Let’s talk about diversity in TV commercials (HERE)
If you only watched TV, you might think that white people (including fumbling, bumbling white males) are a minority in the United States. Depending on the commercial break, you might even guess that the population is nearly 70 percent black and 30 percent “other.”
You’d be wrong, of course. According to 2020 Census data, white people make up 61.6 percent of the population, black people 12.4 percent, Hispanics or Latinos 18.7 percent, and Asians 6 percent. (That’s what the report says, anyway. It should be noted that a new “diversity index” in the Census has some claiming that white people are undercounted.)
Yet, today it’s getting to the point where the average family in a TV commercial will soon consist of a black man, a white woman, and their two Chinese kids.
While there’s no doubt that society is becoming more diverse, you have to admit that something feels off here.
And before anyone gets their undies in a bundle, it’s a legitimate question to ask why 12 percent of the population is given so much representation and white people are a shrinking minority in U.S. television commercials.
Where are the Hispanic and Asian people?
Together, these groups now account for 24.7 percent of the U.S. population, yet they do not appear in anywhere near 24.7 percent of the advertising.
Going by the commercials, one would think that Hispanic and Asian people make up a far smaller percentage of the population than black people, when in fact their number is double.
This is not authentic. This is not realistic or representative. And unfortunately, the frequency of the misrepresentation is only one part of the problem.
(Interestingly, I will add, research suggests that ethnic minority consumers actually prefer to see white people in ads when those ads do not include members of their own ethnic group. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.)
“Whitewashing” black people
The other problem is that all of these ads showing black people aren’t really representative of black people at all.
Isn’t it just a little bit racist of advertisers to tell us that blacks and other people of color must walk, talk, dress and behave like white people, and partake in activities favored by whites, in order to be successful?
If I didn’t know better, I’d say it almost feels like many of these commercials were written with white people in mind, and then black actors were hired for the sake of “diversity.”
We see it all the time: the upper-middle-class family wearing upper-middle-class clothes, living in an upper-middle-class home and doing upper-middle-class things, like attending piano recitals, or gaming with pals on razor-thin laptops, or having a backyard birthday party complete with pink princess decorations and a tent and giant bounce-house.
Is this what everyone looks like?
It’s time for real representation
Here’s an idea. What would happen if brands and advertisers not only hired diverse casts of actors, but also created ads that recognized and respected our cultural differences, the unique things that make us special?
I’m talking about ads in which we could all really see ourselves.
If representation is so important — and it is — then why don’t most advertisers bother to think even one shade beyond skin color to represent nonwhite races and cultures as something more than copy-and-paste color-palette swaps of affluent white people?
By portraying all cultures the same — with people of all races talking and behaving “white” — these ads and advertisers actually disrespect, and misrepresent, every culture.
What a sad missed opportunity for brands and advertisers whose money and messages have so much potential power to show the best in all of us and celebrate the things that make our cultures special while bringing us all closer in our common love for a brand.
Of course, portraying people properly would require advertisers to have real respect for different races and cultures, and a genuine desire to give more than lip service to the prime directives of diversity and inclusivity.
Far-fetched, I know.
For now, the only thing “equitable” about all this is how equally insulting it is to everyone.
What’s happened to white males in TV commercials?
While we’re on the subject of equity in advertising, why is it that TV commercials portray white men as feminized, stupid, stay-at-home dopes who can’t make it through the day without the help of women, children, and people of color?
This is, of course, assuming that advertisers bother to portray white men at all.
Do advertisers really think that the only way to appeal to potential customers — many of whom are white males — is to insult white males?
What is driving this discrimination? Is it some sort of long-overdue come-uppance for having built the modern world we live in today? Or maybe it’s revenge for all that egregious “mansplaining” I’ve heard so much about. Because of course, white men are the only ones who ever mansplain.
Whatever the reason for it, white males are the bungling idiots of the ad world, just as they’ve been for years and will continue to be for as long as the culture deems them toxic.
Advertising publications push diversity agendas
As a guy who runs a blog focused on advertising, I feel compelled to follow the social media accounts of industry trade publications such as Ad Age, Adweek, and Digiday.
