Cultural Schemas for Racial Identity in Canadian Television Advertising

Interesting study. The counterpart is, I think, Tim Hortons ads which have been more inclusive (the 2010 “Welcome to Canada” ad about a new Canadian immigrant welcoming his family to Canada is a classic):

A series of food ads on primetime TV significantly underrepresented black and Asian actors in favour of white actors, and at the same time pigeon-holed both minority and majority actors into portraying inaccurate racial caricatures.

Sociology professor Shyon Baumann and recent PhD graduate Loretta Ho looked at food-related commercials aired on CTV, Global and CBC between 2008 and 2009 to study racial representation in advertising. They found the ads squeezed actors of different races into precise, stereotypical roles, like the “natural”, holistic white persona, or the working class, “blue-collar” black caricature.

Q&A with Shyon Baumann and Loretta Ho: Cultural Schemas for Racial Identity in Canadian Television Advertising | Ethnic, Immigration, and Pluralism Studies.