Advertising That Works (or Rather, Doesn’t): Cultural Sensitivity
Written on August 7, 2007 by admin
Is your advertising offensive?: Cultural Sensitivity
You may have seen this Intel ad recently. It leaves a big question mark hanging over my head. I have to assume that such a big corporation wouldn’t deliberately make a racist comment in advertising that likely cost several hundred thousand dollars. But what else are we to make of the subservient black men bowing down to the self-satisfied white man?
To say the least, Intel missed the mark. And apologized for it.
I would like to have been a fly on the wall when the marketing session was going on at Intel. I’d like to know what they were thinking. At any rate, taking cultural sensitivity into account is extremely important when getting creative on ads.
Sometimes advertisers try to be edgy by toeing the race line (see this Italian commercial) but don’t bother to think about the audience they’re marginalizing. Sure, this commercial is kind of funny, but what is it really saying? Black men are idolic hunks we can create out of husbands and detergent? Huh?
But race isn’t the only issue that advertisers provoke. Many ads in fashion magazines prove to be sexist. Women are put in demeaning positions or are half naked. The irony? Women are the readers. What does this say about our society? Check out this ad and see what your reactions are. (I can go on and on about this topic. Read Jean Kilbourne’s Deadly Persuasion if you’re interested in how advertising affects women’s views of themselves).
If you’re going to invest in advertising, make sure you won’t offend anyone. It’s as simple as that.
-Susan
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