What do you think of Black Women in commercials?

[aaaaaa5a]

I don't have to write about the many negative images African American women must deal with on a daily basis. Dating, Marriage, severe interracial marriage imbalance issues, etc. But are now mainstream media outlets promoting negative images of African American women without recourse?


Look at some of the commercials below. Would you want to date any of the women featured?

In my opinion, the increasingly bad images of black women by mainstream society is starting to rival what you sadly see in hip-hip and rap videos.


These commercials look like minstrel shows featuring black women.

I don't find them particularly funny.

I don't think it makes any product more appealing.

But I do believe for African American women looking to live work and love… it does make their life, that much more difficult.



Here is a State Farm commercial featuring an African American Woman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I79Jmgb8nyw&feature=relmfu


Here is the topic being discussed on MSNBC today.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41475603#41475603


Here is the latest Pepsi Super Bowl commercial in full
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEzLxMJQPY4




Thoughts? Is this an overreaction?

[FreakinDJ]

1. Thats Fucked Up

Talk about "Blonde Abuse"

[aaaaaa5a]

6. The more I look at that commercial the worse it gets...

The black woman comes off terrible. The blonde woman is abused. And the man first…. looks like wimp… and second…. is arguably the victim of domestic violence. (About 20% of domestic violence victims are men.)


In some states the behavior on the part of the black woman would come under the scope of domestic violence. Physical violence against any spouse is wrong, regardless of gender.


Everyone looks awful in that commercial.


And I still don't get how that commercial is suppose to make me thirsty for a Pepsi?

[SoCalDem]

14. Truthfully, advertising USUALLY makes the men look bad..why?

psychologically, most advertising is skewed to women because traditionally, women are the shoppers.

If you go waaaay back, the men are the clueless ones who know nothing about whatever the product they are selling is for.

Women are the ones who know how to do stuff, and who "let" the man fee important when they "teach" him how to use whatever the product is.

Women who buy the products are often portrayed as doing it to "win" the man's attention/affection/admiration/whatever.

Ads have always been sexist on every level.

Ad people have been very aware of societal changes and have tried to include all ethnic/racial entities, but since they are also tone deaf, they usually end up getting it wrong..again:)

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

29. True. True. True...

The commercials that most irk me are the princess worship commercials they roll out every Christmas.

Diamonds and luxury cars.

[Hello_Kitty]

30. Women are cast in the "mommy" role. eom

[whathehell]

46. I think this ad is racist and sexist, but hardly

"disrespectful" if you will, of men..

Unless, of course, you really think that men want to be "good" at doing housework, which is what most of these products aimed at women

are about.

[seabeyond]

47. i hear men take great pride in not being able to clean. now, cooking. that can be offensive

to a man. a man that is a good cook and takes pride in his ability to cook. i hear some men proud they cant (my dad), but many men (my husband) are great cooks and are offended when told they cant because they are male.

[whathehell]

48. I assum you are being facetious?

If not, I'll take it as if you were, anyway, as I think men are doing "just fine" in and on the MSM.

[MindPilot]

62. These particular commercials are for soda pop & car insurance

No housework involved.

[whathehell]

78. Correct... and that might be why these particular commercials make women look bad, not men

[MindPilot]

83. They make both men and women look bad.

Here, they manage to rise to a level of tired worn-out stereotypes that is rarely achieved in advertising.

[whathehell]

86. False Equivalence...

but your first post told me I could expect that from you.

[MindPilot]

87. Well, you have done a masterful job of bringing civil discourse to an abrupt halt.

I don't come here to be insulted.

[whathehell]

88. If that's what you call it...Your misdirected first post wasn't a great start

to the supposed civil discourse

I don't come here to be misread or dismissed.:shrug:

[MindPilot]

89. Misdirected? Now I know how you got your sceen name.

Whatthehell are you talking about?

[whathehell]

96. Yeah right...I can tell by this post how "civil" you were prepared to be, LOL

Your first post responding to MINE seemed not to have read the word "usually" or "in most cases".

If that doesn't work for you, go back and re-read it...I'm too busy for this.

[MindPilot]

98. You are completely off the reservation now.

I'm not taking your bait...go troll someone else.

