is a huge accomplishment for the

organization and the way that they chose to advertise it was mature, inclusive, and

comprehensive. Airbnb wants to show that they are unique and open to everyone. This can relate

to our course content throughout the semester in many ways. For example, we started this class

with the basis of Diversity, equity, and inclusion and how we should act upon these things.

Although we learn this at a younger age, it is crucial to get deeper into conversations about the

world today. A huge topic discussed was diversity and how people might act toward it. For

example, some may say “I don’t see color” but that's not correct. We see these things but that

doesn’t set us apart in any way. I believe that Airbnb had the goal of showing that we are truly all

different but they have big open arms to all. Overall, I enjoyed digging deeper into this ad and

seeing the inclusive level that Airbnb holds. I will always be a fan of this business and now I will

support it even more.

Article/Magazine: “The Need For Inclusion”

https://executivesupportmagazine.com/the-need-for-inclusion/

Simone White gave me the chance to dig deeper into how professions don’t see diversity,

equity, and inclusion as much as we may think. This article was well written maturely and I’m

glad I came upon it. As an overview, this article shows how different organizations support DEI

and are told to perform open dialogue; however, they don't see it in their profession. With this,

Simone talks about how they see a very large amount that coheres with the lack of inclusion.

This personally does not surprise me as sometimes they only have certain positions to attend

meetings and have certain events for specific people at an organization. This is something that

we talked about in class and we had an exercise with it. The activity consisted of us classmates

writing on the board different easy to be inclusive in the workplace. I would say that this lesson

stuck with me and I will always remember it being a visual learner. When it comes to being

inclusive in the workforce, we can do a lot of things to change our original habits. For example,

invite everyone to meetings because it can still be a learning opportunity and it gives everyone a

chance to speak their minds. In addition, organizations should have trained each year related to

DEI and how they can improve, and what people might want to see being done differently. This

article also covers “The Impact of Not Being Visible”. This was my favorite portion because this

is a huge problem we have today. However, most organizations don’t focus on this because it's

“the last of their worries”. This is one of the most important factors in an organization and an

overall change in the organizational culture around the organization itself. Overall, I enjoyed

reading this article and I recommend it to those trying to enhance and improve their diversity,

equity, and inclusion skills around professions.

Starbucks Ad: “Every Name’s A Story #Whatsyourname”

https://youtu.be/pcSP1r9eCWw

The Starbucks ad, “Every Name’s A Story #Whatsyourname” is an awesome example of

everything we have learned in this class. When we first started this course, we did the “To Be

Welcoming” assignments/ course and it was also a Starbucks DEI/LGBTQ+ lesson. I already

learned a lot from that so I was excited to dig deeper with this advertisement. To start, this was

the winner of the diversity in advertising ward in 2019. As an overview, this ad covers how

Starbucks adding your name to a cup can be an entire story. They are welcoming to anyone and

everyone no matter who you are. This covers the story of a transgender man who was always

called his old name “Jemma”. In the end, a Starbucks employee asks him his name and says

“James”. They are showing how they don't care who you are and they want to give you that

chance for yourself. I was moved by this ad and I don’t question the awards the ad has been

given. We also covered LGBTQ+ in this class and that is something that I am honestly still

learning about every day. In class, we discussed pronouns and how to use them positively. I

know a lot of my classmates explained how they are sometimes confused about them and this

class allowed us to learn how to be respectful in these ways. This ad also gave me more insight

into how this can affect people and hurt them. It has all the concepts that we covered and I’m

glad I had the chance to come upon it. In addition, Starbucks also supports an organization called

“Mermaids” (https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/) which is an organization that supports young

gender-diverse kids. They specifically did this ad to support the organization and tell them that

they are here to help. This also stood out to me because it helps me gain a lot of respect for

Starbucks. After all, they are doing the best they can to support everyone no matter their

circumstances.
Microsoft Ad: “When Everyone Plays, We All Win”

https://youtu.be/kW46iX_2tFo

Microsoft presented me with an ad called “When Everyone Plays, We All Win”. this was

a topic that we didn’t directly talk about in this class, yet I believe that it still coheres with the

context. The basis of this ad is a new controller called “the adaptive controller” that allows

people with disabilities to play games and it makes it easier for them. The reason why I stated

that this isn't a direct concept from class is that the ad shows children with disabilities. However,

we did talk about veterans with disabilities, and this controller from Microsoft can help them too.

People with disabilities have common concerns about not being able to do normal things in their

everyday lives. However, Microsft is here to change that with the new controller. At the

beginning of this advertisement, they presented us with a group of kids that have disabilities and

how they are struggling in the world today. This clearly shows inclusion as they are going out of

their way to make something that allows all kids to play their games. This ad is something

different that I haven't seen before and I’m glad I had the chance to come across it. Most of the

ads I have talked about so far aren't directly advertising an object and Microsft chose to do so. It

can be seen that some people might find this offensive or “fake” However, after researching this

more I learned that this is a true story and they are doing this to show others who are struggling

that they aren't alone. This advertisement was very touching because sometimes as an outside

person, I don’t think about all of the struggles that people have behind the scenes. As the kid's

parents talked about this, they stated how they sometimes get nervous about what other kids

might think of their children. Throughout the rest of the video, they showed how a disability

doesn't change who one might be and it shouldn't have to set us back from things we want to do.

Overall, I would recommend this ad because it relates to the course content and beyond.