Quite enough Dicks in boardrooms, says e.l.f. Beauty. Time for more women of color
Aiming to spark a conversation about the lack of diversity in corporate boardrooms, e.l.f. Beauty has developed a provocative advertising campaign called "So Many Dicks." Featuring bold digital displays around New York City's Financial District, it highlights stark statistics on the underrepresentation of women and minorities on the boards of major publicly traded companies.
The campaign draws on original research analyzing the racial and gender composition of nearly 37,000 board members across 4,429 US public companies. The data reveals a concerning homogeneity at the highest levels of corporate leadership. Which is where the Dicks come in — while 566 men named Richard, Rick or Dick serve on the boards, Black women going by any name number just 806. And numbers drop from there, with even fewer Asian (774), Hispanic (283), Middle Eastern (29) and Native American women (3).
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While e.l.f. Beauty itself has a board with two-thirds women and one-third minority members, that level of diversity is extremely rare. The cosmetics company is calling on other businesses to prioritize inclusive board membership, arguing that diverse perspectives are critical for driving innovation, understanding customers and ensuring sustained profitability. Proving its point, e.l.f. has reported 20 consecutive quarters of net-sales growth.
