How the Media Can
Take Things Way Out of Context
GAP and Old Navy recently released
two advertisements that caused some controversy. The ad for Gap involved three
white girls and one black girl, while Old Navy included a mixed race family.
After the ads were released, people took to social media to accuse GAP of being
racist and Old Navy of including miscegenation. There definitely is an issue of
racial stereotypes in media but the GAP ad isn’t an example of that and the Old
Navy ad is a prime example of it. Companies can never please people regardless
of the situation when things are so easily taken out of context.
The newest ad for GAP children’s
line included four girls; three white, one black. What provoked this racial
debacle was the fact the taller white girl has her arm placed on the shorter,
younger black girl’s head. People took to twitter to attack GAP saying that this
ad shows passive racism because
“the white girl was using her young counterpart as an armrest, insinuating her
subordination as a “furniture item”’ (Alex Purcell, 2016). All of the other
girls were posing with powerful stances, which made people mad that the black
girl appeared passive. One person even tweeted, “@GapKids proving girls can do
anything… unless she’s black. Then all she can do is bear the weight of white
girls #epicfail”.” Turns out that the two girls in the picture are actually
sisters, making it even more harmless. Gap did not mean to have a racist
message but people looked way too deeply into this ad, which cause many to
become offended. It was meant to be a cute ad to empower younger girls and is
purely innocent. Some say people are just reaching for something that isn’t
there. The ad is way too subtle to suggest any racism, but with the way people
reacted, it turned some heads. Zeba Blay from the Huffington Post said that the
ad is way too simplistic to be called racist. She goes on to talk about the ad
itself is not the issue; it’s the underlying problem of racism in the media.
Old Navy created an ad that caused some
racial controversy as well, but in a different way. This ad involved a family
with a black mother, white father, black child and people were not happy about
this. Everyone accused Old Navy of miscegenation, the interbreeding of people
considered to be of different racial types, which caused an uproar. People were
taking to social media to try and boycott Old Navy. One user tweeted “@OldNavy
that’s horrible what is wrong with you? Boycotting Old Navy…your clothes are
crap quality and now you’re promoting miscegenation. Disgusting!” One person
even said “stop pushing mixed marriages it’s offensive”. Some people even began
to say that Old Navy “hates white babies” and even said that the ad was white
genocide. The fact that people were outraged by this ad shows the other side of
racism in the media and how companies can’t win. If they post an advertisement
that could possibly be racist, they get in trouble and if they post an ad
promoting love no matter the race, people still aren’t happy. People became
highly offended by the Gap ad because it was racist yet people were offended by
the Old Navy ad which was supporting miscegenation.
Everyone wants to stop racism in the
media, yet people get offended by ads in supports of races being the same. It’s
a lose, lose situation that just proves how our society has so many different
views. Racism in the media is such a big issues now a days and many companies
are trying to balance it out, but when they receive backlash, it’s hard to do. Gap and Old Navy are trying to prove that
it’s 2016 and that racist issues should not be a thing anymore but many people
can’t grasp that which causes an uproar when they take to social media.
Citations
Blay, Zeba. "Why Backlash To This
"Racist" Gap Ad Is Complicated." Huffington Post. N.p., 4
Apr. 2016. Web. 2 May 2016.
Konstantinides, Anneta. "Twitter Ad
from Old Navy That Features Interracial Family Criticised." Detriot
Newstime. N.p., 1 May 2016. Web. 2 May 2016
Purcell, Alex. "The Controversy
Over the Gap Ad Is Overblown." The Shorthorn. N.p., 12 Apr. 2016.
Web. 2 May 2016.
Wire, Tribune Media. "Old Navy Ad
Featuring Interracial Couple Has Some Twitter Users Fuming." WGNTV.
N.p., 02 May 2016. Web. 02 May 2016
This is a great topic! I find it crazy that people are starting controversy over ads that have mix racial families. People need to realize that no matter what their race is that we are all human. No one should be looked at as a 'piece of furniture' or lower than anyone else. Each person no matter what their race, gender, sex is needs to be treated equally. People need to learn that all humans are equal citizens and that no matter what their race is they should be accepted by society.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this blog! I did not hear about the controversy so this was really informative. I think people were overreacting. I believe everyone is equal and that a display manican was not meant to be analyzed as racist.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really important issue and an interesting take on racism and media. Although, I don’t think this demonstrates racism in the media, other than perhaps the GAP ad with the Black girl in the undeniably subordinate position, despite their sisterhood. As well, it’s important to always listen to oppressed voices, even if it is trivial. Rather, I think the response on Twitter shows racism in the public. The people who responded with cries against miscegenation are the racist ones??? Miscegenation is interracial marriage, so the people opposed are saying they’re opposed to interracial marriage. They are the racist ones here, not the media. There is media bias, but I just don’t think this was the right example.
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