Popeyes Funds Free Food Styling Online School For Diverse Students
Image via Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com
The difference between inclusive and tone-deaf advertising is that one is backed by a spectrum of voices to properly see it through, while the other is supported by individuals who struggle to look beyond their scope. That’s why campaigns often fall flat.
In a push for ethnic diversity and inclusion in the advertising and marketing world, international nonprofit The One Club for Creativity is launching a free online food styling school for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC). In order to make this possible, Popeyes has backed the 10-week training course.
Taught in one-to-one classes by veteran culinary producer and food stylist Warren Ottey, along with other trained experts, ONE Production: Food Styling will train a diverse group of 10 students how to style food for print and video shoots professionally, such that they’ll be ready to take on career opportunities in food styling.
Lessons will include practical and hands-on sessions, and cover “how to sort ingredients to create an enhanced finished product, maintain a fresh look, use camera angles and lighting, build a photo-ready burger, compose plated dishes, and more,” The One Club tells DesignTAXI. One class taught by “Q” Qadree Holmes, founder of Chicago minority-owned video production boutique Quriosity, aims to navigate challenges and opportunities that BIPOC talents encounter in the production industry.
“Food styling is near and dear to our heart and an important part of how we market to our guests, but it’s an industry that has been dominated by faces that are not as diverse as they should be,” said Ryan Robertson, Global Head of Marketing at Popeyes. “We’re excited to work with The One Club to develop talent and help bring more diverse perspectives to not only our work, but also to the entire field.
At the end of the course, Popeyes and its affiliated brands, such as Burger King and Tim Hortons, will look at graduates’ portfolios and search for production job openings in their companies.
From now until September 19, interested participants aged 18 and above can send in their applications for ONE Production: Food Styling. The 10 shortlisted students will be alerted soon after, and lessons will begin on October 6. To qualify, candidates must be able to commit to the course’s schedule, have basic culinary skills, and be able to work in the US and Canada.
Image courtesy of ONE Production
[via ONE Production, cover image via Jonathan Weiss / Shutterstock.com]
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