Diversity in the Workforce: McDonalds

By: Natalie Beasley



“Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.”
McDonalds understands this struggle, and are currently working to make their workforce a more diverse one. Internationally, they have launched a campaign with ads that say, we don’t hire all these different nationalities, but that they hire individuals. This is a strong message for McDonalds to spread.
Large corporations all around the world are actively trying to launch these different diversity campaigns. They realize that diversity adds a lot to an organization, and by having a corporation that is diverse; in turn the corporation is more well rounded. McDonalds believes that their workforce needs to represent the customers that they serve. With McDonalds being the leader in the fast food industry, they have a very large fan base, and are able to reach out to a very large audience.
In the early 1970s when this entire campaign originally began, the employees of McDonalds started creating different employee networks like Women's Leadership Network, Home Office Asian Network, McDonald's Black Employee Network, and the Hispanic Steering Committee. Those networks eventually evolved into the National McDonald's Diversity Advisory Council.
McDonalds is very proud of their accomplishment with implementing diversity into their corporation. They have the largest number of minority and female franchisees in the fast food industry. More than 37% of all McDonald's U.S. Owner and Operators are women and minorities. They are also prided in that their number of Hispanic franchisees combined is actually larger than any other single Hispanic business in the country. Ofelia Melendrez-Kumpf, vice-president of the southwest region, has become a spokesperson for the Hispanic culture.
One of McDonalds largest accomplishments was being include in the Human Rights Campaign “Buying for Equality” guide, a leading publication from a nationally known and well-respected GLBT advocacy group..
From a public relations standpoint, McDonalds is getting their message out there very effectively. With even more advertisements, they will see even more success with developing a more diverse workforce.

Ikea and the Modern Society

Ikea and the Modern Society
By: Dara Pickering



Ikea, home to the favorite underpriced Swedish furniture, has recently launched a diversity tolerance campaign both outdoors and in print. The furniture store’s mission that reads, “dedicated to home,” has now become dedicated in raising awareness about diversity. The company goes far beyond typical issues of diversity, such as race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, and also targets populations we tend to forget about, such as the elderly. After all, age discrimination is an issue of equal opportunity as well, lest we forget.
The advertising campaign is a clever mix of art and humanitarianism that appears in many public transit stops. The campaign posters are composed of thousands of Ikea products that make up the bigger picture of diverse faces. The message,"Long Live Diversity," is easy to decipher with no hidden agendas.
Since early 1994, Ikea has been known to feature non-nuclear, middle-class families in its commercials and print advertisements. Ikea recently featured a homosexual couple in its seasonal magazine, revisiting earlier advertisements aimed at the gay and lesbian community. When the magazine faced media scrutiny, Ikea representatives defended the picture, saying the magazine promotes modern society, a society that is not necessarily straight. Ikea has also addressed issues such as transgender or gender reassignment in its overseas advertisements.
When such globally prominate companies such as Ikea make strides towards building awareness about diversity, other companies follow suit. For example, Sprint, Southwest Airlines and Sears are a few companies that have decided to become more directed towards diverse audiences. The society in which we live has grown immensely in terms of diversity within the last decade. In order to deliver messages to target audiences, it will be important to increase diversity awareness much like the Ikea advertisements.

Diversity in Public Relations

Understanding the importance of diversity is crucial to succeeding in public relations. Reaching out to a variety of groups, such as racial and cultural groups, is necessary in order to expand your organizations market. When gaining more exposure with more and more publics, organization's need to be constantly aware of how they come off to different publics. They need to treat them all equally in terms of focus and respect. 

For example, Susan G. Komen for the Cure has a campaign called Circle of Promise devoted solely to how breast cancer affects African American women. A major issue that Komen needs to overcome is that African American women have a higher mortality rate than any other group. Which is why Komen felt the need to create the Circle of Promise campaign. 

Another organization that has done a great job with diversity is Dove. Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty does a wonderful job of show diverse body types and ethnicities of women sending the message that all women are beautiful. 

Being conscious of how messages can be perceived by different publics is needed to run successful campaigns and to avoid as many mistakes as possible, especially ones that could be potentially offensive.   