[whathehell]

99. Um....You came to me first

not the other way around, but good luck with that.lol:P

[MilesColtrane]

75. I hated that commercial.

[Pirate Smile]

2. That Pepsi Max Commercial was so horrible it was stunning.

[jtown1123]

5. I agree. feeds into the whole "all black men secretly desire white women" stereotype

Whoever wrote that commercial should be fired. Extreme insensitivity on all counts. How hard is it not be be an ignoramus Pepsi Max?

[aaaaaa5a]

7. Good call.

You're right. So many groups were offended, I accidentally left that one out!

[jtown1123]

11. Yeah, not only did they negatively portray black women, they managed to do the same for black men

After that commercial, I turned to my husband and said, who the hell thought that was OK?

[whathehell]

79. The guest on MSNBC thought it negatively portrayed white women as well and I agree.

[jtown1123]

90. I fail to see how this negatively portrayed white women.

It's like comparing apples to oranges. White people are part of the dominant culture therefore making fun of a white person is a world of difference than stereotyping marginalized groups.

[whathehell]

97. Well, then listen to the African American woman on MSNBC explain it..

"White people are part of the dominant culture"...I think you mean White MEN.

[jtown1123]

101. So are white women, to a lesser extent certainly, but they are still part of

the dominant culture that dictates beauty aesthetics.

[whathehell]

102. Really?

I thought they had those dictated TO them.

I'm a white woman and I sure as hell haven't been doing

any "dictating" of beauty aesthetics lately.

But again, you might want to take it up with the Black woman who included

White women in being demeaned by the commercial..:shrug:

[chowhound]

28. a man smiles at a woman and

his girlfriend/wife got mad and threw something at her boyfriend/husband. sounds like something that happens often. why do people have to make it about racism.

[Lilyeye]

37. That scumbag Rush said the commerical shows how black women fear blondes.

What a moron.

[aaaaaa5a]

64. Rush's take…. BLACK WOMEN HATE BLONDES!

Here is all of the info in regard to what Rush had to say on this topic.

http://www.mediaite.com/online/rush-limbaugh-pepsi-ad-successful-because-black-women-hate-blondes/

[jtown1123]

91. Racism is so ingrained in our culture people fail to see it.

[LisaL]

35. And never mind the commercial suggests it must be fine to injure someone and then

run off without even offering to help.

[Glimmer of Hope]

61. I can't believe Pepsi vetted that crap.;

[Whisp]

23. it's awful!

wt helllll?

just imagine role reversing this, there would be such an uproar if a man stuck a bar of soap in a womans mouth or shoved her face in some plate.

i just detest this uneven treatment - it makes everyone look bad. But I guess that's the whole point.

maddening!

[hfojvt]

71. well when the MSNBC commenter mentioned Michelle Obama

It made me think of the time when Obama the candidate was on a late night show (I forget now if it was Leno or Letterman) and he mentioned that he was trying to quit smoking, and that anybody who caught him smoking should tell his wife because, as he said "I am terrified of her".

That was probably meant to be funny when he said it, but there was a serious side too, in that a woman is often, or can be, an enforcer, making the man in her life do the things he doesn't want to do. Like stop smoking, or, in the case of the Pepsi commercial, stay on his diet, and also refrain from flirting with, or ogling, other attractive women.

I think that every man, white or black, will expect that his s.o. will fist bump him in the shoulder if she catches him flirting with an attractive woman.

[Prometheus Bound]

3. No. It's not an over-reaction.

[seabeyond]

4. i agree.... black women get the low end more than any group...

i told my friend two decades ago, if i was black, i would be sooooo pissed. she seems to take it much better than what i would imagine i would. which is really the better choice and i admire her, her ability. who wants to go thru life sooooo pissed.

[blondeatlast]

8. That Pepsi commercial is so offensive that I suspect Pepsi intended for it to be.

Lately, it seems that's the SOP of Super Bowl ads. It gets the stuff talked about on the 'net and appeals to a crowd that would "die" rather than be caught being PC (which is in itself a fiction).

The State Farm one offends me as well; why not the exact same commercial with Anglos (which I am)? It doesn't seem like an accident.

Heh--I may be showing my age, but that is the utter antithesis of the "Pepsi generation."

[LisaL]

34. I also thought it was highly offensive.

First the woman was abusing her husband or boyfriend. Then she hit a bystander with a can. What kind of message is this?

