Race and Gender Representation in Advertisements

The media greatly influences and shapes the society’s knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and worldviews about diverse topics. Much of what different audiences within the society know and are concerned about is shaped by narratives, symbols, and images propagated by television, radio, and other forms media (Brooks & Hebert, 2006). These narratives and symbols play a crucial role in the construction of social identities – racial identity, gender identity, sexual identity, urban identity, and so on. Advertisements are some of the media texts that shape social identities.

Commercial organizations have time and again used ads not just to sell products and services, but to propagate certain narratives, especially with respect to race and gender. The propagation of those narratives has particularly gone a notch higher in the age of social media. This paper demonstrates and analyses the representation of race and gender in a selected advertisement. More specifically, the paper pays attention to the social groups targeted by the ad, how the ad violates or reinforces cultural norms, and the broader message conveyed by the ad.

The selected ad is a Facebook ad released by Dove, a Unilever-owned personal care brand. Dove released the ad in early October, 2017 in an effort to promote its body lotion. In general, Dove targeted female consumers of body lotions. More specifically, three social groups are represented in the ad: women in general, women of color, and White (light skinned) women. The ad portrays a dark skinned woman transforming to a light skinned woman after supposedly applying the lotion.

From the perspective of the advertiser, the lotion is suitable for the three groups represented in the ad. While Dove merely intended to promote its lotion to its target audiences, the ad can somewhat be viewed as a reinforcement of a narrative or norm that has existed in the society for centuries: that it is better or more appealing to have a certain skin color as opposed to another.

By depicting the transformation of a black woman to a White woman upon using the lotion, the ad, arguably, advances the narrative of racism. Propagated in large part by the media, racism is basically a narrative that normalizes the view that White or light skinned people are better looking than Black or dark skinned people. In the context of the ad, using the lotion makes one White, debatably connoting White superiority. It suggests that as a woman, it is better to be light skinned than dark skinned.

Accordingly, arguing that the ad demeans women of color makes sense. It degrades Black women by depicting them as less good looking than White women. In fact, a few hours after its release, the ad stirred emotions on social media, with critics strongly accusing Dove of racism. The extensive backlash the ad attracted compelled Dove to apologize and even withdraw it from Facebook. Racism is not a strange phenomenon.

It is a phenomenon that has existed for centuries, manifesting in socioeconomic equality between Whites and racial minorities (Burt, Simons & Gibbons, 2012). Whereas overt racism is rare, media texts such as the Dove ad serve to advance the phenomenon. The ad suggests that racial and gender prejudices have transformed into somewhat unconscious forms as opposed to the more conscious forms of the past. From the ad, Dove appears racist, while the reactions of the audience show that those prejudices are still deeply embedded in the society.

The Dove incident was certainly not the first time advertisements, especially by beauty brands, have depicted the people of color in a negative light. Just a few months before the Dove ad, Nivea was also compelled to pull down a Facebook ad that was widely perceived as racist as a result of portraying white skin color as superior to dark skin color. The Dove ad, therefore, can be viewed as a just reminder of how the media represents race and gender, especially with respect to dark skinned women.

Such representations according to Meyers (2004) are not uncommon. From the surface, it is easy to conclude that the ad was merely selling a body lotion. Without a critical look, one is easily led to believe that it is just a typical beauty ad showing its target audience how using the lotion can make one more physically attractive. A closer look, however, reveals that the ad is selling more than just beauty – it is also selling colorism.

The ad achieves this by representing women of a certain skin color as more attractive than others. In other words, colorism is the broader message relayed by the ad. It is common for media texts to have hidden meanings – meanings with wider social implications (Brooks & Hebert, 2006). Under the disguise.