Chapter 1-8 Overview: Advertising, Race, and Representation
Multicultural ADV 175
Intro
Reasons for Development:
Belief in the economic, social, and cultural value of culture.
Advertising: a tool of persuasion that encourages action.
The need to authenticate representations (e.g., hip-hop) where people might not see themselves in advertisements.
Examples like Sprite "the Battle" (1995) and Instacart (2023) highlight the core elements of culture and advertising creation.
Core Class Focus: How cultural insights are applied; market segmentations based on dividing "folks."
Learning Objectives:
Critically describe the relationship between popular culture and media to advertising.
Example: Barbie impacted other elements of media and advertising when the movie came out.
Recognize and create ethically designed and culturally relevant advertising materials to reach a diverse marketplace.
Course Assessments:
4 quizzes (15% each), taken on paper.
Advertising project: 25%.
Case Study Responses: 7.5% each (elsewhere).
No Midterm.
Benefits:
Raising cultural intelligence.
Understanding the impact of advertising on social and cultural identity and on how we perceive others.
Learning to develop culturally appropriate advertising communications.
Optional: SmartBrief AAF Mosaic Center "pulls together material from the week and puts it all in one."
Overview and Context
Course focus: Chapter 1 of Multicultural Intelligence and online reading “Representation Matters and Illustrated History of Race and Ethnicity in Advertising.” Readings linked in course site.
Instructor notes on online readings: cost-conscious approach means heavier emphasis on online readings rather than physical textbooks.
Purpose of today’s session: extend last week’s discussion on advertising by examining race and ethnicity in advertising across history, from early 20th century to present (2025).
Core question: how have race and ethnicity figured into the advertising industry, both in representation and in targeting, and how has that evolved with social movements and market practices?
Recurrent themes: audience, mass market vs local/regional markets, the idea that advertising transcends selling, and the social/cultural impact of advertising.
Agenda for today (summary):
Creation of the mass market and the general audience
How advertising is more than selling (advertising as social/cultural influence)
Broad historical overview of race/ethnicity in ads through the 20th century to today
Foundations for later deeper analysis (representation, ethics, and industry change)
Key Concepts and Definitions
Marketing vs. Advertising:
Marketing: Strategy that includes the product or service; the place it will be sold, product design and function; its price, and how it will be promoted.
Advertising: The promotional communication about the product that guides consumer choice.
Marketing is the strategic whole regarding a product or service.
Advertising is a specific part of that whole and is just one touchpoint around a product.
Properties of Advertising:
Paid or sponsored communication.
Somewhat protected as a form of free speech.
Designed to attract consumers to like the product or service.
"Salesmanship in Print."
Designed to be truthful from the person sponsoring communication ("if you didn't pay me to do it, it's not advertising" — NO EXCHANGE = PR).
Objective example: "9/10 people say that Dave's hot chicken tastes better than chick fil a's." Supreme court/government recognizes the concept of puffery, which is designed to be attractive but not necessarily provable fact.
Advertising as both sales tool and cultural force
Early ad leaders viewed the job as selling; many later perspectives emphasize advertising as transcending simple sales by shaping culture, norms, and identities.
Quote reference: advertising at times described as salesmanship but also as a social/cultural influencer through storytelling and representation.
The imagined audience in the mass market:
Early mass-market view centered on a white, middle-to-upper-middle-class, heterosexual audience aged roughly 25–55 with few disabilities. This is the baseline typical consumer archetype used for decades.
Demographic snapshot (general market):
Race: White
Class: Middle to upper-middle
Age: 25 to 55
Sexual orientation: Heterosexual
Ability: Generally able-bodied
Later shifts expand beyond this imagined consumer to include broader racial/ethnic groups and other demographics as segmentation grows.
Market segmentation (five-plus factors):
The shift from mass marketing to market segmentation happens prominently in the 1940s–1950s.
Six key factors often cited for viable market segments:
S = {\text{historical},\ \text{measurable},\ \text{distinguishable},\ \text{accessible},\ \text{stable},\ \text{profitable}}
Each factor: historical existence, measurable/insightful data, distinguishable identity, accessibility via media, stability over time, and profitability.
Market types:
Local market: e.g., a single city or town (e.g., Champagne vs. Ban in a hypothetical example).
Regional market: e.g., a broader geographic area (e.g., Illinois, Indiana, Michigan region).
National market: products marketed across the U.S. (sea to shining sea).
Advertising’s use of culture and language
Advertisers “use existing stories, culture, language” to build identification and authenticity with audiences.