Seeking Diversity Employment

By: Jayse Nelson









It is apparent that diversity has become an important component in all types of professional organizations and companies. Public Relations Professionals have taken a key role in applying diversity into the professional work place. The Council of Public Relations stresses the need for Public Relations Practitioners to “reflect the society we live in, “ and society currently demands diversity in the workplace. Therefore, as we are approaching graduation and seeking employment in the professional world, I feel it is our duty to look into our future employment prospects and their attitudes towards diversity in the workplace.

A few months ago when I was looking into employment opportunities, I noticed many companies had incorporated a section about diversity onto their Web sites. One company I noticed in particular was The Coca-Cola Company. After looking into the diversity section, it became clear why diversity had become so important to them. In 1999, four current and former African American employees sued The Coca-Cola Company for racial discrimination. The plaintiffs claimed African American employees received less pay and had fewer opportunities to advance in the company than their fellow white employees. The company settled the suit outside of court by paying more than $500 million. Since this lawsuit, The Coca-Cola Company has taken certain measures to communicate their progress towards implementing diversity into their company.

In the past nine years, The Coca-Cola Company has seen progress in the incorporation of diversity in the workplace. The company has received awards and recognition to prove their progress. In my opinion, their progress is an indicator they are working towards a more diverse workplace. Their improvement has proven to me, a Public Relations student seeking employment, that I could be confident in working for a company like Coca-Cola.

Pepsi's Diversity and Inclusion

By Rachel Forsyth

According to Diversityinc.com, both PepsiCo and its spin off company Pepsi Bottling Company are ranked 28 and 29 on DiversityInc’s 2008 Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. Upon looking at PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Company website, I found many links, pledges and tokens of recognition for their diversity efforts. The sites make it clear that the Pepsi name uses diversity throughout their employment, recruitment and advertising. There was no search necessary on both sites to locate whether Pepsi is dedicated to diversity. I liked what I saw. It was clear that from home page to their page dedicated to “Diversity and Inclusion,” that Pepsi delivers a clear and consistent message. Not only is this message of diversity relevant today, but as one book clearly states, they are the winners of the "Real Pepsi Challenge."

After looking at Pepsi Bottling Company and PepsiCo’s websites, I became intrigued where Coca-Cola (Pepsi’s main competitor) stood on the diversity playing field. According to DiversityInc, they rank 2nd place as a top diverse company. However, when I googled ‘Coca-Cola and Diversity,’ it was apparent that Coca-Cola has made quite a comeback from their April 1999 racial discrimination lawsuit. Black employees brought this lawsuit against Coca-Cola. The suit, settled in November 2000, claimed Coca-Cola discriminated in pay, promotion, and evaluations.

With all the recognition Pepsi has received, I found their diversity and inclusion efforts to be genuine and in full force. It's evident they use these tactics in all areas because of how important it is to be perceived as inclusive. I think the way PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Company have become a diversity role model. Honestly, I really had no idea before visiting the website that they were that diverse. I feel like today, I automatically assume companies operate with an open mind. I think Pepsi is a great leader in diversity by showing that your company, not just your product, should be “something for everyone.”

"Got White Milk"

By Brittany Atwood

All of us have heard of the “Got Milk” ads and we know how influential they have been. These ads have brought an important issue to the forefront in American’s minds. The ads showcase known celebrities who have pledged to drink more milk for various health reasons. However, what if milk is not healthy for all races? According to Shanti Rangwani, almost 90 percent of African Americans and most Latinos, Asians, and Southern Europeans lack the genes necessary to digest lactose, the primary sugar in milk. In response to this finding, the milk industry has claimed that ethnic people can drink milk in moderation.

Another problem with the “Got Milk” ads is the emphasis on white. For example, in one “Got Milk” ad featuring country singer Clint Black the tagline says “My favorite color? White of course” The ads portray milk as the white drink. In reality, milk is just as diverse as people are. Milk can come in many varieties. Some ads have even been removed because of the emphasis on whiteness associated with milk. A Finnish ad featuring an attractive young white woman with a milk moustache with copy reading "the milk-white look" was removed because of protests.

Celebrities and well-known community investors have always been featured on the ads with milk moustaches, but what about minorities? The White Privilege Conference is a conference dedicated to raise attention to the issues of white supremacy in America. White people have more of a privilege than minorities to likely be in advertisements featuring pure or beauty products. To get word out about the conference, they designed t-shirts as a marketing tool. The t-shirts are similar to the "got milk" campaign.


