Kennedy Waterman - Wells Fargo Encourages Budding Actors To Become Botanists And Then Apologizes

There's been a lot of controversy this week over an ad campaign by Wells Fargo. The ad shows two pictures: one of a girl, with the caption "A ballerina yesterday. An engineer today." And one of a boy, with the caption "An actor yesterday. A botanist today." The ad is trying to depict the future of science and our youth. However, people are instead interpreting it as a put-down of the arts. That obviously performing isn't an actual career option, and that our kids should be doing science instead. There's been an uproar online over the message, which has drawn an apology from Wells Fargo, stating "Wells Fargo is deeply committed to the arts, and we offer our sincere apology for the initial ads...they were intended to celebrate the aspirations of all young people and fell short of that goal...We are making changes to the campaign’s creative that better reflect our company’s core value of embracing diversity and inclusion, and our support of the arts."

The author, Emily Willingham, is clearly on the arts' side, as am I. Before reading this article, I was well aware of the fact that the arts are becoming less and less important to teach to kids. You hardly hear the words 'budget cuts' without the arts being involved. For me, especially since I go to an arts school, the ad definitely hurts. Although I understand that it was trying to say that science is important, and kids can find great career opportunities in the science community, it came across as if dance and theater aren't valid careers. As if we all need to wake up and focus on something more reliable in the real world. Obviously, with the author's bias and my own bias, the reader can tell that the article was written to be understood by those who appreciate the arts. It was written to not only shed light on Wells Fargo, but on society as a whole. Parents like to discourage their kids from pursuing the arts because no one thinks of it as a real option. Being on Broadway or singing on TV is just a dream that maybe makes you smile to yourself, but certainly isn't attainable. I think it's important that we encourage kids to do what they love and make the world a more artistic place. This ties in to religious intolerance in New England in a way. Though it's not as severe, artists are 'persecuted' for doing what they love and what they believe in. Hopefully we can overcome just as the colonists did.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2016/09/04/wells-fargo-encourages-budding-actors-to-become-botanists-and-apologizes/#7bddcbb64a56