Why has it taken large companies over 30 years to begin to reflect our society’s current state in their advertising campaigns? America is supposedly the melting pot of cultures, yet until the past two years, advertisements have failed to acknowledge how diverse society has become. According to insights from Ad Age, “[a]dvertising has proved to be the last frontier when it comes to reflecting societal changes.”However, companies like Coca Cola, Gap, and Cheerios have pioneered into the diversification of their ads to include diverse models. Despite receiving some pretty heated backlash from consumers, the visibility of interracial couples and families, multi-lingual voice overs, and LGBTQ protagonists has increased.
Coca Cola’s “America is Beautiful” Superbowl XLVIII ad was notably memorable because the hymn “America the Beautiful” was sung in multiple languages and featured people of various ethnic backgrounds, ages, and sexual orientation. This commercial really captured the new American mainstream. As the Time article explains, the message and intention of this commercial was to celebrate America’s diversity-it is what defines us and makes America stronger and beautiful (Poniewozik, 2014).
Just recently, Pedigree released a new commercial “The Walk” showing how the unconditional love of a dog can mend or unite men of different ages and races. The attention Pedigree has placed on racial relations is representative of the changing landscape of Adland.
More and more companies are beginning to cast ethnically diverse people for their advertisements-which is is great! Brands, like Cheerios, are now accurately depicting the modern American family. Their commercial “Gracie” shows an interracial family discussing the newest addition(s) to the family in a cute and lightly humorous fashion. However, some people became outraged with the inclusion of an interracial marriage, directing racist comments toward Cheerios, even though interracial marriages and families have become more common (Elliot, 2014).
Clearly the topic of diversity in advertising is still sensitive, but we can expect that more ad spots like “Gracie” and “The Walk” will begin to circulate into mainstream media over the next couple years. Notably, a big catalyst for this ad revolution is Millenials. Everyone (large and small companies) is trying to market and get buy in from this particular consumer demographic. Research shows that Millenials are more ethnically diverse, strongly liberal, and more socially progressive (Pew Research Center, 2010). Because this group is highly educated and a progressive consumer, companies are coming to the realization that they need to alter their visions to match the consumer’s identity. For now the clock has reset until the release of another diverse advertising campaign.
References:
Elliot, S. (2014, January 28). An American family returns to the table. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/business/media/an-american-family-returns-to-the-table.html
Pew Research Center. (2010). Millenials: Confident. Connected. Open to change [executive summary]. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/02/24/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change/
Poniewozik, J. (2014, February 2). Coca Cola’s “It’s beautiful” Superbowl ad brings out some ugly Americans. Time. Retrieved from http://time.com/3773/coca-colas-its-beautiful-super-bowl-ad-brings-out-some-ugly-americans/
Zmuda, N. (2014, March 10). Ad campaigns are finally reflecting diversity of U.S. Ad Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/news/ad-campaigns-finally-reflects-diversity-u-s/292023/
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