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Diana Rivers; Direct TV Commercial: Is Art Imitating Life…

July 11, 2011 by  
Filed under Misc., News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Is it me, or is this a throw back to the days when those cheesy IO Digital Cable Reggaeton commercials were on television. When I first saw one of those commercials, I felt uncomfortable and wondered why a company that operates in communities heavily populated with Latino folk would think that the people would like to see a commercial like that. Was it satire? Not so sure. Was it people outside of the community speaking on their behalf? Probably. Consequently, the Latino community was outraged, did something about it and those ads were pulled faster than when major media outlets cut to a commercial break during Janet Jackson’s Superbowl wardrobe malfunction.

However, I can’t help but wonder if this is the same thing within our community? Do we care what companies think of us? Do we expect them to  depict us in a certain way? Are we unified enough to do something about it? Do we agree this is what it’s like to be a member within the African-American community. Or is this an exaggerated outlier that is being used as a representative of the whole?


The commercial itself didn’t really bother me, but what got my attention was that maybe this is how we are being perceived. Think about all the other commercials that depict other cultures. They are marketably different from ours and are often humorous. Recently, I saw a commercial about a wife making dinner for her husband and how she was secretly doing this to convince him to take dance lessons. I thought this was brilliant! In fifteen seconds it captured the essence of their culture, sprinkled some humor on a common issue amongst married couples and finished by keenly advertising their product. Why can’t we get that? Aren’t we a naturally comedic culture? Aren’t there funny ways to shed light on our issues that would allow companies to help us identify with their brands and thus become loyal customers?

I don’t think the media is evil or solely responsible for how African-Americans are perceived in advertisements. I think that it’s time to really consider how to inject how we should be depicted into media outlets instead of waiting to see how they will advertise for and to us. It’s no longer sufficient to complain about advertisements once they are sent to the masses, but to be at the table consulting with companies before it ever gets their stamp of approval to be disseminated to society. Reactionary methods are obsolete and proactive methods are the new weapon of choice. In this day and age of social media, the consumer has a stronger voice than they ever did before, so we have the power to tell companies when they make or miss the mark when depicting our community and we should use this to our advantage.

 

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Staff Writer; Diana Rivers

For more daily tidbits head over to; Mocha Belle.

Also connect with her through twitter; D. Riverton.


Comments

3 Responses to “Diana Rivers; Direct TV Commercial: Is Art Imitating Life…”
  1. Marque-Anthony says:

    Oh by the way, black people do not even control the hip hop industry. And the money people like JayZ, Nikki Trash Minage or Kanye make for promoting superficial, material filth is a payoff. Yet and still it is a drop in the bucket verses how much the powers that be make off them.

  2. Marque-Anthony says:

    My friend the media heavily contributes to shaping perception, the Jewish owned media by the way. That was not a racist comment, it is a fact that can easily be proven with a little research. The heads of the Illuminati are Jews, the heads of media are Jews, the heads of the motion picture industry and telecommunications are Jews as well. That is not coincidence.

    I am a writer on this site and I am sure you have seen my articles. I specialize in deprogramming people from a slave mentality – a mindset kept in place by what is known in brainwashing, indoctrination and mind control as MAINTENANCE. If you don’t believe me, look up MK-ULTRA.

    Subliminal and overt images are often used to program the subconscious and subliminal communication has been tested and proven. So I say the media is one culprit or catalyst, depending how you see them. Big time Journalism is no longer objective, not FOX News and not CNN. If a President is liked by the media, they paint him in one light. If he is not, they paint him in another.

    I like the article written and posted on this site about Empire. A channel that does not even cater to our market placing a black show on their network? Really? Of course as long as the black people are hustlers, confused, killers, rappers and drug dealers. And both Denzel and Halle never received an award from the academy until they played despicable people far beneath many of their other roles.

  3. Bob says:

    What about the Racial Violence in the spot? The African American Child punches the Older White Butler in the gut for no reason at all!?!?! Not only does it depict racial violence it also shows elderly abuse. These are two very real issues in the American Society today.

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