“I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination - indeed, everything and anything except me”.[1]
An investigation into the negative representations of black people in the advertising media. What are the contexts that seem to reinforce these stereotypes?
This essay will investigate the negative representations of black people in advertising media. It can be argued too, and proved by content analysis, that black people do not even appear that often in the advertising media. This essay, therefore, will be an investigation into their ‘invisibility’ and their under-representation and will seek to discover both historical and contemporary reasons for their situation. It has been argued that: “To advertise originally meant ‘to draw attention to something’ or to notify or inform someone or something”. [2] Advertising was first broadcast on television advert on July 1, 1941. As a result the advertising media has grown and continued to be successful to this day. However, there have many criticisms about the industry either due to key representations of ethnicity, gender or age. This essay will, naturally, focus on the issue of ethnicity in advertising.
In addition, it can also be argued that: “Black people have largely been portrayed as part of the mainstream middle class.” [3] Can we agree with this? A wide range of media texts show that black people are more commonly linked with part of the working class in society or even the ‘under-class’ rather than ‘mainstream middle class’. An example of this would be that young black teenagers are largely linked with anti-crime adverts such as adverts on SBTV (Street Broadcaster TV). This demonstrates how black culture has been and continues to be stereotyped.
In addition to this, Rayner et al state that: “Advertising promotes unrealistic and dangerous role models".[4] There are many examples of this. Firstly, a cartoon advert of Barack Obama in Russian ice cream ad is being called racist. The advert consists of a cartoon image of president Barack Obama in front of the White House with a quote saying “the flavour of the week, Black in White!”.. The advert was to promote a new flavour of ice-cream which is ‘chocolate in vanilla’ and used Barack Obama to promote the ice-cream in a racist way. Matthew Creamer states that “This isn’t the first time President Barack Obama’s image has been exploited in international advertising”. [5] This quote shows that even though Barack Obama is a positive black man in the advertising media the advert is still being very racist. “These images of people are part of the attraction of the advertisement-and it needs to attract attention rapidly”. [6] This quote shows that the advertising industry must advertise products or adverts that will be eye-catching to the viewer and that the persuasion of the advert to the audience is at a high standard. Moreover due to the ad being Russian and broadcasted in Russia shows that black people all over the world may be negatively represented in the advertising media.
From the beginning of slavery in the seventeenth century, to the present day black people have fought not only for their freedom but to be understood and respected for their unique and cultural contributions. A contemporary example in advertising would be when: “Microsoft photo shopped a black man out of one of its ads targeting the Polish market”. [7] This quote states that black people in the advertising media once again are not being shown as positive individuals. The advert consists of a before and after look of how the advert should be which as a result shows the black man in the previous advert to be replaced by a white man. In addition to this, the quote shows that even with The Public Order Act of 1986 black individuals are still getting racially attacked in the advertising media. The Public Order Act it is an offence to publish anything which stirs up racial hatred, whether or not it is intended to. To conclude, the advert may be accepted however due to it being broadcast in Poland, their country may not see it as entirely racist.
Moreover, an American newspaper had published a cartoon image of a cartoon that portrays Ohio State Senator Nina Turner as Aunt Jemima. Stanley Miller, executive director of the Cleveland NAACP civil rights organization quoted that: "It was disturbing to me," he said. Miller said he's not upset about the politics behind the cartoon and accompanying editorial, but by the negative stereotype that dates back decades. [8] This quote and advertisement shows that this advert being argued against is very upsetting towards Nina Turner. Also the use of the article being from America shows that the use of different countries in the essay shows the diversity of racism in advertising media across the world.Nevertheless "blacks now appear quite often in commercials, although not in the same proportion as in the total population". [9] This quote shows a more positive view to the invisibility of black people in the advertising media, black people now do participate in the advertising media, however this could be argued against due to them not having as much participation as say the white ethnicity has.
Furthermore this essay will now compare both an historical and contemporary text within the advertising media. Firstly in the early 60s Golly Robertson’s was founded. Robertson's is a UK brand of marmalades and jams. Robertson's introduced the Golly in the early 20th century. Just before the World War 1 was going on in America, John Robertson first saw the Golly doll. Robertson had noticed many young children playing with little black rag dolls and as a result of this the ‘Golly’ became a successful ideal mascot for Robertson’s. Or was it? It was quoted on BBC that “Carol Thatcher liked the jam and she liked the golliwog. When she said that the mixed-race Jo-Wilfried Tsonga resembled a golly, she was making a friendly joke,[10] As a result of Carol Thatcher saying this: “A BBC executive might argue – though I would disagree – that the word “golliwog” is so offensive that it should never be broadcast”.[11]
In addition ‘Golly Dolls’ may have not been seen as racist by some people, however to a majority of people they were. On March 16th 2007, Police seized golly dolls. “TWO golly dolls have been seized by police after complaints that they were offensive”.[12] This as a result shows that in the early 60s Golly dolls were not seen as a racist but instead jus fun dolls for adults and kids, however today in 2007 they are seen as very offensive, which shows that The Public Order Act is very successful in today’s society.
In contrast however, the contemporary text when looking at the advertising media will be the Cadbury advert which was released in 2009 and featured many black people from the country Ghana participating in the advert. It can be argued that that the TV campaign was humiliating to African people and showed negative racial stereotypes. Nevertheless it can also be positively argued that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a happy and inspirational portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of.
