RM&C - t4 marketing inequalities

ethics & responsibility in MC & advertising

responsibility issues MC: portrays ideal (unattainable, changing), gap between ideal/real, consequences: low self esteem/reduced wellbeing/division: in-group/out-group; m source of change: power to shift cultural norms instead of reproducing, ads = potential to disrupt/challenge/address stereotypes & consequences; e.g. Fenty Beauty 2019: 50 foundation shades, previously excluded skin tones, valued $3b in 15months; Dove Real Beauty Campaign: female empowerment, Neo-liberal feminism - individual effort, ignore structural inequalities; -washing: rainbowwashing/femwashing/wokewashing - symbolic gestures/no evidence of addressing structural inequalities, for publicity enhancing image, campaigns benefit organisations but don’t change the world (Jones 2019)

MC as mechanism that reproduces inequalities

MC reinforces existing power dynamics through underrepresentation/misrepresentation/stereotyping; relationship: race & marketing (Foster Davis 2020) - markets rooted in racially driven colonial & imperialist practices, dominant groups set norms/rules/have privilege/control resources + opportunities, marketing produces demeaning/stereotyped images, damaging reputation of group; stereotypes: gender/race/socio-economic, shapes ‘normal’; targeting specific groups: tobacco/alcohol/fast-food targets black/hispanic/Native American = contributes to health disparities

under representation & misrepresentation in advertising

underrepresentation: invisibility/infrequent representation of historically marginalised groups; misrepresentation: stereotyping/inferior representation; gender rep: m = confident/in charge / w = vulnerable/submissive (Goffman 1979), slow rate of change, ASA ruling: marketing can’t have harmful gender stereotypes, outdated views impede equality; race & marketing imagery: black women stereotypes (Aunt Jemima renamed after BLM), black = background/token minority/athletes/dancers/unhealthy product ads, ‘white gaze’ (Davis, 2018); Native American: nature lovers/alcoholics/savages, stereotyping so common = subliminal/unnoticed; intersectionality (Crenshaw 1989): multiple marginalised identities = multidimensional lived experiences, e.g. age/gender, race/gender, religion/gender; intersectional underrepresentation (Nolke 2018): mainstream ad: LGBTQI+ representation increases but 230/240 intersections of s/class/age/race remain invisible, intersectional invisibility for identities overlapping multiple marginalised groups

cultural appropriation & how it leads to inequalities

cultural appropriation: use of elements of one culture without acknowledgement/inappropriate/offensive, harm: erodes identity/misrepresents/fetishises/commodifies traditions, e.g. Ralph Lauren: copied Mexican indigenous designs = colonialism in practice; self-authorisation strategies (Lüthje, 2024): reforming - consumers problematise harms & advocate for fairness, restraining - limit engagement to less controversial aspects, recontextualising - situate appreciation in socio-historical context, rationalising - dismiss cultural appropriation concerns; consumers sensitised to neocolonial market dynamics = reforming, public perception = restraining, reflective consumers = recontextualising, cosmopolitan consumers = rationalising

colonisation in MC

colonial imagery in charity work (Whitehead, 2023): subjects = helpless / viewer = white saviour, remove white gaze & show holistic representations, ethical reflection: who takes image/context/connection; culturally sensitive tourism (Sámi, Finland): indigenous, modernisation & forced assimilation weakened identity, tourism expected stereotypes but Sámi reluctant = impersonations/distorted images, conflicts over land use, ethics practice: reciprocity/respect host agency/avoid white gaze; colonial roots in marketing: m reinforces white superiority in organisational cultures, practices overt/covert/unintended but systematically embedded (Foster Davis, 2020); solutions: examine m theory & practice, include marginalised voices, ensure empowered/intersectional visibility, reduce harmful stereotypes, accept multiple ways of knowing & doing marketing

marketing inequalities

ethical & responsibility in MC & advertising; under representation & misrepresentation in advertising; cultural appropriation & how it leads to inequalities; colonisation in MC