Bowing to the Inevitable, Advertisers Embrace Advocate Role

For decades, advertisers have striven to stay away from any topic that might prove controversial or divisive. Times have changed.

The responsibility of companies, particularly advertisers, to advocate on social issues and to provide a moral compass in a fraught political environment came up repeatedly during Advertising Week New York, an annual industry conference in Manhattan. To be sure, advertising is not traditionally seen as a moral arbiter, but American companies are in a new postelection era, when advocating for diversity can be seen as a political statement.