What if your business was built on a sham?
David Droga, the man behind advertising agency Droga5, knows the answer. His company was built on digital delusion.
Back in 2006, Droga5 made a guerrilla-style video that appeared to show vandals spray painting Air Force One under the cover of darkness. It was a hoax that went viral twice—once when the footage was thought to be real and again when it was exposed as a fraud.
The fiction and fabrications were just beginning.
Advertising agencies often take creative license in the name of selling products, but Droga is the sultan of self-serving spin.
Claiming Droga5 is a force for good, Droga tells the world "caring is out of scope, but we do anyway."
Truth is, Dave’s words don’t match Dave’s actions.
If Droga5 really cared about people, it wouldn’t choose exploitation. Or unfair pay. Or unfair treatment. Or no benefits.
So while David Droga depicts his agency as a cocoon of corporate kindness, he insists on two different pay and benefit structures for two different kinds of actors.
Right now, union performers are treated and paid according to the industry standards negotiated between SAG-AFTRA and advertisers and ad agencies. Actors are given fair wages, protected working conditions and benefits like residuals. Nobody is promised a job, but the performers who do get work are guaranteed fair treatment with agreed upon minimum fees.
Meanwhile, over on the dark side, Droga5 often uses non-union performers, which skirts these protections. In fact, Droga5’s non-union performers get second-class treatment: They’re paid below market rates and don’t get the protections that union performers do. Can these actors pay their rent? Medical bills? Good questions.
You would think a company that is “humanity obsessed”—as Droga5 proudly claims on its website—would be concerned about the humanity and dignity of the performers they employ.
You would be wrong.
Droga5 isn’t a union signatory, so they’re only required to use union performers when they want someone famous or have a client who insists upon it. The rest of the time, they exploit non-union performers.
How convenient for the bottom line.
As a leader in the digital advertising industry, it’s deplorable that Droga5 won’t rectify this unfair pay structure.
Simply put: Droga5 profits off the backs of non-union actors who are treated like second-class workers. Don’t be fooled by David Droga’s platitudes about social responsibility.
Droga5 took in $126 million last year. And David Droga can afford to pay performers fairly. After all, he can afford Droga5’s astronomical Wall Street rent. Profit is what he really cares about. His unethical treatment of non-union performers exposes that.
This is why SAG-AFTRA has focused on Droga5. The agency sells clients a fake bill of goods with its “humanity obsessed” slogan.
Just another hoax.
Droga5 pretends to care about doing good, but then turns around and engages in unfair performer hiring practices. We won’t sit idly by and let this profit-mongering firm mislead its clients and the public.
Tell Droga5 it needs to treat performers fairly.