A Painful Reality: Misrepresentations of Black Women in Advertisements

Stereotypes of African American women as domestics, that were popularized in the nineteenth century through the mammy image, are still used today in the advertising industry. In particular, the character of the Pine Sol lady and the Popeye’s Chicken Lady “Annie” actively reproduce happy servant characterizations of the slavery era.
A Painful Reality: Misrepresentations of Black Women in Advertisements
Introduction
Television watching is a major activity that many people do in their time of leisure. Commercials are a huge part of daily television watching, and a large percentage of broadcast time is devoted to advertising. While many people do not actively pay much attention to commercials, advertising of different products can still be processed in the highly computerized brain. Many times even when people are not actively paying attention to commercials, their brains are still picking up stimuli from the material. There is a lot of motivation that goes into why companies feature products in certain formats, but a common factor in all advertising is to persuade people to buy the product. One aspect that may not be as evident to the television viewer is the use of stereotypical images of Black people that radiate from their commercials. In doing so, Black people who model for these commercials represent much more than just their ability to sell you a product. In particular, Black women tend to be portrayed as sassy and controlling in these commercials, not to mention, they display this while simultaneously selling stereotypical products for food preparation and cleaning. There exists a longstanding history explaining why Black women are portrayed stereotypically in advertising. As noted by Patricia Hill Collins, the objective of stereotypes is not to reflect or represent a reality, but to function as a disguise, or mystification of social relations. Stereotypes of African American women as domestics, that were popularized in the nineteenth century through the mammy image, are still used today in the advertising industry. In particular, the character of the Pine Sol lady and the Popeye’s Chicken Lady “Annie” actively reproduce happy servant characterizations of the slavery era.
Advertising is used in an assortment of ways. Advertisements are everywhere, with a tendency to be on television, radio, internet, and even in vulnerable public places like bathrooms. Advertisements are another facet of media that are used to promote different products. The use of imagery in sales is a very important factor when analyzing commercials. Why are they using certain kinds of people to advertise different products? Who are these companies attempting to sell these products to? Who are the people behind the scenes of the advertising? While recognizing these companies are focused on what makes them the most money, discerning how imagery and sales work together are an important part when examining commercials. A major factor in discovering why Black women are casted in stereotypical roles in commercials is by looking at the history of Black women in the media and advertising in the United States.
History of Black women in advertisements in the United States.
Black presence in advertising has long been a practice throughout the United States. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century Black women in particular have been portrayed in several roles through advertising. With a long history of slavery and discrimination, the use of stereotypical images of Black women was the norm during the nineteenth century. Seeing a Black woman in a serval role was common in this time era because Black women mostly held domestic forms of employment. During this time period, Black people weren’t even seen as human beings so the implication of them being in servile positions was justified. Advertising images of Black women in this era came directly out of images of Black slave women.
In particular, the mammy was a key figure in southern society. The term mammy was used to describe a woman who worked side by side with the white family. She is the main cook and cleaner of the White household. She is often described as loving the White family and being happy to serve them. Her caricature was used as proof that Black people enjoyed being enslaved. It is important to note that she is a caricature born out of slavery that was used as a way to apologize for slavery, but she is not real. There are not very many accounts of actual mammies, yet her image was used in an assortment of advertisements throughout this era. As described by Pilgrim, “The mammy image was used on ashtrays, souvenirs, postcards, fishing lures, detergent, artistic prints, toys, candles, and kitchenware.” Along with her face being used in advertisements, it is also important to note how she looked on them as well. Often times, the mammy caricature was displayed as obese, coarse and a maternal (Pilgrim, 2011 pp. 1-8). Her image also was constantly viewed as being asexual. The time period that the mammy was introduced is also very important in understanding how her caricature worked. Mammy started to show up during the height of the abolitionist movement. This is because the abuse of slave women was such a big topic, that White southerners at the time needed a way to apologize for slavery, and they did so through the mammy. At the time, Whites needed a way to camouflage the mistreatment of Black women, thus we were introduced to the mammy. However, Mammy’s appearance did not end when slavery ended. Her appearance actually continued into another character known as Aunt Jemima.
Aunt Jemima, a character born out of the mammy stereotype, wears a turban and is a cook. In particular, she enjoys cooking pancakes. Aunt Jemima was used as a way to turn the mammy stereotype into an advertising tool as the face of a pancake brand. People who liked the idea of a Aunt Jemima cooking pancakes for them could now buy this fantasy in a box! At this point in history, many people that were apologizing for slavery needed to seek comfort from the past, and they did this by purchasing Aunt Jemima products. The use of Aunt Jemima was yet another way to apology for slavery. According to Foxworth, placing Blacks on boxes of various food products is a cultural hangover from an earlier era. Blacks were used exclusively during the post-slavery era because they reinforced the stereotype of the docile servant who was always ready to serve humbly” (Foxworth 1994, pp. 62). Similar to the mammy, Aunt Jemima never existed, she is only a character developed out of the World Fair. The world fair was a fair that displayed people of color in animalistic ways, much similar to a human zoo. Since Aunt Jemima had yet to be successful, they introduced her by using a Black woman to embody her at the World Fair. In modern culture, Aunt Jemima still persists, and some call her contemporary existence the “Aunt Jemima Effect.” The Aunt Jemima effect is the idea that people are still drawn to her packaging because her familiarity creates a sense of closeness to the product. Overall, the Aunt Jemima grew out the mammy and put a face to her in the world of advertisement.
