Race in Commercials

I have realized that the majority of the things I do are done with the television on in the background, making my media and pop culture knowledge somewhat above what is normal. Yet, I have decided that if this is what I know best then I might as well use that knowledge for my blogs. This being said I am going to carry on my theme of the presence of race on television once again.

For a while now I have vaguely noticed that McDonald's highly utilizes racially targeted commercials. But recently I have been noticing them even more and exactly what types of images and stereotypes they are using. It is not a new practice for a company to create an ad or commercial that is specifically targeted to sell to a certain race; it can help increase sales across a wider market as well as create a better image for the company. I have noticed though that McDonald's does this very frequently and even to the extreme of creating numerous commercials for the same sandwich that appeal to different races. What has really come to my attention recently is the commonality of using black actors in commercials promoting the Dollar Menu. The more I pay attention to it, the more I notice the lack of white actors in the Dollar Menu commercials. Once I noticed this I began to think about the negative affect this could have for McDonald's. These commercials could be construed to be encourage negative stereotypes of Black Americans. They seem to make the statement that if you are black, then you may not have as much money, thus the Dollar Menu is the best choice.

These commercials offend me, and I am not black, I can only imagine how someone who is may feel. What would make McDonald's think that assuming that advertising their cheapest menu to a certain demographic is appropriate. It is is almost racial profiling. I get the feeling that they send these commercials out with the underlying message something along the lines of "Come to McDonald's; we know by your race that you probably don't have much money, but look, we have a DOLLAR MENU!! So, you can still be a patron, you can still afford us!" Maybe that is just the message I hear...how bout all of you?