In "Advertising and People of Color", the authors discuss the lack of ethnic diversity in print and television advertisements. Although the essay was written in 1995, unfortunately, the same type of behavior occurs today. According to the reading, in the 1980s, many of the advertisements featuring minorities were based on stereotypes that displayed "crude and condescending images". For example, the Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix ad which displayed a fat, bandanna wearing, black mother who spoke improper English. Or the Cream of Wheat ad that played as though all African-Americans have a hard time spelling, many advertisements are meant to be funny, but come off as demeaning to minority groups.
Then, the essay talked about how the different minority groups took a stand and protested against the advertising agencies. I don't really understand why it's a problem for some people to see minority models in print or television ads. The way I see it, a black model can do the same job that a white model can do, but maybe that's just me!! I think in today's society more minorities are being used in advertisements, but still not enough. This country claims to practice equal opportunity and give its citizens equal rights, then again, its real easy to SAY that!!
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Is it the sight of minorities in the ads that bother people, or is it the ways in which minorities are being used? Like, is Aunt Jemima cast as Mammy more or less offensive than an African American model in a Tommy Hilfiger ad?
Do you think that perhaps the fact that we think of people as being a minority or a majority affects the way we perceive them when we see ads? Right now, one third of the population of America speaks Spanish as their native language, which shows that the color balance is definitely tipping towards the browner end of the scale. How do you think this might affect what we see represented? Or does it at all?
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