For instance, let's examine this Gap advertisement.
Now, this is America. ...What? There's a black woman AND an Asian woman... But there also are 7 other white women: 5 blond and 2 barely brunette. Yet this is American advertising's definition of a diversity ad.
And we all now this happens on television as well. I love a good teen drama. And I love it even better when there's that ONE special black heartthrob. Here's a photo of the new cast of 90210.
Real World is one of the best examples of the "token black", well "token anything". There has to be at least one Black person (preferably from a rough background), one super religious person, one homosexual, a plethora of bisexuals and everyone has to be crazy (I added that part).
We can't leave cartoons out!
So what do you think? Shouldn't we be happy that we at least made it into these advertisements, shows, and other forms of media? Or should we make our presence even more main stream?
11 comments:
To answer your question as simply as possible, NO! We should not be content with this poor display of diversity by advertising companies and network producers. The United States is the most diverse nation in the world, however, it is not portrayed as such in the media. They "sprinkle" minorities in the media so that they will seem to be what America calls "politically correct." But in my opinion, having only one minority in ads or tv shows is just as wrong as leaving them out..
Shouldn't companies tailor their advertisements to the appropriate demographics?
Who's to say who the demographic is? Now correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that African Americans make up the largest percentage of consumers in America. So why is there only one token Black person in all those advertisements? Furthermore, I think that it's terrible that the tokening of the Black person is beginning as early as with cartoons. That is perpetuating the ignorance of marketing companies in children, who will grow up to believe that Blacks are inferior because there's only one of "them" in the screenshot.
I think that advertising companies only add the "Token Black Person" so that they do not appear to be openly discriminating against the African American race but essentially they are. If they did not fear conflicts with the African American community there would probably be a lot less Tokens and more all white ads.
The sad truth is that even though African Americans make up the largest consumer group, we are not in control of how the very product that we support is marketed to us and by whom. Great example are black hair products.
WOW!! The black from Recess was my idol...and he still is today! Of course he is an athlete and tall slim, aren't all blacks??? or are they short and chubby. LOL, oops my bad a had a moment.
I'm interested in knowing where I can find that statistic that African-Americans make up the largest percentage of consumers in America. I think that the reason for the "Token Black" in advertisements and cartoons is a direct correlation of the American population. You have to play to your audience.
I agree with 3PSI09. Perhaps the token black advertisements ARE based on the population of the black community in America. Then again, it wouldn't hurt to see a couple more faces of color in advertisements and media in general. And how does the Black population make up the largest consumer group when we're outnumbered by, not only whites, but the growing Hispanic minority group as well?
In reference to the cartoons. I think it would be unfair to refer to those specific characters as token black people. I mea
n if you saw the shows. The main character of rugrats was raised in a Jewish family. Chucky's father married interracially. These shows were built to reach a mass audience. I think it would've been almost unfair to the series to add more African Americans just to cater specifically to a black audience rather than, just making "African American" a demographic that they reach out to. I mean in reference to African Americans we represent 13 percent of the total population. 8 main characters on rugrats 1 main character was black. 1/8=13 ummmm. Is it "token" or is it just fair.
Plus,, I mean demographic goes deeper than race. You have to look at the mentality of the children watching the show. Like those people with brothers, step relatives, parents from different cultures, children with only one parent (specific to rugrats a child whose lost a parent). Children who feel as though they need to compensate for things they cannot control (Angelica). Sometimes the conversation goes deeper than the physical, and if you look at the mentalities ,environments , and attitudes of the children, everyone on each of those cartoons was a very different person regardless of his or her racial designation.
Sammy, I agree with you as well. Rugrats represented the diversity of America not just based on race but on family dynamics, religion, and the way each character was raised. Great point.
Just in regards to clothing stores,we definitely should be included more when it comes to advertisement because without African American Support some of these businesses might not be as successful. So at the least they can do is "really" include us.
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