Racial Stereotyping in Advertising

I personally feel it is never okay to racially stereotype in advertising, but it is done all the time. I just saw a commercial from Pizza Hut about Italians not wanting any change to their pizza style. It seemed as though they used people that were "real" Italians or they used really good actors and actresses. They showed off their attitudes in the commercial and tempers by asking them if they would like their pizza to be different from the so called old style. I've seen plenty of racial stereotyping focusing on African Americans. Popeyes is a good example of this, they advertise on the people of the south which are predominantly black. They show what southern cooking taste like through their commercials by using a black woman and southern ideals within their commercials. They even use southern slang. Not every black person likes chicken like Popeyes claims they do.

Racial stereotyping is not a thing of the past, it is still prevalent today. I think people want to feel more comfortable with other races or that advertisers want buyers to think they're getting a little bit of culture by using their products because someone else of a different skin color is using it.

Advertisers have ethical responsibilities, but don't actually follow them. We still see racial advertising today.  In lecture we discussed the Aunt Jemima syrup brand which is ultimately the mammy example who loves to cook and look after someone else's kids. There was even a movie that was about the mammy example and how "they" supposedly felt about raising someone else's children.

In conclusion, I don't think it is ever okay for companies and advertisers to advertise using racial stereotypes because it only continues on with those misbeliefs.