In more contemporary culture, we still find traces of the mammy and the Aunt Jemima. For example, Aunt Jemima still has pancake mix that is being sold in stores around the country, though the Mammy is not explicitly visible to the rest of modern society. Nevertheless, both the Mammy and Aunt Jemima are still being used in contemporary culture. The way in which they are used is much more subtle, but there are definitely still traces of their characteristics being portrayed in advertisements. Two contemporary images of the Mammy and Aunt Jemima are the Pine Sol lady and “Annie” the Popeye’s chicken lady. Both of these actresses are Black models that are popular in the advertising industry for their perspective products. As stated above, it is important to understand how Black women as domestics are still popular in the advertising industry today.
Contemporary images of Black women in advertising
The Pine Sol Lady
Pine Sol is a line of cleaning products that was started by Henry A. Cole in 1929. The introduction of Diane Amos “the Pine Sol Lady” was not put into effect until 1993. After many years of not having a specified person advertising Pine Sol, the company then decided to hire Amos as their actress. The “Pine Sol Lady” is a strong confident woman who is physically heavy and sassy. Many of the characteristics of the Pine Sol lady are similar to that of the mammy. Like the mammy, the Pine Sol lady is strong, physically large, and caring. After viewing many of her commercials, I decided to narrow analyses down to two different commercials that I found most striking. One commercial that stood out was the “Dirt Snuggler” one in which she was advising a young White woman about how to clean her home. In the opening of the scene, the young woman is wearing a bodysuit called the “dirt snuggler” that was being used to clean the floor. She slides across the floor saying how “clean her floors would get if she wore this cleaning costume.” In disgust, the Pine Sol Lady rushes in for help! She proclaims that what the young lady is doing is “ridiculous.” The Pine Sol lady then goes up to her in a mother like stance and says, “Honey, don’t over think it- just use Pine Sol.”
There are many problematic images within this commercial. First, the use of a young White woman as the person in the situation that doesn’t know how to clean, only enforces another stereotype. It resembles the savior complex, and the idea that this young naive White woman is unable to clean her home, so she is in need of a strong Black woman to come and do it for her. This commercial continues to perpetuate stereotypes of both Black and White women.
Another commercial by Pine Sol that I found problematic was the “Visitor” commercial, in which the Pine Sol Lady is portrayed in a more sexualized way than her previous commercials. The commercial opens with her driving in a drop top convertible riding down a dark street. After reaching a large mansion, she dramatically enters the house and walks up a staircase filled with rose petals. Making her way upstairs, she then runs into a young Black man mopping the floor shirtless. The scene then switches to her sensually laying on a bed full of rose petals and Pine Sol of different scents. There were many problematic features of this commercial. What was most striking from this commercial was how much they changed her appearance. In most commercials, she is dressed in plain clothes and has braided hair. Yet in this particular commercial, her hair was straightened and she is dressed in a purple silk dress. This is quite problematic because it shows that the only way Black women are able to become more feminine is by adhering to White ideals of beauty, an example being the straightening of her hair.
Another problematic feature was the use of the shirtless Black man. Not only is he shirtless, but he is also mopping the floor when she walks in! This in now putting him in a position of servitude while simultaneously oversexualizing him by having him shirtsless. Lastly, one of the most problematic characteristics of this commercial was the scene ending with her laying on a bed covered with rose petals and cleaning products. The fact that she is laying in a bed filled with cleaning products while also preparing for an intimate night is extremely questionable. In this commercial, are the cleaning products suppose to be synonymous with the intimacy? Why exactly did the creators of this commerical use a buff, half naked Black man to be the actor to clean the floor? This commercial is another example of how the Pine Sol lady is portrayed negatively. Another advertisement that uses a Black woman as their main actress in a similar manner is the restaurant Popeye’s Chicken.
Annie the ‘Chicken Queen’
Popeye’s chicken brand was established in 1972 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The owner of popeyes is an older White male by the name of Al Copeland. Popeye’s is one of the largest restaurant chains, and they pride themselves on the fact that they are present in many different countries around the world. They supposedly distinguish themselves with a unique “New Orleans” style menu. Interestingly enough, the person that they chose to be the face of this brand is a Black woman named Annie, who is known as “the chicken queen” in her advertisments. I watched many different Popeye’s commercials, but there were two that stood out the most. The first video that I watched was a thirty second clip that featured Annie and a full choir in the background. She talked about her chicken recipe, while the choir in the background continuously sang, “love that chicken from popeye’s.” More specifically, the choir consisted mainly of people of color, with a Black man as the choir director. There were many characteristics of this video that were troublesome. One of the main problems with Popeye’s advertising is the use of a Black woman selling chicken! For those unaware , fried chicken is characterized as a popular “soul food,” and is often used as a stereotypical aspect of black jokes. Overall, fried chicken has a long history of being used to portray Black people in specifically negative ways.
