Stereotypes

I think we see racists ads way too much. I don't understand why companies insist on using them—ethics aside; all of the stereotyping is tired, it's not funny or clever. In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, Kanye West made some strong points about racism and exclusion in our society. West stated "The first thing we gotta do to stop racism is stop focusing on racism. And I understand that there's somebody going to work right now that has a white boss that's talking down to them because they black and I'm not trying to deny that. But I'm saying we understand that people is different races—saying white-skinned versus dark-skinned, It just slows down the conversation." Kanye also explained how we all know that older white men in power right now are most likely racist, BUT they're on their way out; it is up to the new generation to erase the racial boundaries. Advertisers do have an ethical responsibility, but I don't think it matters if they don't abide by it because the power is shifting from companies to consumers. Tyler the Creator's Mountain Dew commercial and Doritos "Add a little Mexican" commercials aren't even creative nor funny as they were intended to be. I think racial stereotyping in advertisement is on its way out, it says more about the advertisers and companies than it does about the racial stereotypes that they portray anyway.

3 Ads

Print ad: Heinz Ketchup

• Fresh sliced tomatoes make up the original ketchup bottle
• Tomatoes, packaging, and graphics are integrated
• The color red is part of Heinz
• Typography is friendly, sans serif bold













TV ad: Old Spice

• Desaturation - hipster feel - targets young people
• Explores stereotypical mom-son relationship, uses it in a humorous way
• For straight guys (guy likes girl in ad)
• Old Spice is trying to target younger consumers (high school or college males)








Outdoor ad: Santa Fe

• Clever placement near IKEA
• Uses IKEA to promote
• Everything is to the left so we see IKEA and the car from that angle
• Type says "Load that furniture in here"
• Targeting IKEA shoppers

Game of War Ad

I've been seeing a lot of this campaign with Kate Upton as the face of Game of War; the commercials are featured a lot on the FootyLight app, which is where I like to watch my soccer highlights. I thought it was pretty ridiculous at first but the commercials started to develop into something more interesting and Kate Upton's character was actually integrated into the game. Its interesting how mobile gaming is trying to break into pop culture. I think I'm one more commercial away from buying the game.