Racial Stereotyping in Advertising

As a society we've worked hard to break away from our past of racism by being opening, understanding and realizing we are all the same.

However, racial stereotyping is something that still lives on in today's advertising. It seems like advertisers use racial stereotyping as a tactic to get a rise out of their audience. It sparks a conversation and gets people talking about their ad, their product and their company. A risky move that could potentially backfire but I can definitely see a company sneaking this into their advertising for this reason.

The Gap window display: their new 1965 black denim jeans hanged from a noose. Poorly thought out or purposely done to get people talking about their company?

TV and web commercials reach such a large and diverse audience that advertisers must have some sort of ethical responsibility. Children in particular are so easily influenced by what they see on TV and on YouTube. Advertisers need to keep this in mind when they are trying to make a "statement" or are twisting things in a humorous way. Kids won't understand and will only see their message as the truth.