RACE ....The Final Frontier
TV commercials almost never portray what would appear to be an interracial couple. There are same race couples, and multi-racial groups, but no interracial couples. Of course, no gay couples either.
The interesting thing is that this barrier was breached in actual TV shows long ago. Just not in ads.
The interesting thing is that this barrier was breached in actual TV shows long ago. Just not in ads.
posted by Howard at 2:32 PM
3 Comments:
Look who's coming to dinner dedux...
Most interracial couples are Hispanic/white, followed by asian/white then black/white. they represent from 4% to 7% of marriages so multiply the number of married couples see in ads by 6% and that would be the number you would expect to see in ads. Even smaller for gay couples.
If you were going to appeal to the largest number would you use a statistical outlayer to do it?
First, your statistics are faulty. Yes, about 6% of married couples are interracial. But that is of all marriages, including old folks like me. Interracial marriages have risen at a dramatic rate in recent decades. Since the vast majority of seemingly romantic couples in commercials are in the 20-35 range (targeted demographics after all,) it would be more appropriate to consider the rate in that group. I don't know what it is, but almost certainly it is 2-3x the rate in the balance of the population.
Still, I am not suggesting that 1 in 10 couples in commercials should be interracial. My point is that I have never seen ONE black/white couple in a commercial.
Clearly this reflects a decision (ok, a bunch of decisions - no conspiracy theorist am I) to not show these couples out of a fear of offending some viewers.
Look, noticing that every president has been a white Christian male doesn't mean that one thinks that from now on half of all presidents should be women, one in twenty gay, one in 500 black lesbians. It is a simple recognition that there is a bias.
The absolute absence of black/white couples in particular in commercials is not a statistical event. It is cautious marketing.
FIRST, TWO ASIDES: (1) Wasn't the first interracial kiss on TV between Lt. Uhuru (Nichelle Nichols, who by the way was banging Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek's creator) and Captain Kirk in the 1960's? (OK, it was the episode where the "Romans" could use telekenesis to force folks to do things to entertain them. It had the dwarf Alexander in it.) (2) As I recall, black and efficient secretary Peggy (played by Gail Fisher) sure seemed to have the hots for Joe Mannix.
The truth is that while we're beginning to accept interracial couples, we're still briefly confused and distracted by them. We still expect (though don't require, thank God) blacks to be with blacks, etc. Because the advertisers want to convey a lot in just 30 seconds, commercials rely on us to fill in the gaps with our expectations. If we're correcting our initial impressions by thinking, "Oh, those two ARE married," we fail to appreciate the new and improved Bounty paper towels.
In my opinion, that's why we stick with same-race couples. Counterpoint?
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