Springing Forward & Out of Synch

In the U.S. most of our clocks have sprung forward by one hour while marketing images for some major brands in the swim industry remain stuck many decades backward into the 1950s. 

[a split image: top half shows a website homepage with a newsletter pop-up prompt of a young woman in a 2-piece swimsuit who's kneeling on the beach; bottom half shows a website homepage with a newsletter pop-up prompt of 6 young adults standing in a circle with their arms around each other's shoulders as they gaze down into the camera lens] 

This company's brand is synonymous with swimming. 

When the newsletter pop-up with the 6 models (who are not responsible for the exclusionary context in which it's being used) first came to my attention almost 2 years ago, here's what sprang to my mind: Tell me no one in your company recognizes (or cares?) that the imagery used to inspire engagement with the brand embodies the opposite of inclusion without saying a word. 

That same newsletter sign-up prompt pops up on the homepage slightly above the "water is for everyone, always" motto for this brand's very worthy, necessary, effective swim education initiative. The contradiction between the visual that accompanies the invitation to receive their newsletter and join their community versus their proclamation of inclusion seems obvious.  

The observer is looking up to the six smiling, apparently Anglo/white young adults who are standing in a tight circle with their arms around each other's shoulders, forming a closed loop that doesn't allow room for widening the circle or adding more people - especially not people who are Black or Brown, older than 30, fat, physically unfit, disabled or who have super thick, kinky, curly, coily hair or...

[a split image: top half shows a website homepage with a newsletter pop-up prompt with 6 young adults standing in a circle with their arms around each other's shoulders as they look down into the camera lens] 

"Water is for everyone, always." implies a global truth, but the models populating the pop-up image don't reflect the world's population: by continent* 60% Asia, 19% Africa, 9% Europe, 5% North America, 8% Latin America & the Caribbean, >1% Oceania (Australia, New Zealand, islands in the South & Central Pacific Ocean, Papua New Guinea, Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia) 

This ongoing misalignment of images and words is so confusing because this brand consistently invests in their own and other organizations' substantive swim education initiatives. 

How much more effective would their efforts be if the imagery used to invite people to engage with their brand reflected a broader array of humanity in age, ethnicity, skin complexion, body type, physical fitness level, dis/ability, hair type...? 

We're one-quarter of the way through the 21st century and inclusion still isn't the default in the marketing strategies for major international brands. How many more years (or generations) will pass before that changes? 

Only time will reveal those answers. 

Advertising and marketing imagery that includes every kind of person invites everyone to engage and to invest their time and money and attention with that brand. The cosmetics, hosiery, and lingerie industries eventually recognized the potential profits they were forfeiting with their exclusionary product offerings. Part of my mission is to help the swim industry do the same while expanding access to the benefits and opportunities knowing how to swim provides and contributing to universal water competency, strong swim skills for all and zero drownings. 

*according to Statista.com