products or services being advertised.
Question: can you think of any advertisement for a product or a service that would not, could not, or should not feature an interracial couple and/or biracial children?
DISCLAIMER: I myself am in an interracial marriage and our children are biracial, so I have a biased perspective of this topic.
~
Why, yes I am, as a matter of fact. Thank you for noticing. (I can’t really take all the credit for it; I was born this way.)
Now what is your answer to the question? Stay on topic, stay on topic!
~
And?
You’ve brought up some good points, and you reminded me of such an incident that occurred way back on in my early 20s. I will first address your answer.
Starting back at Emancipation (in the US, at least), mainstream cosmetics and toiletries were rarely been aimed primarily at people who are were not Caucasian, and that continued until certain ethnic minorities started their own products, first of all as a home-based levels, and slowly by starting their own companies. Big Cosmo and Big Toilet originally didn’t even manufacture fir for or advertise to anyone but whites, and followed the mindset that anyone and everyone could use the same product(s). Large companies in those industries were uninterested in branches or sections being devoted to those ethnically-different demographics, mainly due to the incorrect assumption that the market wasn’t big enough to generate profits that would justify the expense of research, development, advertising, and sales of ethnically-specific products. Fast-forward about 110 years later (1970s), when visions of profits danced in their heads, and they began to compete with and tried to take over the smaller, ethnically-owned companies. That brings us to the crux you brought up; some of the products the big companies made were still less appropriate for all people, but the company executives were the only ones who either didn’t know that, did know it but didn’t care about it, or did know about it and tried to get around it or ignore it. Hence the incident with the 4C model you wrote about.
I understand the uproar that ensued there, because for years, Black people merely had to or have had to merely ignore products and advertising that touts the “everybody” line. For almost a century, only lily white models were in the advertising anyway, except when stereotypical negative comparisons of before and after were used as examples of how great thou art with our product. Makeup is a great example. Certain makeup for accentuating light-colored skin tones is invisible, or worse, unflattering on darker skin. Many Black women simply could not use particular makeup, but since it wasn’t marketed to them anyway, it barely mattered. The 4C model being sent away is an example of the shunting attitude that Big Cosmo had.
In recent years, maybe the past 20 to 30, the situation has improved somewhat, as evidenced by more diverse product development and by more diverse models in the advertising of truly widespread choices for more ethnicities. Ok, now I’m just rambling and getting way off topic.
While your points are very good, as you stated at the end, none of that prevents an advertiser from using interracial, biracial, or multiracial people in the ad, for instance, the product itself might refer to one of several people shown in the commercial. An entire family of any number of members could be portrayed, and not all of them would have to be of the same ethnicity.
On to my story: I was in the Marine Corps, and men’s haircuts are an extremely important part of that life. Beyond or in addition to Marine Corps regulations and grooming standards (yes, there are very specific written regs that define the parameters of a proper Marine Corps haircut), there are men who just want their hair to look good. As such, finding a barber who cuts well and/or cuts it the way you want it is a big deal. Also, the barbers on a Marine base are civilians, they are not active duty Marines. The transient life of a Marine doesn’t guarantee that you’ll always get your preferred barber, but you’re still required to maintain a proper haircut at all times, excuses do not suffice in the Corps.
I was on temporary duty at a new base, I was only going to be there a short while, but during that time, I needed a haircut. The following that I will recount was not necessary every time or with every new barber, but with some it was. Having learned from the experience of getting some very bad chop-jobs, I had developed a sure-fire tactic to avoid it. I always spoke with the barber before even sitting in the chair, and the answer I received had to have an air of self-confidence or I would respectfully decline and seek another prospect. The question I would ask was along the lines of, “Have you cut black men’s hair before?” or “Are you good at cutting black men’s hair?” I received a variety of responses, from surprise, shock, humor, disbelief, agreement, humble declines, etc. On this particular occasion, the guy shocked me by saying, “Hair is hair. I’m a barber, I cut all hair the same way.” I think he was a little offended, not an uncommon reaction to my questions. However, different types of hair have different textures, so I know from experience that some people don’t know how to handle black people‘s hair. One of the best ways to get butchered is allowing someone to find out they don’t know how to cut it by experimenting on your head. Even though he may have assumed that all hair could be cut equally, or even if he would have given me the best haircut of my life, I would never know, because I didn’t want to take a chance and find out the hard way. I was the one who would have to walk around with a hack-job if he got it wrong. I thanked him and moved on, sought another barber shop somewhere else. Whether straight, curly, wavy, frizzy, thin, coarse, thick, brittle, sturdy, dry, oily, etc., all hair is different, and much of it must be handled differently as a result. My hair grows differently than others’ hair, not only its direction of growth, which varies on different parts of my head, but also its method of growth.
~
This post was edited by Randy D at July 30, 2020 9:09 AM MDT
No, not a one of them is intentional, why would you think they are? I agonize over writing correctly, and when I don’t do it, the agony intensifies exponentially. I’m surprised at you.
:|
Some advertisements are extremely vague in what products or services are being touted, and an often used tactic is to include concepts and images that have nothing to do with the subject matter. As such, even if couples and/or children are not the main focus, some ads use them as backdrop.
~
Jane S 