Larry Gordon’s Passion for Advertising Diversity Will Change the Industry for the Better
Interview by Trey Alston / Working Not Working Member
Back in May, Larry Gordon was named a finalist for Ad Age’s Creative Director of the Year. When speaking to him recently though, you’d never be able to tell. “I've been doing this for a decade-plus, and I still think I'm trash,” he says over a video chat with a sheepish grin. “If I think about a numbers perspective of all the hundreds and thousands of ideas that I've come up with, and I look at how many ideas actually got executed that I have in my book and portfolio, the percentage is low. Very low. If it was a batting average, I wouldn't be in the league. If it was a shooting average, I wouldn't be in the league.”
This openness is what makes him unique in an industry that’s often driven by larger-than-life egos. Gordon, who’s currently a Creative Director at Laundry Service, started his career as an Art Director in 2008 and, over the span of 13 years, has developed multiple award-winning campaigns as he’s evolved as a creative. And he’s done so on his own terms — refusing to compromise who he is.
This confidence is something that he had to learn because diversity’s terrible in advertising — it’s no secret. And though he loves the ability to create work that doesn’t perpetuate stereotypes and instead tells beautiful stories, the lack of diversity is his biggest problem with advertising and something that he wants to see change in the near future. With a laugh, he explains the tricks that agencies use to camouflage the lack of diversity that they have.
“If you look at all the top agencies, they love to do this thing where on their website, they have a people section… Our People,” he says. “You can see the photo of all the motherfuckers who work there. It’s never a lot of Black people. Even when they turn all the photos to black and white, which a lot of them like to do, it still doesn't help. It still ain't enough Black people.”
Gordon explains diversity in advertising with the same passion that goes into explaining new ideas. Our conversation about his background quickly moved into the steps that advertising needs to take to become more inclusive and I think it’s all the better for it. For agencies looking to make some serious change, Gordon practically lays out the blueprint that will help the creative world change for the better.
Here’s to hoping that people everywhere listen. That Black faces, in the near future, are no longer rare in agency staff photos.
Check out our conversation with Gordon about his start in advertising, advertising’s lack of diversity, and how it can change, below.
What drove you to advertising? How'd you get into it?
When I was young, I remember seeing ads targeting Black people and thinking, “That's supposed to be talking to me or representative of me and my culture, but it's wrong. Something's wrong here. It's off. It's weird.”
At the time, I wasn't like, “Oh, now I have to go into advertising.” I just saw that something was wrong in the portrayal of Black people on TV. And it wasn't just shows and movies; it was in the fucking advertisement of it, all around the board.
I was always into art and comic books, and I always rapped. I was always a creative, expressive person. When I was in college, I was undeclared and I was just jumping around to different stuff. Then, I took an advertising class and it all kind of connected the dots, like “Oh, I remember this problem that I've been having in the back of my head for years now. And it's actually a profession that I can get into and I can try and change this shit.” And I was like, “All right. Sign me up. That's what I'm going to do.”
“When I was young, I remember seeing ads targeting Black people and thinking, “That’s supposed to be talking to me or representative of me and my culture, but it’s wrong. Something’s wrong here. It’s off. It’s weird.’”
You’ve spent a lot of your career as an art director. So what would you say has been your overall approach to creative as an art director? Is there a philosophy that drives your work?
Right now, my current philosophy is, “is it beautiful and is it true?” And I actually got that from rapper Yasiin Bey in a track. Those are the two parameters for me. You could also argue that the truth is beautiful, so you maybe it's one and the same thing.
I think that all hearkens back to misrepresentation of people, perpetuating stereotypes that you're trying to fight against. Tell beautiful stories, tell true stories with true representation, and that should come to life in your work.
As an art director, I think it's a taste-level thing. It's about bringing your real experience into how things should look, how they should feel, and how you draw emotions out of people. When I see my work, I always want it to be a reflection of true things about me and true things about people who look like me.
Over the years from intern to art director to creative director, what have you learned about yourself as a creative?
That I'm always growing and evolving. That I'm not going to be the same. One thing that I've always known about myself as a creative in this field is that everything is temporary. I'm not always going to be in advertising or expressing myself creatively through advertising. There are a lot of other different fields I can be in, and I feel I can make an impact beyond advertising.
So I think that gives me some freedom. I know a lot of people in this industry are lifers. And they're like, “I'm going to live and die as an ECD or a CCO.” Old and gray and tired. I don't think that's necessarily my path. I think I'll keep growing and evolving. And when it doesn't make sense anymore for me to express myself creatively in advertising, I'll move on to something else.
