Advertising Bias: How real is the problem?

"Google before you tweet, is the new think before you speak"

This week in class, we have been talking a lot about advertising bias, in terms of gender and also race. There are many many cases in which I believe a bias does exist, and even times when it is harmful. For instance, many beauty and weight loss ads are harmful to girls by giving them an unachievable body type to strive for. However, many of the ads which we discussed in class I do not believe should be classified as offensive or biased.

For instance, we saw a commercial for six flags which featured an asian man with a typical asian accent and we also saw a pepsi commercial which depicted a black woman getting mad at her husband for eating unhealthy. If you were to classify these commercials as promoting stereotypes, angry black women, asians with accents, there is no end to what could be classified as "biased." Any commercial where a girl who happens to be blonde is shown doing something stupid could be considered biased or any ad which shows a latino eating nachos. In these cases, it seems to me that a molehill is being made into a mountain. Correlation does not equal causation. In most circumstances, if you search hard enough some kind of bias can be found. But is this productive to dwell on such obscurities?

There are real problems and real biases in advertising. But it is my opinion that some of the things which our textbook has labeled seem to be making something out of nothing. I do truly appreciate the emphasis on gender bias and body image and also racial stereotypes in entertainment mediums. But I think a commercial can only be defined as such if there is good reason and public opinion that it is offensive. There must be a real argument before it can be brought to the table, otherwise it diminishes the real problem and clouds the truth.