"The revolution will not be televised."
Wanna bet?
One of the most virulent perpetrators of racial stereotypes is, of course, the television. From black America's media debut in "Amos and Andy" to today's round-the-clock reporting of the 10:00 news, television has been a thorn in our-meaning the whole country's-side. But this thorn, like the proverbial sword, is double-edged.
While television sitcoms still have a long way to go (I see no more Cosby Shows or Roc's in our near future), the almighty dollar seems to be leveling the playing field. The Black Entertainment Television network has always had its share of ethnic commercials-Coca-Cola's "American beauty" and McDonald's Calvin made their debut there. This, however, represents nothing more than common sense. When most or all of a networks viewers belong to a particular group, using advertising campaigns that do not appeal to or include that group is nothing less than financial suicide.
But what is more significant is the beginning of mainstream ad campaigns that use "non-mainstream" characters. Take, for example, the AT&T girl-you know, the natural one with the short, curly brown hair and glowing eyes. Granted, AT&T definitely needed some positive PR within the black community after that gorilla cartoon last year, but the net benefits of using a black women in such an extensive ad campaign are nonetheless promising. The apology to the black community is lost on the average American who either didn't know about the gorilla memo or who didn't care; all they see is a cute girl in a cute AT&T commercial.
This means, however, that something else is lost, too: the shock value of seeing a black woman on television doing something other than selling Essence magazine, berating Gingrich or reading "Waiting to Exhale." It says that yes, even the most minority of the minorities can represent everyday America. The message is subtle, even subliminal, but it is there, and America is eating it up.
Granted, Ms. AT&T is, as we say "light, bright and almost white," but that's not a loss just yet. We can't expect AT&T to move in leaps and bounds can we? She's a long way from a gorilla, though. And thus, she, as many other fair-skinned African-Americans have made a way for the more progressive ad campaigners-like Coca-Cola.
Historically, Coke has had black market ad campaigns, from the music, to the actors and actresses, to kente-covered Coke emblems. You could catch them on BET on a regular basis, but, lately, I've seen them on regular television.
Though Coke campaign's may seem a little "blacker" and thus a little bolder, it is obvious that Coke has simply divided its market. More or less, the soft drink mogul has manufactured different campaigns for different segments of America. This is a compliment (or a belated acknowledgement for the more cynical among us) to the buying power of black Americans. We have our own money, so we get our own commercials. Though Coke campaigns do less for a multicultural mixing of minds than AT&T style slip-in-the-black actress tactics, they do depict black people in a very complimentary, fun-loving, unintimidating, law-abiding, pleasantly ethnic way.
So I will drink Coke till the day I die because I like to see myself on television. Coke knows this and will keep rolling out the kente-wearing, hip-hop singing Coke bottles, along with their polar bears (awww!).
All this to say that the revolution just might be televised because financial success is mandating social responsibility. When a significant portion of a market is being omitted in ad campaigns millions of dollars are lost. Moreover, it is hard to make money while defending yourself from a class-action law suit filed for racist imagery or exclusive marketing-especially if you lose. Furthermore, if corporation A is willing to target underrepresented markets while corporation B doesn't, rest assured some activist will rally the people behind corporation A, while B's market shares decrease. (Haven't you seen MCI's new black operator ?)
Though all these cultural marketing leaps and bounds are more about the almighty dollar than anything else, their influence on the average American mind far outweighs the CEO's next paycheck. In a society so transfixed by "idiot boxes" that we can't always separate our reality from theirs, what happens when images of everyday black people, doing everyday American people things, gets pumped into mainstream America's television sets everyday?
Is it possible that AT&T, unbeknownst to their executive board, will brainwash the country into thinking that black people are just like everybody else on some level? Will Coca-Cola hypnotize the American people and implant the thought that culture and ethnicity are interesting-even universal-and not exclusionary?
Let's hope so. Onward with the televised revolution.
Tonya Matthews is an engineering senior and editorial page editor of The Chronicle.
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