When do you think that you became “good” as a creative?
I've been doing this for a decade-plus, and I still think I'm trash. I'll break it down for you in a couple of ways. If I think about a numbers perspective of all the hundreds and thousands of ideas that I've come up with, and I look at how many ideas actually got executed that I have in my book and portfolio, the percentage is low. Very low. If it was a batting average, I wouldn't be in the league. If it was a shooting average, I wouldn't be in the league. If I was anything in any other industry going by these numbers, it is not successful in that way.
The creative process in advertising is about repetition. The more you do it, the more you’re in command of it and the better you feel you are at it. I still don't think I'm good at it, but I do feel I have a better command of it. But I wouldn't say that I'm good at it.
How does the validation of awards impact your confidence as a creative? Does it entice you to experiment more or do you subconsciously tighten your focus to what's working already?
Awards are tricky. On one end, it’s validating in the sense that my peers feel me. My peers who go through the same process, all the headache, all the challenges, all the obstacles, they see my work and they understand without even knowing the backstory that it has some trials and tribulations to it, but I got it out the door and the craft is high and the idea is good. And they celebrate that, so to that extent it feels good that they feel it.
But on the other end, it doesn't really mean anything. You think of our industry, we're just us awarding us. I think my work is more about really impacting people, and really building the connection between brand and culture. And it's hard to quantify that with an industry award.
How would you say diversity has changed over the years?
It's still trash. There's no way around it. I started in a market where I was the only Black person. I crossed over to a full-time general market where, for a long time, I was the only one. And then, it'd be one or two. Even now, where I am now, I've been able to build a diverse team, that even when I look outside of my team it's still lacking. When I look at the industry across the board, it's still lacking. If you go to all the top agencies, they love to do this thing where on their website, they have a people section: Our People. You can see the photo of all the motherfuckers who work there. It’s never a lot of Black people. Even when they turn all the photos to black and white, which a lot of them like to do, it still doesn't help. It still ain't enough Black people. That's just the reality, so it's still trash.
Is bringing your full and authentic self to your work something that you've always had or something that you had to learn over the course of being in the industry?
I had to work towards it. I had a very weird start in the sense that I started again at a shop where there weren't a lot of white people. It was a bunch of Latinx people. So I can still be myself, and I feel like they allow me to be myself. In regular society, there are certain things I feel I had to do, like code-switching. But when I went to work, I didn't feel like that and it didn't stifle my creativity. I could be weird.
If they didn't understand it, they still let it ride. “Okay. Well, that's just Larry. That's just him doing his thing.” There was no issue where they had to say, “You're too loud” or “Your hair's messed up” or “Why are you wearing gold teeth to work today?”
“Now I have enough experience or I have the confidence to walk into a place and be like, ‘I’m the only one who looks like me here, so you’re going to get all of me. That’s it. And if that’s not the case, then I’m out.’”
When I go into the general market, it's a little bit different. But now I have enough experience or I have the confidence to walk into a place and be like, “I'm the only one who looks like me here, so you're going to get all of me. That's it. And if that's not the case, then I'm out.”
I think for most people you just got to grow into it. That's why I think it's important for me to be sending those messages, for me to be having speaker panels at different schools, speaking to young Black creatives to let them know it's possible. And yes, I'm a creative director. Yes, I've been in the game for a decade, but this is possible for you too. Nobody's probably telling you this, but it's okay to be yourself. And the more you’re yourself, the more you force them to accept it, or be out and find that place that does accept you for you.
What's your favorite and least favorite thing about the industry?
When I look at it, I get to come to work and play all day long. I just come to work and think about ways to fuck up the world. Ways to just bend anything to my will, whatever my mind can imagine, and then try and sell it through to a client and use somebody else's money to fund these ideas that I have in my head. I think when you have an alignment with brands that you truly care about and get to have an impact on culture, specifically your culture, it's the perfect setting and scenario.
“When you have an alignment with brands that you truly care about and get to have an impact on culture, specifically your culture, it’s the perfect setting and scenario.”
My least favorite thing about this industry, again, is just the lack of diversity. It is really that. More people can do what I do. I think from a creative standpoint, they try to put us on a pedestal — us creators, all these special people. And we're basic as hell. Anybody can be creative. A good idea can come from anywhere. So I want to open up the access and give people that confidence. You can do this if this is something you honestly wanted to do. There's nothing special about this. Creativity is everywhere.
What do you want to see more of in the industry before you move to something else?
I want to see some young gunners coming in after me. Not even coming in, I want them already there by the time I leave. I want them already there to help them build a foundation and let them know it's possible for them.