Arguments Against Racism In Advertising
Racism in Advertisements 2 Racism in Advertisements: Racism in commercials is so thick that one would have to live in an airtight vacuum not to choke on it. When you watch the Super Bowl, did you notice how few African Americans and Hispanics were in the commercials. These are the same commercials that have come to signify American democracy and pride throughout the world. Many commercials have portrayed blacks as cheap non-resourceful human. The effect was that advertising treated African American citizens as through they were invisible for many years, and they included them, grudgingly, for a long time almost exclusively, in massive advertising of unhealthy products such as fast food, tobacco, and alcoholic beverages. There is a clear indication that the advertising
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companies target the black consumers because they would profit their industry, which in return humiliates blacks. The African Americans image created by white decision makers inside the industry focus on the image that African American practitioners sought to establish as they and black activist outside the industry fought to developer their own views of how the black oriented market should be targeted.
As many people have seen, most often the portrayal of blacks in advertising showed an insensitivity to the African America consumers, and a lack of understanding the market.
Advertisers believe when blacks appear in commercials to help assist the whites in reaching other black consumers. In an influential article, Morry Roth, Racism in Advertisements 3 "Blacks Inroads Broadcasting"�(1985) argued that Afro Americans would advertise deodorant these days, as well as sanitary napkins , bras and just about anything else you can imagine. These products pitch is more revolutionary than you might think. Thirty years ago, as inside civil right movements joke was that Americans would have almost totally recovered from racism when black people were used in hygiene ads, since racist stereo types clustered around the notion that Negroes were dirty and smelled bad. In many other advertisements blacks seem to be targeted by advertisers especially in fast food commercials. For an example in a Burger King commercial it portrays blacks as very cheap and lazy people. A black lady is going on a bus, and the advertisers make it seem like she only has one dollar to get on the bus, she then sees the Burger King sign and decides to eat a single burger. This shows that blacks can not
afford certain foods only the ones they can afford, it shows that they have such a low income. These advertisements show that they focus on racial integration in advertising and on the black minority consumers. As Julian Bond, a state senator in the 1970s and 1980s in Georgia, noted in an article in Black Enterprise magazine, American blacks wanted to be sought but not brought, and reached but not grabbed. According to Dates and Barlow (1993) they claim to observe that black Americans "want to believe that we are buying the best of the line- the top ticket items... that the company sells to us also hire us and had us on it board... that our pictures will be in some of the ads without the use of patronizing, specious street jargon."� For an example ...................................................................................................................Racism in Advertisements 4 in the KFC commercial it shows a white man portraying a black man by speaking in broken or "ghetto"� language, the commercial starts by saying " yo bro this food is off the hook buy it cause u aint gotta cook". There is no reason to be racist, using slang to attract black consumers to buy. In other commercials the colonel, which is the same white man, dances and says things like "Go Colonel, you go boy!"� Why use the term "go boy"�? The term boy was used in slavery and it is wrong to use it now as then. KFC should feature other ethnic groups in their commercials.
Ever since the beginning of advertising, three rules have prevailed according to Bauer and Scott "The Negro Market,"�(April 1970) "to advertise to people ready, willing and able to buy; to use the media which reach them; [and] to make advertisements which [would] win their business."� In practice, advertisers rarely worked at reaching African Americans but using them as mocks and treat them as lower class individuals in their commercials. In a KRAFT ad it shows a little black boy and his father smiling and in bold words it says "GIVE THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE."� They are stating that blacks are so poor and "fighting hunger" with "other problems"�, and promoting education. They are saying blacks have problems but in a survey from the New York Times it states that there are more white fighting hunger in the US population so why is it these advertisers think black are struggling so desperately. These advertisers make it seem that blacks are so low class individuals that they need charity. Yes, There are many people struggling in the US but don't advertise a KRAFT Cheese commercial and just put black in it, why cant there ............................................................................................................Racism in advertisement 5 in be a unity of whites and blacks doing this commercial. Black consumer groups met all the criteria outlined in the segmented approach. In the seventies major advertisers were told that if they sought to attract or hold a minority market, advertisers in minority media was vital, because such advertisements offered the advertiser the unique opportunity to sell to the black consumer "directly by speaking to his needs and desires, in his language, in his medium, without running the risk of confusing or.... alienating other project"� stated Dates and Barlow (1993 , p. 467).
