Paper Sample on Racism in Advertising: A Global Challenge Affecting Business

Introduction

In the society we currently in globally, the issue of racism is a major concern affecting relationships between people. With nations such as the United States of America and Canada comprised of heterogeneous races, racism appears to be a challenging issue. With a population of diverse races, consequently, racism manifests itself in various forms. Racism as a critical issue has penetrated and found its way in the business field such as advertising. Racism in advertising can be in expression of ethnic prejudices, and how the information is shared. From a multicultural environment perspective, advertising and racism have attracted concern which requiring a constant deep inquiry.

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Ethnic Prejudices

Ethnic prejudices in advertisements are of major concern as in some ways it distorts the level of connection among social groups. Consumers are relating to advertisements with ethnic resonant by forming a bond to the concerned brand. Since Canada and the USA comprise a mixed population racially, certain advertisements have led to a negative perception of certain brands. In these two states, Whites and Blacks are the two main races that normally come into conflict with each other when it comes to racism (Clint, 2003, p. 12). With the tendency Whites appearing to be superior as compared to the Blacks, there has been a backlash meted out against specific brands based on race. For instance, during one of the celebrations of Black History month in the US, Gucci, a fashion brand was harshly judged on its wears. Gucci produced black sweaters with black faces to celebrate the occasion which blacks found to be outrageous and racist (Clint, 2003, p. 14). Ethnic prejudices in advertisements should be looked into to avoid disconnection with social groups.

Racist Sentiments

Sharing of information contained in advertisements can unconsciously be expressed through racist sentiments. Advertisers can handle the challenge of racist imagery brought out through advertisements. By ignoring racist information relayed through ads, negative stereotypes can be formed by the audience. Consequently, when negative stereotypes are formed of a brand, this will translate to the poor performance of a brand and its products. Poor performance can be in terms of parameters of sale or total stock turn over. An example is also highlighted in which a soap advertisement transforming a black man into being white elicited racist comments in which Qiaobi detergent company had to apologize (Clint, 2003, p. 16). Considering how information is shared in ads needs scrutiny before being released to the public.

Conclusion

With advertising and racism attracting concern from a multicultural perspective, various measures need to be put in place. The measures will be geared towards ensuring advertisement content and how it is conveyed is comfortable across races in the USA and Canada. Businesses will, therefore, have a chance to reach out to a wider target market with minimal or no racial conflicts in the advertisements being run on mass media.

Bibliography

Wilson II, C.C., Gutierrez, F. and Chao, L., 2003. Racism, sexism, and the media: The rise of class communication in multicultural America. Sage, pp.12-18.