Questions about race permeate U.S. society, and we haven’t figured out how to talk about them, as Juan Williams, the NPR correspondent, found out.
NPR fired Williams after he said he worries about being blown up when he boards an airplane and sees “people who are in Muslim garb.”
While most of us do our best to avoid talking about issues of race, ethnicity and religion — because it’s uncomfortable, for example, or we don’t want to get fired — some people keep hammering away.
Bill Imada is one of those people. He runs a national advertising agency and he is especially interested in why some companies insist on using racial and ethnic stereotypes to sell their products.
Imada will speak at WCSU at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Ballroom of the Westside Campus Center on the Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury.
He is chairman and chief executive office of the IW group. Among the various ad campaigns his company has executed are Warner Brother’s “Inception,” McDonald’s “Brain,” “Safe” for the 2010 Census, and MetLife’s “Dragon Boat.”
Imada also writes a blog for Advertising Age in which he calls out advertising campaigns as offensive and racist. Here is a link to a recent post that critiques ads for MetroPCS featuring actors who play the part of Asian tech advisors.
Imada questions the value of advertising that “typecasts a group of people as perpetual foreigners who remain at the fringe of American society.”
Imada contrasts the MetroPCS campaign with another from Fiber One that features an Asian grocery store manager without the stereotypical slapstick affectations.
As you will see from the postings, several readers think Imada is way too sensitive.
The value is not whether you agree or disagree with Imada’s view on these particular ad campaigns — it’s that he’s promoting the discussion. The United States now almost always uniformly applies constitutional rights regardless of skin color, but as a society we have several levels of standards and acceptance that have nothing to do with legalities.
That is what Imada probes and questions. His appearance at the university, sponsored by the WCSU Collegiate Chapter of the American Marketing Association, is free and open to the public.
America will be better if we all attend.
Follow Western Connecticut State University at wcsu.edu.
I may not have attended this appearance given here at WestConn but the blog seems very interesting and the topic catches my attention and would probably catch many persons attention. Race is a very touchy subject in America and I believe that everyone needs to be more educated about it.
Comment by Heather — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:11 am
I believe that it is important to have discussions about race in the public eye. Race is still an underlying issue in America so therefore I think it would be an interesting lecture that would benefit everyone who attends.
Comment by Nick LaDelfa — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:12 am
I don’t see anything stereotypical about the man in the Fiber One commercial. It seems that he got the part by auditioning, and just happened to be Asian.
Comment by Neil Suto — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:13 am
I want to thank Imada and Slap him simultaneously.
First of I want to thank him for constantly keeping an eye of the issue of race, something that is present at every single moment. Constantly keeping an eye out for racist and derogatory images and videos is something that needs to be done.
Secondly, I want to slap him for being sensitive. Does he not realize that if these commercial were not intended just to be a joke that they would have never made it to the air? the FCC was created to keep offensive things off the air and they still have to do their job. Just because theres an indian man selling cell phones doesn’t mean we should be worried about front yard lynching. Cool your jets Imada.
Comment by Bardellios — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:15 am
I find this to be extremely interesting. Race is always left unspoken. We never discuss it or argue the circumstances. I find what Mr. Imada is doing to be eye opening.
Comment by Devon Corbett — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:17 am
This speech was definitely a good idea. There are many people who still think of different races in stereotypical ways. We need someone to stand up and talk about these issues with citizens of this country. Otherwise people will continue to watch what they say in fear of offending someone or, on the other end of the spectrum, some people will continue to ignore the rights of other races and say whatever they want about them.
Comment by Amanda Wilson — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:17 am
It’s important not to avoid issues like race just because they may be uncomfortable. Whether there actually is a problem or not in those commercials, I agree that it is valuable to discuss the potential implications these commercials may come with.
Comment by Justin — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:18 am
People in the US are definitely afraid to make comments to do with race, in my opinion because you never know how others will take it. I’m glad that Imada is saying what needs to be said, unafraid of the consequences.