In other advertisements blacks are trained to behave uncivilized especially in beer commercials such as Budweiser. Remember the "Wazzzzzzzz Upppppp"� guys? In this commercial they have three black men to drink beer and use a humiliating jargon, which makes them look like drunkards. The commercial gave the impression that blacks are nothing but fools when they drink. One commercial for Budweiser features a group of Caucasians guys portraying the same "Wazzzz Upppp"� guys, suggesting that the black man is stupid. This shows that skin color is a significant factor in social circles and psychologically in the advertising community. In the past according to Margaret Ross Barnett, a political science scholar at Columbia University in the 1980s, the memorabilia of black American citizens are "Nostalgia as Nightmare"�, as most of the items featuring black people developed during the years of slavery and segregation revealed negative, racist images. Advertised products had names such as "Alabama Coon Jigger"�
companies target the black consumers because they would profit their industry, which in return humiliates blacks. The African Americans image created by white decision makers inside the industry focus on the image that African American practitioners sought to establish as they and black activist outside the industry fought to developer their own views of how the black oriented market should be targeted.
As many people have seen, most often the portrayal of blacks in advertising showed an insensitivity to the African America consumers, and a lack of understanding the market.
Advertisers believe when blacks appear in commercials to help assist the whites in reaching other black consumers. In an influential article, Morry Roth, Racism in Advertisements 3 "Blacks Inroads Broadcasting"�(1985) argued that Afro Americans would advertise deodorant these days, as well as sanitary napkins , bras and just about anything else you can imagine. These products pitch is more revolutionary than you might think. Thirty years ago, as inside civil right movements joke was that Americans would have almost totally recovered from racism when black people were used in hygiene ads, since racist stereo types clustered around the notion that Negroes were dirty and smelled bad. In many other advertisements blacks seem to be targeted by advertisers especially in fast food commercials. For an example in a Burger King commercial it portrays blacks as very cheap and lazy people. A black lady is going on a bus, and the advertisers make it seem like she only has one dollar to get on the bus, she then sees the Burger King sign and decides to eat a single burger. This shows that blacks can not
afford certain foods only the ones they can afford, it shows that they have such a low income. These advertisements show that they focus on racial integration in advertising and on the black minority consumers. As Julian Bond, a state senator in the 1970s and 1980s in Georgia, noted in an article in Black Enterprise magazine, American blacks wanted to be sought but not brought, and reached but not grabbed. According to Dates and Barlow (1993) they claim to observe that black Americans "want to believe that we are buying the best of the line- the top ticket items... that the company sells to us also hire us and had us on it board... that our pictures will be in some of the ads without the use of patronizing, specious street jargon."� For an example ...................................................................................................................Racism in Advertisements 4 in the KFC commercial it shows a white man portraying a black man by speaking in broken or "ghetto"� language, the commercial starts by saying " yo bro this food is off the hook buy it cause u aint gotta cook". There is no reason to be racist, using slang to attract black consumers to buy. In other commercials the colonel, which is the same white man, dances and says things like "Go Colonel, you go boy!"� Why use the term "go boy"�? The term boy was used in slavery and it is wrong to use it now as then. KFC should feature other ethnic groups in their commercials.
Ever since the beginning of advertising, three rules have prevailed according to Bauer and Scott "The Negro Market,"�(April 1970) "to advertise to people ready, willing and able to buy; to use the media which reach them; [and] to make advertisements which [would] win their business."� In practice, advertisers rarely worked at reaching African Americans but using them as mocks and treat them as lower class individuals in their commercials. In a KRAFT ad it shows a little black boy and his father smiling and in bold words it says "GIVE THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE."� They are stating that blacks are so poor and "fighting hunger" with "other problems"�, and promoting education. They are saying blacks have problems but in a survey from the New York Times it states that there are more white fighting hunger in the US population so why is it these advertisers think black are struggling so desperately. These advertisers make it seem that blacks are so low class individuals that they need charity. Yes, There are many people struggling in the US but don't advertise a KRAFT Cheese commercial and just put black in it, why cant there ............................................................................................................Racism in advertisement 5 in be a unity of whites and blacks doing this commercial. Black consumer groups met all the criteria outlined in the segmented approach. In the seventies major advertisers were told that if they sought to attract or hold a minority market, advertisers in minority media was vital, because such advertisements offered the advertiser the unique opportunity to sell to the black consumer "directly by speaking to his needs and desires, in his language, in his medium, without running the risk of confusing or.... alienating other project"� stated Dates and Barlow (1993 , p. 467).
In other advertisements blacks are trained to behave uncivilized especially in beer commercials such as Budweiser. Remember the "Wazzzzzzzz Upppppp"� guys? In this commercial they have three black men to drink beer and use a humiliating jargon, which makes them look like drunkards. The commercial gave the impression that blacks are nothing but fools when they drink. One commercial for Budweiser features a group of Caucasians guys portraying the same "Wazzzz Upppp"� guys, suggesting that the black man is stupid. This shows that skin color is a significant factor in social circles and psychologically in the advertising community. In the past according to Margaret Ross Barnett, a political science scholar at Columbia University in the 1980s, the memorabilia of black American citizens are "Nostalgia as Nightmare"�, as most of the items featuring black people developed during the years of slavery and segregation revealed negative, racist images. Advertised products had names such as "Alabama Coon Jigger"