[jobycom]

9. That's been one of my pissed-off peeves for a while now.

A lot of white ad execs are trying to market to African Americans because they've finally realized there's money there beyond the payday loan or value menu level they used to focus on, but they have no idea how to market. It doesn't occur to them that maybe black women and men would be influenced by the same things that influence white women in men (better stain removers, tasty foods, puppies and kids, etc), so they go back to the Martin Lawrence and Daman Wayan comedy shows and say "Ah, that's what black people think is funny!" and they try to mimic that.

Yeah, it's disgusting, and your minstrel show comparison is exactly right--it's a white creation of funny black people. I didn't even click on your link, because when I read the title the State Farm and the Pepsi Max commercials were the first two I thought of.

The worst part to me isn't even the "black" part, it's the "woman" part. They portray them as mean, bitchy, and annoyingly in the man's way--message being, if they want to be less clownish, they should be less independent and work on not being annoying to the man. The insult to men--that we are that shallow and think of women as something we have to put up with instead of as fellow humans sharing our lives--is disgusting, too.

To be fair, advertisers are pretty insulting to everyone. Everyone is a stereotype, everyone should be normal and use their products because only the abnormal people don't use their products and they are jokes. It's all part of the strategy. But yeah, the portrayal of African American women these days in a lot of commercials is disgusting. (Not in all, though. Watch Coke commercials more closely. They are really into positive messages, inclusive imagery, and harmony. They've always been like that--think of the "teach the world to sing" commercials.)

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. +5

[seabeyond]

19. agree. and agree on coke message. mcdonalds too. there, i said it, lol. nt

[jobycom]

39. McDonald's is usually pretty good, that's true.

Now and then some of their commercials seem a little stereotypical, but in general they are positive and upbeat and don't mock anyone. Certainly I never remember them having a black couple hit a white woman over the head with a can and running away while she lay unconscious on the pavement.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Bottom Line: Any buzz is good buzz

[Pirate Smile]

38. I don't think I've ever seen a commercial and said - I will never buy that product now - but I did

after I saw that Pepsi Max one during the Super Bowl.

[Newest Reality]

12. I don't believe in commercials

They are largely an outlet for corporate propaganda. For some reason, you should buy what you don't really need? We aren't in the brand x is better than brand y world anymore.

Fueling consumption by manufacturing necessity is now obviously a vehicle for the exploitation of many for the wealth of a few in a world where important, even vital resources are reaching levels of scarcity as this debacle proceeds into a dimming, darkening future. Meanwhile, the impact on health and the environment continues unabated as the whole business model reveals itself as not only unsustainable in the short and long-term, but as an architecture for systemic collapse.

So, why would we support, respond to, or even take seriously, discussions about who should be hawking the goods to us? The tacit, wide-spread acceptance now of wholesale manipulation, while deplorable, tells us a lot about what is acceptable and how the impending, disastrous results are of seemingly little concern, collectively.

EDIT: Title goof.

[blondeatlast]

13. Maybe because we are adults and can choose the topics we want to discuss?

Maybe you think of DU as a graduate symposium, I think of it more like a rowdy, friendly neighborhood bar.

[JANdad]

15. I dunno...

I thought they were funny...they are supposed to be a joke...take it as such and lighten up a bit

[blondeatlast]

17. So was Stepin Fetchit. So was blackface. I'm a WASP and I find it

disturbing--ads are, whether we like it or not--an exaggerated reflection of who we are as a society.

[seabeyond]

20. lighten up.... i hear lighten up and draw my conclusions... nt

[blondeatlast]

22. +1. nt

[Hello_Kitty]

31. Let me guess, you're a white dude. eom

[notesdev]

16. Just add it to the many reasons I have no TV

Also I really don't like cop shows.

By the way, did you notice that sexual and other physical assaults against men are also a common theme in today's TV advertising? In the SB commercials alone there were at least two instances of guys getting kicked in the balls.

It's as if they know that violence against women is not cool, so they compensate for it by doubling down on violence against men.

[timtom]

21. Trying to remember why I don't watch tv....

Hmm...think, think, think...mushbrain...Ohhh, Wait!

[Cali_Democrat]

24. +1

[dawg]

25. dawg's take

My biggest problem with the State Farm commercial has to do with what I call "lookism". They take a very attractive woman, and imply that she needs to be upgraded. To be fair, they do this to the man as well. But two wrongs don't make a right.

