I've heard several times that people believe that this commercial is racist… Do you? I have to admit that it bothered me a little ... What bothered me the most was the fact that they portrayed the husband of one of the other mannequins looking at the naked mannequin the obvious wife and mother to the other ones standing there? Well, YES, it bothered me momentarily and my next thought was, “Why does the black female mannequin have to be the one that is stripped of her clothes, left there to be ogled by the white husband and yes, even the dog had something to say… Those were my immediate reactions… After that passed, I was okay… I mean, I don’t shop at Old Navy already so they aren’t getting MY money, however they seem to be doing fine without it too. So… what are your thoughts? Did they go too far? Are we as viewers taking this to the next level when there is no need to react this way??
Monday, March 23, 2009
Old Navy Commercial... Racist???
I've heard several times that people believe that this commercial is racist… Do you? I have to admit that it bothered me a little ... What bothered me the most was the fact that they portrayed the husband of one of the other mannequins looking at the naked mannequin the obvious wife and mother to the other ones standing there? Well, YES, it bothered me momentarily and my next thought was, “Why does the black female mannequin have to be the one that is stripped of her clothes, left there to be ogled by the white husband and yes, even the dog had something to say… Those were my immediate reactions… After that passed, I was okay… I mean, I don’t shop at Old Navy already so they aren’t getting MY money, however they seem to be doing fine without it too. So… what are your thoughts? Did they go too far? Are we as viewers taking this to the next level when there is no need to react this way??
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2 comments:
To be honest, I think that the advertisers feel that they have to represent a diverse group of people in order to not appear racist. So they have to have one of each race or MINIMUM the token black person represented. Otherwise people get upset, say it's racist and it may have noting to do with deliberate choices of what races are in not not in an advertisement. So here Old Navy throws in this black mannequin and I see it as an effort to be diverse. If it wasn't this issue you highlighted, someone else would point out the naked lady and the suggested imagery the strips are blocking and say they are totally inappropriate for children to see and degrading for women. I think we should just get over nit picking this kind of stuff and really learn to pick our battles. But you know I'm not part of a race that's been targeted with racism in this country for forever so maybe I shouldn't have that opinion.
It is the job of advertising to make money. This is sexist and probably racist and many other disturbing things. But what is most disturbing is that this is what we want. Nothing happens accidentaly in advertising. There is a desired result and the risks are measured carefully.
Maybe, if this is offensive to a majority of us, our reaction will be heard by advertisers, and our image changed... if not, they will continue to do whatever works to make the money!
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