At the start of the advert, two black hands are shown shaking or having a friendly hand shake with each other. This straight away shows to the audience that the advert may have black people participating in it. In addition when the hand shake is appearing on, African music is played in the background followed by a mask or mascot appears on the screen. This mask may be seen as something from a tribe; however the use of African “facial features” on the mask may cause mayhem for the African audience who are watching it.Moreover as the advert reaches 20seconds the ad shows a more clear understanding of the mise en scene which shows people walking in the country of Ghana. The cocoa beans shown throughout the advert also show that the setting is in Ghana as Ghana is the original place where cocoa beans were founded and made which as a result makes chocolate such as dairy milk. Furthermore the close ups of the African people’s faces may be seen as a negative thing as everything they did with their facial expressions the mascot will do.
“The advert can be seen as perpetuating "colonial stereotypes". This advert as a result has infuriated a number of prominent equality campaigners and Ghanaian leaders in the UK.The Cadbury's TV advert – slogan "show us your cocoa beam" may also be seen as racist as it features a giant, negroid rotating head that unleashes mass dancing among what appear to be highly excitable people in an African village”.[13]
The representations of these people throughout the advert are that they are very happy as they are dancing and singing with big smiles on their faces. This could connote to the audience that the advert can’t be racist as everyone in the advert is happy.
Moreover, as a result of this, socially the advert can be used so people can discuss the advert, whether it being about if the advert is racist or not or if they want to go out and by Cadburys Dairy Milk.Moreover historically this advert may be seen as a very negative advert with many negative outcomes. “In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist”. [14] This as result shows a negative view towards Cadbury as their representations and stereotypes of black people are very negative.
Furthermore, from a males perspective on advertising it can be argued that: "Many men feel that the most compelling advertising representations of masculinity are ones that produce real levels of anxiety and inadequacy, even if male culture, with its emphasis on 'strong' silences or loud camaraderie, makes it difficult to talk about or express such feelings". [15]
In addition Engadget famously called out Sony’s multi-vignette PSP campaign in 2006 as being clearly racist. The ads were promoting the new ceramic white PSP. The ads featured an aggressive, strong-looking white woman clawing, clutching and otherwise dominating a subordinate black woman. The campaign was universally panned as racist and Sony yanked the ads, apologizing for its lack of sensitivity.
The advert chosen was produced in 2006, as it is a historically significant advert that related to the slave trades era, as it revived the racist stereotypes of black people, in contrast to the superior upper class white male. Nevertheless slave trade has ended a long time ago so there would be no use for racist ads to be shown; this was not the case however in 2006. The world has become a multi-cultural society so when analysing this ad it was fairly surprising that in 2006 the negative stereotypes of black women were portrayed this negative they were connoted as ‘completely useless’.Moreover due to this ad being in 2006 and the Cadbury Dairy Milk advert being in 2009 this shows that with the amount of complaints being showed and heard, the message still is not going through as there are still racist adverts being showing in today’s society.The black woman in this ad is shown as useless and insubordinate. This can relate to the way black women were portrayed back in the 60s and 70s. As they worked for the upper whiter class as slaves and also the use of them selling themselves for the white upper class men shows they were nothing and the ad shows that black women portrayed as “isolated” and “alienated” from today’s society
Therefore, as a result it can be argued that "Advertising has traditionally relied on the use of stereotypes to put across information in a format that is quick and easy for the viewer or reader to understand". [16]
To conclude Stuart Hall: Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist who has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 1951. Hall's work covers issues of hegemony and cultural studies. He regards language-use as operating within a framework of power, institutions and politics/economics.Hall has also widely discussed notions of cultural identity, race and ethnicity, particularly in the creation of the politics of Black diasporic identities.
Furthermore, the influence of liberalism shows the importance of individual freedom. This can be related to the representations and stereotypes of black people due to earlier historical periods, and historical changes, which again include the war era, connoting that they were slaves for the upper white class. Historically there has been change to the new wave of new oppositions for black people, i.e. Obama and Usain Bolt, are seen as heroic and strong, and this economically shows the move from recession due to the manner in which strong idols like Bolt and Obama are portrayed as heroes. This as result leads to liberalism, showing that black people in today’s society want a change. In addition young black teenagers who are stereotyped as gang members or victims of knife crime may also be tired of this stereotype and want a change for a positive outcome when participating or being shown in adverts in today’s society.
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[1] http://www.okfriends.net/ellison.htm
[2] Branston, G. Stafford R. (2002). p.365.
[3] O’Sullivan, T. Jewkes Y. (2004) p. 155.
[4] Rayner. P. Wall. P. Kruger. S. (2001) p125.
[5] http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/a-conversation-about-race/general-news/2009/03/cartoon-of-obama-in-russian-ice-cream-ad-is-being-called-racist/
[6] Ibid
[7] http://industry.bnet.com/advertising/10003668/microsoft-edits-black-person-out-of-ad-everyone-offended/
[8] http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/12/01/black-newspaper-portrays-nina-turner-as-aunt-jemima/?feeddeeplinkNum=0
[9] O’Sullivan, T. Jewkes Y. (2004) p. 156
[10] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/4520977/Golly-now-we-know-whats-truly-offensive.html
[11] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/4520977/Golly-now-we-know-whats-truly-offensive.html
[12] http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1002/1002078_police_seize_golly_dolls.html
[13] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/cadbury-dairy-milk-cleared-racism
[14] Ibid
[15] Branston, G. Stafford R. (2002). p.382
[16] O’Sullivan, T. Jewkes Y. (2004) p. 154
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