Authenticity and trust: audiences are more likely to trust brands that reflect or resemble themselves; this relies on cultural resonance and perceived authenticity.
Representation in advertising
Representation matters: advertising’s fictional world signals existence or absence to real audiences.
Absence equals symbolic indignation; presence implies recognition as consumers.
Early advertising often used people of color as objects (to illustrate product efficacy or to convey environmental/scientific messages) rather than as legitimate consumers with agency.
Authenticity and consumer psychology
People tend to trust brands that feel like they “are like us” or reflect our own values.
Ads aim to create relatable, authentic connections quickly due to short attention spans.
Historical impact and social pushback
Civil rights and other activism push advertisers and agencies to rethink representations.
Government pressure (e.g., under Johnson) and civil rights movements help catalyze change toward more respectful portrayals.
“Advertising transcends” idea in practice
Beyond selling products, ads socialize ideas about who belongs, what values are normal, and what identity looks like.
Notable shift: from stereotypes and caricatures to consumer-led representation
Early 20th-century imagery often used stereotypes to tell stories or convey product quality.
Mid-to-late 20th century sees activists and changing market forces push for the depiction of people of color as consumers with agency and diverse roles.
Advertising as a Problem-Solving Business:
Built on creativity, it focuses on building brand stories.
Consumers often turn to brands they trust for comfort, consistency, reliability (e.g., Apple for compatibility).
Loyalty to a brand is often driven by positive experiences.
Advertising Industry Roles
Key Roles:
Account Services
Strat Planning
Digital/Social Media
Creative
Media Planning & Buying
Promotions
Role Definitions:
Advertisers or Clients: People with something to sell.
Advertising Agencies: Experts in selling.
Account Executives (Maintainers): Those who maintain the relationship between the agency and the client. They help to translate the wants/needs/idea of each group to the other; ensuring the relationship between the company and the client is maintained.
Researchers: Those who develop the analysis and information upon which an advertising campaign is based.
Creatives: Those who come up with the words (Copywriters) and artists (Artists) who use images in advertisements. They develop concepts based on info from researchers, executives, etc.
Media Experts: Those who designate the optimum placement (i.e., television social media, outdoor billboard, radio, etc.) of an advertisement.
The Mass Market and Audience (Historical Foundations)
The mass market emerges as a concept in the early 20th century with a focus on reaching a national audience.
Lasker’s perspective on advertising’s social role:
Albert Lasker (the nation’s first public major advertising figure and leader of the Lord & Thomas agency) argued that advertising helped “make a homogeneous people out of a nation of immigrants.”
Interpretation: advertising helps create shared tastes, habits, and cultural norms that unite diverse immigrant groups into a common national identity (e.g., what Americans wear, eat, look like, and how they behave).
Lasker was known for solving advertising challenges and building advertiser demand.
Limited demand for the product they have available for sell.
Can we build advertiser demand? – asks Albert.
Example: The Iowa Experiment – a specialized strategy to raise demand for oranges in Iowa through "Orange week" to talk about health benefits, which raised demand (Sunkist drink an orange).
"the only purpose of advertising is to sell; it has no other justification worth mentioning."
Later decided that it is more than that it's a social and cultural greater responsibility.
Audience assumptions in early mass advertising:
The imagined audience is predominantly white, middle/upper-middle-class, and of a certain age and lifestyle.
Advertisers think about what this audience wears, eats, drives, as well as their education and family background.
The concept of the “mass general market” vs local/regional markets:
Local market examples: a single city or town (e.g., Champagne vs. Ban in a hypothetical example).
Regional market examples: a broader geographic region (e.g., Illinois, Indiana, Michigan region).
National market examples: nationwide distribution and messaging (e.g., McDonald’s as national chain vs Whataburger as regional chain).
Early case studies and agency thinking (context from last week's discussions):
Agencies and client relationships; the nuts-and-bolts of copywriting and imagery; questions about what makes advertising effective.
The Sunkist example and Albert Lasker’s broader questions about the purpose and impact of advertising beyond individual clients.
The California Fruit Growers Exchange: A group of farmers in California all need seeds if they all exchange, they can get them cheaper. Only corporate small things because they are competitors.
Advertising as Social and Cultural Force (Transcends Selling)
Advertising is more than selling; it shapes culture and everyday life
Ads function as social and cultural observers, referencing what people wear, eat, and value.
Ads influence language and style, and tap into evolving social norms and hierarchies.
New Influencer/Content Advertising Methods:
Influencers/Content Advertising leverages individuals to promote products.
