Racism in Advertising: Fact or Myth?

It is never right to racially stereotype for advertising purposes but while the question of whether to allow for racial stereotyping may be on the mind of the advertiser, in some cases it takes a back seat to what is most effective. It is the job of the person creating the advertisement to make a point apparent without causing the consumer to put in tremendous amounts of effort in deciphering the message and stereotypes are generally easy to interpret.

Racism in advertising is most definitely not a thing of the past and seems to be even less accepted now than it was before. Stereotypes that are too obvious and insulting can cause outrage against the company. You can still find traces of racist outlooks in commercials and ads. Most adults would notice the stereotyping of this Intel ad of a white male portrayed as the manager standing above six black males all bowing in his direction depicting a master/slave relationship. Advertisers should have ethical responsibilities to not take any concept to extremes, but they are mirroring social-political attitudes that are already prevalent in society. They should have ethical responsibilities to design messages that do not increase prejudice among people.