Sometimes, though, we might cry racism and it's a false alarm.
Let's take the case of the Kellogg's corporation and their Corn Pops problem.
"Kellogg's has agreed to redesign the artwork on its Corn Pops cereal boxes after a complaint on Twitter slammed it as racially insensitive imagery.
The cereal box's artwork shows the corn pop cartoon characters inhabiting a shopping mall and taking part in various activities. Some corn pops are shopping, while others are playing arcade games or jump rope.
Amid the bustle is one brown-colored corn pop dressed as a janitor pushing a floor waxer.
Writer Saladin Ahmed used Twitter on Tuesday to express dismay that the only brown-colored corn pop was a janitor and said the illustration was teaching racism. " [Source]
I gotta tell you, I am looking at the artwork, and I don't see the racism.
Maybe it's because I don't think being a janitor is necessarily a bad thing. There are janitors in this town who have raised families and sent their children to college with the help of their salaries as janitors. I have a friend who owns a janitorial company and his net worth is far more than most of the lawyers that I know. Honestly, I have a bigger problem with the fact that the janitor is wearing headphones while working, but nothing about the artwork jumped out at me. It passed my racism smell test. Besides, the other characters are more yellow than white, so I am not even seeing where stereotyping could be problematic.
Having said that, when are major companies like Kellogg's going to realize that you need people of color in the room when you make these types of advertising decisions? This could save them so much in bad PR and money.
Think of what happened to the folks over at Dove recently (which I did think was kind of racist), or the infamous Nivea civilized ad (also racist).
The one that really set me off ---for obvious reasons was the white man with the Jamaican accent spreading "good vibes" around the office to reggae music after buying a Volkswagen.
The advertising graveyard is littered with these types of clueless tone-deaf spots, which ultimately leave the company responsible for them having to apologize for their lack of sensitivity.
Kellogg's did.
Although they didn't have to. Fortunately for Kellogg's that was not the case with their Corn Pops. At least I didn't see it that way.
I can take off my racism track shoes. There will be no chase with this one.
Thoughts?
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