Week 9 Discussion, Racial Stereotypes in Children's Television Commercials

Discussion week 9 – Racial stereotypes in Children’s Television commercials

1.)In the article it states that, “More than half of all children report that they watch TV seven days a            week” Why is this? Is it okay?

2.)“Media can convey all sorts of ethnic prejudices in various ways, including stereotyping and showing minorities in a disproportionate number of ‘bad’ roles.” Is it ethical to target kids who shape their self-concepts on advertising by putting minorities in bad roles? Why is it still done?

3.) African- Americans and Hispanics tend to appear in more advertisements about restaurants and food, while Caucasians and Asians tend to appear more in commercials about toys and books. Why are some products seen as more prestigious or desirable than others (for example, a book compared to a box of Doritos)?  Who distinguishes what products are better than others?

4.) “Results from studies indicated that minorities were represented by numbers lower than their representation in the population.” With that being true, why are minorities not shown in ads when research says that minorities generally watch three hours more of TV a week?

5.) Asians are labeled as a “model minority” in most ads and thus seen that way in real life. What if Hispanics were portrayed as the model minority in advertisements and television shows? Would people being to look at them as the model minority?

6.) The Social cognitive theory states that “Hispanic and African American children develop a false sense of sense of inferiority and that Caucasians and Asians develop a false sense of superiority” Could this mean that television and advertising is the source of where prejudices arrive?

7.)  Do kids know that there are stereotypical portrayals in advertising now? Do you remember the first advertisement that you noticed stereotypical portrayals?