By Wildest career experience
Late one night about a decade ago, I was stoned on my couch watching TV. A “femvertising” ad suddenly ran, something about women’s empowerment sponsored by one of the "Big Four.”
I remember thinking “WTF is this?” and began researching the brand, its poor treatment of women employees, lawsuits alleging discrimination, etc.
It started me down a path of uncovering more performative BS by brands running “feminist advertising” (an oxymoron!). I did what any creator does when they have something to say to the world… put my thoughts into the void of the internet and hit “post.”
Decks, blogs, articles…
~10 years and 150,000 followers later, my ideas and the courage to share them have brought me around the world onto stages from Stockholm to San Francisco, into rooms with the world's most powerful brands, to the airwaves of the BBC and the pages of publications like Adweek, WSJ, and NYT.
I hadn’t really realized the extent of my reach on this topic until one evening at dinner with an accomplished Olympian whose accolades made me feel very sorry for myself, when I was stopped by a young woman headed to the bar.
I heard, “Are you Katie Martell?”
Expecting an angry ex-girlfriend or something, I looked up in fear.
She said, “Hi! Just wanted to tell you that your work on femvertising inspired my senior thesis project.”
Relieved, I glanced at the Olympian - dutifully impressed - and thanked her.
Many students and marketing professionals have responded to my work the same way - some variation of: “thank you for putting words to what we have been feeling - but didn’t have a name for.”
My “soap box,” as it were, has propelled me into a position of influence online. I can amplify important narratives aligned with my values, as well as stories and trends happening in the industry.
It’s opened up opportunities that I could have never dreamed of, and I take the responsibility of attention very seriously.
There’s a lesson here: Write the article. Put yourself and your ideas out there. Be yourself.
Say what nobody is saying out loud, but everybody is thinking. I call these “exceptional truths,” and they resonate with people because they give clarity to uncomfortable facts about our world.
Rant
A few things need to change in the marketing industry IMO! :)
- Woke-washing & performative allyship. Marketers must stop pretending the work we do is somehow disconnected from the real world in which we do it!
It is not just “icky” or “immoral” (last I checked, the marketing industry does not pay in morality…). This type of advertising has a real and dangerous impact. - It creates an illusion of progress, making the world and businesses seem far more equitable than reality.
- It redirected the attention away from communities and people in need and towards the brands themselves.
- It exploited social movements and dedicated activists. The attention generated by the work of social activists became like catnip to brands who wanted to be relevant and, quote, “part of the conversation” - barf.
In pouring their time and money into glossy woke campaigns, marketers gave no credence or respect to the real demands of the activists who paved the way, many with their lives.
“A riot is the language of the unheard,” said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., reminding us that social movements exist to call attention to unmet promises and systematic inequality. It is not about the brands that choose to barge into the conversation.
Whether race, the environment, LGBTQ equality, or women’s rights, brands largely barged into the conversation to tell us how important it was that someone do something… hearing nothing about what the movements were trying to tell us. - Performative allyship points to an enemy “out there” instead of addressing how the organization or industry itself is responsible for perpetuating the problems.
- Finally, this type of advertising is nothing more than a PR tactic used to shield and distract. In the US, a brand like Verizon can run a “woke” campaign (ex, #ConnectedbyPride featuring a rainbow logo and NYC Pride parade sponsorship in recent years) while donating to anti-LGBTQ politicians and ending its own internal DEI programs to get the current administration’s blessing on a $20B acquisition.
- Adtech profiting from hateful political ads and perpetuating a shadow system funding hate worldwide.
The advertising industry is complicit in the needless villainization of transgender Americans. $215M+ was spent on anti-trans TV ads in the 2024 US election, for a population that represents LESS THAN 1% of Americans.
It is the definition of scapegoating. The idea of a “common enemy” is incredibly powerful.
This rhetoric spreads lies and harmful misinformation about trans people. It dehumanizes the lived experiences of Americans down to a campaign slogan like “Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.”
Ground Media found that while the negative messaging didn’t change viewers’ minds about Harris, it did significantly increase viewers’ negativity about trans and nonbinary people across all demographics.
This is at a time, mind you, when Transgender people are 4X more likely to experience violence and abuse than cisgender people, and there are 1,225 hate groups in the U.S seeking “total suppression of LGBTQ+ people from American public life.”
In the workplace, 90% of transgender individuals said they experience harassment or mistreatment. 50% of LGBTQ people still believe being out at work could hurt their career. 1/3 experience discrimination in the hiring process (American Progress, Glassdoor, HRC).
