Dung Tran.
Dung Tran is co-founder and CEO of Our Race, an anti-racist social enterprise
Advertisers are often celebrated as some of the world’s best and most engaging storytellers. Unfortunately, the industry can be guilty of encouraging unethical storytelling, despite most marketers not consciously setting out to do harm. This typically occurs because the structures they operate within are, often unwillingly or unwittingly, established to reward exclusion, stereotype, and surface level ‘diversity.’ The result is a cycle where the same limited narratives get told over and over, shaping what Australians see as desirable, aspirational, or even normal.
As advertisers, your industry is uniquely positioned to break that cycle, not just from a perspective of the moral imperative to do so, but in order to reap the creative and commercial benefits in doing so.
The domino effect of a monocultural industry
The advertising industry has clear blind spots about its ability to tell stories ethically that need recognition before progress can be made. Reports like Everyone Counts 2.0 make it clear that disabled Australians, and those of Asian and African heritage, remain underrepresented across the screen industry. It’s not just a matter of who appears on camera: it’s who writes, directs, strategises, approves and funds campaigns that all play a part in determining who appears on our screens and in what context.
When the people telling stories have narrow lived experience, they inadvertently reinforce unconscious biases. That shapes everything from casting choices to product placement, and ultimately, the narratives everyday Australian citizens end up internalising about who belongs, who succeeds, and who really matters.
This underrepresentation isn’t just a numbers game. A recent study found that 76% of marketers and advertisers feel pressured to downplay their cultural identity to fit in. Think about that: in the very industry responsible for shaping culture, so many of its creators are encouraged to erase themselves. That’s not just unethical, but it’s also creatively stifling and dehumanising. Diverse teams don’t just feel more inclusive; they literally tell better, richer, more authentic stories.
But authenticity will never be achieved if representation is tokenistic or performative. When three out of four marketing professionals feel pressured to hide or minimise their cultural identity, it reveals the gap between being present and being included. Visibility without safety is not inclusion, it is erasure in disguise.
True inclusion means marketers feel safe to bring their whole selves into the work, their cultural heritage, lived experience, and intersecting identities. It means their perspectives are not only welcomed but valued as essential to the creative process. Without this, the industry recycles the same narrow lens and reinforces the very hierarchies it claims to challenge. If advertising is serious about telling authentic stories, it must start by ensuring the people putting the stories together (aka Story Caretakers) are free to be authentic.
And here lies the paradox. Brands are quick to embrace the commercial benefits of waking up “authentic” campaigns - higher engagement, stronger loyalty, cultural relevance - yet the people whose identities, insights, and lived experiences make that authenticity possible are often excluded from recognition, pay, or decision-making power. Authenticity is claimed as a brand asset, while the Story Holders themselves are sidelined. That is not inclusion, it is exploitation packaged as diversity.
How advertisers can and should break the cycle
Breaking this cycle requires flipping the power hierarchy. Instead of treating diverse voices as an optional garnish, brands must embed them at the center of the process. That could mean co-creating campaigns with Story Holders, offering equitable compensation, and giving decision-making power to those whose experiences inform the story. When done right, it becomes a win-win: a brand gains authenticity, audiences feel seen, and Story Holders are recognised and rewarded.
To genuinely break the cycle, advertisers need to think beyond representation as a checkbox and toward systems-level change. This means questioning every stage of production: Who is deciding what stories get told? Who benefits financially? Who is given creative authority? How could this decision, small or large, include or exclude particular communities?
When these questions are asked consistently, they become part of the agency or the internal culture, rather than a once-off effort for a single campaign.
The power of small, everyday choices cannot be overstated. Casting decisions, language use, stock image selection, and even campaign timing all send messages about who belongs and who doesn’t. A seemingly harmless choice, like showing a single “diverse” employee in a leadership campaign while leaving the rest of the team invisible, can unintentionally reinforce tokenism. Similarly, leaning on cultural tropes without input from the community risks appropriation, harm, and reputational backlash.
Ethical storytelling isn’t just something that’s nice to have. It’s a differentiator. It signals that a brand understands its social license to operate, respects the people it represents, and values authentic human connection over performative diversity. And it’s profoundly liberating for the creatives who make the work. When people can bring their full selves to a project, the storytelling becomes dignified, human centred, and, it must be said frankly, a lot more interesting to boot.
Advertising shapes culture. Australians internalise what they see on screens and in feeds, often subconsciously — this is one of the first lessons advertisers tend to learn. But further than understanding how to use this to their advantage to sell products or ideas, advertisers must also reflect on what this means about their social and moral duty. How, in every ad where a stereotype is reinforced, or a story is excluded, or a cultural nuance is ignored, ends up adding up to a sense of social disunity.
Advertisers have such an important role to play in making sure they co-create and share power and elevate the Story Holders - the people informing advertising narratives. Once the industry begins rethinking who gets to make those decisions and in what context, advertising can become a whole lot more ethical. It all starts with telling stories with people, not about people.