"[3] Advertisers include racial stereotypes in their messaging to target a specific demographic, which can potentially impact viewers negatively through offensive language or concepts.
A common rule of thumb for people working in advertising is to "be aware of the potential to cause serious or widespread offense when referring to different races, cultures, nationalities or ethnic groups.
Those against racial stereotyping argue that using archetypes as representative of a population is an oversimplification of an entire race of people and further narrows the representation available of marginalized groups.
[6] Stereotypes are the inferred beliefs of roles, attributes, or positions assigned to different people based on factors like race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender.
[7] Advertisers use stereotypes to provide familiarity to a viewer, but pose the risk of generalizing and misrepresenting groups of people to a large audience.
The "mold" theory argues that sales are driven by society attempting to conform to the stereotypes and ideas communicated in advertising, as it shapes their own values and beliefs.
Within a thirty-second commercial, advertisers rely on audiences' preconceived notions to understand a character and situation based on the strict prioritization of their time.
Advertisers argue that specific demographics can be used to simultaneously employ racial stereotypes and create a successful result for an audience.
For example, Matt Damon's role as the lead protagonist in the Chinese film The Great Wall was criticized by Constance Wu, who said that his casting perpetuated the idea that "only white men can save the world".
[17] The 2012 film Argo was criticized by Latino actor Edward James Olmos for casting Ben Affleck, who is not Hispanic, in a Mexican-American leading male role.
[15] Lastly, hiring white actors for non-white roles contributes to the massive disparity of representation and opportunity in media.
[22] Indeed, stereotypes related to the false "Model minority" discourse have been proven to increase pressure on Asian people to be productive and successful.
[32] In a study done by Mastro and Stern (2003) examining frequencies of different races in commercials, Latino people advertise soap or hygiene products in 43% of ads they are featured in, closely followed by other non-occupational roles promoting clothing or footwear.
[31] Paek and Shah found Latino populations to participate in advertisements that portrayed subservient and blue-collar labor roles.
[34] Some companies make efforts toward being culturally sensitive, but are not received well, such as Pepsi's advertisement featuring Kendall Jenner that was meant to highlight police brutality in the United States.
[40] Based on Nancy Green, Aunt Jemima was a stereotypical representation of this woman who created the original recipe and served as the face of the brand for years.
[42] This ad was part of a "larger effort by the company to confront racial stereotypes in media and give opportunities to Black creators.