Are Christmas adverts anything to do with Christmas anymore? Christmas seems to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time!

John Lewis has expressed its unique take on the holidays by replacing the Christmas tree with a sentient venus fly trap, Amazon has chosen a nostalgic route by reminding seniors of their youth, and TK Maxx has produced a catwalk of designer draped farm animals. The list goes on…

To be inclusive, advertisers are making content abstract to the point of nonsensical. Instead of using multiple perspectives of the Christmas holidays, they’re incorporating none whatsoever. The result of this is that people can't really relate to any of the content. It's a shame that adverts are now hesitant to represent real family traditions anymore at the risk of offending 'British' sensibilities. Though this seems inescapable, as multiple complaints were made about the lack of men in the John Lewis ad.  The diversity of the UK is a wonderful thing to be cherished, and there are countless different ways people celebrate this time of year - most don't include venus fly traps or alpacas! Being inclusive means taking the time to appreciate different ways of marking the festive period and the loved ones we spend it with - that's a pretty universal feeling.

- Customer Success Consultant, Eddie Kaziro

QUICK FIRE NEWS 🧨

❤️ London’s first permanent HIV/AIDS memorial

🛫 New plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

🧑⚖️ Russia’s Supreme Court calls LGBTQIA+ movement “extremist"

🫡 Maori MP broke protocal to perform haka

🤔 Councillor suggests hiring older women to cut maternity bills

Are you a business that champions Diversity and Inclusion? 🦸 We love partnering with brands who want to do good and grow their business at the same time. Share your story with an engaged readership of nearly 9,000 diverse subscribers. Get in touch!

LET'S GET INTO IT 🤓

Salary minimum introduced to curb migration

What's changed? Severe measurements have been introduced by the government to reduce foreign workers migrating to the UK. The minimum salary requirement for a skilled worker visa will rise to £38,700. Care workers will no longer be able to bring dependents to the UK with them, and people living in the UK, including British citizens, will only be able to sponsor family members to move to the UK if they also reach the minimum salary requirement - more than double what it was previously. Changes are expected to come into effect next spring. 

So what does this all mean? This block on foreign workers entering the UK will have a huge impact on already struggling sectors, such as the NHS and social care. Even if these workers meet the salary requirement, would they still come to the UK without their families?  

“It is both morally wrong and unconservative to say that only the wealthiest can fall in love, marry someone and then bring them to the UK” - Former Tory minister Gavin Barwell

Head of Content, Cressida Wyer's take:

As well as being profoundly callous and alienating to immigrants, these new measures also just seem ill thought out. We heavily rely on the foreign workers the government seeks to stop coming here - care workers, food industry workers, manufacturing, tourism, etc. The NHS and the care sector are already seriously struggling, surely this will exacerbate the existing crisis? This new salary requirement seems to give preferential access to the people we don't have a labour shortage of in the UK, like lawyers, accountants, bankers. And let's not forget the human impact. This policy will see married couples unable to bring their spouse to the UK, and families divided, including those that are already here in the UK. To put the salary requirement into context, below is a small selection of starting salaries in the UK below the minimum now required for migrants.  

 💷 AVERAGE STARTING SALARIES IN THE UK 💷 

• NHS Nurse Band 4 - £27,586 
• Junior Doctor - £32,300 
• Construction Labourer - £23,000 
• Care Worker - £23,410 
• Farm Worker - £23,400 
• University Lecturer - £34,804

NEW Diversity Unplugged Episode!

Why are AI Voices all Female?

We discuss all things AI with series regular Yani, and special guest Marlene Dahle; co-founder of Empire AI. We dive into the gender bias that AI presents, what happened at OpenAI and why do all voice assistants sound like females?  

Listen here.

Domestic slaves rescued from London’s richest streets

Modern slavery is happening every day right here in the UK, and in the most affluent parts of big cities no less. Wealthy families bring vulnerable workers over from poorer countries, making them even more vulnerable in a country they don't know, with no support system and no means of leaving. The abuse that occurs varies from having controls on your freedom and being overworked, to physical and sexual abuse. 

What happened in this case? Just a couple months ago two Filipina women were rescued from an affluent area of central London. They requested help to escape the house via social media. The rescuers - a small group of volunteers - facilitated their removal in the early hours of the morning and brought them to safety.  This group of volunteers have freed hundreds of women in the past five years, most being from the Philippines, though those that return home are at severe risk of being re-trafficked.

New Doctor Who special sparks trans joy ✨ 

A three-part Doctor Who special (in partnership with Disney+) kicked off a couple weeks ago to the delight of many die-hard fans. It saw the revival of Russell T. Davies as the writer, and David Tenant returning as the Doctor. The premiere episode put themes of gender identity front and centre with discussions of pronouns and the introduction of a trans character. There was much praise and heart-warming reactions at this representation, though predictably also those that threw their toys out the pram over "Doctor woke". Our resident Doctor Who fanatic, James, has some choice words for them...

Digital Marketing Consultant, James Burns's take:

Doctor Who is back! And with it, some familiar faces - something I’m personally very excited about. But what some publications would like you to know is that it’s being utterly ruined by the snowflake, "wokerati" left; with a non-binary character (cue gasps) - this show is now teeming with liberal nonsense that simply wouldn’texist in space.

I suppose those same commentators have missed the show runner’s string of shows, all of which have LGBTQIA+ themes; Queer as Folk, It’s a Sin, Torchwood, and also, Doctor Who (cue more gasps!) The show has always had queer themes, and also, since when did science fiction have any limitations on what is possible to experience, see, or meet? It’s a genre that’s supposed to be an expression of humanity’s open-mindedness, and eager willing to explore what’s out there. SO, to those who object to the inclusion of a trans non-binary character, go have a little cry in your gender-neutral bathroom in your house, and get back to me.  (oh, and register to vote. that’s my thing now, telling people to register to vote.)

THIS WEEK WE'RE LOVING ✨

🧱 Teen repurposes LEGO for kids in need 

🎤 Black voices in alternative music 

📖 A book sale to fundraise for sexual violence support in Birmingham AND a half marathon 🏃 for the same cause 

🙏 Please consider supporting the above causes for  Birmingham Rape And Sexual Violence Project - fundraised by Grace at Diversifying Group and her partner.

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