As a Strategic Communication major, I like to keep updated on the recent advertisements and the campaigns that corporations come up with and implement every few months. One advertising campaign that I thought went well with the discussion in class over the past few class periods were the idea of race/ethnicity. We talked about how some people can pick and choice what race they want to claim, as written by Waters, because sometimes they are less apparent while some are more obvious than others (Waters 138.) This topic got me thinking of all the variations of families we see as normal here today in the U.S. that maybe wasn't as accepted a few decades ago. One commercial that caught my eye that goes hand in hand with the many definitions of "American" is the Cheerios biracial happy family that was portrayed in their recent campaign. The commercial was cute and innocent enough to melt millions of people's hearts but also fueled the criticism by thousands. My thought is if this is something so normal today why are people still angered by this portrayal of an american family. General Mills described that they had no ill intentions when creating this ad and that many other variations of families are seen on television today including same sex, divorced, single, spanish speaking, and families with disabilities just to name a few.
From my understanding of the reading and based off the discussion we had in class I would think people would be thrilled to have more accurate representation of "American" families displayed throughout the media. Although we have to credit the millions of people who loved the ad, I wonder about the people who were angered. Cheerios has always been known as a
wholesome, all-American, classic brand," it only makes sense to me that it continues to evolve just as our culture and society evolves. These are just some of my thought on the issue and encourage differing opinions. Why do you think others were angered and do you have differing opinions on the issue?
Here is the ad that explains why they went ahead and continued with this campaign and for the first time paid for an ad placement during the most recent SuperBowl for maximized exposure.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/business/media/an-american-family-returns-to-the-table.html?_r=0
The fact that this is even a topic of discussion is sad on the part of American society. You are right and America is an every changing and revolving country. Things have changed and people need to realize that. I remember seeing that commercial when it aired during the super bowl, and I didn’t even catch on to the different races. I am a huge fan of Modern Family and I know there is a lot of controversy revolving around the TV show as well, but to be honest I think that commercials like these and shows like Modern Family are standing up for what is right in this country. They are making huge political and social statement that are necessary. An article in the Huffington Post said it perfectly, “Commercials with diverse casts that “look like America” have become increasingly common as the demographic makeup of the country has changed. There are ads with single or divorced parents, people who speak Spanish, same-sex couples, consumers with disabilities and interracial couples” (Braden Goyette). The fact that the YouTube comments section for this commercial were closed down due to the vulgar, nasty and negative comments is pathetic. I am embarrassed and ashamed. There is always going to be racism in this world, and in this country, however, it is important to get the message across that today is a different age and time. People need to grow accustomed to things like this. It is ludacris that people are making comments saying that this commercial is bashing President Obama, saying it is making fun of his family for him, himself having interracial parents. Reflecting back to the class reading, I am glad this ad ran during Super Bowl Sunday and that Cheerios is standing by this ad because people take pride in their ethnicity and race. I’m sure that this commercial had a huge impact on certain people in a positive way. It had to have made many people smile to see a “modern family” finally being portrayed on a nation stage like the Super Bowl.
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