Honestly, it’s a pain in the ass.
I’m constantly bombarded by tweets and posts lamenting the disenfranchisement of this gender or that racial group, and I rarely find any usable news or information to be had.
Take this recent tweet from Adweek promoting an article condemning Western brands and advertisers for overlooking “the vast and diverse Muslim population” and thus contributing to the proliferation of stereotypes and prejudice. (See inset.)
a tweet from advertising trade publication adweek citing the
But the truth is, the Muslim population in Western countries like the United States is neither vast nor diverse. In fact, according to this survey from YouGovAmerica, Muslims account for just 1 percent of the U.S. population.
The Adweek article tries to spin this discrepancy by moving the goal posts to talk about the global population (of which Muslims make up about 25 percent), but by the time the reader gets there, the agenda is already clear.
Diversity. Inclusivity. Authenticity?
If you are a long-time Cranky reader, then you know that I believe authenticity is a key component in advertising.
Well, right now there is nothing authentic about the way advertisers are representing — or not representing — different races and cultures in commercials.
he absurd overrepresentation of black people (12.4 percent of the population, remember) is the most visible problem. What is the rationale for this?
Do brands and advertisers believe that by over-casting black actors in commercials, they can somehow make amends for slavery? Are they terrified of being called out as racists? Is this some sort of mad over-correction from that year when someone noticed that there were no black actors or movies nominated for the Oscars?
Are advertising people — those unassailable paragons of virtue we all know them to be — attempting to assuage their guilty consciences for all the systemic racism they see in every nook, cranny, and crevice of America by meeting some kind of quota?
Does any of this make any sense to you?
Let me tell you how I think this is all playing out among the American public:
White people (60-plus percent of the population) are seeing themselves erased and replaced by people of color who look, talk, and act just like them. (Hello, New Jake from State Farm.)
Black people are seeing themselves everywhere — which may strike a few of them as odd, as if white corporate America is shamelessly pandering to them — but any warm fuzzies this may bring are likely negated by the fact that blacks in commercials behave just like white people.
Hispanics and Latinos are seeing themselves represented very little in advertising, which probably has them feeling pretty slighted given that they account for nearly 20 percent of the population and their purchasing power is growing 70 percent faster than that of non-Latinos.
As for the rest — Asians, American Indians, Alaskan Indians, Pacific Islanders — I’m sure they’d like to see more representation, too. In the meantime, they’re all probably laughing themselves silly watching race-obsessed white people trip all over themselves to make commercials that make white people feel less guilty about being white.
So much for truth (and white people) in advertising
But, as I have said, the biggest problem with this forced-diversity agenda is that it’s a bullshit game anyway.
Because if brands and advertisers really cared about diversity and inclusivity and representing all races and cultures equitably, then they would put an honest effort into giving everyone their fair shake and especially into recognizing and respecting the differences in our cultures while bringing us together in our love for their brands.
Instead, most advertisers’ commitment to diversity is a shrill, cynical, and superficial charade dressed up in lip service and lofty “corporate values” that amount to precisely fuck-all when in fact, these companies with their gigantic ad budgets are in a unique position to actually do something positive for their customers, their country, and the public at large.
Remember, brands and advertisers: it’s not diverse or inclusive if it doesn’t include everybody.
As a matter of fact, what that is is actually racist. And insulting — not only to our cultures, but to our intelligence as well.
Which I guess should come as no surprise, as insulting people’s intelligence seems to be about all most advertisers are good for anymore.
Shame on you, advertising “professionals.” We see you. We see what you are doing, and no, we aren’t buying it at all.
March 31: Big thanks to Jim Thompson at RedState for linking to my blog post in his article, “Opinion: Survey Says: Americans Are Dumber Than a Bag of Rocks,” in which he discusses a survey showing just how detached from reality Americans’ perceptions are about the size of different populations by income, race, religion, gender identity, and more.
What do you think about the current forced-diversity agenda in advertising and TV commercials? Or, have I got it wrong?
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