next »

[Raoul F. Duke]

Over the last few months I've noticed something weird about the ads on TV: Asians, who form around 3 1/2 percent of our current total population, are suddenly being seen in nearly ALL of them. This has definitely not always been the case.

Most, of course, are smokin' East Asian babes...and let's just say it's not hard to understand the appeal they bring.
But a few- and vastly increased numbers of- ads feature East or South Asian men, although many of these seem to run in the "so ugly they're cute" category.

Blacks (about 13% of our population) and Hispanics (about 11%) are seen, but not all that much. It seems like I see more Asians now than either of the other groups. (Some of the Whites you see could be Hispanic, but this status is not made evident in these cases...)

Is this a taste change, either by the public or by the ad agencies?
Or are Asians now employed to show "Diversity" in a "less threatening" manner?

[nicenightforawalk]

I would guess its all to get the Chinese dollars! I know there are lots of moves afoot in the UK to get more of the Chinese tourist pound. Ive seen a few things on TV that shows the steps tourist companies and retailers are going to, in order to get the Chinese tourist to spend a little more.

[Raoul F. Duke]

Good guess, but these are American TV ads aimed purely at broad American markets, shown on mainstream networks.
Asian folks do tend to prosper here, but as of the 2010 Census they're about 3.5% of our populace...just not a big enough segment to target in such venues.
They ain't got THAT much money.



Yet.

[Mimi]

Or are Asians now employed to show "Diversity" in a "less threatening" manner?

This seems most likely.  The rapidly increasing numbers of Americans who identify as Hispanic, along with the illegal immigration issue, is probably keeping them off of mainstream national advertisements.  Black Americans continue to be controversial, I guess, though I do see them more and more in advertisements - devoid of any remnants of the unique culture developed in predominately Black communities, of course.

One reason I think Asians are the safe bet is that there are just not a lot of them, as you said.  Most Americans haven't dealt with Asian immigrants, so they have no negative associations regarding cultural differences.  I bet ads that were only going to be featured in say, Orange County, which has a comparatively huge number of Korean immigrants, would be different.  People there are just full of stories of Korean people at the gym, in stores, in restaurants, and on the roads behaving in strange and sometimes frustrating ways.  I wouldn't say that there is any real discrimination or hatred, not at all, but there is enough of a potential for negative association to scare advertisers off he idea.  People in small towns in middle America may have had NO prior experience with East Asians who have been here for less than a handful of generations.  All they see are attractive, light-skinned people who are known for being polite and smart. 

Marketers will never be arbiters of great social change.  Nope. 

[Borkya]

Clearly the Chinese government is starting their third phase of operation "take over America."

First step was to manufacturer just about everything we need. Check.

Second step was to buy all our bonds and stocks and whatever to gain control of the government. Check.

Third (and current) step is to inundate us with asians in pop culture to get us used to seeing Chinese faces. They need to get middle america used to seeing them in a non-threating manner (you know, like how will and Grace changed the hearts and minds of conservative households around the country.)

In retaliation, the US gov't has decided to destroy the country. Putting it further into debt, making the gov't completely dysfunctional and the populace angry. They figure the Chinese won't want to inherit the mess and will eventually just give up.

That's my theory anyway. 

[George]

Simple answer....Outsourcing!! Everything else is, so why should advertising be any different. Asians are cheaper!

[kitano]

I've noticed the amount of American films that are aimed at the Chinese rather than US market now with people like Jaychou and Rain appearing in US movies, maybe it's an offshoot of that

Of course I could get out my Marxist definition of the superstructure (culture) representing the shift in the economic base.

[Granny Mae]

As a matter of interest, I have noticed a similar pattern here in Australia in Brisbane. Asian or part Asian ladies are being shown in some ads, with Anglo males. I have also noticed Asians in ads featuring children. I have taken particular notice over the years since I became interested in China. I am also noticing a similar trend in the social pages. I must say that I am not remotely interested in the who's who in the Social Scene, but the lack of photos of Asians has always been obvious, particularly when I started scanning for them. I have now put in down to the fact that we appear to be coming inundated with Asians over the past four or five years. It has reached the stage, in the Casino Sovereign Rooms, (particularly in the eating area) that I feel like I'm the visitor in an Asian Country. 

[El Macho]

Asian-Americans are the wealthiest of all ethnic minorities in the US. It makes sense for advertisers to attempt to appeal to them. Additionally, some psychologists have done research suggesting that, in America, Asians are the highest-regarded of the minority groups, thus it may be an easier sell to add an Asian to an ad to give a dash of color.

[Raoul F. Duke]

I completely agree with everything ya say, El Macho, except that I really don't believe this mass influx of Asians in TV advertising is seriously aimed at the Asian-American market. The numbers are just too small to justify placing so many spots on national network TV. 3.5% of the US population is only in the ballpark of 10 million people. Then, when you consider the proportion of those watching a particular channel at a particular time...in a lot of cases you would be lucky to reach 20 Asian people. You'd never see a decent ROI out of the money it takes to buy national TV time. I'm sure the sponsors certainly don't mind  Asian-Americans seeing the ad spots, but I'm pretty confident they're not deliberate targets. You may see Asians targeted on a local level, in a few select cities like San Francisco, New York, Houston. I'm sure some US-based ads get slid into Chinese-language TV services like JadeWorld. But national, mass-market TV? It just doesn't make sense.

I'm also pretty sure the ads are not being made with the Mainland Chinese market in mind. For one thing, US ads featuring Asians are just way too common now, and include a lot of products that could never be sold in China, such as US domestic mobile-phone carriers and insurance companies. Also, precious few ads can translate well from the USA to places like China. The cultures are way too different, and Chinese buying behavior is often really, really different from in the West. And, for Chinese markets, imports may get more caché from using Caucasian model mans with nice blue beeg American eye. Not even global companies like Coca-Cola or Proctor & Gamble tend to use the same ad, with language translation, in many different countries.

I'm not at all surprised to see lots of Asians in Australian ads; Australia is expected to be majority Asian fairly soon. Could see it in Canada too...I suspect the proportion of Asians there is a lot higher than in the USA. But the USA? 3 1/2%

Mimi made tremendous sense, as always, but strongly disagree with this:

Marketers will never be arbiters of great social change.  Nope.

Oooh, I strongly disagree. I think Marketers have wrought tremendous social change.
It's just that it hasn't exactly always been positive  change.