#4 Stereotypes: Race

Blog #4

I personally think it is never right to racially stereotype anything, even for advertising purposes. Racial stereotype is not only disrespectful to a person, but it is also disrespectful to the entire race that person belongs to. When ads racially stereotype a certain race, people unconsciously do that same thing. Thus, it is not acceptable to racially stereotype even for advertising purposes because it will affect how people think of that certain race even if it is unintentional. I often want to question the creators behind some racially stereotypical ads, what is their purpose? Is it really advertising the product or is it mocking certain kind of people to promote their product? I really do hope they are just simply advertising their product but I know sometimes that isn't the ultimate purpose. Ads creators must know that every race is equal and even if you have the right to say what you want, you have to respect each individual's race.

Racism is definitely not a thing of the past because we still see ads, every now and then, that racially target a group of people. The Mountain Dew ad we discussed in class is an example of racism that is happening today. A line of black males was controversial because African Americans have always been viewed as criminal suspects. Even though African Americans have been suspected the most, there were never many images or clips that confirms this judgment. However, the Mountain Dew commercial made it clear for the viewers that African Americans are an icon for criminal.

Advertisers have ethical responsibilities because it is the advertisers' job to send out convincing messages to promote the product rather than degrading someone or something. However, everyone in the society has ethical responsibility because they are the one who decides and judge commercials. Ads are created to target everyone in the society. Hence, advertisers make ads according to what people think. Everyone has to have ethical value in order to change how ads will be interpret.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s8gLSldKM0