BlogHer - Marketing & Racism - Please tell me we're getting better at addressing this - Comments

Boycotts are effective

Melinda Casino — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 19:22:34 -0500

I also wrote about blac(k)ademic's post on the Sony ad - the feminist blogosphere was on fire about it.

Historically, boycotts are very effective.

I saw another one that kind of shocked me

Laura Scott — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:51:50 -0500

It was a television commercial last night. A (white) guy, stereotypical nerd, gets on a crowded bus. Then a big black man attacks a smaller white man. Then an old guy turns his boom box way up. Then a large African American woman in skin-tight spandex gets up and starts dancing by "shaking her booty" ... and I'm just kind of stunned, such that I don't even remember whose spot it was. Maybe it was on during the Daily Show? (Odd market targeting, that.) It just played into the old cliched stereotypes of yore, that apprently someone in advertising feels need to be updated. Ugh.

Laura Scott
design, snap, blog

This is a good time to invoke Laina D's write-up on this...

Lisa Stone — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:36:58 -0500

Read Laina here.

Who among us boycotts companies that perpetuate messages like these? Do you think that has an effect? Do you care?

My response: My purse puckers up like a lemon and spits acid.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

Marketing & Racism - Please tell me we're getting better at addressing this

Min Jung Kim — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 15:09:22 -0500

Not too long ago I posted about a recent rally against Sony and their v. stupid ad. It was really validating for me to note that as a person of color, that there was a unified voice in being completely offended and vocal about this advertising campaign.

I mean.... Come *ON* people. How could that not be totally offensive?

So god bless the fact that a couple of weeks of noise was sufficient to have the ad pulled.

Finally catching up with news & having these thoughts complete mulling in my head,I was pleased to note the following:

a) Flickr was used for grassroots awareness on the issue. That same image was posted by several people to raise awareness and trigger discussions.

b) Blogging & elevating visibility of offensive materials works to change marketing campaigns.
Well. Sometimes. At least the response seems to be faster than in years past.

ie: Details Magazine article

Abercrombie

c) I'm just hoping that some people either get canned for such moronic decisions or get beaten up by a whole bunch of ignorant rednecks too. Because man, that would be like so totally ironic and stuff.