The Garden: 2020 The Game

I can't speak for the 550+ members of our POCAM LinkedIn Group (founded by Stephanie Small). But I'd like to share my experience, and speak on behalf of the conversations I've had, and on behalf of the POCAM steering committee (Alyssa Dominique, Gavin Barett, Julian Franklin, Justin Senior).

When I first saw the promo for The Garden's "2020: The Game" I was appalled. It was a montage of news clips, that included the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, finishing with a line that read something like "until the vaccine, laughter is the best medicine."

A friend then showed me this instagram post (I shared it on my own feed):

I reached out to one of the creators, Stephie Coplan, who urged me to reserve judgement until I read the official game rules on the website. I read them. My opinion remained. So myself and others began commenting on the post with the promo. [UPDATE: We've agreed to have a conversation about this]

When The Garden Agency deleted the instagram post containing the perspectives of BIPOC and allies who found their content hurtful and insensitive yesterday morning, I publicly reached out to and tagged Stephie Coplan, Jenn Munoz and The Garden Agency, informing them that this was not the way. I understood it was a knee-jerk reaction from whoever managed that social media account, but it erased our voices.

When hours later, The Garden Agency deleted the LinkedIn post (and the Play2020thegame account) where some of those voices tried to tell them again about their hurtful, insensitive work and actions, I captured what I could from my open tab and reposted it. How many times can your knee-jerk? All three accounts of those I informed earlier had viewed my initial message about erasing our voices (I can't see a timestamp for the view in IG, so perhaps it was after).

I understand wanting to take it all down. You made a mistake, and hurt a lot of people. But these conversations are necessary. And they need to be conversations. The Garden Agency has posted an apology, but are not engaging with the comments. And while the statement is from their leadership, none of their leadership have connected with me [UPDATE: they have since reached out, and we spoke]. And where are the public voices of the creators? You are all seniors in this industry, some of you posted black squares and BLM donation receipts, some of you are teachers at the Ad schools we recruit from, you have a responsibility here. You can't take credit when you think it's an award winning idea, but be silent when it's causing pain.

People coming to the defense of The Garden Agency is telling of the industry we've built, and the industry we need to rebuild. None of the comments were rude or attacking, and yet somehow the comments of BIPOC and allies are seen in this light. The Garden is not the victim, and their protocols on how they dealt with the valid questions and comments on their campaign needs to be addressed. We need to pause, and think about the perspective of those who are hurting before we respond on behalf of those who mistakenly caused harm.

This is a small expression of the constant battles BIPOC face in this industry. To the majority in this industry, the issues of BIPOC aren't felt. How many in this industry know what it's like to be singled out by senior leadership because of your race in a meeting, and then spend the rest of the day thinking about what you should or shouldn't have said, instead of being able to focus on your job? How many know what it feels like to see insensitive, offensive comments being made toward you and your people in the workplace and in the work, but feel like you can't speak up because it could hurt your livelihood?

To those who have expressed thanks for my sharing what are possibly career-limiting comments and conversations, I appreciate that sincerely, but I recognize I have less risk. I didn't come from this industry, and I'll be okay if I have to leave it.

This is a learning opportunity. For the creators, to think about how you move in this world. For the people whose first reaction is to defend instead of listen, and for the agencies who have opportunities to move the needle on issues that are decades old. And for BIPOC that we can push back and be heard and make change.

Finally, I am not a Black person. I am a Pakistani ally with darker skin, who has a very tiny sliver of experience of what it's like to be treated as a Black person from my own interactions with Police and work environments who thought I was Black. That tiny experience has shown me how much work is needed, and how impossible it feels to tackle alone, and why support from groups like POCAM are needed.