The Pepsi Max ad is just horribly insensitive and plays to racial stereotypes. It is also "lookist" because the woman is very attractive, but she gets upstaged as well.

Both ads play to the stupid man/bitchy woman meme, but that is nothing new.

Both of the main character black women are very attractive women that probably turn lots of heads in real life. If these are the women who need upgrading, then most of the real women I know just don't stand any kind of a chance.

I already buy Coke Zero. That Pepsi Max ad makes me now strangely *proud* of that fact.

[Uzybone]

26. oh come on stop compalining

need I add

:sarcasm:

[chowhound]

27. over reaction....nt.

[zappaman]

32. No big deal

I'm white, wife is black and she laughs a lot at both the state farm and the pepsi commercial.
When she laughed at the pepsi one, I looked at her like "are you kidding" and she explained that black women don't like a white woman eyeballing their man.
So, more an issue of sense of humor than race...

[GoCubsGo]

41. I wonder if there would be any outrage had they used another black woman

Something tells me that if another black woman was substituted instead of a white woman, this thread wouldn't exist. The same goes for if the couple were also white. Heck, I'm white, and I don't like a white woman oogling my man, either.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

49. I also wonder that as well.

the commercial was so over the top that I had to LOL. I thought it was pretty ball-sy of Pepsi myself to take on the stereotypes.

meh.

what do I know.

can I even say ball-sy?

:yoiks:

[WatsonT]

84. I'm sure there are plenty

of white men who don't care for black men eyeballing their women.

A commercial using that as a premise to physically assault the black guy would raise a few eyebrows.

[lunatica]

33. Those are definitely stereotypes - The Angry Black Woman stereotype

You're not overreacting.

[Old Troop]

36. Well, the "throw something at someone, they duck, and a bystander

gets hit instead" is a schtick that goes back to the beginning of comedy. I actually didn't think about the race of the characters, but was somewhat amused although I've seen it happen in everything from the Three Stooges to Tom Hanks movies.

[KamaAina]

40. Jennifer Hudson's all right in those weight loss ads

though I thought she looked at least as good when she was larger.

[doc03]

42. Well it never occurred to me what color the people were until you

pointed it out. It could have just as well been a white couple sitting there.

[Cid_B]

58. The way to see all the double standards...

... is to flip the roles and imagine who would get angry...

Guy smashing his wife's face into her food and slapping her around... No go...

Caucasian woman chucks a can and strikes a black female... No go...

I was surprised they ran the ad but I suppose I shouldn't be as it creates "buzz. Whatever that is...

[WatsonT]

85. Bingo

Spousal abuse is apparently hilarious, if it's the guy getting hit. And attacking people of a different race is funny, if it's a white person being harmed.

[Lucian]

43. I saw a commercial where a woman got angry at her bf for checking out another chick.

Overreact much?

Why is everyone focused on color?

If it was a white couple, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[Better Believe It]

44. Answer: I like Black women in commercials. Next question please.

[ReggieVeggie]

45. if the jogger in that Pepsi ad were black

it would have defused the notion you're alluding to...that all black men secretly want white women

What I'd like to see is the same commercial wherein the couple is white and the jogger is black. Oh no! White men attracted to black women during a super bowl?? What is the world coming to??? /snark

[chimpymustgo]

50. Never fucking happen. Point taken.

[Number23]

54. Yeah. Can't have the world's worst kept 300 year old secret all out in the open

:rofl::rofl:

[jtown1123]

92. haha

[Upton]

51. They look fine to me..

Why is it that some people are always looking for something to be offended by?

[blondeatlast]

56. Why is it that some people are always offended because someone else is offended? nt

[jtown1123]

93. That makes zero sense in this thread

[blondeatlast]

95. Responding to Upton, who tends to get peevish if something that doesn't disturb him/her

disturbs others.

[Number23]

52. Thanks for this post. Living in Australia, I had not seen these ads

The State Farm commercial is actually a bit funny to me. (hee hee)

The Pepsi ad is straight BS. Glad to see that they are being taken to task for it.

[KittyWampus]

53. Yes, you're overreacting. There are LOTS of black women and men in commercials now

Many are quite "normal".

Why not be offended on behalf of all the women who are portrayed in other stereotypes as well?

[Number23]

55. What an odd post.

[KittyWampus]

57. what's odd are people getting torqued over one thing while ignoring other crap that's equally as

offensive on tv.

