Minorities in Advertising

"This book provides a mirror to our past--a past that has been ignored or overshadowed for too long." From the foreword by Alex Haley Kern-Foxworth chronicles the stereotypical portrayals of Blacks in advertising from the turn of the century to the present. Beginning with slave advertisements, she discusses how slavery led naturally to the stereotypes found in early advertisements. From the end of the slave era to the culmination of the Civil Rights movement, advertising portrayed Blacks as Aunt Jemimas, Uncle Bens, and Rastuses, and the author explores the psychological impact of these portrayals. With the advent of the Civil Rights movement, organizations such as CORE and NAACP voiced their opposition and became active in the elimination of such advertising. In the final chapters, the volume examines the reactions of consumers to integrated advertising and the current role of Blacks in advertising. Its truly novel subject matter and its inclusion of vintage and contemporary advertisements featuring Blacks,make this a valuable work.

Through the years, American advertising has made a complex, disturbing, and fascinating statement about American ideals and ideologies. This book helps us understand how the American advertising industry portrays anyone other than the White American mainstream. 140 illustrations.

Undressing the Ad aims to empower readers to become media literate through the work of deconstructing the consumer culture that surrounds them. By introducing critical scholarship on advertising in a way that is accessible, the book attempts to show how issues of race, class, & gender are expressed in contemporary advertising. The readings in this book take a decidedly critical political perspective & explore how representation in advertising upholds certain economic & political structures & subverts others, & exposes the myth that advertisements are merely messages aimed at selling goods & services. Rather they are texts that shape contemporary culture & shape our images of ourselves.