Fallout Continues After Richards Group CEO Calls Ad "Too Black"
Posted Tuesday, October 14, 2020 10:21 P.M.
Advertising icon Stan Richards, founder & chief executive officer of The Richards Group is under
fire for comments made about a Motel 6 ad that he labeled "too black" and would not resonate with
Motel 6's "significant white supremacist constituents". The comments took place during an internal
meeting at the agency last week, according to Motel 6.
Those comments have had a major backlash from other Richards Group clients including Cracker
Barrel, Dr Pepper, Home Depot, Keurig who quickly followed suit in dropping their ad accounts
with the agency. Also, The University of Texas at Austin is considering a name change of the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations in the Moody College of Communication.
The school offers undergraduate degrees in Advertising and Public.
Motel 6 and Home Depot were clients of The Richards Group for more than 25 years.
According to Ad Age, Richards has apologized for the remarks on an agency-wide Zoom call.
In a August/September 2020 D Magazine interview, Richards stated he was confident about two
things. The first one, "he will never retire" and two, "The Richards Group will never be sold—even
after he dies". “You have to understand that I love what I do. It’s the most fun that I have. Why
would I want to give that up?”
Back in 2018, Richards, 87, sat down for a video entitled "Doing The Right Thing" where he talks
about mistakes being costly.
Richards has yet to resign from his agency that became a full-service advertising agency in 1976.
He will only step aside and Principal/Creative Deirector Glenn Dady will now take over full
day-to-day operations. Dady released the following statement:
"In the over four decades I have had the privilege of working at The Richards Group, the agency
has never been party to nor tolerated racism in any form. We exist to endear brands to all people.
Our brand has been tarnished. Like all businesses and organizations, we have a lot of work to do
to further societal change. As the person now responsible for all the ooperations of The Richards
Group going forward, I commit to doing everything in my power to stay focused on that goal".
"We understand and regret the pain and concerns of all those who were deeply troubled by
the words our founder spoke. He can't take them back. We can only ask for forgiveness
and promise to learn and be better. We ask our many friends for understanding and prayers
as we move forward."
Dallas County voters can drop off their mail-in
ballot in person at the Elections Department at
1520 Round Table Drive in Dallas.
Early voting for the November 3 General Election
has began in Dallas. It runs through October 30
and any registered voter can vote early.
