Racist Stereotyping in Advertising

Racially stereotyping has been an issue and is still and issue today. Personally I don’t think it’s right to racially stereotype. There are other ways of advertising products, thoughts, and services that do not involve stereotyping others. Although I don’t think it’s right, it does have it’s advantages. Advertisements that involve poking fun of other ethnicities can be comical if done well. It makes sense for advertisers to distinguish a certain trait of an ethnicity to encourage an emotion or idea, but if done wrong simply makes fun of others. There are mixed feeling of racially stereotyping ads. There is a benefit to it that is followed by a cost. I feel it would be more creative if advertisers find alternatives to stereotyping. Racial stereotyping is still present today. Sometimes it’s obvious, other times it’s not. Ads have become artful in hiding racial stereotyping.

This commercial really bugged me. They are describing the Barbie doll saying, “Dress sparkling. Hair shining.” A close up of the Barbie’s face appears and the voice says, “Beautiful.” This isn’t much of a problem except that it is the loudest part of the video clip. It clearly is emphasizing the idea that beauty is found if you look like this, a blond, Caucasian. This reminds me a lot of the Nazi’s Aryan race, blond hair and blue eyes. Not only does it reflect some sense of the past, but also it subliminally tells the viewer that rich white families can only buy this exclusive product. In this commercial, there are only white people. There are no other ethnicities present or mentioned throughout the commercial. 

Here’s another ad by Mountain Dew. It shows how racial stereotyping is evident even if it’s not intended. In this ad, the company takes full responsibility for it’s demeaning commercial. They apologized for creating the commercial and promise to not make anymore commercials like that. But not all companies are willing to genuinely apologize when viewers are offended by ads they produce, they simply say words with no meaning behind them. That’s the media world. Many do not seem to be sorry for the things they have done. Today’s culture has deemed it alright as long as you “apologize.” Racial stereotyping is no a thing of the past. People will continue to use stereotypes as a means of connecting culturally and emotionally with others. Be careful of what you produce for it may say more than you intend.