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.

Why Walmart’s New Ad Speaks ‘More Than Words’.

While the recession has cut a swathe through population groups of all sorts, a new report from AARP makes clear that it has hit older black consumers especially hard. The effects are evident in areas ranging from diminished retirement savings to cutbacks on medications to stress-induced difficulty in sleeping.

Recession Hits Older African Americans Hard.

The debate over when and how Twitter will offer marketers paid placement among its 50 million daily tweets heated up last week when rumors emerged that Twitter will finally unveil its ad platform this month. For now, it’s speculation, but clues to how Twitter might integrate advertising can be found in the clutch of companies already integrating brand messages in the Twitter ecosystem.

via Whither Twitter?.