Another major issue within this commercial was the presence of the choir behind the character, Annie. Choirs are also a characteristic of Black culture that comes directly of the Black church. The fact that they are singing about chicken is also significantly unsettling. Since both of these features are synonymous with Blackness, I think it is very important to ask, who are these companies trying to sell their products to? An additional commercial that I analyzed was one in which Annie described how she came up with the idea of cutting chicken into smaller pieces, so people will then be able to dip more easily into the sauce. This is extremely condescending, as she is heard saying explicitly, “I figured out that one myself.” The problems in this particular commercial were centered more around her intelligence being insulted. The value of using a Black woman to advertise chicken is very similar to the Aunt Jemima story. There is no coincidence that her name is Annie, which is actually quite similar to the ‘Aunt’ in Aunt Jemima. Similar to the mammy stereotype, Annie the Popeye’s chicken lady is “in charge of her kitchen.” A Black face slapped on a stereotypical Black product is seen as somehow familiar to its consumers.
There was one one particular characteristic of both of these videos that I found interesting. The use of the word ‘honey’ was a very important factor when analyzing both of these commercials. In all four commercials, the word ‘honey’ was used at least once in the duration of the video. ‘Honey’ is used in many ways throughout Black culture. In particular, it has been used as a term of reassurance to another person. It has also been something commonly attributed to older, wise Black women. I can remember being called ‘honey’ by my own grandmother, feeling like a sincere term of endearment. Contrary to the way in which I’ve been exposed to the word ‘honey,’ I think both the Pine Sol and Popeye’s chicken ladies use of the word was just another way of mocking older Black women. Mocking and ridiculing Black people is something that has always been prominent in advertising. Yet, It is still surprising that we still find it in more subtle ways today.
Roland Martin of The Urban Daily described in his piece “5 Ads that Drives Us Nuts” the actress in the Popeye’s commercial as a “biscuit and strawberry soda away from being a full-on minstrel show.” From Martin’s piece, I also made a huge connection between the Popeye’s chicken lady and the mammy. The subtitle of his article about the Popeye’s woman was named “Annie, the Chicken Mammy!” He is reinforcing the idea that deeply historical stereotypes are still being used in contemporary advertising. While a lot of his piece was problematic in the way he was describing Annie “the Chicken Queen,” he makes an excellent point on how these advertisements are very harmful to Black people. He raises the argument that while it is great that Black Americans are being represented in the media, “it defeats the purpose and reinforces negative African American stereotypes.” In general, both the Pine Sol Lady and the Popeye chicken ladies are contemporary examples of Black women that perpetuate the Black domestics role through advertising. The problem with both of these images is that they are generalizations and put Black women in boxes.
Effects of Stereotypical Advertisements on the Black Psyche
Stereotypes of any form, positive or negative, are bad for the group that appears to hold this quality. They put people in boxes that can be very difficult to escape when people are not exposed to any other information about that particular group. I theorize that most people believe that they don’t look too deeply into commercials, and I argue that subconsciously we still pick up cues of advertising in our daily lives. We are all vulnerable to stereotypes, yet one group in particular that is most vulnerable, is Black children. During a child’s developmental years, they tend to pick up on explicit social ideas, that many adults do not feel are important. Lorraine Fuller argues that, “for some, particularly children media portrayals provide their only socialization” (Fuller 2001, pp. 122). Another group that is negatively affected by these images are Black women. Black women who try to combat these stereotypes may spend a considerable amount of their energy on trying to prove how they are not like these stereotypical images. This then starts to take up mental energy that could be used effectively in other places. Carolyn West explains perfectly the implications of these stereotypes and how they affect Black women. She talks extensively about how the Mammy stereotypes have impacted Black women’s psychological functioning. She argues that, “the Mammy image has appeared to impact the psychological functioning of Black women. Concerns related to eating patterns, emphasis on particular physical features, and the conflict in care caretaker and wage earner roles may be attributable, in part, to the perpetuation of this Mammy image” (West 1995, pp.460). An empirical study was done by Lorraine Fuller in efforts to find if stereotypical advertisements negatively affect Black people. She comprised a study where she had Black women and men watch Pine Sol commercials and then describe how they felt after watching it. Also, she completed a study in which she found that “the social consequences of the Mammy or Aunt Jemima are serious, not only because of the social messages they disseminate but also because of the impact on the self-concept and self-esteem of Black females” (Fuller 2001, pp. 130).
Conclusion
In closing, it is important to remember that stereotypes are images that are put in place for a reason. The power that stereotypes hold is completely controlled by society. In order to change these stereotypes, we must change the way society portrays them. One way we can do this is by putting more images of Black women that don’t represent common stereotypical roles. We can also change this through writing, as this is a wonderful way to expose the truth around these stereotypes. Stereotypical images of Black women in advertising are extremely limiting. Before you engage in either buying products that perpetuate negative images of Black women or watch commercials that negatively affects them, you should remember the long painful history that is behind these representations.
Bibliography
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