  American-Muslims And The Advertising Agency Dilemma   The
world is a crazy place right now so, we decided try and make
sense of at leat one puzzle: Islamic/Arab/Desi advertising in
the U.S. Naturally, we contacted Michael Hastings-Black who runs
Desedo Films with director Raafi Rivero. The firm specializes in
new media and minority markets.  After the jump, Hastings-Black
goes through who is doing right, wrong and what your agency
should be on the look out for.  1. What are the assumptions that
advertising agencies need to wipe away when considering
advertising directly to the Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim
demographic in America?  “Well, the first thing to wipe away is
the idea of one demo. The mass-media identity conflation of
religion and ethnicity has fostered that idea, and while there
is cultural cross-pollination, there is no blanket strategy.
Same way within the Latino market, you don’t advertise to the
Mexican-American demo using cultural cues from Puerto Rico.
Agencies/brands avoid (overtly) engaging