Comment by Taryn G. — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:19 am
This is a good blog entry, discrimination and rights have always been a problem. All muslim people are not terrorist in most cases they are very hardworking and respectable people. I will be looking forward to the meeting in the ball room I will definetly attend if I have time to spare from my busy schedule.
Comment by Jason Morris — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:19 am
I also commend Mr.Imada for his efforts to openly speak about race in society. And while i agree that some commercials portray poor stereotypes , i can also see the humor in some. Maybe its just me, but i tend to not take everything so literally and take offense to everything. I am Asian American , and i wont lie at times i laugh at stereotypes directed at my ethnicity at times. Perhaps its because i grew up to make light of situations and just grew up around friends who would poke fun at each other and not take it so serious. But thats just me…
Comment by Rich Klein — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:19 am
Race. When do we ever get over it? But it’s very interesting to see that were not just thinking about race at face value. Things seem to be okay in that department or atleast getting better. But, we are thinking about race in a much more abstract way which lends to an decrease in not only face to face racial relations but globalization of race through the media. This approach will change the negative perseptions that someone in china may have of muslims in america. Racism isnt something you change from the inside out, you have to work from the outside in. And the media is the place to begin to start to change these habits.
Comment by Kiana Woodard — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:20 am
After reading this article, I realized how much race is actually entailed in ads to sell products. This kind of issue should not be overlooked and I’m glad Bill Imada speaks for this. Whether or not he is “way too sensitive” it interests me he has a blog about race and ethnicity used in certain advertisements. Kudos to Imada!
Comment by Carly Prendergast — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:20 am
In this day and age you would think that racism would be over, however we still see small bits of racism from different people all over the world. If its an ad on TV or someone walking away from another person for what they think that they are. The way a person looks does not define who or what they are as a person. We instantly assume things about people because of what we hear and see around us, we all become easily influenced by everything that is going on in the world and we put people in a group and assume that they are all the same. Just because a person is from somewhere different, and because they look different doesn’t mean they are out to get us.
Comment by Amber — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:21 am
I agree that there are too many advertising campaigns that stereotype people. Even though the actors were making fun of themselves on the commercial for Metro PCS,they had to get paid and those were the lines they were given. There is probably a fine line between stereotyping a culture and being racist. Making fun of people for who they are is pretty much discriminating them. More advertisers should look to the example being set by FiberOne. I was happy to see that it attracts an audience, but keeps its maturity by avoiding stereotyping its actors.
I was shocked to hear that Juan Williams made such a comment like that about Muslim people. Unfortunately, people have come to think that it is ok to say stereotypical comments and not feel as though they are being derogatory.
Comment by Nicole Harris — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:30 am
I feel as if this subject is to touchy in the us. I’m sure everywhere else around the world they feel the same way and poke fun at Americans. As long as there is a threat and a need to be worried there will always be more racism. I’m sure somewhere in England when they board a plane they too look for people of Muslim decent and wonder what their intentions are. As for marketing, well that’s marketing. They need to show ads that target certain audiences that how they make their money.
Comment by Joe C. — October 28th, 2010 @ 10:38 am
People are a little sensitive, but how can they not be under certain circumstances. There is still stereotyping to this day. We are still haunted by the past, and will never truly be equal. People haven’t been working towards equality and less racism. And now with 9/11, it has gotten worse because people are worried about bombs. It’s important to realize that not everyone has the same mindset, and it was one person not a whole country and ethnicity.
Comment by Rachael W. — November 2nd, 2010 @ 10:29 am
I admire Bill Imada for being able to publicly speak about racial issues. Being African-American on a predominantly Caucasian campus, I see how uncomfortable people get when any conversation pertaining to race is brought up in class. I don’t see why we as a country walk on eggshells around subjects pertaining to ethnicity. I wish I had known about Imada coming to WCSU, I would definitely have enjoyed hearing what he had to say.
Comment by Denise Roberts — February 2nd, 2011 @ 4:02 pm