When I first caught a glimpse of an ad on TV of Mother Nature trying to wake up someone who was sleeping, I thought it type-cast women with an out of date image:  Women can’t do anything when their “little gift” comes each month.

Seeing the vibrant Serena Williams, who is African-American, perfect as a dynamic, young recognizable athlete known for her drive to succeed no matter what, is an immediate visual contrast.  The five second take-away is strong women empowered today, not like the “olden days” characterized by Mother Nature’s dated sytle, when all activity basically stopped for a whole week, every month.

Plus, how else do you dress a perfectly fit woman in a teeny white dress without objectifying her!  It’s less about sexy and more about strong, offering wide appeal for a product exclusively sold to women.

For those of us on the more “prudent side” of what’s appropriate in public, the beautifully packaged red gift with the big pink bow is well-chosen, capturing sarcasm, subtly and euphemism all in one simple image.  Do I really need to listen to two women talk graphically about bodily functions in front of my son to get a point across?  Apparently not!

The generational contrast is done well without alienating ‘older’ target clients, but using an archetype, Mother Nature, rather than just, well a mother…who might be a potential customer,  too. 

Both are solidly in character as they challenge each other in a “game on” approach, athlete vs. nature, in the series.

I wouldn’t mind staying as active and strong as Serena Williams all the time.  See you later, Mother Nature!

Starburst-Multiculturalism is the “punch-line” (by TBWA\Chiat\Day New York)

This ad builds an analogy of multiculturalism into the script, creating a direct parallel between the young man who is Scottish and Korean, with the new Starburst, which is Sweet and Sour.  I might have changed the script a little (the ‘narrator’ says the mix doesn’t make any sense at all-I would have probably said it joins together for fantastic result or something like that 1.) because that’s the idea behind intercultural communications, and 2.) It would reflect better on my product.  But I love the ‘bravery’ of embracing multicultural identity head-on.

Fruit by the Foot Flavor Kickers-Multiculturalism is the “medium”

This ad also subtly uses race to convey the meaning of the ad, by having two martial artists, one African-American and one Caucasian, in slow motion kicks to visually show “two kickin’ flavors.”  Also notable is that neither ‘kicker’ is a stereotype (a la Jackie Chan or Jet Li) so that there is balance between the players-no one is ‘one-upping’ the other.  I love this ad geared to children, given that so much of unconscious bias is driven by stereotypic representations of culture in media.  Plus, the true test, my child loved the ad and we both can name the product three days later!

Taco Bell-Attempt at cross-cultural parody: been there, done that… (by Draftfcb)

An unidentified colleague who still works with artists had a phrase of “SFA”…”Some F—–g Artist.”  He said that artists look at blocks of copy for ads as visual elements to place on a page, without regard to content.  That seems to be the case with the Taco Bell ad, where there is so much focus on creating the parody that the message is lost.  If the consumer doesn’t know the product and the call to action within 5 seconds, we’ve lost them.  Plus, as seen from this posting on “Kiss My Black Ads” (where I found the ad), it could be offensive (or at least uncreative).  Taco Bell’s own press release praises the campaign (duh!).

It would be great to immediately know the ROI for these ad campaigns, to see how multicultural ads, good ones, bad ones, or even benign ones might drive sales within existing customer-base, or possibly expand and drive new customers.  Do awful ads based on stereotype drive sales with people who embrace the prejudice?  Does the outrage or offense draw attention, which in the end just increases visibility?  Can well done, respectful ads build community? 

While many multicultural ads still seem to stereotype or tokenize cultures, this ad playfully and consciously represents a variety of groups.  What do you think?

 One ad that gets it right is the Kellogg’s television ad “Higher” for the kids snack product Gripz.  Two kids at school are competing to see who can toss their Gripz snacks higher and still catch them in their mouth.  The snacks go so high they pass the window of an airplane, and the pilot is African American.  On top of that, he’s wearing a casual shirt, so, he’s a leisure pilot, all of which suggests intelligence, professional achievement and affluence-in that quick momentary shot. 

If your product, audience, constituent base, etc. is multicultural, and you want to make sure you are reflecting the diversity you serve, here are some pointers to consider to do it effectively:

1. At the end of the day, it’s still an ad to sell your product or communicate your message.  For the Gripz ad, my 7 year old could recite the product by name after seeing the commercial once, and won’t stop asking now until I buy it-the focus is on the product and how fun it is to eat.
2. Do the images in the ad relate to one another-is there interaction or parity?  In this case, the pilot is part of the story-line.  As a ‘bad example’ I’m reminded of an ad for Minute Maid Lemonade.  There’s what looks to be blonde Caucasian woman in the front, an African-American man on a bike in the back, and a Hispanic man and his child playing in the middle.  There is no interaction among them, and they seem to be set up in a hierarchy.  It feels forced and distracts from the product message.
3. Finally, be sure not to perpetuate stereotypes. “I’ve seen enough ‘know-it-all-black women bobbing their heads’ in ads to last me a lifetime,” says Michelle, a 30-something African-American colleague.  The ‘all-knowing’ Confucius inspired Chinese man also has been big lately, to the point that Snapple’s new TV ad for White Tea is simply unoriginal, on top of relying on stereotypes.

Inside the U.S. people of different backgrounds do not live in silos, so intercultural marketing, where diverse people interact in ads targeting multiple audiences makes sense.  Can you find the hidden stereotypes in ads that you see everyday?  How might you mix things up to integrate diversity without perpetuating stereotypes?  Maybe start by acknowledging the stereotype…and then set it aside.