The Fallacy of Diversity in Ethnically Ambiguous Advertisements - Admission/Application Essay Example

16 July The Fallacy of Diversity in Ethnically Ambiguous Advertisements In 2008, L’Oreal released a print ad featuring Beyoncé that earned widespread criticism, because the company was alleged of lightening the skin and hair tone of the artist. For these critics, a black model is whitened to support the belief that whiteness is the ideal color of beauty and power. For the past few decades, racial diversity is made more evident in magazine and TV advertisements, through featuring models from different races.

A white model is no longer the one and only image seen in these advertisements; instead, models, who look ethnically ambiguous, are used in numerous TV and print ads. This paper argues, however, that these attempts are more focused on capturing a broader audience, without truly advocating racial diversity in the modeling industry and society, in general. Advertising on magazines reflect ethnic ambiguity to send the message that companies embrace racial diversity, although their choices of models and manicured pictures reveal the fallacy of promoting racial diversity.

Magazine advertisements increasingly employ ethnically ambiguous models to send the message that companies promote racial diversity, which is critical to their bottom-line. In Pimps Up, Hos Down: Hip Hops Hold on Young Black Women, Sharpley-Whiting discusses the rise of ethnically ambiguous models in print and TV ads. Fashion magazine editors, for instance, believe that “race mixing” is the new model standard (Sharpley-Whiting 30). In the journal article “Consumer Magazine Advertisement Portrayal of Models by Race in the US: An Assessment,” Peterson examines models from different races in consumer magazines.

She discovers that for these advertisements, minority models are projected positively and in increasing numbers. Hopper, in Understanding Cultural Globalization, explores globalization and its effect on cultural hybridization (146). For him, many companies find it beneficial to use models that have “cross-over appeals,” so that a larger market can be attracted to its products (Hopper 146). Numerous advertisement images are more directed toward broad audiences, because if narrowly-defined audiences were more targeted, models would be more representative of their ethnic/racial groups.

Either way, the company’s agenda is economic in nature. These advertising measures are mere tactics, however, that expose their unease in featuring darkly-colored models. Osei-Kofi, in the article “Multiracialization, Mixing, and Media Pedagogy,” asserts that that racial ambiguity serves commercial purposes more than social transformation goals. Ethnically ambiguous models are used, because they can attract more customers. They are not meant to change perceptions about beauty per se. Osei-Kofi stresses that when dark models are whitened, it shows that dark skin is still “stigmatized” (220).

The discomfort with darkly-colored models reveals underlying racial prejudice. Ethnic ambiguity is a ruse to preserve the prevailing white superiority in American culture. Osei-Kofi argues that there is a significant difference between using a dark-skinned black model and a light-skinned black model. Companies prefer the latter. If they do employ dark-skinned models, these models are whitened to suit prevailing modes of white beauty (Osei-Kofi 220). Hence, ethnic ambiguity is a euphemism for white standards of beauty.

It is an example of how mainstream American culture remains predominantly racist, while appearing racially diverse. Ethnic ambiguity in prints ads is a ruse for racial diversity. Advertising on magazines reveal ethnic ambiguity to send the message that companies embrace racial diversity. However, their choices of models and manicured pictures reveal the myth of promoting racial diversity. Marketers whiten dark models or use ethnically ambiguous models to emphasize diversity. In reality, they do this to keeping in line with the ideals of beauty and power, which is centered on whiteness.

Works Cited Hopper, Paul. Understanding Cultural Globalization. Massachusetts: Polity Press, 2007. Print. Osei-Kofi, Nana. Multiracialization, Mixing, and Media Pedagogy. Diverse Millennial Students in College: Implications for Faculty and Student Affairs. Eds. Fred A. Bonner, II, Aretha F. Marbley, and Mary F. Howard Hamilton. Vancouver: Stylus, 2011. 213-226. Print. Peterson, Robin T. “Consumer Magazine Advertisement Portrayal of Models by Race in the US: An Assessment.” Journal of Marketing Communications 13.3 (2007): 199-211. Web. 14 July 2012.

Advanced Placement Source. Sharpley-Whiting, T. Denean. Pimps Up, Hos Down: Hip Hops Hold on Young Black Women. New York: New York U P, 2007. Print.