Down By Law
Companies usually hire targeted firms for one of three reasons: (a) they’ve saturated the general market and are reluctantly turning to minority consumers as revenue boosters. (b) They have “image concerns” and hiring a minority firm is a nice way to avoid EEOC lawsuits, boycotts, or bad PR. (c) Their brand needs to be “cool” and aligning it with urban culture is often a quick superficial fix.
But regardless of the motive, there are always strings attached to targeting black consumers. First off, most targeted work is usually “black” versions of strategies and campaigns designed for mainstream consumers. Usually, a client comes with, “Here’s what we’re doing for our core (white) audience; we need a black version.” The “Black version” often means “throw a Black face upfront, add some slang and funky music but keep everything else the same.” Some called it synergy; most called it blackface. Secondly, Black consumers are seldom if ever a business’ sole target—at some point the goal is to reach white consumers. So even if you’re targeting minorities you can’t offend or alienate whites. So by default whites remain the judge of what is “black” or “too black,” even for Black people.
Consequently, from the debasing minstrel imagery of 1890s’ advertising right on thru today, most marketing campaigns targeting Blacks are based on a version of blackness that whites and non-blacks are comfortable with. So for years every other commercial folks saw had Blacks playing basketball. Wearing Kenti-cloth or backwards baseball caps. Or playing saxophone or tap-dancing. Or sepia-toned, impossibly good-looking “buppies.” Or MLK, Jr. references, mostly in February. And of course, overtly grateful black folks singing and dancing about how much they love a certain product. In short: stereotypes.
Today the basketball construct has been resurrected as “streetball,” a theme that’s been hugely successful since 2000 with everyone from Reebok, Nike, and AND-1 to Frito-Lays, Mountain Dew, McDonald’s, Sprite, etc. The saxophones and random singing Black folks have been replaced by (mostly buffoonish) emcees, deejays, and “street” dancers. And of course every industry from liquor to cars to fashion to sports to food continues to milk hip-hop, further reducing it to a global circus of stereotypes and caricatures. Despite the progress, most days I didn’t know if I was marketing brands or producing new millennium minstrel skits.
Consequently, from the debasing minstrel imagery of 1890s’ advertising right on thru today, most marketing campaigns targeting Blacks are based on a version of blackness that whites and non-blacks are comfortable with. So for years every other commercial folks saw had Blacks playing basketball. Wearing Kenti-cloth or backwards baseball caps. Or playing saxophone or tap-dancing. Or sepia-toned, impossibly good-looking “buppies.” Or MLK, Jr. references, mostly in February. And of course, overtly grateful black folks singing and dancing about how much they love a certain product. In short: stereotypes.
Today the basketball construct has been resurrected as “streetball,” a theme that’s been hugely successful since 2000 with everyone from Reebok, Nike, and AND-1 to Frito-Lays, Mountain Dew, McDonald’s, Sprite, etc. The saxophones and random singing Black folks have been replaced by (mostly buffoonish) emcees, deejays, and “street” dancers. And of course every industry from liquor to cars to fashion to sports to food continues to milk hip-hop, further reducing it to a global circus of stereotypes and caricatures. Despite the progress, most days I didn’t know if I was marketing brands or producing new millennium minstrel skits.
