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Advertisers Love Ethnic Ambiguity
They claim to support diversity and inclusion, but favoring a specific type of light-skinned model is colorism
You’ve seen this woman before.
Maybe not this exact woman, but a version of her.
Lightly tan skin. Big loose curls. Definitely not a White woman. Maybe a Black woman? Mixed with some other race? The elusive Blasian?
It doesn’t matter. She is the Diversity™ you need for your next ad campaign. Ethnic ambiguity is in right now, and it’s time to capitalize on it. The ad was for skincare, right? Or maybe makeup. Something in the beauty aisle.
If you use a darker woman, White people won’t think your product is for them. You’re not trying to corner the “urban” market right now. (Besides, your products don’t really work on dark skin anyway, and no one needs to know that yet.)
But if you use all White women, Twitter will crucify you for your lack of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion™. The R-word will be thrown out, and the PR agency you’ll need to clean up the mess will cost a fortune.
Yes, this woman is the solution.
So what’s the problem?
