BBC News: Is this Gap advert racist?
"Four young friends posing playfully for the camera? Another forgettable marketing campaign? Or a glaring example of a type of passive racism that persists across corporate America?
That's the debate that's been playing out online in response to an advert for a new clothing line - a collaboration between Gap and Ellen DeGeneres. The advert has provoked such stinging criticism that the company has now apologised and said it will pull the image from its campaign.
It's the tall white girl resting her arm on the head of the shorter black girl that has triggered the controversy. For some it's insulting and, if not intentionally racist, at least reflective of a lack of thought on Gap's part (hence the term "passive" racism). For others, the image is harmless, and the backlash against it ridiculous."
What is interesting in this case is that somebody has uncovered an earlier Gap advert that has the opposite: a tall black girl resting her arm on a white girl's head. Yet the BBC notes:
"But the emergence of the older photo didn't stem the tide of anger. For a number of users it was the expression of the black girl in the new photo that made the difference. "No... that lil white girl [in the old photo] looks fierce. The beautiful black girl [in the new photo] looks pissed," wrote one."
To my eyes it looks like all the girls in the latest photo are passive/neutral (apart from the one doing the hand stand), while those in the older one are showing more attitude.
"Four young friends posing playfully for the camera? Another forgettable marketing campaign? Or a glaring example of a type of passive racism that persists across corporate America?
That's the debate that's been playing out online in response to an advert for a new clothing line - a collaboration between Gap and Ellen DeGeneres. The advert has provoked such stinging criticism that the company has now apologised and said it will pull the image from its campaign.
It's the tall white girl resting her arm on the head of the shorter black girl that has triggered the controversy. For some it's insulting and, if not intentionally racist, at least reflective of a lack of thought on Gap's part (hence the term "passive" racism). For others, the image is harmless, and the backlash against it ridiculous."
What is interesting in this case is that somebody has uncovered an earlier Gap advert that has the opposite: a tall black girl resting her arm on a white girl's head. Yet the BBC notes:
"But the emergence of the older photo didn't stem the tide of anger. For a number of users it was the expression of the black girl in the new photo that made the difference. "No... that lil white girl [in the old photo] looks fierce. The beautiful black girl [in the new photo] looks pissed," wrote one."
To my eyes it looks like all the girls in the latest photo are passive/neutral (apart from the one doing the hand stand), while those in the older one are showing more attitude.
via International Skeptics Forum http://ift.tt/1qs9d6d
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