In the spirit of being “woke”, it is important to recognize racial biases in popular culture and more specifically in advertisements today.
For example, you may see an advertisement for makeup that features only caucasian females, and it’s like the beauty industry has completely forgotten that other skin tones exist. Another advertisement for a sports brand primarily focuses on black athletes, reinforcing an odd stereotype that all black people are better at sports.
You know the Racist Watchdog account on Twitter? Yeah, *woof woof* to both of those examples.
Racial biases have been ingrained in our society for years. It is high time to take a deeper look at the impacts of racial biasing in advertisements and how that can affect the concept of freedom. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
Since the days of slavery, advertising has always been slightly racist. A term called institutionalized racism (i.e. a form of racism which is expressed by social and political institutions rather than individuals or informal social groups) has been a part of multicultural marketing since the birth of advertising in the 1920s. This link will direct you to a more detailed timeline about racism in advertising.
Now, marketing seems to rely on ‘racial stereotyping’ to get messages across to specific demographics. While it sounds negative, racial stereotyping is simply a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of a certain race. It’s effective in installing a perceptual bias in audiences by showing them characters similar to themselves.
According to DesignMantic, using racial stereotyping can actually be a bad thing to those companies that fail to do it right. “An ad can easily be misinterpreted, offending many people and tarnishing the brand’s image. This makes sense considering how stereotyping a group can significantly impact the way individuals within it identify themselves socially. Highlighting stereotypes can actually lead to a form of self-oppression as people begin questioning themselves as well as the groups they belong to” (DesignMantic).
Check out some examples of racist advertising below:
So what does this all have to do with freedom?
In a journal titled Race and Ideology: African-American Images in Television Advertising, it is explained that "minority media portrayals in the United States reflect and perpetuate the racism that is dominant in our culture" (Bristor). It is clear that identifying and questioning these stereotypes and media portrayals is a necessary step toward redressing race-based inequalities.
The problem with stereotypes is they represent a more narrow and negative depictions of minority groups. In turn, these stereotypical images inhibit society to think of alternative meanings behind a race. For example, black people are frequently portrayed as minimum-wage workers and athletes, whereas white people are portrayed as professionals. Such images shape and reinforce specific assumptions about race.
The journal further explains that "demeaning stereotypes can be projected onto entire groups of people to justify, legitimate, and reinforce the ideology of black inferiority" (Bristor). It continues to states some of the repercussions on society from racist advertising, such as lower-self esteem and racial imbalances.
Racial biases in advertising not only perpetuates the current racial biases in our society today, but they especially limit the lives and freedom of those depicted as lesser.
It is now our job to hold companies accountable for the advertisements they produce, especially when it may contain racial biases. This infographic contains five easy signs to identify racism in advertisements.
We are all human beings, made up of blood, bones, and a heart -- and we should all be portrayed as such.