Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

“Thank you for caring enough to give us your feedback about the recent 'Re-civilized ' NIVEA FOR MEN ad. This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.”

If the parents of the teen models allowed their children to pose for the advertisements, who are we to blame the CK company for using them. Who are we to look down on Calvin Klein’s ads when you can watch any show on prime time TV and see much worse than what the ads portrayed? Who are we to suggest that the ads are suggestive when all we know is that, in advertising, sex sells and sells big? Isn’t Calvin Klein just giving the public what it wants?

However, critics have taken to social media platforms to complain about the 2011 Nivea ad. “One tweet boldly stated that "Nivea claims that black people aren 't civilized." Others called the ad "unapologetically racist.” "The company withdrew the 2011 advertisement after numerous complaints and released an apology stating, “This ad was inappropriate and offensive. It was never our intention to offend anyone, and for this we are deeply sorry. This ad will never be used again. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of our company.” Nivea wasn 't interested in debating its ad,

My thoughts on the matter is that there are racist elements in this ad, even if it was not meant to be racist. It was highly ill-made and seemed like there was no thought process when they made this ad. It is always surprising to me to see racist elements in such popular companies.

Like stated before, Aerie shows African American, Asian, Latina, and Caucasian girls in this specific ad. Most advertising directed towards adolescents, pictures white men and women. Jennifer E. Millard and Peter R. Grant examined how black and white women were portrayed in photographs and found that black women are found in more submissive or less sexually provoking poses than white women (659). While most of the women in Aerie’s ad (three out of six) were Caucasian women, the other three models were minorities which is a big step in advertising. Millard and Grant’s study also found preliminary results that black women are underrepresented in photographs and expressed difficulty even finding photographs of black women that would work for their study (670). The fact that Aerie includes not only black women but also a Latina and Asian model is incredibly significant because of the underrepresentation of minorities in fashion

There are no men in the ad, no color, and no sexualization of the women. The black and white adds to another bold statement the ad is making — that women come in varied shapes and sizes and colors. All of the women have different ethnic backgrounds. The reason? “This is a movement for any woman. It's time to represent all types of women,” Ashley Graham and Justine Legault say on their page of the campaign, adding to the conversation of representation for not only plus size women, but all. Graham and Legault are both in the ad, walking cooly and confidently towards the camera with power oozing out of their pores. The camera is set straight on, allowing for no tilts of the head to hide the models’ faces. They're modeling some of the latest trends, disregarding the fact that these clothes are “only meant to be worn by skinny people,” as said by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO. The hashtag #PlusIsEqual reads directly across the ad in white font for the sole purpose of emphasizing the importance of this saying and encouraging the viewer to join the movement. Lane Bryant embraces all women in their ad, rejecting the so-called “social norm” of being skinny and

The ideal woman consisting of snow white skin, blond hair, and clear sea blue eyes. This luxurious clothing brand that people look up to and aspire to dress in is setting the standard of beauty to what has been stereotyped for ages in our society. It is telling their customers that in order to achieve wealth and the confidence and joy ,the model has from wearing Ralph Lauren's clothing, one needs to be caucasian and match these same light features. This advertisement is telling African-American, Hispanic, and Asian females that they are not worthy of wearing Ralph Lauren in order to become confident, happy, and wealth because of the color of their skin, physical features, or size. Aside from the race, this advertisement is also setting a standard of beauty when it comes to gender.

I was surprised at this commercial because it 's like GAP was so blatant with their racism. Making the white girls the focal point while two young people of color everywhere it was screaming what passive racism looks like in media today. Things like that make people of color feel worth less than their white counterparts, even at a young age and push that whites can continue to oppress people of color like it 's okay. According to O’Connor “Equally disturbing as the sexism on so many commercials is the racism, even if unintentional” In kids TV ads minorities are sold language attitudes and values it 's almost like they 're showing how people of color should be placed in society and continue the systematic racism, it 's the role they want minorities to play in society. Unconsciously people play out these actions. In the media people of color are placed in roles to support their white counterparts tokenism is what you would call that. Placing people of color in the media to show that they 're here and white people have to deal with them whether they like it or not.

