Nick Cannon's Boost Mobile ads

So have you seen the new Boost Mobile television ads? Perhaps I’m sensitive, or PC as some have commented but I don’t like the ads. They are catchy, and well done. The focus is Nick [Mr. Nick Cannon if my search was correct], I have no idea who this Black African American male is, who I assume is famous for something. I’m sure the younger readers are familiar with him as that is obviously where the ads are targeted to. And its nice to see ads that target successful Black African Americans especially the ones that are young.

But my enjoyment ends there. The television ads are promoting the features of the phone, in particular the ability to not pick up and yet respond to a caller. Mr. Cannon demonstrates this ability as he is actively trying to cheat on his girlfriend, by trying to pick up another man’s woman while his girlfriend is trying to reach him. That’s a nice message, young men (especially if you are African American) get this phone and you won’t get caught cheating. In fact your girlfriend will think it’s sweet. Nice message indeed.

Another wonderful ad has Mr. Cannon apparently hung-over on his kitchen table. He picks up his head to see 3 women cooking what I assume is breakfast. Everyone is in bathrobes. The implication is at best that it was a very long night of partying, at worst and more likely that it was a long night [I think] of partying and some degree of sexual activity. Before our ‘hero’ can drop his weary head he gets a call, from Grandma. Rather than answer her call, potentially revealing his activities that I would presume would not meet her approval, he sends her a gospel song. His grandmother takes this as a sign of his faith and is pleased as she shares that view with others in her congregation. I say congregation as she appears to be in a church, and that implies that this is happening on a Sunday [based on my guess of the religion being identified]. So if you want to lie to your family, hide your nefarious activities, and profess a strong belief you do not have, this is the phone for you.

I may be overly sensitive, but there are deep meanings in what visual message is given in a commercial. Whether anyone likes the message or agrees with it (besides the executives that green-lighted it) does not change the message. Even if the intention was otherwise it still exists and should be addressed. Boost Mobile has made a strong effort to actively court the hip-hop culture that the youth of today desire. They are directly targeting Black African Americans as a core market segment for their products. And there is nothing wrong with that. To that end they are using a medium that exists already to reach that market, a sound business strategy.

But what does it say when that strategy and the existing medium describe African American males as sexually voracious, undisciplined, non-monogamous, non-religious and liars? To send a message to your girlfriend about your love for her, while trying to pick up another woman is a lie and cruel and non-monogamous. It also reveals a lack of self-control. To hide your less than religious [it doesn’t matter which religion for as far as I am aware none find over-indulgence of anything to be positive] activities from family that is religious, while enforcing the idea that you are equally devout is a lie, blasphemous and rude. There is no other interpretation that I can see. The fact its not nice doesn’t change what was said. The fact that it may not have been the intended or primary message does not rebuke the underlying comments. The device is not at fault, the user is. Just as a gun is not innately deadly, but via the user it can be devastatingly so.

There is no defense for the message within the ads, to me. I don’t care what the other Boost Mobile ads say or convey. These ads I am discussing are not positive and have nothing to do with other series of ads for the product. The product is not the problem, the message is. The fact that execs can say that this not only represents Black African males, but that it is culturally acceptable and correct upsets me. I do not enjoy being told by some executive [or anyone] that my friends, nephews, and I are misogynists (though perhaps the intention was just that we are ‘dogs’). That we are essentially deceptive and that women accept and expect that. My sisters, and nieces deserve better than that kind of man, and have better. I refuse to let this kind of thought pervade their senses in a subliminal manner (the primary thought being the actions surrounding the use of the phone) as anything but wrong.

I do feel strongly on this. A statement is being made broadly about the youth and culture. What that statement means is not the glammed over surface (ie cool phone) but deeper root meaning. I can’t help looking at television, cable, movies and music and seeing more than just the obvious. Life isn’t that simple in my experience. We may wish it was, we may accept the shallow answer, but that does not change what else is happening. Like a river that looks calm, a lot is happening just beneath the surface if you look for it. And if you don’t look for it, it’s still there all the same.

That’s what I think, What do you think?