The app for independent voices
Written an article on the Sarah Pochin and the demographics of advertising controversy.
Her critics, such as Kier Starmer and many others, in their extreme disingenuousness, offer a perfect example of how officially accepted opinion on matters of race works in this country.
Obviously, Pochin was not complaining about seeing non-white people on TV, but about the extreme overrepresentation. And we know from the recent channel 4 report on the issue that black people in particular are massively overrepresented in ads.
In 2024, Black people (4 per cent of the population) featured in 51 per cent of ads, 23 per cent with them in a lead role. However South Asians (8 per cent of the population) featured in 17 per cent of ads, 6 per cent with them in a lead role.
So the story is really about black overrepresentation. So how has this situation developed? Some think it's because advertising agencies are based in London, or that it's down to commercial considerations.
But I think the answer is more to do with how diversity has become a sacred value and black people have become its symbol. For the advertisers, black people ARE diversity. US influence is crucial, but the same dynamics are at play here.
While the official response to Pochin has been outrage, many voters will be thinking some variation on “well she’s right though isn’t she, I’m glad someone in politics finally said it”.
Personally, I wish respectable people had been more sensible and nuanced on this issue over the last few decades. But this isn't what we've had.
Instead we've had an asymmetrical multiculturalism where overrepresentation of non-white groups is either ignored or celebrated, while overrepresentation (or even accurate representation) of white people is castigated.