#OscarsSoRight: An Historic Night for Diversity and Inclusion in the Ads, Too

Last year the National Hispanic Media Coalition protested the Oscars at the awards luncheon because of the lack of Hispanic representation among nominees and films amp160All Hispanic and Latinx nominees however went on to win their respective award categories Guillermo Del Toroamp8217s The Shape of Water won Best Picture and Best Achievement in Direction Disneyamp8217s and Pixaramp8217s Coco won Best Animated Feature and Best Song and Best Foreign Language Film went to the Chilean film A Fantastic Woman which starred transgender actress Daniela Vega amp160Last yearamp8217s ceremony was an emotional one for me after all of the controversy of the Hispanic and Latinx community being neglected and excluded but the fact that the small handful of nominees all won was proof amp160There may be fewer of us but weamp8217re here to winFrom my perspective this yearamp8217s telecast was even more profoundamp160amp160 Consider the ads featured during the many breaks throughout the night amp160In recent memory Iamp8217ve only ever seen a Spanishlanguage commercial on Spanishlanguage networks like Univision and Telemundo so to see companies like Verizon and Rolex the latter being an official sponsor of the Academy Awards present several spots in Spanish was an incredibly impactful surprise considering how other big events like the recent Super Bowl missed the mark with the massive Hispanic marketOne of Verizonamp8217s spots featured a young woman saying how she uses her Verizon phone to stay in touch with her family who is still in Mexico in a funny and heartfelt testimonialstyle ad featuring her videochatting with her family back home something I can personally relate to as many of my motheramp8217s family is in Texas Canada and El SalvadorRolexamp8217 several commercials highlighted Academy Awardwinning directors including James Cameron Martin Scorcese Kathryn Bigelow and Alejandro Gonzalez Iamp241amp225rritu amp160These were the best ads of the night as the iconic directors read letters they wrote to future filmmakers and creatorsThe ad with Iamp241amp225rritu who won Oscars in previous years for Birdman or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance and The Revenant was entirely in Spanish amp160His translated letter states amp8220Dear future filmmakers make your movie without permission amp160There are movies that could have been made by anyone but there is one that could only be made by you amp160When you explore and share your own human experience through images youamp8217ll share with the world the mystery of those things that can only be felt but not saidamp8221 he says as sketches from his past films flash across the screen amp8220Transcend reason amp160Follow intuition amp160Making cinema is a journey that will take you from your head to your heart amp160It is a battle and an act of love amp160I wish you a great tripamp8221I sincerely hope that Rolex continues to make these types of inspiring ads with recent Academy Award winners in directing and writing like Alfonso Cuaramp243n Jordan Peele Spike Lee and Guillermo Del ToroIt was a huge change of pace and a big highlight for me personally to have the many Hispanic and Latinx actors present in Spanish their native language with which they may feel more comfortable amp160Javier Bardem took the stage with Angela Bassett to present the Best Foreign Language Film categoryamp160 amp160The two are pictured at topamp160 amp8220There are no borders or walls that can restrain ingenuity and talentamp8221 Bardemamp160said amp160amp8220In any region of any country of any continent there are always great stories that can move usamp8221amp8220It is truly fitting that this year foreign language films are not just recognized in this category but in almost every categoryamp8221 Bassett addedamp160 amp8220The two then presented the award to Alfonso Cuaramp243n with his second win of the night making Roma the first Mexican film to win the categoryAnother highlight of the evening was when Mexican actor Diego Luna and chef Josamp233 Andres took the stage to present a highlight reel for Cuaramp243namp8217s Roma amp160Andres spoke on his love for the film saying amp8220Roma gives a voice to the voiceless and reminds us of the understanding and compassion that we all owe to the invisible people of our lives immigrants and women who move humanity forwardamp8221 he said to thunderous applause from the audienceAmong the many significant honors bestowed during the 91st Academy Awards Marvelamp8217s Black Panther made history in Costume Design and Production Design as Ruth E Carter and Hannah Beachler respectively were the first AfricanAmericans to win in their categoriesamp160 Also Beachler was the first AfricanAmerican woman to be nominated in the categoryamp8217s history amp160Black Panther also won Best Original Score the first win for Swedish composer Ludwig Gamp246rannson who along with Beachler also collaborated with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler on his previous films Fruitvale Station Creed and Creed IIRami Malek gave a heartfelt speech when accepting the Oscar for his leading performance in Bohemian Rhapsody amp160amp8220I am the son of immigrants from Egypt I am a firstgeneration American and part of my story is being written right nowamp8221 he quietly said amp160amp8220To anyone struggling with theirs and trying to discover their voice amp160We made a film about a gay man an immigrant who lives his life just unapologetically himself amp160The fact Iamp8217m celebrating him and this story with you tonight is proof that weamp8217re longing for stories like thisamp8221While the underrepresented Hispanic Asian Black and LGBTQ communities want inclusion and diversity we want it done right amp160We donamp8217t want diversity for diversityamp8217s sake It should be thoughtout meaningful and impactful amp160Itamp8217s a long punishing process getting a film from script to screenamp160 These things canamp8217t be done overnight and this yearamp8217s Oscars provided proof that the right work needs time to be made and rightfully recognizedAnother highlight for both Marvel and the Latinx community was the Best Animated Feature win for SpiderMan Into the Spiderverse marking the secondamp160year in a row that the winning feature in the categoryamp160centered around a Latinx characteramp160 In this case it was Miles Morales a more recent iteration of the friendly neighborhood webslinger who is also one of the few Latinx superheroes and one of the only AfroLatinx comic book charactersamp160 The film itself was impactful to young Latinx audiences because at long last they had a superhero who looked like them and talked like themamp160 Most children of color canamp8217t relate to a Tony Stark or a Clark Kent so a darkskinned Spanishspeaking AfroLatinx superhero was an instant phenomenonamp160 An Oscar for a film based on the character was icing on the cake

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#OscarsSoRight: An Historic Night for Diversity and Inclusion in the Ads, Too

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Juan Ayala

Breaking Barriers: Nada Bradbury’s AD-ID Strategy for Advertising Effectiveness and Women in Tech - By E.B. Moss

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#OscarsSoRight: An Historic Night for Diversity and Inclusion in the Ads, Too

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Juan Ayala

Breaking Barriers: Nada Bradbury’s AD-ID Strategy for Advertising Effectiveness and Women in Tech - By E.B. Moss

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