This advertisement was found in Teen Vogue, a magazine that you will most likely witness a young girl of any race, ages 14-20 reading. The magazine economically targets a well off to rich, wealthy upper class audience due to the many advertisements for designer brands

Many black individuals feel persecuted by ad stating that there was no need for only a black boy to be a target when they had multiple objects therefore feeling as if that gives ground for having multiple children of different backgrounds. Others went as far as saying that the use of the watermelon being shown before the boy’s head alludes to racist undertones oblivious to the fact that the ad was created by a black based radio station. This uproar given by the audience makes it evident that ad did not persuade or add support to their cause. On the other hand, outside of the target audience, you have Caucasian members of UK population stating that this ad is portraying a black boy due to the fact that gun violence is a minority problem or even as going far as saying that the target audience is playing the “race card”. The ad did not have members of the intended audience responding to the forum calling for action on gun violence/regulation. There are many individuals outside of the intended audience supporting and praising the ad, others stating that they are disappointed in the fact that the bullet didn’t slice through the boy’s head. On the other hand, there are African-Americans who do feel like the black community as a target audience and the representation of that was executed perfectly and that the ad was

American Apparels advertisement has a powerful effect on how we see ourselves and how we see women as an object rather than a human being. For years AA has objectified and sexualized girls and young women in order to advertise their clothing, “In 2013, a male American Apparel model posed in a chequered shirt with the buttons all done up and he was wearing trousers. The same shirt was photographed on a female model, unbuttoned, trouser-less and her arms positioned behind her head submissively.” (10 Shocking Facts You Never Knew About American Apparel Cheish Merryweather ). Female models are portrayed as less than and are only seen as a sexual object in American Apparel clothing advertisement.

The major character in this advertisement is a female but the men advertise calls men’s attention to purchase the product displaying this image. Media shows images in this specific magazine with the lady laying on the floor displaying the men’s clothing but in an unsuitable way. In this magazine the owner says “If you guys don’t buy these new Drummond sweaters we’ll go right back to male models” (Ditch Label 4). This message simply focuses mainly on the sexual figure of this ad as opposed to just having a clothing sample on the female in a more appropriate way.

This advertisement is ad advertising Victoria’s Secret famous PINK clothing line. Victoria's Secret is most popular among middle- aged women and also young college women. It is a store most popular for its bra and underwear selection. They are also famous for their clothing line PINK mostly among young women. The clothing line sells sweatpants, sweatshirts, hoodies, t-shirts, and many other products. This particular ad is selling black tights and a crop top most commonly worn in the gym as workout clothes. The model in this advertisement is tall mostly likely around five foot ten tall, tan, and blonde with a gorgeous white smile. The audience that is targeted for this advertisement would be mostly young college women and younger high school girls.

The clothing industry has also demonstrated its support for gay-rights through advertisement in the several years. One of these advocates is Abercrombie and Fitch. This company has launched several ads that clearly show its position in the Gay-Rights movement. Indeed, most of the ads have been very controversial and are criticized often. For instance, Abercrombie and Fitch’s quarterly magazine contained an ad in which two young were sitting very closely together on a couch. One of them is sitting upright on the couch while the other is leaning his head on the first. The second guy isn’t wearing a shirt as if to confirm that they are homosexual in case it was not clear enough. Also, both men are filled with great happiness that is communicated to the public by their joyous smiles. Unlike the two previously discussed ads, this one is aimed towards the gay community itself instead of the non-gay community. In other words, the two former ads were attempting to change the public’s opinion about homosexuality. However, this ad’s purpose is not to convince but to lift the spirit of the gay community. These two happy, gay men are attempting to convey to the gay community that they should be comfortable with themselves and be happy with who they are. These two men don’t seem to feel as if they have to suppress their sexuality and Abercrombie and Fitch would like to

This commercial was advertising David Beckham's new line for body wear available at H&M. The quick 30 second commercial focuses on the iconic beauty that is, David Beckham. Revealing the tattoos all over his body at all kinds of different camera angles, while using the last ten seconds to show David Beckham in a pair of his new underwear from his new line. It focuses on the brand being "David Beckham" labeled on the front waist band and closes the commercial with a smiling Beckham next to the H&M logo. That makes people want to go to H&M right?