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Quote: NEDAL AHMED ON AMPLIFYING UNHEARD VOICES WITH PandG'S 'THE TALK' The Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo senior copywriter discusses making the award-winning film for our Black History Month Celebration of Creative Excellence By Nedal Ahmed Published On Feb 08, 2022 Play Video Editor's Pick Our Black History Month creative excellence series continues with Nedal Ahmed, senior copywriter at Wieden+Kennedy Tokyo. Ahmed is a celebrated talent whose career has taken her all around the world. She's created for everything from Slurpees to sanding equipment at agencies including BBDO, Droga5 and 72andSunny Amsterdam. In 2019, she had earned Ad Age’s honor of Creative of the Year at our annual Creativity Awards, along with a slew of other accolades. ADVERTISING This week’s guest editor, Vida Cornelious, VP of creative at The New York Times advertising, had worked with Ahmed via a mentoring opportunity while the writer was still a student at University of North Texas, after which she landed a role at Tracey Locke. “I knew she was destined to make a mark in this industry,” Cornelious said. “ She continues to be an insightful creative mind, tackling culturally-defining subjects with intelligence and dignity. When you think of the word ‘excellence,’ Nedal is an obvious choice. But I also chose her to feature this week because after 10+ years of watching her career bloom, I continue to be inspired by her passion for her craft and seeing her deliver creative work that has bonafied staying power. She will forever be a talent to watch.” Here, Ahmed shares what’s arguably her most famous piece, “The Talk,” for PandG. Created while she was at BBDO New York, the arresting film earned the industry’s most coveted honors, including a Cannes Lions Film Grand Prix and an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. But the accolades were just a side note to the important conversations it ignited and the impact it had for many whose story had yet to be told. Nedal Ahmed I remember the morning I rode the F train heading into Midtown Manhattan, and it felt like someone had died. Something really bad had happened, and none of us could do anything about it. It was the morning after the election of Donald Trump. That powerlessness stuck around for many Americans, and it was especially felt in advertising. So when I got a brief that November to work on a PandG "My Black Is Beautiful" brief, I threw myself in it. The "My Black Is Beautiful" platform had generally been focused on Black beauty, but it was time to go beyond that, to address the things that we didn’t want to look at. We centered our concept around “the talk,” the conversation(s) Black parents have with their children to help them navigate a world that’s not always welcoming or safe. The narrative spanned several decades, from the 1950s to modern-day, to show that even with time passing, the issue hadn’t changed enough. The last scene is a mother preparing her teenage daughter on how to stay safe in case she’s pulled over by the police. I felt a lot of pressure with this work. I was the only woman and only Black creative on the team. If it went really badly, I knew I’d feel a particular sense of responsibility. This film came out in 2017, which despite not being so long ago, was a fairly different climate. There had been no racial reckoning of 2020 yet. Major brands weren’t addressing racism against the Black community directly. So when “The Talk” came out, a lot of people got mad. Thousands signed petitions to boycott PandG. Thankfully, I felt prepared for that. I knew that for some people, even the mention of race felt like an attack. But we didn’t need to stay quiet because of those people. There were people who needed to be heard, to have their experience voiced and validated. And there were people who weren’t even aware ‘the talk’ existed, but would be willing to listen. And who knows, the boycotters may come around too. “The Talk” ended up winning many awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. More importantly, it was covered by countless news outlets like "60 Minutes" and The Washington Post and sparked dialog beyond advertising. It also led to a follow-up film called “The Look.” And it gained new life in 2020 as we were once again forced to have a necessary conversation about race. Watch: PandG goes from 'The Talk' to 'The Look' to illustrate the unconscious bias that plagues Black men. The work wasn’t perfect (for example, we’d asked to feature fathers in speaking roles and didn’t succeed). But perfect or not, I’m proud that it was impactful. Personally, what I learned from “The Talk” has stayed with me as a creative and as a person: not everyone has to like what you're going to say, but it doesn’t mean it’s not real or not important. So find the words to say it.