The milk industry needs to do some research to find out how to target minorities. Their ads are seen by everybody everywhere; therefore, they need to make sure their ads appeal to everyone. Whether it is changing some of the wording on their ads to finding more diverse celebrities to endorse their ads, something needs to be done to please everyone.

Coffee from Around the World in one Place

By Stacey Haire

Diversity can refer to a number of things including skin color, backgrounds, purchases or ideas. The Public Relations Coalition recognized in their January 2005 summit there are barriers to achieving true diversity in the workplace but the Coalition is committed to addressing the challenge. The Business Planning and Research International (the BPRI Group) conducted a survey in October 2004 that involved 362 PR and communications professionals who are members of the organizations that are part of the PR Coalition. The respondents to the survey saw three themes as best defining diversity: incorporating the ideas of others, involving people of all races and cultures and creating opportunities for all races and cultures.

There are many businesses now committed to creating diversity among their employees, products and advertisements. Some companies such as Starbucks go above and beyond when it comes to defining diversity. Starbucks describes diversity with their team members, customers, various community programs and their supplier diversity. Starbucks engages in community outreach efforts for suppliers, most notably through the regional affiliate of the National Minority Supplier Development Council. They have also partnered with other organizations to establish a model Supplier Diversity Training Program. Starbucks has also created various programs that give back to the community. The Starbucks Foundation helps to fund literacy programs in the U.S. and Canada. In 2008, The Starbucks Foundation began supporting young social entrepreneurs around the world. Other programs include Ethos Water Fund, China Education Project and a Gulf Coast Recovery program. Something interesting and fun for customers is the My Starbucks Idea. This program lets Starbucks customers shape the future of Starbucks by offering their input and ideas. This shows they can about the ideas of their customers and it welcomes diverse comments abut the company. If more companies were like Starbucks, a high percentage of people would know what it means for a company to be truly diverse in all aspects of its operations.

Diversity is all around us

Diversity is all around us
By: Kylie Fisher
"Whether we are shopping, looking for that perfect job, or even grabbing a bite to eat, diversity will change how we view our world. "

Many companies seek an advantage over their competitors by only hiring employees with the "look" or "personality" of the products they wish to promote. While this employee might have a great connection with one group of customers, this sort of profiling does not insure an appeal to the larger customer base. Therefore, most companies need a variety of personalities, genders and races to meet the needs of their customers or to attract new potential customers. One clothing store learned this lesson the hard way. Following the 2004 lawsuit against Abercrombie& Fitch, many companies have looked at their policies and procedures regarding recruitment, hiring, job assignment, training, and promotion. To avoid a similar experience with a million dollar lawsuit many employers, including WalMart and Wells Fargo, are trying to attract employees by stating the importance of diversity within their companies.

Diversity is a requirement for survival and/or success in today's society. In their efforts to attract a diverse population of employees, many companies have implemented new advertising and marketing campaigns promoting the diversity of their employee’s talents, while also emphasizing the company’s strengths and advantages to a perspective employee seeking to joining their team. I believe McDonalds is waging one of the most massive campaigns to promote diversity in the workplace. Some recent McDonald's advertisements promote the benefits of being an employee, in addition to, the different meal options for the different ages of consumers. By utilizing several commercials targeting different demographics, the intended message is spread faster throughout the target audience.

Komen for the Cure: A model for getting a message out to diverse publics

By: Simone Fraid

The Susan G. Komen foundation, now known as Komen for the Cure, is a wonderful non-profit organization that serves the cause of breast cancer awareness well. I have had personal experience with this organization over the years; I have walked in the Race for the Cure, I have volunteered at the Race, and I worked as the OU Undergraduate Intern for Komen for the Cure for a few months last year. They are always eager to spread their message to anyone who will hear it.

Breast cancer affects many different populations, not just the 45 year-old woman many people picture. On their web site, Komen lists certain risk factors and statistics for different groups.

Some of these categories are probably very surprising to people. For example, people often don’t think about men getting breast cancer, or the fact that a lesbian sexual orientation can be a risk factor for breast cancer. Komen works hard to make sure that people aware of the many diverse risk factors in order to properly.

