Has anyone else noticed Sprite’s racist ad campaign? The problem I have with it is there are two distinct approaches used, I believe targeted to two different markets.
Let me explain. During certain programming, Sprite uses the “Obey your thirst” slogan. I’ve found that this set of commercials is used during sporting events and traditionally “black-focused” programming.
The second set of commercials is used during “white” sitcoms like Friends or Will and Grace. Its slogan is “Image is Nothing - Thirst is Everything”.
Now the way I see it, they are encouraging one set of individuals to “obey their thirst” (slavery association) and telling a different set that “image is nothing” (appealing to the white viewers, perhaps?)
Assuming that you have recognized this, are you ok with it? Do you feel (Sprite parent company Coke) is within the bounds of racial sympathy, or is this an insidious attempt to dehumanize blacks by ordering them to “obey their thirst”?
My friends and I have been tracking this for some time, and we’re convinced that there is something going on here… anyone else noticed this, or other racist advertising campaigns?
Just because something is advertised or aimed at differing target markets doesn’t make it “racist.” Advertising specifically to young blacks doesn’t seem to imply that whites are in any way superior (assuming it was a “white” ad agency or CC decision maker who gave the go-ahead for this campaign).
A big company like CC would have done focus groups and test marketing before going national with ad campaigns. If they are continuing to use these commercials, then the one must appeal to the target consumer market (young urban black) while the other resonates with the suburban gen-Xers or whatever. I don’t see how this can be racist.
Far-fetched, to put it mildly. It’s just a slogan. Next you’ll be complaining the Pepsi can bring you ancestors back to life (“Come alive!”).
This is what I call “The English Major’s Fallacy” – that any text has a hidden meaning. The corrolary to this is that if you can come up with any hidden meaning to a text, you can show how clever you are. Of course, it’s possible for anyone to come up with any explanation about the hidden meaning of any text. It merely shows the reader’s prejudices, not the author’s.
You should probably go see a counselor to discuss you repressed racist tendencies that your brain is desperately trying to purge but failing to do so. The reason that we cannot see the racism the same way you can is that we don’t mentally divide people up into opposing groups the same way that your psyche does. The fact that you spent weeks on this also indicates that you may have a serious paranoid disorder on top of it all. If I were you, I would head straight to the admissions desk at the psychiatric unit while there is still time.
Wooooooooooo…hold on right there. Shagnasty, have you ever questioned anything presented to you in your entire life? Have you ever asked WHY? Or do you go through your life accepting whatever comes your way?
Well, I tend to notice the minutia that occurs around me. I question why things happen, I watch the media, and identify the hidden messages, meanings and ideas that are subconsciously dumped into your, and my ears and eyes each day. If you have a problem with that, I’m sorry for you. I could say more, but I’ll restrain myself.
I asked a simple question about some suggestive advertising and all of a sudden I’m being told to check into the loony bin…? I’m sorry I asked.
And for the rest of you who replied, I’m not necessarily interested in the legal implications of such advertising. I was wondering if any of YOU have thought meaningfully about the (subconscious) messages that ads sometimes send.
Wooooooooooo…hold on right there. Shagnasty, have you ever questioned anything presented to you in your entire life? Have you ever asked WHY? Or do you go through your life accepting whatever comes your way?
Well, I tend to notice the minutia that occurs around me. I question why things happen, I watch the media, and identify the hidden messages, meanings and ideas that are subconsciously dumped into your, and my ears and eyes each day. If you have a problem with that, I’m sorry for you. I could say more, but I’ll restrain myself.
I asked a simple question about some suggestive advertising and all of a sudden I’m being told to check into the loony bin…? I’m sorry I asked.
And for the rest of you who replied, I’m not necessarily interested in the legal implications of such advertising. I was wondering if any of YOU have thought meaningfully about the (subconscious) messages that ads sometimes send.
But you blow it up into much more than minutia, and that’s why we’re suggesting an examination of your motives.
IT’S A SPRITE COMMERCIAL Acco, designed to encourage you to drink Sprite and nothing more.
Thank you Wilson Bryan Key…except that not all of us believe that everyone in the world is trying to implant thoughts or ideals into our brains. Sprite may very well have created different commercials for different demographics (in fact I have no doubt that they did), but I doubt very much if they did it for sinister, racist reasons. I, and some others in this thread, believe that it’s based on product and commmercial testing.
You think different, and we’re trying to figure out why.
Hidden messages eh. That’s a diagnostic feature of Bi-polar disorder…
Teehee - just teasing.
Anyhow, I think if you look hard enough, and really put your mind to it, you can find “hidden” meanings in anything. If the Sprite ads really were “racist” they would have been pulled or edited.
