Honors 230: Race and Advertising in Americana
Clarke Speed
Fall 2010 This class provided an opprotunity to critacally think about something that usually is ubiquitous and taken for granted: advertising. For this project, we were asked to select a print advertisement and analyze the ways that race is used to sell the product. Though the M&M ad that I chose does not at first glance appear to be overtly racial, carefully unpacking the stereotypes and assumptions upon which the ad works, provided rich material for investigation. In addition to racial elements, the ad also employs assumptions and prejudices about sexuality and gender. While this particular ad is relatively innocuous, being able to identify these covert moments of prejudice is important, and after this class I had a much more discerning view of the imagery used in advertisements. |
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