The diverse audience of Komen’s message is reflected aptly in its range of publications. Brochures, Breast Self Exam Cards, flyers and more are printed in different languages, and are specific to different groups. It is interesting to note that they even have publications for couples with advice on how to get through breast cancer together. Also interesting is the fact that they have BSE cards in Arabic, Hindi, and Russian- languages not typically covered by organizations trying to do typical diversity outreach.

With as important of a cause as breast cancer is, it is wonderful that Komen has done so much to reach out to so many. It is fitting that an organization fighting a cancer that affects so many would mirror that in its publicity and messages for so many.

Here is a great example of a targeted effort by Komen.

Diversity at OU

Diversity at OU
By Dara Hollingsworth


I decided to look at diversity efforts in higher education. Most of us can probably agree the OU is not the most diverse school in the country. According to the Princeton Review, 74.4 percent of the student population at OU is Caucasian. By comparison, just 57.6 percent of students are Caucasian at Temple University which ranks Temple fifth in the diversity rankings of the Princeton Review.

I started to think that maybe the OU and Temple’s diversity numbers have something to do with the population of the states or cities they are located in. According to 2006 Census data, 78.3 percent of Oklahomans are white and 82. 4 percent of Norman residents are white. Temple is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The census data says that 85.7 percent of Pennsylvania residents are white, but only 45 percent of Philadelphia residents are white.

This led me to start thinking about the public relations efforts of OU. I’m sure that I’m not the only one that has noticed that OU makes an effort to include minority students in the pictures on the Web site and in pictures in the information they distribute. OU’s prospective students Web site also has a page that is all about diversity at OU. The Web page talks about diversity enrichment programs at OU. I looked for a similar page about diversity on the Temple Web site, but I was unable to find anything. It seems that, by using some PR tactics, OU is making an effort to become more diverse, but when we’ll see the results of those tactics remains to be seen.

Accepting diversity in the workplace.

By Nick Holmes

When thinking about diversity, one might think of how everyone comes from a different background, culture, ethnicity, gender, has had different experiences in their lives, etc. However, one’s sexual orientation is something often taken for granted when talking about diversity. Often, people talk about the differences between men and women in the workplace, but issues with LGBT community members aren’t talked about often.

Many people in our everyday lives consider themselves a part of the LGBT community. Luckily, modern businesses are taking note and ensuring that their organizations are accepting and supportive of anyone, no matter how they define themselves. Ernst & Young was the first of the “big four” accounting firms to be certified by the Human Rights Campaign. One of their internal mottos for accepting this community is “making LGBTA inclusiveness real every day.”

Ernst & Young created “People Resource Networks” for their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people and their allies (LGBTA) to establish a “gender identity/expression” category within their antidiscrimination policy. The accounting firm believes in the value of fostering an “open and inclusive office environment.”

Ernst & Young is one of many companies striving to promote diversity in the workplace. They understand that not everyone is the same and that their employees need to feel as if they can be themselves at work, without worrying about what their supervisor might say if they found out too many details of their personal lives. Organizations like this are promoting equality among their members, without forcing everyone to “conform” and accepting that we are a very diverse species.

Can the Peace Corp restore America's reputation abroad?

R.Y. Douglas

“People in other countries don’t hate us because of our values- but rather that they are disappointed with us because we aren’t always true to those values.”
-Subcommittee Chairman Bill Delahunt



Two of the Peace Corp’s primary functions are to promote better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served and promote better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.

The Peace Corp should be more relevant today than ever due to the declining reputation of America in many parts of the world. The mission of the Peace Corp to promote cross-cultural understanding could serve as a “global” public relations campaign that could restore the reputation of the U.S. as a nation that values diverse relationships and thrives on multicultural communication. The outreach tactic of the Peace Corp to promote the U.S. as a nation that reaches out to all people of all walks of life who reach out a hand in need has been lost as of late but is still inherent to the purpose of the organization.

It is obvious from the organization’s Web site that their main interest is in working with diverse populations. Many different ethnic groups, young and old, men and women are all present on the site. I also was struck by the use of a global map on the home page to illustrate their interest in serving diverse communities around the world. Today, international service has the potential to emerge as a characteristic intrinsically bound to being American.