A Macromarketing Call to Action—Because Black Lives Matter!

Abstract

This essay poses the question do Black Lives Matter to marketing? Putting the spotlight on research in marketing reveals the multiple ways in which the field has neglected a most pressing issue of our time—structural and systemic anti-Black racism. The global rallying cry in the Black Lives Matter protests alerts us to the urgency for transformative change in all spheres including the marketing academy. Macromarketing is particularly poised to lead this change given the commitment to justice in marketing systems and concerns with the bilateral impact of marketing on society. This essay issues a call to action to re-historize the role of transatlantic slavery, for researchers to be reflective in addressing systemic racism, and for the academy to adopt anti-racist strategies to propel this scholarship from the periphery of marketing thought to its core.