This ad is a two page spread and the very first page of the magazine. It features Rihanna and she is pictures with sleek, stright hair and has very light skin. Although she is not white, she still is portrayed with "white" features such as her hair and her skin. The ad is for Covergirl's new wet-slick lipgloss.
2. Glamour magazine November 2008- Aveeno body wash ad
This ad suprised me because before I started doing this assignement I was expecting there to not be a single ad featuring a minority, based on everything I had read prior to the assignment. This ad features an African-American female, with short curly hair, and pretty dark skin. She is in the shower with her eyes closed and smiling looking relaxed. The ad is for Aveeno's stress relief body wash and I think it was a smart move by Aveeno to do this because even though I am a white female, I would still buy this product even though there is a black female on the ad.
3. Commercial- KFC
This commercial from 2006 features an African-American family eatiing fried chicken at the dining table.
4. Esquire- Dolce and Gabbana Ad
As I have talked about in a previous blog, this advertisement is one of the worst I have seen. Extremely offensive and it presents a terrible message to men. It is an ad titled "gang rape" and it has 5 tough looking men all around a bed that a woman is laying on, and one of the men is in between her legs, bending over her as to keep her from moving. This is a truly offensive ad and thank goodness it was banned shortly after its appearance in Esquire.
5. Glamour magazine March 2009- Gap Ad
This advertisement features 10 girls all standing, staggered throughout a two page spread. There are 3 minorities and they are all placed accordingly, as to almost have them blend in. First, there is an Asian and she is actually front and center. Although she is front and center, she is wearing a hat that gives a shadow over her eyes to almost camouflage them. Then, behind the Asian there is an African-American girl who is not only in the back and half covered up by the Asian, but she is placed on the fold of the 2 pages so you can barely see her! Finally, the 3rd woman is another African-American and she is placed on the far right over the page, almost as if we were supposed to not notice her.
6.Commercial- Loreal excellence
This was a commercial on E! that featured Eva Longoria Parker. She is latina and a very well known actress. She was advertising Loreal's Excellence cream highlights. She too is very fair skinnd and has many white features. She is also tiny and it seems that all of the minoritys that are the feature of an ad are famous. While Rihanna and Eva are both not white, they are well known.
7. Elle Magazine
total number of ads= 98
total diverse ads= 16
total number of ads featuring African Americans= 13
total number of ads featuring Asians or Hispanics= 3
8. Boyd Street
total number of ads= 13
total diverse ads= 1
total number of ads featuring African Americans= 1
total number of ads featuring Asians or Hispanics= 0
9. Vogue
total number of ads= 89
total diverse ads= 10
total number of ads featuring African Americans= 7
total number of ads featuring Asians or Hispanics= 3
10. Glamour
total number of ads= 56
total diverse ads= 14
total number of ads featuring African Americans= 9
totals number of ads featuring Asians or Hispanics= 5
This assignemnt was one of my favorite because although I am not an advertising major, I am taking an advertising class and so I have become very interested. Before doing some reading for this assignemnt and then actually doing the assignment, I was unaware of how little minorities were featured in advertisements. After doing this assignemnt, with the exception of Aveeno's ad, I came to the conclusion that usually when minorities are featured in ads or even just in an ad, they are either famous, have white features, or are in the background.
I hope that this can change because personally, I dont think I am going to buy a product based on the person promoting it. I mean, if I think a lotion looks neat or a body was seems to be relaxing I am going to buy it based on what the product will do for me and not who is usuing the product in an ad. Everyone needs to have someone to relate to and I think that advertising can easily do that. Someone just needs to try and see.
So, you are going to buy a product based on the product and not the images? Score one for awareness and working on your critical eye.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that advertising is the least diverse in the media. It will be hard for the advertising companies to change its views, on they promote their products because its the majority that gets noticed. I agree that everyone needs someone to relate too, but will anyone take a stand? I agree that thier are those one out of ten commercials that feature minorities but is that enough to change the veiws? I do hope people to notice like you and start thinking like you about buying the product just for the product.
ReplyDeleteThis is the second blog that I’ve read for the classmate post assignment that used Boyd Street as an example for this assignment. I thought that was a very unique and good idea! I didn’t even think about looking at something that is so close to the Norman local society. It shows that it’s not just the big main stream media that uses these tactics to get the attention of their audience. I also thought it was interesting to see that you listed the statistics in certain magazines or advertisings. This just shows the hard, straight up facts about ads in our society.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much experienced the same results you had from going through magazines and looking through tv. I, too, noted the Covergirl ad with Rhianna as the model. She wasn't featuring her ethnic characteristics and was "made up" to stand up to the white standard of beauty. I think it's great that we are taking a class that is providing us information like this in a way that we're experience it ourselves and not just learning about it in lectures (which would essentially be less effective). I also think it's important that as women and consumers were are becoming more aware of how minorities are under represented and how advertisements are shaped around our society's view of "beauty."
ReplyDeleteAllison - First, I want to agree with you that when I began doing this assignment, I expected to find MANY more ads including blatant stereotypes against several minority groups. However, I think I underestimated where a lot of organizations are heading with their advertising techniques. While there is still, obviously, an imbalance that needs to be addressed in a more direct way, I was encouraged to find that this form of media seems to be moving in a positive, progressive direction. Even in the past few decades, the likelihood that we would have been able to find ads including any minority in any one of these major publications under any circumstances would have been slim to none. Now, however, I truly believe our media is taking great strides to reach a more diverse audience base. In addition, I absolutely agree with your assessment of the Aveeno ad in that I, too, would not be driven away from purchasing this product simply because an African-American female is marketing it. The model does a good job, I believe of getting the message of the ad and the point of the product across to prospective buyers. She seems serene, relaxed, and in my eyes, has beautiful, fresh-looking skin. It makes me wish I was that relaxed!! This also speaks to the fact that while certain races, etc. may be used in specific advertisements, they are not, most times, used only to target people of that group. If this WERE the case, organizations would have to be forking out a lot more money on advertising so they could include each of the different groups that they desired to reach in each ad. This, to me, seems unrealistic. There ARE exceptions when certain groups are targeted in advertising. Take for instance, an ad for a certain shade of make-up. At this time, though, we need to remember that placing a white woman in an ad for a foundation made for an African-American woman’s skin (or vice versa) would not be sensible. It’s the same reason you probably won’t find an ad for running shoes in a crafts magazine or for tools in a bridal magazine. It’s all about the possible buyers. We cannot always know whom the outliers might be—those part of a group that might not be the “normal” buyer of a product or service. Advertisers are simply trying to reach people they believe will most readily buy whatever they have to offer.
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