Since Steve Jobs introduced the worked to the iPhone @ the Macworld Conference back in Jan 07, I have been anxiously awaiting for them to go on sale.
Yes, I know they are at a minimum going to cost 499 bucks but dammit, I want it! Everyday, I check some of my favorite Mac sites to see if there has been any new news in regards to the phone that will change the face of the industry as we know it. Most days there is nothing but then when there is a memo leak from either Apple or AT&T (you can only get an iPhone if you have service with AT&T), I get excited and the sad part is more often than not, the leaked info is really nothing special. Maybe that is the geek in my jumping out.
Anyway a few weeks ago Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone was going to actually ship/be on sale starting June 29, 2007 & I have been trying to figure out how I was going to fit the so unnecessary item into my budget (I am still trying). To make my desire worse, Apple started airing commercials on TV announcing the iPhone & showing some of the cool features etc, which is making me want one even more.
So today, while bored at my desk, I decided to go to MACNN to see if there is any new news on the iPhone & I see a link to a story that looked interesting, so I clicked it & started to read. Again this turned out to be nothing special but what I noticed was another white hand holding onto an iPhone, which got me to questioning Apple’s advertising strategy. Does this ubiquitous white hand mean that that they are targeting white consumers only.?.
After this is in my head, I leave for lunch (Taco Bell) & call BFB to see what he thinks about this. Basically I ran down the details to him; a) each commercial for the iPhone where it is being held, is being help by a white hand b) each print or web advertisement where the iPhone is being held is being help by a white hand.
BRB’s initial response was that I was over reacting & then he stated that they (Apple) know Ngroes ain’t gone pay 499 for a damn phone. Although I agree that many Blacks will not even bother with this phone, I think that Apple’s campaign should be more diverse. Where are the hand models of color????????
In response to BRB’s claim that I was over reacting, I stated that as a Black consumer who is willing to pay for this, I want to see a goddamn Black hand on the screen, shit make me like others feel included!
By the end of the conversation we were on the same page in thinking & shifted the focus to how the movie industry markets or not specific to Black audiences.
Now I’m wandering if I should get one or not based on their marketing campaign. I know this is not the 1st time in history that there has been an advertising “Black Out” or a perceived one but this is the first time that I have paid attention & feel affected.
Tell me, am I really tripping, have you noticed this & if you are a Negro, do white hand models & lack of advertising diversity get you excited about products that you may want to try?
Wait before I end, I found this on Youtube, which drives my point home on who Apple is trying to market to & why come Samuel L Jackson is the the only Negro, Cameron Diaz the only Hispanic & Ben Stiller the lone Jew out of about 32 people in the commercial?
Sugar / June 13, 2007
“Where are the hand models of color????????
In response to BRB’s claim that I was over reacting, I stated that as a Black consumer who is willing to pay for this, I want to see a goddamn Black hand on the screen, shit make me like others feel included!”
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!! Lord, I think you might be thinking too hard about this one. They probably did all of the shoots in one day with the same dude. Now, they should have at least had a person of color sure, but I don’t think they said, “No nigga hands in the ads either!” lololol
And, I’m a conspiracy theorist and “race baiter” of the worse kind, so if you’ve got me all laughing, I don’t know Bygbaby. lol
dc_speaks / June 13, 2007
i never really paid any attention to it either. But I still want one. I’ll have them give me adiscount if their explanation isn’t satisfactory.
Found my way over to your spot and enjoyed that post. I’ll be back.
later, brah.
byrdparker / June 14, 2007
i don’t know who they are marketing tooo… but as awoman , I WANT THE LG PRADA PHONE , which is supposed to be based off of the apple i phone!!! It’s $600/ I have been debating , i have the new black berry but hate it !
brunsli / June 14, 2007
I want the iPhone too, but I’m too cheap and I’m not going to switch carriers just for the iPhone. I can barely use my iPod. (And from what I understand, you can’t change the battery.)
Weren’t all the models for the original iPod ads black? But Apple did those weird iBook billboards for the black and white iBooks too…
Who knows, but I think you might be reaching. Your money is green just like white people’s!!
My law school rolled out a new website, and I mentioned to the dean that there was only one black student on it, and he was out of focus in the background. They hadn’t noticed (the website had been outsourced) but took more pictures as soon as school was in session again. So without a “diversity-eye,” things can just get missed. But, in this day and age, is it really acceptable not to have a diversity-eye?
In my law school entrepreneurship class, my group’s hypothetical company was consulting company that screened ads for misogynistic, racist, and homophobic subtexts, and would have caught the lack of diversity in this ad before it aired.
Perhaps you can start a little something similar for websites and make some money to buy your iPhone!
Miz JJ / June 14, 2007
I could not spend $499 on a phone, even if I can afford it. That does not make any sense to me. That phone better clean my house and car for that price. LOL.
I bet the advertising people never even thought about it. They were probably all white and thought black people would not care if they were excluded. Obviously, they were wrong.
Bygbaby / June 15, 2007
To all, I have calmed down a little but I am on a serious diversity watch better see something different.
DC Speaks – My brother, I feel you& welcome to my spot!
Byrd Parker – I just had a look at the Prada phone & it is off the hook, but that is really a pretty penny. I am sure that there is going to be a serious competition amongst phones but I think the iPhone will prevail much like the iPod.
Brunsli – I got your links & you go Ms# 4! I think a lot of people will have to make that hard decisions to switch carries but I am wondering if AT&T will offer incentives to do so.
That was so on point for you to cal that issues out. I see you are a diversity cop when necessary.
Your hypothetical company actually sounds like a company that I would like to work for. Now that I am starting to wake up to this thing, I am spotting commercial with issues & ones that are on target.
Since you have the background & most likely lay out a scope, I think yous should start something & we work together with a group to call out sites, advertisers etc. If I start another initiative on my own, I would never sleep. LOL
Miz JJ – Hello!
brunsli / June 15, 2007
Oh no! I have no time either. After our hypothetical company was started in class, I found this one:
http://www.newdemographic.com/
Maybe you can hookup with them to make your iPhone money!
Bygbaby / June 15, 2007
I hear you, I love Karmen’s work & am going to suggest her for a diversity summit speaker next year. I am an addicted to race nut & I just read the post you recent mention in your blog.
Aulelia just posted about an experience she just had with her Afro. Some people just will never get it.
The Second Sixty-Eight / June 15, 2007
You forgot about Billy Crystal. He be Jew too.
Bygbaby / June 16, 2007
TSSE – My bad, I missed one, that stats still suck LOL.
Bygbaby
Lola Gets / June 18, 2007
Iontkno what Negroes YOU know, but I know plenty that would spend that much on a freakin phone! Not me though, Im kinda a techno-phobe, lol.
I would like to see more diversity in advertizing though, all across the board.
L
Terell / June 21, 2007
On one level I want to say you are over reacting but on another I feel ya. Seems like black folks ain’t never really included in anything “mainstream”. Yeah we get a token role now and again and yeah we get niche stuff but it feels like we aren’t often taken in as part of the landscape. Advertising is just an example of that.
-T