So, I’m a fan of all things FX. Dave, Pose, Atlanta, Snowfall. The one thing I’ve learned when watching these shows is–damn, the advertising is super targeted. You definitely would not get the same ads watching Atlanta and Snowfall that you would get when watching say, Grey’s Anatomy or Law and Order SVU. The commercials that play during Love and Hip Hop or that air at any given time on BET will never be the same advertisement that is shared on other networks. Why is that?
Because the niggas are watching.
When Black and Latinx people spend up to 30% more than whites of comparable income on visible goods like clothing, cars and jewelry which is the equivalent of $2300 MORE than their white counterparts. The irony in this is that Black consumers are often always ignored in advertising. They are overlooked by companies that don’t see them as a priority demographic. Black consumers continue to be underserved in areas such as food, housing, healthcare, broadband, and banking. For example, payday lenders steer African Americans and Latinos to their products while banks and credit unions lean more towards white people.
Although African Americans make up only 23% of payday lending customers, nearly half of the “model” customers featured in advertising on these lenders’ websites depict Black People.
Mainstream bank and credit union websites featured no Black models. Even worse, almost 75% featured no Latino models. We know there is a discrepancy in banking, finance, and credit when it comes to people of the global majority, but for the blatant lack of representation in this type of marketing and advertising can’t be ignored.
Covert racism in advertisement in the banking industry also looks like this…
Advertising in 2019, in Boston suggesting that your card has likely been stolen and being used in a primarily non-white neighborhood.
But Marky Mark aka Mark Wahlburg is from Boston–so you know how that shit goes.
All in all, you would think that after everyone turning their profile pictures Black in solidarity during the Summer of 2020, we would get some act right.
WRONG.
Maybe next lifetime…
A Little Brit of Everything 