Walmart in February rolled out a spot, called “More Than Words,” promoting its partnership with the National Urban League in celebration of Black History Month. The spot, by GlobalHue (named Adweek’s Multicultural Agency of the Decade), shows a young, African-American boy rising to the challenge of tutoring a much older man. (“All I know is his name is James and he needs extra help with his reading,” the boy says.) The spot—which is running at frequent intervals throughout the rest of the year—taps into the African-American mom’s desire to see her child “do good and have a positive impact on society,” said GlobalHue vp and group account director Detavio Samuels. Brandweek spoke with Samuels and the agency’s Vida Cornelious, vp-group creative director, and Ozioma Egwuonqu, vp-cultural strategy director, about the multicultural insights the agency leveraged in creating the ad. Excerpts from that conversation are below.
Jason Uzarraga 