Wells Fargo Stereotypes

Expectations for youth have been reinforced by the media since its conception. Millennials are constantly belittled for not following in the traditional footsteps of their parents by refusing jobs that support them financially, but do not fulfill their emotional expectations or needs. In a world where we tell children they can be anything they want, there are stiff restrictions on what is truly accepted. Young adults are expected to assume roles mirroring those of past generations although the world around them is changing dramatically. However, many companies try to market against this progress by continuing to promote antiquated stereotypes. One striking example of this comes from an advertisement produced by Wells Fargo. In such, a young

They pander to the need to achieve by providing consumers with not only a definition of accomplishment but the expectation of a clear guide for getting there. Wells Fargo specifically advocates for STEM fields while targeting the arts as the lesser choice because there are more job opportunities and flexibility within STEM. Author for Forbes.com, Emily Willingham writes “The message here is, of course, that the future is science” (2). This promotes a very narrow and specific vision of success for children to follow. Not only are these careers ones that take an abundance of practice and studying, but they require a certain type of worker to be done correctly. No person is the same in their strengths and values meaning not everyone will find success by becoming a scientist. While STEM can benefit from an increased headcount, it will only continue to advance with people proficient in these

By isolating two very opposite careers and trying to compare them, Wells Fargo implies that only one can be useful in society. This, however, is ironic due to the fact that a majority of the people we celebrate in popular culture actively pursue careers in the arts. Many of these celebrities spoke out against this Wells Fargo advertisement in an attempt to reverse the effects their message. Television personalities such as Josh Groban, Donna Lynn Champlin, and Zachary Levi cleverly fought back on Twitter to prove that there are people who are successfully fulfilling their passion. They authenticate the community of artistic supporters by using terms like “totally shameful” to describe Wells Fargo and questioning the success in the promoted scientific fields as opposed to that of actors. This is why I chose to analyze this ad. By proving the legitimacy of these careers, we can erase the stereotypes that allowed this advertisement to “slip past the editors in the first place” (Wilson