My problem with the first ad- totally wrapped up in bogus beauty standards.

My problem with the second ad- using violence that casually even though it's trying to be slapstick.

All that said, there are plenty of commercials showing "normal" black men and women. But those will not get mentioned as signs of progress even if it is in corporate/consumerist measures.

[Number23]

63. So now we have to be told what's proper for us to be offended by?

what's odd are people getting torqued over one thing while ignoring other crap that's equally as offensive on tv.

Why is it so odious to you for us to discuss this one offensive thing? And why are you acting as though discussing this one offensive thing means that other offensive things will not be discussed?

And I don't even want to know what you mean by "normal" black men and women.

[Nye Bevan]

59. In the State Farm commercial, it's the black *guy* who screwed up and crashed the car (nt)

[Incitatus]

70. Yes, and of course no one cares.

If the woman did it, some people would be mad because the commercial would be saying women can't drive.

[MindPilot]

60. The whole Pepsi meta-theme seemed to be hit somebody with a can o' Pepsi

I was really repulsed by the angry jeleous women portrayed in both the Pepsi and the State Farm commercials. And in both cases the wimp of a man who should be telling her and her naggy nasty temper to hit the road.

The race doesn't even factor into it for me; they would be repulsive no matter what the skin color.

[cbdo2007]

65. I've never noticed the races of people in commercials.

[aaaaaa5a]

67. You can't be serious… NT

[cbdo2007]

69. I'm completely serious. They're all just people.

When you're watching commercials, you really think to yourself things like "oh wow, there's a black lady!", "cool, this one has an indian guy", "another white kid, geez?"

Maybe I have other things on my mind or too much other stuff to worry about but I'm quite sure that I have not put one second of thought into the race of people in commercials for as long as I can remember. Maybe when I was younger, I don't know, but there are different races all over the place so it just seems normal. No reason for any particular person to stand out so I don't even notice.

[jtown1123]

94. You are clearly not a POC

If your race is underrepresented or stereotyped in a commercial, you notice.

[Nye Bevan]

100. If you always "notice the race" of people in commercials

I think you are paying a little bit too much attention to skin color.

[Catherine Vincent]

66. I thought the State Farm commercial was funny.

The pepsi commercial...not so much. It was actually stupid.

[ZombieHorde]

68. The commercials definitely relied on negative stereotypes. nt

[ReggieVeggie]

72. I din't think much of any of the commercials this year

they were all kind of...blah

[Hugabear]

73. Sickening how companies still rely on racism and sexism to sell crap

Always appealing to the lowest common denominator.

[defendandprotect]

74. K/R -- back tomorrow -- !!

[Hannah Bell]

76. forget the racial/gender aspect: why would anyone think this is cute or funny or would sell pepsi?

it's sick.

spouse repeatedly assaults partner, then assaults stranger.

wtf?

[akbacchus_BC]

77. I dislike the Pine Sol ad, that is so frigging tacky. older coloured woman

sitting on a sofa and the cutest white guy comes in. That ad is despicable then I wonder why she accepted that derogatory commercial!

[Imagevision]

80. And who owns the bulk of the media if not all of it - repugs!

[Brewman_Jax]

81. Rehashing old and offensive stereotypes

purely for attention is advertising SOP. No shock there.

[NuttyFluffers]

82. overreaction. Where was all this during "Obsessed" with Beyonce Knowles?

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1574961945/

yes, it's cheap and tawdry exploitation, like "Hand that Rocks the Cradle," "Fatal Attraction," et al. so is most of Hollywood -- just like most of Madison Ave. except this time it threw in race to mix things up.

now if you really wanna talk about something, let's talk about how "Obsessed" did in theaters, and in which markets. sometimes cultural tropes exist, and the reaction they engender is very real. or do we just want to sanitize the world from 'feeling' any uncomfortable feelings? what's the motivation involved in feeling offended here? all ads base themselves in exploiting frames and tropes, that's nothing new or surprising. so why this, why now?

and before anyone comments, think real hard -- was the final fight scene in "Obsessed" necessary, or really just cathartic? culturally, what is going on? are these feelings real, and should be observed and discussed, or should they be swept away into a sea of artificial Utopian tropes of a Coca Cola commercials? whose values are being preserved by such 'outrage' from discomfort?