Micro Influencers: Don't need a huge fanbase, just relatability and intimacy.
Word of Mouth (WOM): Most powerful form of advertising; recommendations from trusted people are always more impactful.
These methods aim to draw attention, build relationships, and turn a profit.
Advertising as a tool for social knowledge
Ads convey information about relationships, power structures, and what constitutes “normal” or “desirable.”
They reflect and reinforce broader cultural narratives, including gender roles, class expectations, and racial/ethnic identities.
The role of the image in conveying meaning
Because attention is short, imagery carries much of the message; the image often communicates messages about authenticity, nature, or cultural status more quickly than text.
The concept of “authenticity” in storytelling
Audiences respond to ads that feel authentic to their sense of self and community.
The ad’s success often hinges on the brand seeming to “understand” the audience, not just persuade them.
Instacart Ad Elements (Examples):
Features: features of the product ordering your groceries at game.
Bandwagon: person peeking at their phone, feeling of missing out.
Admiration: his son admiring his dad for the Instacart insight.
General Advertising Strategy:
For a brand (e.g., Instacart):
Find an audience and tell them a story that interests them and gets them to take the action you guide them to take.
Find an audience – Find interest – get them to act we want them to take.
Tell them a story.
Race and Ethnicity in Early Advertising (1890s–1960s+)
Primary use of race/ethnicity as a storytelling device
Race/ethnicity used to authenticate a product, signal quality, or set a particular cultural mood, rather than to present diverse consumer perspectives.
Stereotypes were frequently employed to tell stories quickly and to place products in specific cultural frames.
Native Americans in early advertising and mass media
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows popularized a stylized image of Native Americans (feathers, tipis, warlike imagery).
This image fed into ads for products (e.g., maple syrup via “natural state” imagery; Mazola margarine using closer-to-nature tropes).
The portrayal often cast Native Americans as a timeless, “natural” people, used to evoke authenticity or a rustic image, not as modern consumers.
Environmental ads and the Native American frame
The crying Indian (Keep America Beautiful, early 1970s) used Native imagery to argue for environmental responsibility, tying Native symbolism to moral consumption choices.
Other racialized imagery in late 19th/early 20th century ads
Chinese imagery in rat poison ads (late 1800s): the slogan and visuals leveraged anti-Chinese sentiment (e.g., “they must go” motif) to sell a product.
Aunt Jemima (Pancake mix; flour): a heavyset Black woman image rooted in plantation-era stereotypes; role implied cooking and household labor, not contemporary consumer agency.
Tobacco and other products used Native American and other minority imagery to imply naturalness or authenticity.
The use of stereotypes in service of quick storytelling and brand association.
Transition from stereotypes to consumer-focused representation
Early 20th century: people of color depicted as objects within stories (not as actual buyers or participants in ads).
Mid-20th century: civil rights activism and civil-rights movements push for broader representation and inclusion in media; ads begin to shift toward recognizing and portraying people of color as legitimate consumers with agency.
The role of media owners and publishers in segmenting markets
John H. Johnson and Ebony (and other Black-owned media) demonstrate market potential within African American audiences.
Publishers show advertisers they could profit by targeting Black consumers with appropriate messaging and media placements.
Key Case Studies and Examples (Illustrative Objects in Ads)
Native American imagery in food and consumer goods
Maple syrup branding invoked a “natural” image connected to Native Americans’ historical associations with the land and traditional processes.
Mazola margarine’s use of “closer to nature” messaging; natural state of product processing.
Racialized portrayals and anti-immigrant messaging
Early rat poison ad uses a supposed Chinese worker in a way that taps into anti-Chinese sentiment (“they must go”).
Aunt Jemima: Black woman depicted as a skilled cook whose recipe is in the product; reflects plantation-era stereotypes more than contemporary consumer agency.
Entertainment and mass-market stereotypes in brand campaigns
Frito Bandito (1969–1970s): a bandito persona with a heavy Mexican/Chicano stereotype; used humor and caricature to connect with audiences while playing into national stereotypes.
The shift away from such caricatures comes through activism, changing social norms, and corporate responses (e.g., removal of offensive imagery).
Environmental/political advertising and symbolism
Keep America Beautiful (Crying Indian): used Native imagery to argue for environmental responsibility; demonstrates how advertising framed social causes using minority imagery.
Corporate and brand responses to representation concerns
Lando Lakes butter removed native imagery (Mia) due to public scrutiny and pressure.
