Rapper, business mogul, and near-billionaire Diddy has just about had it with General Motors and the rest of corporate America. So he’s calling all of them out in an angry open letter titled “If You Love Us, Pay Us.”
Posted to the Revolt blog, the letter argues that a big chunk of revenue of corporate America comes from the Black community. Yet when it comes to advertising within the same community, with Black-owned businesses, less than 1% of these companies' advertising budgets goes here. Oversimplifying, Diddy says that these companies are profiting off the Black community but hardly spending anything here.
He specifically calls out General Motors, saying GM listed his TV network, Revolt, as an example of Black-owned company it supports through advertising. GM didn’t technically lie, but it wasn’t telling the truth, either.
“While Revolt does receive advertising revenue from GM, our relationship is not an example of success. Instead, Revolt, just like other Black-owned media companies, fights for crumbs while GM makes billions of dollars every year from the Black community. Exposing GM’s historic refusal to fairly invest in Black-owned media is not an assassination of character, it’s exposing the way GM and many other advertisers have always treated us,” Diddy argues.
He says GM, like the rest of corporate America, has been “exploiting” the Black community through behavior of this type. General Motors, for one, spent $3 billion in advertising last year, and only $10 million of that money was invested in a Black-owned company.
Unless a change comes about—and soon!—Diddy says, the Black community must “weaponize” their dollars, the mighty “Black dollar,” and no longer support GM and like-minded companies.
GM did not respond to calls for comment. Meanwhile, reactions from within the community are probably not what Diddy was counting on since his reputation for underpaying Black artists signed to his label is brought up quite a lot. Corporate America is Diddy, critics are saying.
He specifically calls out General Motors, saying GM listed his TV network, Revolt, as an example of Black-owned company it supports through advertising. GM didn’t technically lie, but it wasn’t telling the truth, either.
“While Revolt does receive advertising revenue from GM, our relationship is not an example of success. Instead, Revolt, just like other Black-owned media companies, fights for crumbs while GM makes billions of dollars every year from the Black community. Exposing GM’s historic refusal to fairly invest in Black-owned media is not an assassination of character, it’s exposing the way GM and many other advertisers have always treated us,” Diddy argues.
He says GM, like the rest of corporate America, has been “exploiting” the Black community through behavior of this type. General Motors, for one, spent $3 billion in advertising last year, and only $10 million of that money was invested in a Black-owned company.
Unless a change comes about—and soon!—Diddy says, the Black community must “weaponize” their dollars, the mighty “Black dollar,” and no longer support GM and like-minded companies.
GM did not respond to calls for comment. Meanwhile, reactions from within the community are probably not what Diddy was counting on since his reputation for underpaying Black artists signed to his label is brought up quite a lot. Corporate America is Diddy, critics are saying.
We’re done letting corporations manipulate our culture into believing incremental progress is acceptable action.
— Diddy (@Diddy) April 8, 2021
IF YOU LOVE US, PAY US.
Here’s my letter to corporate America.https://t.co/zm0zNtaX7p