From Australia, where a high a rate of skin cancer has increased dermatological concerns, comes this anti-racism advertisement, "Skincare," that shows a young white female applying cream to her face. The more she applies over a seven day period, however, the more blemished her face becomes. At the end of the commercial, the name of the cream is revealed to be "Racism."
Directed by Tim Gibbs and produced by 8 Commercials, Sydney, for Saatchi & Saatchi, Sydney, the commercial won the Silver Plaque at the United Nations Department of Public Information Awards in September.
Racialicious recently hosted a multifaceted discussion of the print advertisement related to the campaign.
In using skin care as a theme, the commercial directly confronts not only racism, but any kind of discrimination that is based simply on the appearance of someone's outer layer.
Thursday, December 7, 2006
Racism Skin Care
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4 comments:
My sister in law currently resides in Australia and if half of what she tells me is true, multiculturalism has been dying a slow death ever since 9/11 and the Bali bombings. It is surprising just how easily we shed our veneer of civilization when confronted with adversity. One interpretation is that discrimination was originally a survival strategy. Shunning that which was different further served as a valuable means of social control. In future generations do you think it is likely that we may employ the same discriminatory practices against those who are intolerant? Is this not a pro-social application of discrimination?
I just wanted bring your attention to this crazieness: What can you do to help Karen Carter out? The corrupt racists are attacking her big time in order to keep cozy boy Bill Jefferson in power!
We need Democracy and we need people to be free to speak up against injustice if we are going to rebuild our communities!
I endeavor to raise consciousness (primarily my own), with the implicit belief that greater awareness lends itself to more creative and effective problem solving. I certainly feel a sense of responsibility to at least attempt to understand some of the worlds woes, but in the pursuit of these objectives, I endeavor to be realistic. People often view religion as the crucible of conflict, I believe the rise of Fascism and Socialism in the 20th century dispels this notion and reveals that it is not religion per se, but unthinking allegiance to any "ism" which clouds our collective judgement and provokes savage conflicts. Unprecedented suffering may be inevitable, but is it naive or just common sense to apply our creative energies towards finding pragmatic solutions? Suffering may be inevitable, but so are our efforts to redress it. Thanks for your thoughts and for making me think.
Hi,
I just left the same comment at Racialicious.com about the skin care ad. Your readers might find it interesting.
I think that if one is racist, one will probably see facial blemishes and distortion as something that does in fact make one look “ugly” and therefore a subject of discrimination. The ad is obviously not targeted to the more enlightened (that would be like preaching to the converted), but rather it is targeted to racists who don’t want to look “ugly.” Since racist values include discrimination based on physical appearance, the commercial, I think, speaks effectively to racists on this level. Sure it brings up issues about vanity and beauty, but it’s directed at people who actually believe that vanity and beauty play some strong role in societal validation. The ad is trying communicate with racists in a manner that racists understand. Baby talk for babies. Baby steps to enlightenment.
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