To ask if you’ve noticed this? Race-related.

[OffRampHilton]

I grew up (not UK) in an area that was entirely populated by white people but that’s changed since I was a child (I’m 40) and I’ve moved away to live in a big city so my friends and colleagues now are very racially diverse. I know couples of all races/ethnicity from same-race/ethnicity to every mix you can think of.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been really happy to see more diversity on tv, especially in terms of race. I grew up seeing nothing but white people on tv shows, unless it was a programme specifically about black or Asian families. I remember the fact that Coronation St was introducing their first non-white family was covered in the newspaper. The default was white people unless non-white people had a specific “reason” to be there- and that reason was pretty much always race-related.

I’m noticing lots more diversity, especially on ads. However, I still don’t see a lot of black or Asian families. I see mixed families where one parent (normally the mother, for some reason), is white, then a black parent (usually a dad) and two mixed children (normally a boy and a girl!). Great, it certainly represents a lot of families, but there seems to be a lack of depiction of families that are entirely black or entirely Asian or entirely anything other than white.

From paying attention to a few ad breaks tonight, I saw the following, in order of most common-

White families.
Mixed-race families.

I didn’t see many wholly non-white families.

Has anyone else noticed this?

Also, if I’ve used any clumsy wording in this, please don’t jump on me, but educate me instead.

I agree. Have seen lots more mixed race families on adverts etc. Rarely see an all black family sadly.

I love these adverts as I have a friend who works in tv and film and when casting they are so careful to get “families” that look like one another even down to eye colour. But adverts always seem to be tripping over themselves to be so inclusive that the families they come up with sometimes is quite questionable. One advert years ago I remember had an Indian mother and a dark haired white man and then a white red haired child with curly hair and a child who didn’t quite look like either of her supposed parents ethnicities and then they had another child who I think they had chosen purely to cover every base.

I can’t remember what they were advertising because I spent the whole advert every time it came on trying to work out the family connection

White British makes up 44.9% of the London population, white makes up 59.8%. So no, they’re not a minority whatsoever

Surely it's business suicide to cancel 60% of your potential customer base?

I get the feeling that marketing budgets are being appropriated by whoever currently controls advertising agencies to allow them to disseminate 'messages' for free.

Companies are either clueless and believe what they are being told regarding 'trends', or are complicit in all of this. It's not clear. But I certainly don't want to be lectured every time I see an ad, I would rather be told about the quality and features of the product, that's it

@mustlovegin

White British makes up 44.9% of the London population, white makes up 59.8%. So no, they’re not a minority whatsoever

Surely it's business suicide to cancel 60% of your potential customer base?

I get the feeling that marketing budgets are being appropriated by whoever currently controls advertising agencies to allow them to disseminate 'messages' for free.

Companies are either clueless and believe what they are being told regarding 'trends', or are complicit in all of this. It's not clear. But I certainly don't want to be lectured every time I see an ad, I would rather be told about the quality and features of the product, that's it

How is including an all-black family in an ad 'lecturing you'?

@mustlovegin

White British makes up 44.9% of the London population, white makes up 59.8%. So no, they’re not a minority whatsoever

Surely it's business suicide to cancel 60% of your potential customer base?

I get the feeling that marketing budgets are being appropriated by whoever currently controls advertising agencies to allow them to disseminate 'messages' for free.

Companies are either clueless and believe what they are being told regarding 'trends', or are complicit in all of this. It's not clear. But I certainly don't want to be lectured every time I see an ad, I would rather be told about the quality and features of the product, that's it

Recently there was an advert with a white couple with a mixed race child. So I'm sitting there wondering about the previous relationships of the parents and which one was the step parent. I just want to see what they're advertising rather than trying to overthink the relationships. I'd rather see an all black / Asian family as surely they are more common than mixed race?

Wait till that person finds out Jesus was Middle Eastern!

Even better, wait until they find out he was an Aramaic-speaking Palestinian Jew. I would love to be a fly on the wall for that.

Business advertising and activism/campaigning belong to different spheres. It reflects badly on companies when they try to mix the two

@Bythemillpond

Where do you get this figure @Bythemillpond? 2011 census puts white Brits at around 44% so while not the majority overall, by far the hugest single racial group in London

44% is then a minority. To be a majority it would be over 50%

It is the individual majority in that no other single ethnic group has a higher percentage. Lots of other different ethnic groups add up to over 50% but no one other ethnicity comes anywhere near the percentage of white Brits.

@Backhills

What I find interesting and appaling in equal measure is that black families on TV almost always live white middle class lives.

They might look black but they are much more like the white middle classes than they are the black communities I know, in every other aspect.

That's because as adverts are supposed to be aspirational. Most people in adverts are living middle class lives and the same for black families. Tbh, if you swap the actors from black to white or vice versa, it would be seamless.

On another point, are there ANY ads with a black mum and a white dad?

@YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer

I'm in the US and its the same here. I've noticed lately there are tons of ads with interracial families. You rarely use to see that. Also seeing a lot of ads with Gay/Lesbian couples/families too which is very new. I watched a set of ads that came on before I wrote this out and there was a black dad with a black daughter running around, I thought maybe it would be a black family. Nope, they ran into the next room and white mom was sitting on the couch.