It puts that Verizon decision into real context. This is important. - I recommend keeping an eye on independent journalists like Judd Legum and Nancy Stearns, and watchdog organizations such as Check My Ads (whose cofounder is from the heydays of Sleeping Giants).
These important voices of accountability are tracking the links between the adtech industry, organized crime, and political donations. It is a massively misunderstood part of the advertising world, yet its effects are felt by all. Check them out if you’re interested in learning more about bringing transparency into the industry.
This is an important and very lacking part of media literacy in America - and around the world.
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work,” writes poet Mary Oliver. - Managers who don’t understand that what we do is PR, not ER. There is so much manufactured urgency in the corporate world - and it takes a toll on younger professionals, especially those who often need guidance and help with work/life balance and mental health. Don’t let this industry, or this job, define your life, or your worth. Everything is marketing in our world, but marketing isn’t everything.
- Hype and lies.
I have been in MarTech, marketing to marketers, for over 15 years. I remember when HubSpot was just beginning and rallying the market around “inbound” vs “outbound” tactics, and when Scott Brinker’s MarTech landscape was only 150 companies strong; now over 15,000! (I’m waiting for that big consolidation that has been promised!)
I can confirm that one of those 22 immutable laws of marketing is very true… the “law of hype,” which dictates that the situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press.
The marketing technology industry is FULL of lies, hype, and snake oil. That’s just the truth of any competitive and commoditized industry that has grown to this size.
The Gartner Hype Cycle gave buyers a framework for this technology lifecycle:
- Innovation Trigger
- Peak of Inflated Expectations
- Trough of Disillusionment
- Slope of Enlightenment
- Plateau of Productivity
Buyers should be cautious at Peak stages and consider adopting new marketing tools around Slope/Plateau stages. I do not envy anyone responsible for making a buying decision in 2026 in this landscape.
I’d love to see an industry focused less on unrealistic hype and more dialed-in to real benefits… but that itself feels unrealistic (especially when we are all focused on delivering returns for private equity and venture capital).
- AND SO MUCH MORE!
- Copycat culture: We are all inspired by each other. I am flattered and disappointed when things I have done are later recreated, almost word-for-word or tactic-for-tactic, by others who claim it as their own. Have more faith in yourself and your ability to be creative! Have confidence in your ideas! Do something different! That’s how we evolve as an industry.
- Gurus in our industry preying on insecure marketers, selling promises of snake oil through communities, coaching, and courses. Our industry is changing constantly. Many fear being left behind - their livelihoods tied up in an industry that requires constant learning and evolution. Taking advantage of this are individuals happy to take a monthly subscription fee for regurgitated advice. It’s very sad - but if it’s been helpful for you, yay!
- Women’s rights! I know it’s so not trendy to talk about anymore, that is the point! Funding companies founded by women is still an issue, harassment is still rampant, and the number of women in leadership positions has stalled. What has the response from our industry been? To create separate spaces where women talk to women about women’s issues in an industry run by men… and we wonder why things don’t change :)
Useful advice
- For solopreneurs and independents like me: Get it in writing. Have great contracts. Invest in your legal protection. Understand your agreements. Negotiate. Raise your rates. Get a therapist.
- For marketers early in their career, wondering what they are doing: Figure out what you love about the work and find a way to lean into that. Figure out not only what you’re good at, but what energizes you while doing it. Work sucks, no matter what, and your energy is yours to protect and nurture! And the grass is not always greener in-house or agency-side… try both! Try everything!
- For anyone wondering why they don’t “fit” the industry: This industry is built on a web of lies (ha!), but the craft of marketing still requires our empathy and humanity… until that becomes a problem with the system itself.
It is still an industry that exploits workers, as most capitalism does, and so to be good at it requires us to bring our sense of humanity and embrace the friction when that rubs up against the realities of the industry.
That friction means you’re doing something right - make what changes you can in your purview, use your privilege where you can to make changes more broadly, and leave the work behind at the end of the day. - For anyone looking to “be an influencer,” Just be you out there. I think earning a follower is about authenticity, realness, creativity, and craft… not artificial regurgitation or spam. It’s why “made without AI” is becoming a strange new badge of honor.
Find out what you really think and go tell the world. Be strategic and be bold.
LinkedIn is kind of the center of the world of work online, and while it’s cringeworthy (I do love r/LinkedInLunatics), I also believe it is a very exciting opportunity for individuals like me to reach people all over the world, and for brands to engage in real ways. I take an “infotainment” approach - I want you to be entertained, while learning something new!
Lean into video, be strategic, and FFS make it interesting…
