Adwoke is now The Big Picture With Brett Craig

What began as a podcast in a small closet, is now a show with big ambitions.

It’s been a whirlwind since being “canceled” for a 5 year old casting email in June of 2020 at the height of the George Floyd/BLM racial tensions.

The feeling, as I stared at the ceiling in El Segundo, Ca, that night - after being told my services as Chief Creative Officer would no longer be required at Deutsch/LA, the biggest agency on the West Coast, was as if I was falling through the floor.

What, exactly, had just happened to me?

I had never once been brought into an HR office for a single complaint in 20+ years in the ad business. Of course, I’m sure I had my detractors, as we all do. But my record with coworkers, bosses, clients and minorities was consistently positive over the years.

I was known for being a collaborative (I wrote a book on it, in fact) and respectful creative/writer/leader. And I had been fortunate enough to become the Chief Creative Officer of a major ad agency, a true dream for a blue collar kid who, in truth, needed government grants and loans to attend college. (How ‘bout that “privilege”?)

There never was another accusation against me other than a single, 5 year old casting email, taken out of context and posted to Instagram.

Funny, never even noticed until I was writing this blog post that “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” was the section in which this article appeared on Adweek.com. Of course, it was!

Yet the ad industry pubs seized on the story. It played right into the new corporate fad of the day: “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”. Talking about “oppression” and “inequity” was suddenly all the rage - so this story was woke catnip. I was the perfect avatar for “systemic racism” in the ad world. The media needn’t dig any further. They had their story - and their villain. (There is a strange disembodied feeling one experiences when watching yourself being reputationally murdered online. I don’t recommend it.)

To make matters worse, at the time, every agency was tripping over themselves to prove they were the most woke. Black BLM squares appeared on ad agency Instagram accounts. Diversity pledges were made. It was performative, of course. But, unfortunately, in that moment I fit the archetype of the privileged, patriarchal, white, “oppressor”.

I was living proof of all that was wrong in Adland.

The headlines did their very best to infer I was a bigot from one out-of-context email. One publication (Mediapost) just made up stuff. Of course, there was no investigation. No attempt to establish a fact pattern (because there wasn’t one).

Then there was my agency, who despite knowing my character, needed to get as far away from a Christian, white male CCO - besmirched by an accusation of racism - as possible. Especially one who wasn’t going to bow down, and do the self-abasing I’m-sorry-for-those-I-hurt-I’m-a-privileged-white-male apology in order to remain in good standing with the industry. I wasn’t going to participate in the lie.

All those industry friends, employees and mentors? With the exception of one person, there was only silence. Privately they reached out and “supported” me. Publicly, however, no one wanted to be anywhere near the fallout zone. Eventually, even the one person who initially spoke up for me, his LinkedIn post went viral, he was mobbed and so he took it down for fear of losing his own career.

Since I was a fairly high profile CCO, firing me would appease the woke mob that wanted to spill some metaphorical blood. And the agency could be shown to be “doing the work”. Another evil white male banished. Another step towards “equity” accomplished.

Now that was very tidy creative solution to a very, very tough brief.

However, in retrospect, the way it all went down seemed, well, inevitable. The situation, the players involved, including me, felt like so many pawns on a board.

God, I believe, was closing - no, slamming - the door shut.

So, in the blink of an eye, I went from being a CCO of a major ad agency to feeling quite alone and confused. Where would I go now? How would I take care of my family? The phone wasn’t ringing off the hook exactly.

And the question I had for God was why?

Why did he allow this to happen? Not only did the headlines make me look horrible, but also - and I prayed this to him as I lay in bed: this makes you (God) look bad since I was outspoken for you.

What good could come from this?

There were no clear answers. Just silence. Racing thoughts. Anger. Black-pilled depression. And year later, an unexpected move across the country for financial reasons.

And still the question remained: why?

Two and half years later, I can finally say some of those answers are coming into view.

Over the summer, I started a podcast and blog called Adwoke. It was one part catharsis, one part a quasi-cynical rebuke to a very corrupt ad industry that had lost its way. The podcasts, quite literally, were done in my tiny closet (or, more accurately, my wife’s).

A very intimate studio, don’t you think?

The Adwoke shows were culture commentary. But also, they were about applying a spiritual lens to the issues raised - topics like the scourge of DEI and wokeness. This combination seemed to resonate. One listener told me Adwoke episodes have been like sermons for him. That is the highest compliment I can imagine receiving.

As it happens, the show caught the attention of an old friend, who happened to be a Hollywood producer who was looking to do something new.

So, The Big Picture was born.

The objective remains the same: to delve into the most important cultural issues of the day and seek to deepen the understanding of them - including truly comprehending what the other side is saying. But most importantly, I want to offer a spiritual perspective on these cultural and political issues, because Christ’s view is the ultimate big picture.

Where will this road lead? I’ve no clue. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered through all this it’s that God seems fond of twists and turns, so it’s best not to get too far ahead.

So I’ll take this journey one step at a time. And I’ll be seeking his direction each step of the way. I sincerely hope you’ll come along for the ride.

If you’ve enjoyed the show, it will still come through here on this Substack and Apple Podcasts and Spotify - only now, it’s called The Big Picture With Brett Craig. Going forward, it be shot on video and will also feature guests.

I would be honored if you subscribed/followed. Links below.

Rumble: The Big Picture With Brett Craig

Youtube: The Big Picture With Brett Craig

You can follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/bac37

Happy New Year,

Brett