Advertising Racial Bias

Jim walked through the doors with a big smile on his face. He felt confident and prepared. He was up half the night finishing the outline for the advertisement. He normally wouldn’t have worked so hard on an outline, but he felt that this particular one deserved the effort. After all, this wasn’t just any ordinary advertisement he and his firm were creating. This wasn’t just an ad for some stupid product or service, like a kitchen appliance, or a cell phone plan. No, this ad was for something that mattered. This ad was for a company that helped homeless children in America. This was an ad for something that helped people, and did good things for society. This was why Jim went into advertising in the first place, to help create advertisements that helped the world (Ways of Seeing).

Jim was working with his collaborators on creating an advertisement which they would later pitch to the company that was helping the kids. Today he was going to meet with his colleagues and put the ad together. His job had been to design the basic format and layout of the add. His colleagues had other responsibilities, such as picking the images they would use, and putting the soundtrack together. They were going to compare ideas to put this ad together. The elevator arrived on the tenth floor. Jim got out and walk over to the conference room. When he opened the door he found that the others were already inside. His co-workers Milo and Chris were waiting for him.

“ Hey Jim,” said Milo, “ How are you?”

“ Good,” Jim replied.

“ Good, well let’s get down to business. What’s your idea for the layout of the ad?”

Jim eagerly pitched his idea for the layout. He told them what the ad would say, and how it would say it. He emphasized using a sad tone of voice and describing how much these poor kids suffered.

“ This will play to people’s sympathy” he said confidently. “ They will see how sad these kids are, but then we’ll tell them how they can help, and then we show some smiling happy kids or something to show how happy their donation will make someone. They will see themselves as the answer to the problem, when really their individual donations do so little in the long run.”

Chris and Milo both liked the layout; they agreed that it was effective and persuasive. Chris was in charge of creating the soundtrack for the add. He played some sad music, and then some happy upbeat music at the end. Jim and Milo agreed that this really set the mood and the feeling that this ad was trying to create. Then it was Milo’s turn. Milo was in charge of picking out the images of sad and happy homeless children that the ad would use. He showed them a slide show of many photographs of little kids.

“Obviously this is too many images to put in the add.” he said “I was hoping that we could pick out the ones we want.”

“Yes, there are a few that I think should definitely be in this ad,” Jim said. Then he went over to Milo’s laptop and copied all of the photos that he liked and put them in a separate folder. “I think that these kids will really pull at people’s heart strings, and make them want to donate.”

Milo looked at the images that Jim had selected. His face was placid and expressionless. After looking through them he paused, thought for a moment, then looked at

them once more. “I noticed that all of the photos you liked were of caucasian children,” he

pointed out.

Suddenly Jims face looked serious, like he had just been accused of some sort of crime “What are you implying Milo?,” Jim asked “Are you implying that I am a racist who thinks that white kids deserve help more than minorities? Because that’s not what I think. It’s just that I think that these particular kids will make people feel sorry for them, and want to help.”

“Because they’re white” said Milo.

Jim sighed. “Look, Milo. I personally don’t care what race kids are, but let’s face it, that’s not how the rest of the world sees it. This ad will be shown in a predominantly white community, and therefore these images will appeal more to the public.

“I’m just worried that it’s a little bit racist. After all, most of the homeless kids in America are African American .” Milo informed him.

“ Look, it doesn’t matter whether or not the ad is racist, what matters is if it is effective (America’s Youngest Outcasts). I’ve looked at some statistics. 90% percent of the local population is white. White kids will appeal more to them.” Jim stated

“I just worry that this ad may be a little offensive,” said Milo.

“I don’t think many black people will mind. I mean look at Chris, he’s black and he thinks that these images are ok,” Jim pointed out, “Right Chris?

Chris paused for a moment, thinking about what to say. Finally he spoke, “Actually I do think that we should include a few photos of African American kids. We have some images of black kids that I think could be very effective. Look at this photo. This poor little guy is only about three years old. He’s the youngest one we’ve got. I think that his age will make people feel sorry for him.

Jim examined the photo. “He is very young, but I just don’t think he’s that cute. People will want to help cute little kids. Look at this one. See this little blonde-haired girl? Doesn’t she just have the cutest little blue eyes?

“While your definition of cute pertains to little blonde-haired blue eyed white girls, others may find black children just as cute,” Milo pointed out.

Jim started to get frustrated. He wasn’t a racist, and he didn’t like that he was beginning to come off as one. It wasn’t his fault that this was how the world was. It wasn’t his fault that the people of this town would relate better to a little white kid that resembled their own children. “I don’t think that white kids are any cuter than black kids,” he stated “But the rest of this town feels differently than I do. We have to face fact and play to the interests of the people. That’s how advertising works. We spread products, services, and ideas to the people by pertaining to their needs. We find out what they like and we give it to them. It’s how things and ideas are created. It’s how advertising, and spreading products and ideas shapes the world.”

Milo looked at Jim and said, “The thing is Jim, I just don’t think that you’re giving the people of this town enough credit, This town isn’t the same as it was twenty or thirty years ago when you moved here. People have changed. There is more racial equality, and I believe that they will want to help homeless children of color, just as much as white children.”

Jim was annoyed. Milo and Chris just didn’t understand advertising. He had been in the business longer than them. He knew how to appeal to people’s interests. But, they were too stubborn to agree with him. If they wanted to show images that wouldn’t work as well in the ad, then that was fine with him.

“Let’s leave it up to the charity people. We’ll make two ads, one with my images and one with yours. We’ll see which one they like best. I have some work to get done, good bye.”

“Good bye,” said Milo, “And may the best ad win.”

Sources

1. "America’s Youngest Outcasts: State Report Card on Child Homelessness."Familyhomelessness.org. National Center on Family Homelessness, n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. <http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/pdf/report_cards/long/fl_long>.

2. Ways of Seeing. Dir. John Berger. 1972. Online Video.