Ever notice how the mini-wheat never say’s “love slave” any more…
Have you ever noticed that in pool, the white ball is used to sink all the colored balls “down in the hole”? Coincidence? I think not especially since the first person to use the white ball to sink the black ball “down the hole” wins the game.
Hey Acco, IMHO there is nothing wrong with the Sprite ads but Toyota has recently come under fire for some postcards they made to distribute at nightclubs. The cards show a closeup of a smiling black face with a gold tooth. The tooth is engraved with a Toyota logo or the outline of a new SUV (I forget which). Now Jesse Jackson has unveiled Toyota for the cross-burning, hood-wearing, grand wizards that they are and is threatening boycots, demanding restitution and generally doing all those things that we have come to expect from the esteemed reverend. This raises some questions.
Is it racist because it pictures a black face?
Is it racist because the black face has a gold tooth?
Toyota’s line is that they were attempting to market their new SUV to a young, upscale black demo and that they used a new fashion accessory popular with that demo–tooth art. Would Jackson be as upset if Toyota had used a white face with tooth art? What if Toyota had decided to ignore that segment of the market? Can the argument be made that the contrast between dark skin and pearly whites is more visually appealing? Probably not, might be racist.
Not denying that racism exists in the country today but the tendency of black leaders to scream it at every imagined slight is like the boy calling “wolf.”
Now let’s just stop this right now, children. You’re getting out of line. Acco asked a legitimate question. His conclusions may be wrong (or at least I disagree with them) but the question is correct.
To establish my credentials here let me just say that I’ve made my living through marketing and advertising. I’ve been at it for years and am currently Director of Marketing for a medium size publishing firm. Resumes on request if you’ve got a better paying job I could have.
It is clearly the case that certain ad campaigns are aimed at minority segments of the population. And one product may have a different pitch to different demographic groups. A very obvious version of this can be seen when one observes billboards. Here in DC (or in LA, where I just visited) the faces on the billboards change when the predominant population of an area changes. In one section of town you have caucasion pitchmen, in another african american, and in yet another latino.
But I don’t see anything racist about that. It’s simply playing to your audience. In fact, I think it would be more alarming if caucasian pitchmen were found to be more influential than non-caucasian sellers with non-caucasian prospects. Sort of like (WARNING: no cite other than a dimly remembered thing from high school) those studies that found young (6-8 years old) african american girls, when presented with two women, one african american and one caucasian, in identical dresses, pointed to the caucasian women and identified her as ‘beautiful’ and wanted to emulate her.
So assuming that the Sprite campaign is racist is wrong in my eyes. But it’s clear that different campaigns are targeted at different demographics.
I just find it interesting that Acco thinks Obey Your Thirst is somehow a throwback to slavery. Purely the word OBEY? Please. I think we’re all wondering where his thinking went off the track.
I know you’re joking, tracer, but really, no they haven’t. John Tesh (yes, that John Tesh), Roxanne Dawson and Suzie Plakson have played Klingons (or half-Klingons) and all are Caucasian or Latina. I’m sure there have been others.
Now, the majority of the TNG, DS9, and VOY Klingons have been played by African-Americans, as far as I could tell under the makeup. But not all.
Ooh. I knew about Roxann “B’Elanna Torres” Dawson (I didn’t count her because Lt. Torres was supposed to be half-Klingon, half human), but I didn’t know about John Tesh and Suzie Plakson, who according to the IMDb played 100% Klingon Klingons. :o
Incidentally, remember the old Superfriends cartoon show? Well, in it’s 3rd season, they introduced a superhero named Black Vulcan, a black guy who could turn himself into lightning (or light) and hurl lightning bolts at the bad guys. I’ll give you one guess as to what went through my mind when I first saw Tuvok…
**Let me explain. During certain programming, Sprite uses the “Obey your thirst” slogan. I’ve found that this set of commercials is used during sporting events and traditionally “black-focused” programming.
The second set of commercials is used during “white” sitcoms like Friends or Will and Grace. Its slogan is “Image is Nothing - Thirst is Everything”.**
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Sporting events are “black-focused” programming? African Americans don’t like to see Rachel’s “once per episode, protruding nipple outfit?”
I certainly agree that there is advertising aimed at certain demographic groups, but I’d be more likely to find your choice of words racist, than the advertiser’s intent to be so. There are products made predominantly for the African-American market, but I don’t find it racist. Black men have a problem with shaving that very few white men share. Where there is a demand there will be a supply. I see nothing racist about that.
If you wanted to be really paranoid, maybe the “Thirst is Everything” line is their slang for homosexual oral sex, aimed at the “gay” audience of Will and Grace.
