Stereotypes: Racially Offensive Advertisements

Arshdeep Singh Singh 1

Professor Case

Writing 101

3 December 2014 Racially Offensive Advertisements

Advertisements have progressed over the years and have become a dominant influence on many individuals around the world and have created a powerful presence in society today. Millions of people view advertisements every day, whether it’s in a magazine or on the television. I used to view advertisements much differently before being exposed to these different elements embedded in society. I would watch television commercials or see them in magazines, not thinking much of it. Now that I’m older, when it comes to controversial advertisements, they tend to focus on racism, sexuality, politics, the environment, health issues

In the advertisement, the young woman is painted all black in reference to the charcoal donut, which has a bite taken out of it, with text saying “Break every rule of deliciousness”. She also has on bright pink lipstick, is smiling holding the donut and has her hair fashioned in a high “bee hive” style. (Shika and sachdeva, 32-33) Seeing the image, I believe that it can come off as unintentional racism and can see why it is deemed controversial as well as racist. Many argue that the woman in the advertisement is seen as a reference to how African-Americans were perceived in the 19th and early 20th century. This can be classified as border line racism, due to how she is styled. The CEO of Dunkin Donuts in Thailand argues that he sees nothing wrong with the advertisement, and believes that it is simply a marketing technique for the franchise’s new “charcoal donut” which has a variety of flavors. (Shika and sachdeva, 32-33) Nadim Salhani believes that it is ridiculous that he cannot use the color black for his marketing campaign. He then goes on to say, “What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?" (Shika and sachdeva, 32-33) Since the release of this questionable campaign, sales have increased by 50% in the two weeks the campaign has been launched. After all the controversy that the advertisement has created, the advertisement had been removed, with an apology being issued both by

based company called Illamasqua. The campaign for this advertisement goes by the slogan of “Not Dreaming of a White Christmas.” In this advertisement, it features two sides, one being black and the other being white. In big lettering, there slogan “Not Dreaming of a White Christmas” can be seen. The real issue is about the model that was in the advertisement. On the left side of the advertisement, it’s all white, including the model, which is completely white. From her clothing, hair and her makeup, she’s white, except her lips and cheeks. On the right side of the advertisement, everything is vice versa of the left side, the model painted all black set aside from her lips and cheeks. When this advertisement was first made public, there was an outrage deeming that it was