This is interesting because growing up I felt that US tv almost never showed interracial relationships. If there was a black character in a show they’d only ever date other black characters. My experience in the U.K. was far more integrated with most of my friends mixed race.

I find it annoying that there are way more black people than Asians in tv adverts when in the UK Asians make up a greater proportion of the population. For me this suggests that the casting isn’t colour-blind - they’re subconscious (or consciously?) casting more black people because of BLM or because they’re actually reflecting an American population. See also Bridgerton! Where were all the Asians? Biggest ethnic minority in the UK. I think it annoys me because it makes it obvious that it’s not colour blind it’s actually cynical.

The Disney Christmas advert this year was based around people from the Philippines, which was nice and a group you don't often see in adverts.

I find Netflix particularly bad in this regard. You can hardly find a series with a neutral story line that doesn't contain a 'message' or that is not driven by an agenda.

I noticed the "black dad white mum" thing too and wonder if it's because way in the past some mixed race children were born as a result of rape of black slaves by white owners, or more broadly exploitation of poor non-white women by more powerful, richer white men and that is not a happy diversity rainbow image marketers want to evoke.

Although I find this current depiction inherently a bit sexist- as if the male role is automatically assumed to be the dominant role.

There's nothing subconscious in the advertising world Marcia

Do soaps/adverts in primarily asian or black countries have white families in there soaps/adverts? Genuine question. I have no idea.

I have seen a lot more asian people/families in adverts than ever before so it is increasing IMO.

YABU you never just see a white family / white people in an advert despite being a majority white country

Ive noticed this. I remember thinking ikea had a family were both black and usually advertisers go with a mix3d couple if they the couple isnt white.

I jotice lots of natural afro hair on online clothing websites recently

@Marcia1989

I find it annoying that there are way more black people than Asians in tv adverts when in the UK Asians make up a greater proportion of the population. For me this suggests that the casting isn’t colour-blind - they’re subconscious (or consciously?) casting more black people because of BLM or because they’re actually reflecting an American population. See also Bridgerton! Where were all the Asians? Biggest ethnic minority in the UK. I think it annoys me because it makes it obvious that it’s not colour blind it’s actually cynical.

Yes! Agree with all of this

@Comefromaway

I also find people's attitudes sad. There was recently an article by the RAD about a ballet class for muslim girls. (white girls are also welcome to attend). Adaptations to the way of teaching include things like the children dance to poetry rather than music and the uniform if adapted for modesty etc. The comments was full of why should we pander to them type comments. Why are we allowing them to teach the kids that music is evil etc etc, they should go to a normal ballet class instead. It's not as if they will be allowed to become perfomers when they are adults/wear a tutu etc Its our country etc etc

I agree on the religious points but the fact is that these girls are being allowed to study ballet because of these adaptations to their culture. In 15 years time one or two of them might decide to become teachers or performers themselves and might decide to move away from some of their religious rules. But if we don't give them the chance as children (they would not be allowed to attend a normal ballet class) then they don't have the options as adults.

Sad about the music though, what a shame

I wonder if some of the tendency to show a mixed race couple is to do with the extent of cultural assimilation that it represents. An Asian couple or a black couple probably doesn't give off a "one of us" vibe to the swathes of xenophobic people in the population, compared to a family that is mixed.

Two factors that might play into the higher representation of black people compared to Asian people in adverts might be:

1. An American influence, where the mix of ethnicities are different to the UK.
2. Ongoing islamophobia in the UK - again not wanting to challenge the audience to overcome their prejudices.

An American influence

Why should the UK have to put up with having an American influence in our ads?

Ongoing islamophobia in the UK

This is nonsense, there's no such thing

@woodhill as someone from a very religious country ‘adaptations’ don’t make religious people change their views. In fact it makes them more convinced that they’re doing the right thing. Which is why so many of my people have fled to Western countries. They wouldn’t be very happy to see that the same sort of outdated and bigoted thinking that drove them away was being accepted here in the name of ‘tolerance’.

Also ballet (like many forms of dance) is a sport. The clothes are not there for sexiness but because ballet involves a variety of athletic moves. If it’s poetry, clothes are adapted for ‘modesty’ and presumably the moves - it’s not ballet at all. Why not name it a general ‘modern dance’ instead of bastardising something very specific? Or teach one of the many folk dances involving already modest outfits and delicate hand movements?

@Bythemillpond

I love these adverts as I have a friend who works in tv and film and when casting they are so careful to get “families” that look like one another even down to eye colour. But adverts always seem to be tripping over themselves to be so inclusive that the families they come up with sometimes is quite questionable. One advert years ago I remember had an Indian mother and a dark haired white man and then a white red haired child with curly hair and a child who didn’t quite look like either of her supposed parents ethnicities and then they had another child who I think they had chosen purely to cover every base.

I can’t remember what they were advertising because I spent the whole advert every time it came on trying to work out the family connection

Maybe they were adopted.