This is a picture that I found in a More magazine. It is an ad for a Revlon age defying foundation/cover-up (or “cream makeup”) that provides samples of a variety of shades from very pale to “early tan.” The ad is trying to emphasize that it has every person’s “perfect shade.” I saw this ad on Friday while at my aunt’s house with all of my mom’s side of the family (whom are all African American). Upon seeing it I immediately held up my arm to the samples to see which was closest to my shade and realized that it was the darkest one given. This caused me to really think because I am half black and half white and there are many people whom are much darker brown then me who could not find their “perfect shade” if they wanted to. It is sad that many African Americans would be unable to find a shade to match their skin tone. This shows how our society ignores African Americans in many ways and deems them unimportant and abnormal.
This ad show how our society is focused on white, light skinned peoples and how these are the people whom control most media, products, education etc… Though this doesn’t directly characterize “black as ugly,” as was talked about in the film Ethnic Notions, by failing to even acknowledge the existence of dark skin this ad is offensive. I do not believe the ad is meant to be offensive but as we discussed in class the intent of the ad does not matter, the consequences are still devastating.
Questions:
-Why do companies many times ignore the existence of dark skin or ethnic hair?
-What are the negative consequences ad’s such as this have on African American or dark skinned women?