Cleveland Indians sports team renamed to Cleveland Guardians to address offensive/native imagery in branding.
Red Man tobacco rebranded to America’s Best, dropping the Native American imagery while preserving color and typeface cues.
Activism and industry response
Civil rights activists and Chicano/Mexican American activists pressure publishers, networks, and agencies to change representations.
The rise of BIPOC-owned agencies and Black/Asian/Hispanic media agencies contributing to more inclusive advertising perspectives and creative decision-making.
Government involvement in the 1960s–1970s era encouraging fair/representative advertising practices.
Industry leadership and thinkers
Albert Lasker: emphasized the broader social purpose and impact of advertising beyond client-specific campaigns.
Bill Bernbach (spelled Bernardino in some references): early強調 the importance of creative approach; in course context, discussed as a key figure in advertising thought (to be encountered in later classes).
Tom Burrell (Burrell Advertising): African American agency leader who argued for more respectful, authentic portrayals of people of color in advertising.
The Social and Economic Value of Representation
Representation matters beyond aesthetics
Representation signals existence; visible inclusion correlates with consumer trust and brand loyalty.
Absence signals marginalization; visible absence can provoke backlash or boycott.
Economic implications for brands
By expanding representation to include diverse consumers, brands can access new market segments and drive growth.
Activism and social movements can influence corporate profitability by encouraging more inclusive practices and broadened audience reach.
Cultural and political implications
Ads reflect and influence social norms about race, ethnicity, gender, class, and power.
Advertising practices contribute to the evolution of public discourse around who “counts” as a consumer and what kinds of identities are normalized.
Representation as a strategic objective
The industry increasingly emphasizes authentic portrayals and inclusive storytelling as a business and ethical priority.
Takeaways for students and practitioners
Understand the historical roots of how race/ethnicity have been used in advertising (as objects vs. subjects).
Recognize the role of activism, media ownership, and government policy in shaping industry practices.
Anticipate ongoing evolution toward more diverse and representative advertising ecosystems, including the rise of BIPOC-owned agencies and diverse creative leadership.
Connections and Synthesis with Course Readings
Judy Davis’s article (referenced in the lecture) helps frame why certain portrayals were offensive or problematic and how they functioned within mass-market narratives.
The concept of “advertising transcends advertising” is a through-line connecting historical practice with contemporary debates about representation, culture, and power in media.
The discussion foreshadows deeper analyses in future sessions: breaking down ads to examine storytelling structure, tableau, and the evolution of representation across decades.
Foundational principles from last week (advertising structure, agency-client relationships, basic copywriting, and image selection) are connected to today’s historical survey by showing how those practices enabled or constrained representations of race and ethnicity.
Quick Reference: Notable Names and Concepts
Albert Lasker: early 20th-century agency leader; framed advertising as shaping national culture and unity.
John H. Johnson: Ebony magazine founder; demonstrated a profitable African American audience through dedicated media.
Tom Burrell: Black agency leader; argued for respectful, authentic representation of people of color in ads.
Frito Bandito: example of a culturally stereotyped character in the 1960s–70s; later removed due to activist pressure.
Aunt Jemima: iconic brand imagery rooted in plantation-era stereotypes; reflects the objectification of Black women in early ads.
Native American imagery: used in environmental campaigns and product branding (e.g., maple syrup, Mazola); later challenged and changed.
Keep America Beautiful / Crying Indian: environmental campaign using Native imagery to evoke moral consumer behavior.
Cleveland Indians to Guardians: corporate brand change in response to representation concerns.
Keep in mind the six market-segmentation criteria: historical, measurable, distinguishable, accessible, stable, profitable.
Summary Takeaways for Exam Preparation
The mass market historically centered on a narrow, white, middle/upper-middle-class demographic; representation expansion is a relatively recent development in the advertising industry.
Advertising is not just about selling; it’s a social and cultural institution that helps define norms about race, ethnicity, and identity through imagery, storytelling, and consumer targeting.
Early advertising relied heavily on stereotypes and caricatures of people of color to facilitate quick storytelling; activism, market shifts, and government pressure contributed to more respectful representations and consumer-focused advertising.
Market segmentation and targeted advertising emerged in the mid-20th century, enabling brands to pursue more precise consumer groups and changing the dynamics of who advertisers talk to and how.
The evolution of representation has real economic, cultural, and ethical implications, including the legitimacy of consumer identities, brand loyalty, and social progress toward inclusivity.
Key Takeaways
Agency/Client Relationships
Brand/Consumer Relationships
Advertising as unique Communications