Black women in advertising

                                                                                                      Saturday October 14, 2017 

 

Dear Dairy,

 

After the " controversial" ad that Dove soap put out with 3 young ladies of different ethnic backgrounds changing into each other as they take of their shirt I felt necessary to share my essay that I wrote for my English class in January. The interesting thing about the situation is that people were offended at the screenshot and not the actual commercial. The screenshot only shows the black girl changing into the white girl, what people don't see is that there is a Hispanic girl as well. 

 

                                The Evolution of African American women in advertisement

            The history of African American women in advertisement has come a long way, but as an

African American or Black woman I would still like to see a little more diversity. It seems as if major
brands are afraid to put a darker, non-celebrity African American women in ads. “African American
consumers controlled more than $550 billion in purchasing power and were responsible for $2 of $3
spent by ethnic purchasing consumers according to Prime Access & Mutlicultural Marketing
Resources”.  (“African Americans: Representations in Advertising”) With African American woman
being one of the major groups of consumers in the world it's no wonder that they aren't depicted in
advertisement and movies as anything other than the stereotypical ghetto girl/angry black woman, some type of slave role or they are over sexualized.   

            “There's nothing like a COKE” reads a sepia colored, vintage ad from 1955 featuring Mary

Cowser Alexander. In the top right corner in small, red italic letters “50 million times a day at home, at work, or on the way.” In the middle is Mary, a fair skin African American woman leaning on a shelf or table that sits over the bold words COKE. On the left corner of the shelf is a microphone and on the right is a bottle of coca cola. Mary is holding some papers in her left hand and a pencil in her right. She has short, tight curls is dressed in a light colored button up and is smiling big. Under the with word COKE, there are two listings. 1. Bright, bracing taste...ever-fresh and sparkling. 2. A welcome bit of
quick energy...brings you back refreshed. All of those words are in black. And in the bottom right
corner is the red Coca Cola circle symbol.

          For many years of marketing and advertising African Americans let alone African American

women were not featured on major ads. “Jamal Booker (Coca Cola Archivist) also speaks about how

all the adverts that Mary featured in, were about families and how they provided positive images for the black community” (First non-celeb African American Women to appear in Coca Cola adverts). For African American women in the 50's and 60's this was beyond ground breaking.  Mary went on to be featured in more Coca Cola ads and used the money to pay for college. Although she didn't contiue to model after that, she is well remembered.

            The Maybelline New York make up ad is a full page ad with models Jourdan Dunn and Gigi

Hadid promoting new “color sensational inti-matte nudes” in 10 colors. The ladies are side-by-side with the color palette, but part of Gigi's face is over lapped.  Both ladies are looking into the camera
seductively with their lips parted in a sexy, pouty way. Jourdan has lighter brown skin and Gigi has
whiter, but tanned skin.  The ladies are wearing the promoted lip wear. On the right hand side the
lipsticks are stacked lightest shade to darkest and there is a nude color flower under the swatch
catching drips of honey.  The caption says “ Our creamiest mattes. Warmer, more sensational nudes for every skin...with sumptuous honey nectar.”  This ad appeals to women of all ages; women who want a nice, nude shade of lip wear that is smooth and sleek. At the bottom left there is a caption “ Go nude? We're warming up to it.”   To the right of that is “ Find your perfect nude #INTIMATTENUDES” 

            The Maybelline ad was both successful ad unsuccessful, but the ad is very suggestive.  The

tone of the ad is sexual; using double entendre and using bold, italic and all capital fonts with certain
words.  As a makeup artist and consumer the ad did nothing for me. There should have been an array of women of different complexions and/or ethnic backgrounds in the photo.  The ad's target audience is supposed to be women who are looking for the perfect shade of lipstick that matches their skin tone.The ad fails in that area because there isn't enough diversity. For a product being offered in 10 colors,showing only 5 and being demonstrated on 2 faces was insufficient. The other 3 colors could have been displayed on 3 other women; maybe a Hispanic, Asian and a woman of darker complexion.  

            Lancome Paris' ad features Mexican -Kenyan actress and model Lupita Amondi Nyong'o

wearing a black and white stripe skirt suit with a crisp, long sleeve white button down accessorized
with a black skinny tie. She does not have on any accessories and her makeup is natural, but she has a
bold eggplant lipstick. She is holding her jacket in her right hand over her shoulder and snapping her
left hand. It is a two-page ad. The page Lupita is on has the words “ MY POWER, MY
FOUNDATION”. In bold, white, capital letters. Right under that caption is “ TEINT IDOLE UTLRA
WEAR..up to 24 hrs staying power...Full coverage foundation” TEINT IDOLE translates to
complexion idol in French.  In the bottom right corner of the page there is an option for the consumers to submit their receipts online to earn points.  On the opposite page are the foundations lined up descending from the darkest shade to the lightest. Below are the products displayed in 3 basic shades with a foundation brush. In the center “ NOW IN 40 SHADES” 

            This ad is successful because Lupita is beautiful and of darker complexion. She is a positive

role model for young women and is breaking many barriers and stereotypes. Most makeup ads
showcase makeup from light to dark, but Lancome is doing the opposite. To offer 40 shades of
foundation is genius. Many challenges women face is trying to find the perfect shade without having to mix multiple foundations. Lancome is known to cater to older women of fairer skin, so to have
someone who is of African descent is a step in the right direction for makeup brands all over the world. Lupita not having on any jewelry makes you focus on her face and her stance. She is strong and taking control.   

            Why is it that darker women aren't used in advertisement unless they are African? Major

companies advertising darker, non-celebrity were pushed in magazines like Essence, JET and EBONY, which of course are black owned magazines. A positive outlook on that is African American women went from being showcased promoting skin lighteners and hair straightening ads or servant roles to ads in magazines that they own and can control the marketing.   Although African American/ Black women still have more mainstream ground to cover, its a far cry from being showcased as a mamee and from “black face” style ads. The major issue is there needs to be more brown skin and darker skin non-celebrity women featured and promoting for national brands. It is 2017 and women of all nationalities are the primary shoppers in their household, so why not cater to them, but maybe slow progress is better than no progress.


                       " People tend to jump to conclusions before knowing the whole story"


xoxo,
~ Brandee