9806: More Draftfcbullshit.

Adweek, Draftfcb and the U.S. Census Bureau are still churning out questionable content for The New America series. The latest press release publishing—A Racial Melting Pot?—was authored by Draftfcb Strategic Planning Director Luiz Salles. The piece opens with, “For over 200 years, Americans have proudly referred to our nation as a ‘melting pot’—the intimation being that America is a shining example of the prosperity that can result from divergent cultures coming together to form a homogeneous and (hopefully) more harmonious common culture.” The statement displays a certain sense of revisionist history. According to Wikipedia, while the melting metaphor has been around since the 1780s, it didn’t become popular in America until the 1908 play titled, “The Melting Pot.” Native Americans, Blacks and other non-White citizens have not “proudly” used the term for over 200 years. Indeed, many minorities have rejected the phrase, favoring metaphors like “mosaic” and “salad bowl” to identify the nation. Don’t know where the cross-cultural advocates at Draftfcb might stand on the matter. Regardless, it boggles the mind that a concept such as “melting pot” would be addressed by an agency from Madison Avenue, where non-Whites have been systematically rejected for over 70 years. And the outrageous factor is compounded when considering the agency, Draftfcb, remains among the most culturally clueless in the industry. It’s a wonder the piece didn’t cite Schoolhouse Rock as its primary reference source.