What impact does the lack of diversity have on the
advertising industry? That is nearly a loaded question. But to keep it simple,
the impact is huge in my opinion.
For years we have basically seen the same ads over and over
again. By that I mean, the ads are filled with the same type of people;
White/Caucasian, slim fit, women or tall, buff men. There are so many cultures
in the U.S. alone but yet we are only exposed to a few. It gives a false
representation of society.
The Ted Talk, “The
Danger of a Single Story” explains lack of diversity in advertising
perfectly in my opinion. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave this specific Ted Talk
in October of 2009. Her talk focuses on stereotypes and how different parts of
the world are only exposed bits and pieces of different cultures that are not
their own.
She shares the story of coming to America from Nigeria for
college and one of the first things her roommate asked her was where did she
learn to speak English so well. Adichie proceeded to tell her that English was
a common language spoken in Nigeria. But, since the U.S. is only exposes the
foreign speaking and poverty stricken areas of Nigeria, we assume all of
Nigeria is like that.
My point is that our society’s reputation is based off what
people see. Advertisers have so much power over how our society is perceived.
The employees in the industry have a strong influence on
what viewers see. The lack of diversity in the work place could be considered
one of the roots of the problem. According to the Marcus Graham Project, the amount of women in the
industry has increased, now outpacing the men. I believe since the increase
of women in the work place we have seen some positive changes concerning how females
are portrayed in the media.
Some improvements:
Although, we have seen some improvements, I think we have a
long way to go. We want to see change in the world, less racial and sexual profiling, and I think advertisers can help start that movement.
Citations:
Lee, Wei-Na, Jerome Williams,
and Carrie LaFerle. "Diversity in advertising: A summary and research
agenda." Diversity in advertising (2004): 3-20.
Drumwright, Minette E., and
Patrick E. Murphy. "The current state of advertising ethics: Industry and
academic perspectives." Journal of Advertising 38.1
(2009): 83-108.
Ryan, Gerard, Marcel Gubern,
and Inma Rodriguez. "Recruitment advertising: The marketing-human resource
interface." International Advances in economic research 6.2
(2000): 354-364.