Lautz Bros. and Co. Acme Soaps Advertisement. (Late 1800s). Buffalo, NY.
Soap advertisements that exploited the differences between African Americans and Caucasians like the one above were not uncommon in the 1800s. What may have seemed innocent and comical at the time, in actuality connoted that blacks were a dirty race and needed the whites' help to get clean. According to the advertisement, the Lautz Bros. soap was so strong it could wash the black from a black boy's skin. The advertisement caught my eye because it is one that blatantly compares the two races, establishing one as superior. The black boy in the advertisement looks excited to be turning white, while the white man in the image appears to be holding the boy in a way that makes the whole scenario look like a demonstration or a baptism of sorts. The white man is in control and the African American boy is happy about it.
Dove. Dove.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Sept. 2014.
This advertisement was NOT featured in Paul Rand's Victims of the Image, however was recently a subject of controversy due to poor planning on the part of the advertisers. There were many complaints about the ad layout. From left to right we see a black woman, a Latina woman, and a white woman. Behind them, before and after photos of skin washed with dove soap. What some thought it suggested was that the soap would turn a black woman white eventually, which is of course not the case. The people responsible for the ad in 2011 admitted that it was completely unintentional. I found this interesting because it shows that despite the vast decline of racism since the 1800s, people are still aware of the social stigmas surrounding race.
Soap advertisements that exploited the differences between African Americans and Caucasians like the one above were not uncommon in the 1800s. What may have seemed innocent and comical at the time, in actuality connoted that blacks were a dirty race and needed the whites' help to get clean. According to the advertisement, the Lautz Bros. soap was so strong it could wash the black from a black boy's skin. The advertisement caught my eye because it is one that blatantly compares the two races, establishing one as superior. The black boy in the advertisement looks excited to be turning white, while the white man in the image appears to be holding the boy in a way that makes the whole scenario look like a demonstration or a baptism of sorts. The white man is in control and the African American boy is happy about it.
This advertisement was NOT featured in Paul Rand's Victims of the Image, however was recently a subject of controversy due to poor planning on the part of the advertisers. There were many complaints about the ad layout. From left to right we see a black woman, a Latina woman, and a white woman. Behind them, before and after photos of skin washed with dove soap. What some thought it suggested was that the soap would turn a black woman white eventually, which is of course not the case. The people responsible for the ad in 2011 admitted that it was completely unintentional. I found this interesting because it shows that despite the vast decline of racism since the 1800s, people are still aware of the social stigmas surrounding race.
Thank you for your point of view on visual stereotyping and for your keen comparison of the two soap advertisements.
ReplyDelete