The Cost of Cultural Extraction

Culture is not a mood board.
It is not a trend forecast.
It is not a seasonal drop.

And yet—in advertising, fashion, music, tech, and media—Black culture is often treated exactly that way.

Pulled. Repurposed. Monetized. Rarely reinvested.

There is a cost of cultural extraction that stifles brand growth. Ironically, when Black culture is treated as a trend, brands take on a similar short-term growth period that does not sustain itself in the long run.

What Cultural Extraction Actually Looks Like

Cultural extraction happens when brands borrow aesthetics, language, style, movements, or social frameworks from Black communities without credit, compensation, collaboration, or long-term commitment.

It looks like:

• Slang becoming a tagline with no cultural context

• Dance trends powering paid media while creators go unpaid

• Social justice language appearing in campaign copy but not in corporate policy

• Black aesthetics driving revenue without Black ownership in the room

It’s profitable.
It’s common.
And it’s unsustainable.

Because culture is not raw material. It is lived experience.

Black Culture Has Always Driven the Market

From music to streetwear to digital language, Black communities have shaped global consumer behavior for decades. Entire industries have scaled off cultural cues born in neighborhoods, movements, and online subcultures rooted in Black expression.

The data backs it: Black consumers over-index in trend adoption and influence. But influence does not automatically equal ownership. And that’s where the fracture happens.

When brands extract without investing, they create a value imbalance:

• Revenue flows up.

• Credit flows sideways.

• Resources rarely flow back.

That imbalance erodes trust.

The Business Cost

Extraction doesn’t just harm communities—it weakens brands.

Today’s audiences are culturally fluent. They can sniff out the difference between collaboration and cosplay. Between partnership and performance.

When brands borrow without accountability:

• Social backlash accelerates

• Brand affinity declines

• Cultural credibility evaporates

• Long-term equity suffers

Short-term engagement cannot offset long-term distrust.

Cultural missteps are no longer isolated PR crises. They become case studies in what not to do.

The Human Cost

Beyond brand metrics, there is a deeper cost.

When cultural innovation is repeatedly taken without credit or compensation, it reinforces systemic inequities:

• Black creators remain underfunded

• Black-owned agencies and production houses are bypassed

• Black strategists are brought in late — to “sense-check” rather than shape

• Black communities see their creativity celebrated but their realities ignored

Extraction perpetuates the very disparities brands claim they want to dismantle.

From Extraction to Exchange

The solution isn’t to avoid Black culture. That would be impossible—and disingenuous. Black culture is culture.

The shift is from extraction to exchange.

That means:

1. Pay People. Properly.
Credit and compensate creators at the level of their impact.

2. Bring Talent in Early.
Cultural strategy is not a post-production filter. It belongs at the foundation.

3. Invest Beyond the Campaign.
Support Black-owned media, vendors, and production partners with sustained dollars—not one-off moments.

4. Build Ownership Pathways.
Equity, royalties, long-term partnerships. Not just influencer contracts.

5. Align Internally.
If your campaign language says “community,” your hiring, leadership, and procurement practices should reflect that.

Cultural Stewardship Is Strategy

At Coyote, we believe creativity is cultural stewardship.

We don’t view culture as an aesthetic layer. We treat it as infrastructure—something to be respected, understood, and protected. Because when culture is approached with care, brands don’t just gain relevance. They build resonance.

And resonance compounds.

The future of marketing is not about who can move fastest on a trend. It’s about who can build responsibly within the ecosystems that create those trends.

Black creativity has always imagined what’s next.
The question is whether brands are willing to invest in the communities that make “next” possible.

Cultural extraction has a cost.
Cultural partnership has value.

The brands that understand the difference will outlast the moment.