Artist Shantell Martin Criticizes McCann for an Offensive Email About a Black Lives Matter Mural

As protests against racism and police brutality continue around the world, brands are evaluating where they can make a difference. As protesters challenge institutions on how they address race, advocates are looking toward brands as a place to help drive society forward. From donations to public statements, corporations have entered the conversation about race, whether by choice or not. For its part, Microsoft was unwittingly (and quickly) thrust into the spotlight after artist Shantell Martin posted an email from Adweek global agency of the year McCann’s M:United, the agency’s practice for the tech behemoth. With the sender redacted, the M:United employee asked if she would like to partner for a mural in front of Microsoft's store on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. [kickout id="1"] [kickout id="2"] Martin said she didn’t share the email and speak out in an effort to "attack anyone," explaining, "As a caring, professional, hardworking artist I’m pointing out something that is systematically wrong so that hopefully this will make a change." She explained that "at least three" other artists had reached out after her post to share that they received the same exact email and to express "disgust" at what they deemed an offensive message. People who work in advertising or had worked at McCann also reached out to express their exhaustion at the issue of agencies exploiting artists and were happy to see Martin address it. "I'm sharing this in hopes that we can create a better story from this," she said. "This is quite layered. We have a history of agencies consuming cultural relevance. The end result is that they end up exploiting a lot of artists. There's the exploitation of culture, creativity and artist. Then there's the other layer of exploiting a moment and people's stories. And historic, systemic racism being a part of that, too." "Then there's the exploitation of saying that this won't be relevant after Sunday because they want their money to be a part of this moment and a part of these protests so it appears that they’re doing the right thing," she added. In addition to M:United seeming to suggest that protests against racism and police brutality wouldn't be culturally relevant after this weekend, Martin pointed out that M:United didn't see her as an individual, just that the agency was reaching out because she was a Black artist. "I know I’m Black, I’m reminded of that every day," she said. "This might not be relevant for someone next week because they’ve forgotten about it and are working on this new thing," she said. "Unfortunately the reason we're in this situation is because people deem our voices irrelevant and our lives irrelevant. There's been a constant lack of acknowledgement and accountability." Originally from the U.K., Martin also spent five years in Japan before moving to New York. She has been based in the U.S. for around a decade. No stranger to working with agencies and brands, Martin said she's executed a lot of murals for agencies, including one hanging in the first floor of VMLY&R's offices in New York, as well as working in the past with Mother, UTA and WME, as well brands including Airbnb, Facebook and Twitter, and stressed that she has had good working relationships with agencies and brands in the past. She works across mediums and industries, also serving as an adjunct professor at NYU, and is a visiting scholar at MIT and a Columbia fellow. She has current or upcoming shows of her work at the Denver Museum of Art and the New Britain Museum of Art in Connecticut. After the post was shared on Twitter, McCann Worldwide CEO Harris Diamond and Microsoft global CMO Chris Capossela quickly—and publicly—apologized for the email. [kickout id="3"] [kickout id="4"] The apology was Diamond's first tweet since October 2017. Capossela is more active and has been sharing tweets from Microsoft’s corporate account noting the company is amplifying voices from the Black and African American communities within Microsoft. In an internal memo last Thursday announcing a "Day of Healing" for McCann employees in line with a similar offer to IPG Corporate employees to take time off work on June 5, Diamond said, "Black Americans have endured racism and intolerance for too long." IPG CEO Michael Roth also announced "significant monetary contributions" from IPG to Amnesty International, Campaign Zero and NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund last Thursday. Martin said she didn't receive a private apology preceding or following the public messages. "The last thing I want from this is a meaningless apology from anyone. My hope is that something good for myself and the other artists contacted for this," she said, namely a "conversation about how Microsoft and agencies can help us. This is an opportunity to [address the question] of how we can fix the systemic problem of agencies exploiting artists." Martin said she had seen Capossela's apology on Twitter but hadn't been aware of Diamond's message. "Unless there is real change and a real commitment behind that apology, it doesn’t mean anything and it becomes part of the problem because people think you can apologize and forget and move on." she said. "The apology is an opportunity to make something better, to make something right, but only if willingness comes behind that apology." Martin also said she didn't want to see the employee who sent the email fired. "The worst thing that could happen is if they're fired or quit the agency. That shows that there wasn't a strategy or guidance to prevent this. It doesn’t work if they just start firing people or creating scapegoats," she explained. "This email was written with a very clear intention. No one had to decipher what they were asking for," Martin said. "But there are many emails or agreement where it's more nuanced or disguised but the message and the ask is the same. These things come from the top down." Martin gave recommendations on what companies can do, including providing guidance, real structure and strategy. "People need to look internally at these companies, agencies as a whole and ask why is this is happening and ask what we can put in place to prevent it from happening," something she thinks is caused in part because "there aren’t people of color or diversity in these companies, and if there are, often these people are exhausted trying to get this message from the top down." [kickout id="5"] McCann referred Adweek to Diamond’s tweet when asked to provide further information about the interaction. Martin said her hope is that agencies would have more consideration for artists going forward. "In my experience working with agencies when it hasn't gone right, the artist isn’t valued. We can see we're not valued in the contracts we're given or ways we're treated," ranging from being ignored to dealing with late payments or contracts at odds with the spirit in which the company initially reached out. She shared one story of a particularly bad experience arising from an agency partnership. "Last year I went to a meeting for an agency and I couldn’t even get in the building. My assistant who was white walked right in ahead of me. Sometimes at the door you're not let in the meeting because you're a Black person in this space," she said. "Those are the day-to-day things we have to deal with as Black people. We have these interactions all the time, to the point where we can’t recall them because it becomes so normalized."