Have you noticed the increase in advertising on television? To be more exact, the increase in product placements actively in actual television programs. Prominent shots of cola drinks, cars, websites and more are appearing more and more often. One noted example was the Coca cola drinks that the American Idol judges use. Not that most of this is something most Americans has noticed yet. Or at least it hasn’t been obvious and annoying yet.
Not to worry, Neilsen, which does the tv rating system, is going to start keeping records of the ratings on ads. Most expect that rates will drop significantly during commercials. That means less money for the networks, as who would want to pay top dollar to reach fewer people. To make up for that, inclusion of ads in programs, the internet and movies seems probable. I already hate pop-up ads, and I would love the person that approved ads in movie theaters to have to be subjected to just watching those ads for a year straight. Now we get to have actors on our favorite shows hawking DVD’s, cars, and whatever as they go. I’m really looking forward to watching Grissom walk up to a crime scene with Katherine and Warwick and they all are chugging some pop drink, which will get a close-up just so you know what it is. Who knows what else will get in there. And who knows where else they will put ads to try to catch your attention. But we will see what will happen after the ratings start to come out. You’ve been warned.
And yes I know, I have some on my site too. Self-advertising as it is I do try to keep it relatively subtle and unobtrusive. I don’t throw useless ads in the middle of the text. Or have pop-up ads. I’m not against advertising, things need to be paid for and profit is why there are businesses. But I do not like when the advertising takes away from the medium, from the entertainment itself.
Speaking of ads, I missed a massive controversy. A billboard ad in the Netherlands, made by Sony to promote its PSP. It seems that there is a new line of PSP coming out that will feature a white cover as opposed to the current black one. To promote this a series of billboards were placed, featuring a white woman and a black woman (both are dressed in clothing of matching color to their skin). In one of the ads, the white woman is seen aggressively holding the face of the black woman. Now it does sound bad, and were this the U.S. it would have sparked an outrage. In the Netherlands, which does have race issues though not quite like here, it raised little attention (according to Sony) but due to the internet it created international debate. It included a California assemblyman, Sojourn to the Past, and the NAACP.
I have found a few places where there has been debate. And some of the comments should be addressed. First I should mention that Sony has now pulled the billboard ads. Things I would further point out is that this is one ad in a series (I have not seen what the other ads look like), the woman may or may not be African and or American there is no obvious indication either way. And as one comment mentioned, it does seem that the cross is upside-down (I have seen no comments about that beyond the one statement). And we should recall that it is not in the U.S. and ads in Europe tend to be more bold than here.
Given these facts I do not like this billboard. I find it offensive. I do not see the symbolism that is being attempted by Sony, and no configuration of these 2 women makes me see it. Yes the U.S. is more sensitive to such depictions, but the world is very small, the internet makes it moreso. And racism, subtle or not exists in the world. Whether its hatred of a religion, or color or nationality it exists across the planet and no wishes to the contrary will change that. This billboard offends religion and color in my opinion. If the roles were reversed, as it’s claimed some billboards do portray, it is still racist. I do not condone accusations against the models. There is no way for them to know exactly how the work they did would be finalized and envisioned.
And I often wonder if the people who claim that racism/sexism etc. does not exist have ever felt its negative effects. Do they even live in the same world I do. Do they recall the anger express throughout this nation against ALL Muslims in this nation after 9/11. That Muslims were attacked without cause. Or attacks on gays. How about church burnings in the south? Or the reason for 9/11 itself? Do you get my point.
While it is 2006, various people across the world are not equal. Ask Moroccans in France, or Jamaicans in England, or Chinese in Japan if they feel some inequality. It’s not just an American thing. To realize that is actually the first step in removing it. And I don’t feel pointing out these facts is PC. To be politically correct is to hold back comments or restrict thoughts for fear of offending someone. To bring attention to a perceived inequity in an intelligent manner creates debate and thus conversation and knowledge. That kills racism or sexism and it’s ilk. To not say these things is PC and that creates problems. It makes a vacuum of knowledge that ignorance can reside in. That is dangerous.
My views hopefully create a forum for debate. I do not hold back, and I am open to debate because as a human being, that happens to be a Puerto Rican Black African American, I could be wrong in the opinion I hold. Any forum that allows for intelligent debate is not PC, to me, and should be encouraged. I’m a bit off topic but besides this billboard, some other comments lead me to discuss the PC thing.
This is what I think, what do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment