In early 2023, McCann Worldgroup Canada – which turned 108 this year – brought on CCO Ian Mackenzie from three-year-old, pure-play digital shop Performance Art, which was simultaneously folded into the agency. In addition to his CCO duties, Mackenzie was also named McCann’s global AI creative lead. A couple weeks after his hiring, the agency launched “See You There” for Black & Abroad.

The campaign was more than a way for the cultural collective to connect with Black tourists – it also helped uncover the biases that exist in AI. During development, the team found that Gen AI was having challenges creating non-stereotypical images of Black travellers – many of the pictures looked like they were from povertystricken areas in Africa.

Responding to this discovery, McCann created a website showing how AI models failed to show Black travellers in various locations, and encouraged others to take their photos in popular tourist spots using #WhereIsTheBlackTraveler.

“What we are trying to do is unleash the full potential of every idea that we have, and it’s almost impossible to do that without digital,” says AJ Jones, chief strategy officer at McCann Worldgroup Canada. “Whether it involves a tremendously complex AI campaign or a billboard, McCann always thinks in terms of ideas rather than mediums.”