BUZZ NEWS

Advertising Intolerance

Times have changed. The hard work of civil rights activists, teachers, and diversity awareness workshops have paid off. We are THISCLOSE to electing the first black presidential candidate to the White House. While we still have a long way to go to root out racism in the US, we do have to recognize the achievements we have made as a country.

There is no doubt about it— racism is on the decline. Our perceptions about race are changing and advancing. Who do we have to thank for this? In my opinion, definitely not advertising! As a country, we are finally taking advantage of the melting pot that is the US, rather than living in separate Americas. Both this change in perspective and our greater access to information are in large part responsible for our increased tolerance. In reality, racism is caused by ignorance and a lack of awareness of different cultures. This can bring about very serious consequences, but it can also make us laugh.

Several brands understand this, and have decided to use clichés and stereotypes linked to certain cultures in their advertising. Below is a viral video of the Swiss luxury watch maker Baume-et-Mercier. The video shows two strangers having a conversation in the bathroom. The basis of the commercial is clear: a muscular black man stands at the urinal next to a smaller, non muscular white man. We can all guess the punch line…even if it’s not always true…

Below is another funny viral video which hits at an even more obvious cliché that people often don’t want to admit out loud. Judge for yourself:

These videos, while funny, show the low level of intelligence that racism thrives on. Personally, I’ve always thought that it’s better to have a laugh. The lack of creativity in advertising is unfortunate. Advertisers have the power to influence, but they prefer to aim for politically correct ads or over-used stereotypes rather than use their influence to bring about real change…

Advertising creates a world that doesn’t correspond at all to reality. Do you really think that 12% of people you see in ads are black? What percentage are Hispanic? Asian? I’d go as far to say that not only are minorities underrepresented in advertising, but when they are used, they tend to typecast in predefined roles: fast food employees, dancers, athletes, musicians, etc… Who chooses these typecasts? Is it society?

Advertising should give something back to society; it should also reflect the audience it addresses. There is no reason why that should get in the way of advertising main’s goal: to sell. This is why in 2004, Dove started a diversity-themed campaign, showing real women from the world over. Dove’s sales grew threefold with its campaign for Real Beauty. These real women, like the one seen in the French advert below, help break our notion of women in ads. Even if the Barbie doll models still win out today, we can hope to one day break these stereotypes.

We find the same thing happening with advertising that uses the gay community. Not so long ago, the world of advertising was 100% heterosexual. It’s only in the last few years that the world of gay advertising has even existed. Homosexual advertising has emerged thanks to a strengthening of the homosexual community and its acceptance by the heterosexual community (advertising does, after all, reflect the times). However, we should scratch a bit further to see what homosexual advertising is about. Initially, homosexual advertising was focused on sexually transmitted diseases and activist organizations fighting for equality.

Now that gays are trendy, mainstream advertising is jumping on the bandwagon. Without being outright homophobic, these ads (while funny) have pitted homosexuals against their heterosexual counterparts. If it’s true that gay men tend to take better care of themselves and that they are opinion leaders in a wide variety of domains, the world of luxury uses and abuses these beautiful men and their 6-pack stomachs in such an ambiguous way that people are left without the impression that they’re gay. Does that really count as using homosexuals in advertising?

Advertising seems to be heading in the right direction. However, we should ask ourselves a few questions: shouldn’t advertising mirror society? Why do we so often see minorities negatively depicted in commercials? What’s the real role of the organizations and agencies that are supposed to do something about the disparities caused by intolerance?

It is clear that there are many unanswered questions…