Ebony Ads:now and Then

Ebony Ads: Now and Then

Since the inception of America the African American struggle for equality has existed within the culture. It can be argued that negative stereotypes and images of Black Americans are most evident by the way they are portrayed in pop culture and consumer marketing. As times and ideals have changed over the years so to have these images of Black America. After examining an advertisement found in a 1980 issue of Ebony, a predominantly black publication, I have found many different examples of how the black image was portrayed then and now in a current advertisement in Ebony that has similar characteristics. Although, both of these advertisements are published post civil rights movement, I made an effort to discover the similarities and differences in the way black culture has been marketed to.

The 1980 advertisement is for "Champale," it is a sparkling malt liquor and presented as an alternative to Champagne. It shows three different black women dressed in elegant gowns. Each woman's gown is a different color to show the correlation between the different flavors of Champale. The woman in the brown dress represents the Classis Golden, the woman in the pink dress the Bold Pink and the woman in the tan dress the Sparkling Extra Dry. These women are all African American and different in their overall appearance, showing that this ad is geared toward the black market.

The 2004 advertisement is for "Motions Salon Herbals," which is used as a hair styling agent. This ad also shows three different black women they are all dressed differently but are all wearing the exact same lime green color which is also used to correlate the girls to the color of the product they are selling. This ad is like the...

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...working woman. The 1980's the ladies are all dressed in elegant gowns which gives the impression that they are selling a high class expensive product, when in fact the are actually promoting a mock Champagne which is actually malt liquor a cheap alcohol alternative. This ad promotes the idea of African Americans having higher incomes; however the product they are selling is geared to a lower income consumer sector.

Overall it is evident that the ideas that existed to help bring about equality and a Black American identity have taken awhile to come together to make a difference after years of discrimination. I believe that this movement has come to forefront of the American consciousness and have allowed them to be successful in there efforts. These advertisements share similar ideas, but the later one fully encompasses these ideas making them a reality.