4.3 Blog - Advertisements

From Television:

ABC – Special K Commercial
Characters: 1 Caucasian Male, 1 Caucasian Female, 1 Asian Female
The women collectively speak about ¾ of the speech during the commercial and of this the Asian woman speaks one line versus the Caucasian woman’s 10 lines.

Tru TV – NetFlix Commercial
Characters: Multiple Movie characters of various ethnicity, both males and females, 1 Caucasian Male main speaker
The majority of the “characters” are Caucasian. The only predominant black character (a male) is shown at the end and is from what seems to be a scary movie role. He is not the aggressor, but rather the victim. His clothes are dirty and his expression was zombie like, void of emotion. The romantic comedy couple, who is seen kissing throughout the commercial, is of two Caucasians.

FOOD Network – Special K commercial
Characters: The only character is a black, female.
The woman is shown in a nice apartment/home, in professional/classy attire, heading to work. There is a commentator speaking over the video so it’s as if the woman’s thoughts are audible.

From the Internet:

McDonalds Television Ad – c. 1970’s
Characters: 5 McDonald’s workers, 1 Manager
All the characters are males. The manager is Caucasian, three workers are Caucasian, one appears Italian, two are black. All the workers are shown cleaning various surfaces and appliances in the restaurant’s kitchen.

Wendy’s Television Ad, 1984 – “Where’s the Beef?”
Characters: 3 elderly, Caucasian females
All three characters are shown interested in a big fluffy hamburger bun. When they discover the beef patty, which is about ¼ the size of the bun, the women become curious, looking around for the beef. One of the women appears more agitated, yelling out the question, “Where’s the beef?”

Classic Budweiser Commercial
Characters: 4 black males, 1 Hispanic or black male (I can’t tell)
Two characters are initially shown drinking a beer, watching a game on television while lounging on the couch. Then the other characters come into play as each says “wusaaaap” to the other. There is domino effect and everyone’s shown with their tongue hanging out, saying the greeting and then everything goes back to how the scene is initially shown… two talking on the phone, the rest going about their business.

From The Oklahoma Daily:

Student Research + Performance Day Advertisement/Promotion
People: 1 Caucasian male, 1 Caucasian female, 1 male of unknown ethnicity, 1 Hispanic or Caucasian female
Of the photographs that have people in them… a Caucasian male is shown in a laboratory setting, micropipetting, the female of unknown ethnicity is playing the piano, the male of of unkwon ethnicity is doing a science problem on a dry-erase board and the Caucasian female is doing something with soil, presumably botany-related research.

From Magazines:

House Beautiful, National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) Advertisement
There are four photographs. In descending order (literally, from top to bottom) the first picture is of a young, black family, including a dad, mom and son. The second photo is of an elderly Caucasian male, the third of a young Asian female with a young boy who is presumably her son. The final picture is of a Hispanic or Indian looking young female. All are pictured naturally, smiling and/or laughing.

Budget Travel, Los Cabos Advertisement
The main, largest photograph is of a young, Caucasian family. The family is running along the beach at sunset and the family consists of a mom, dad, two young daughters and a young son. The other photographs are much smaller. The first is of a Caucasian female receiving spa treatment. The second is of a couple, one male and one female, walking in the water of an ocean cove; the picture is too small to determine their ethnicities. The third is of three Caucasian males, a dad and his two sons and they’re pictured fishing. The fourth photograph is of a Caucasian male golfing.

Cooking Light, Dixie Advertisement
The photograph is of a Caucasian mom pouring gravy onto her kids’ dinner plates. The kids are both under 12, one female and one male. All are shown happy and smiling.

REFLECTION:

I feel that I gave an in depth description of the characters and plot of each of the advertisements to the extent that a reader can accurately ascertain a feel for the genderism or racism present in the commercial, that is of course, if either one is present at all.

About the Budweiser commercial (viewed online), I think some people may interpret racism in that the characters are portrayed as lazy. I, personally, don’t think there’s any racism or genderism displayed. I think the advertisements are trying to reach a specific target audience… young, males of the bachelor status, and in particular, those of minority ethnicities.

About the “Los Cabos” advertisement, I do think that the advertisement does a poor job of targeting ethnic minorities. However, the advertisers may base their assessment of target audiences on the demographics of visitors to Los Cabos… in other words, most people that choose to vacation there, from the United States anyway, may be Caucasian and therefore it makes sense for the advertisements to target Caucasian families and couples.

For the Dixie advertisement, I think genderism is portrayed more than racism. My question is, why can’t an obviously husband/father figure be shown serving dinner to the children? I think the advertisement furthers the “woman’s place is in a kitchen” mentality.

For the Wendy’s advertisement, if anything I think it discriminates against the “minority”. I say this because it makes elderly, Caucasian women out to be the typical nosy, old person… always seeking to be in the know. I think this advertisement is more an ageism exploiter than anything.

Finally, the Netflix commercial… I believe this commercial does portray a slight element of racism, only in regards to blacks. The only black character is seen as emotionless, and with a “duh” expression. The vast majority of the characters are Caucasian and I think this should be altered. The romantic comedy couple, for instance, could easily be a minority couple.