Racial Stereotyping in Advertising

Racism and racial stereotyping is something that has been a topic of discussion since I can remember. Sometimes it is very hard to look at something and not recognize some sort of racial stereotyping involved or in the subtext. Many people believe that racial stereotyping is necessary when advertising products to specific groups of people. Many advertisers use cheap jokes or stereotypes to get a laugh out of a consumer in the hopes that it will draw them into buying the product. But is this right?

In my opinion the research that is done when figuring out a target consumer audience is extensive and most likely includes the different races out there. And there is plenty of more data to take away from the research, so I believe that the ad agency or companies should streer clear from any sort of race card or joke they might play in the advertisements.

Many times companies do not realize the conflict that a certain ad could create. For example, one of the most controversial ads in my opinion that PlayStation has put out was for their new portable gaming device that now comes in the color white.

Most people imagine that the whole race battle, white and white, would be over by now, but the creators of this ad were not able to notice the boundary they were pushing. A black women dressed in all black is having a white women dressed in all white dominate her by grabbing her by the face. To think that an ad that feels very wrong and dehumanizing was released just a few years ago is astounding.