The Role Of Racism In Advertising
Racism within advertising
There has always been a strong link between society and the media as both are influenced by each other. Racism within advertising has been around for thousands of years and still to this day exists. Below is an early 1950’s advertisement for Fairy Soap from the N.K. Fairbanks Company. Slavery was very relevant for at least 50% of the time that N.K. was in business which will have played a huge role as to how this advert portrayed different ethnicities at the period it was released.
The advert quotes ‘why doesn’t your mamma wash you with fairy soap’ straight away insinuating that she is dirty. As shown, the ad shows two children, one black and one white. The white child is firmly holding the fairy bar of soap …show more content…
and is dressed in a white and blue dress. She is wearing a pair of sturdy leather shoes whilst her hair is quite obviously well kept. One could say that this is a sign of wealth. However, the black child on the other hand is clutching onto her ragged sleeveless dress, her knees are bowed and she is barefoot.
Even though this is an advert for soap there is a more powerful and socializing underlying meaning. The message I take with me after analysing this advert is that if you don’t use fairy you’re no better than an African American. It also suggests that only people who can afford it buy it, and as shown in the picture this is a white girl. Whites can afford it so they must be better.
In 2011 Dove the global Masterbrand were reported to have been racist within their campaign ‘visible care body wash’.
Young dark skinned women found it to be racist due to the ‘before and after’ words. The advert shows a timeline starting from the left with an African American, Latina women in the middle and white woman at the end to the far right. This suggests that getting more visibly beautiful skin means having lighter and whiter skin. Furthermore, not only is it the colour of skin which is found to be an issue but also the models size. The model underneath the word ‘after’ is white, skinny and blonde. The ideology message sent to the audience is that women need to have a particular look, in order to be beautiful. Dove may have not designed the ad in this manner on purpose, but the general public do.
Racism within the media has been around for as long as most of us can remember and will probably remain within advertising for as long as it remains within the general population.The fact that the Dove apologised to the public for their error within their campaign shows how society has changed compared to 70 years ago. In the 1950’s companies would have never apologised for making racist remarks as it was so common and deemed as acceptable back
then.
There has always been a strong link between society and the media as both are influenced by each other. Racism within advertising has been around for thousands of years and still to this day exists. Below is an early 1950’s advertisement for Fairy Soap from the N.K. Fairbanks Company. Slavery was very relevant for at least 50% of the time that N.K. was in business which will have played a huge role as to how this advert portrayed different ethnicities at the period it was released.
The advert quotes ‘why doesn’t your mamma wash you with fairy soap’ straight away insinuating that she is dirty. As shown, the ad shows two children, one black and one white. The white child is firmly holding the fairy bar of soap …show more content…
and is dressed in a white and blue dress. She is wearing a pair of sturdy leather shoes whilst her hair is quite obviously well kept. One could say that this is a sign of wealth. However, the black child on the other hand is clutching onto her ragged sleeveless dress, her knees are bowed and she is barefoot.
Even though this is an advert for soap there is a more powerful and socializing underlying meaning. The message I take with me after analysing this advert is that if you don’t use fairy you’re no better than an African American. It also suggests that only people who can afford it buy it, and as shown in the picture this is a white girl. Whites can afford it so they must be better.
In 2011 Dove the global Masterbrand were reported to have been racist within their campaign ‘visible care body wash’.
Young dark skinned women found it to be racist due to the ‘before and after’ words. The advert shows a timeline starting from the left with an African American, Latina women in the middle and white woman at the end to the far right. This suggests that getting more visibly beautiful skin means having lighter and whiter skin. Furthermore, not only is it the colour of skin which is found to be an issue but also the models size. The model underneath the word ‘after’ is white, skinny and blonde. The ideology message sent to the audience is that women need to have a particular look, in order to be beautiful. Dove may have not designed the ad in this manner on purpose, but the general public do.
Racism within the media has been around for as long as most of us can remember and will probably remain within advertising for as long as it remains within the general population.The fact that the Dove apologised to the public for their error within their campaign shows how society has changed compared to 70 years ago. In the 1950’s companies would have never apologised for making racist remarks as it was so common and deemed as acceptable back
then.