Fast food
restaurants and grocery stores are hiring
A White House initiative to compel
American workers to find different jobs as the coronavirus pandemic rages and
millions are out of work is under fire for what critics are describing as a
thoughtless tagline: "Find something new."
"Just a stunningly tone deaf
campaign," pollster and liberal activist Matt McDermott said on Twitter.
As the Associated Press reported, the ad campaign is the brainchild
of the White House's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.
The panel was created by President Donald Trump in 2018 and is chaired by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the president's daughter, senior White House advisor Ivanka Trump.
The panel was created by President Donald Trump in 2018 and is chaired by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and the president's daughter, senior White House advisor Ivanka Trump.
The initial 30-second spot features
ordinary people talking about their experiences with career challenges and
transitions.
Among them are a fitness instructor who completed an apprenticeship program and became a welder after her gym went under, and a man who lost his job twice in one year, took online certification courses and now works as a tech consultant.
Among them are a fitness instructor who completed an apprenticeship program and became a welder after her gym went under, and a man who lost his job twice in one year, took online certification courses and now works as a tech consultant.
The campaign is backed by Apple
CEO Tim Cook and IBM Chairman Ginni Rometty, as well as the Ad Council and
other business leaders, Bloomberg reported.
Numerous studies suggest that millions of jobs lost
during the economic crisis sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic are never coming back, leaving the
"something new" in the campaign's tagline in doubt.
Activist Holly Figueroa O'Reilly
was bemused at the callousness of the
campaign's message.
"Holy shit," tweeted
O'Reilly, "this can't be real."