Reinforcements of Racial Stereotypes Through Advertisements

Reinforcements of Racial Stereotypes Through Advertisements

            ADWEEK published an article titled A Look at Kids Exposure to Ads, which looked at data collected by Common Sense Media in Advertising to Children and Teens, which stated that children and teens are exposure to an average of 25,600 advertisements a year.  The study also found that 40% of those advertisements come from non-children’s shows. Due to this it is vital that regular advertisements be examined to see the effect that these ads could potentially have on children because “the media give us pictures of social interaction and social institutions that, by their sheer repetition on a daily basis, can play an important roles in shaping broad social definitions.” (Croteau and Hoyes, 163) To understand better some of the ways that race is depicted in advertisements. Croteau and Hoyes stated, “One of the principles underpinning of racist ideology is the belief that one race is naturally superior to other.” (Croteau and Hoyes, 167) and many media platforms help reinforce this ideology including advertising.

            Minorities in advertising are severely underrepresented, which can be harmful to minority children because they want to see someone like himself or herself.  However, the problem can become even worse when minorities are represented in advertisements because many times advertisers help reinforce racial stereotypes. This is more harmful to children due to the fact that if they see someone like themselves represented in a certain way enough times, then they too will feel that they must fit into that mold that society has created.  Herbert Marcuse states this idea as “if the individuals find themselves in the things which shape their life, they do so, not by giving, but by accepting the law of things – not the law of physics but the law of their society.” (Marcuse, 83)  He states also how this leads to the individual feeling a sense of alienation from others that are not like them.  This problem does not only affect the group being racially stereotyped, but it also affects the way that other groups see that specific group. Again this is especially true for children because they are impressionable and no child is born knowing the difference between skin colors. It is only through reinforcements of racial stereotypes that they learn as they grow up to view skin color as being a quality that makes them different from someone else. It also helps to reinforce the ideology that Croteu and Hoyes talk about that makes us identify one race as being more superior to the other. In the advertisement that we are going to examine it will depict how an advertisement can reinforce negative stereotypes, that normally don't represent a group as a whole.

            Feed a Child is an organization that fights to leave no child hungry.  The organization relies on using advertisements to promote people to help the charity feed children in South Africa. However, this advertisement draws the wrong kind of attention.  The situation depicted through this advertisement is of a young boy from South Africa and a wealthy woman. The problem with this advertisement is the way that the boy is depicted as being a dog.  This can be determined through a few moments such as; the boy laying on her lap while being fed, getting a treat for bring the newspaper, and begging under the dinning room table, etc.  One of the issues here is that one of the racist comments made about African Americans is that they are like animals.  This comment is one that is very offensive, so by having an advertisement reinforce this idea it creates a huge issue.  This commercial also works to reinforce the idea that the white wealthy woman is superior to that of the South African child. Now imagine if you were a young African American child and you saw this commercial air. One could imagine the hurt that they would experience.  This could make a child believe that this is the way society as a whole views them and because of that they could feel that they must feel that way about themselves. Marcus refers to this effect as “mimesis: an immediate identification of the individual with his society and, through it, with society as a whole.” (Marcus, 82) Because of this effect it is important to avoid any advertisements that might cause a child or anyone to feel that they must identify themselves that way.

            When creating an advertisement one must not only be cautious about the way the advertisement will be taken by adults, but it must also be aware of the impact that it could have on a child. Due to this advertisements should try at all costs to avoid reinforcing any negative stereotypes of a certain groups. As well as they should avoid depicting one race as superior over the other. Instead we must work to create an environment that celebrates diversity and views all as equal.

Work Cited

Alien of a Higher Intell. (2014, July 11) Feed A Child The Most Racist Advert Ever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f_M9mC4Rbw

Croteau and Hayes (2002) Media and Ideology

Herbert. Marcus (2008). One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Boston: Beacon Press.

Moses. Lucia (2014, March 11) A Look at Kids Exposure to Ads. ADWEEK http://www.adweek.com/digital/look-kids-exposure-ads-156191/