@joefromchicago,
Quote:Well, I'm still confused, but let me address a few points you non-specifically raised:
..... What exactly is the relevant "cultural context" of this chocolate advertisement?
The way I see it (& you are perfectly welcome to see it differently, of course) is that a frivolous & suggestive reference was made (without her permission) of a prominent West Indian/UK “celebrity/diva” in an advertising campaign for a new variety of chocolate.
You could see it solely as a reference only to Naomi Campbell & her “diva” status, or you could see it as reflecting on the broader West Indian community (specifically women) in the UK.
From my perspective, I care much less about Naomi Campbell’s personal “image”, my concern is solely about the possible negative impact of racial stereotyping of minority groups in response to silly & ambiguous advertisements like this one.
As I understand things, this is a community which is struggling to establish its own self esteem & identity, from a disadvantaged minority position (educationally, employment, community status, say nothing of slavery history, etc) in a predominantly “white” culture.
I don’t see advertisements like this one as being of any advantage to them at all. In fact I believe it makes their efforts much more difficult.
Quote:Quit right, the product is called Dairy Milk Bliss Bar. Why does that change things?
Funny, I asked a friend who hadn’t seen the advertisement that very same question on the weekend.
What connotations could be construed by an advertisement including these references?:
Naomi Campbell + chocolate + bliss.
Her response was “sex”. And “colour”.
That was my first reaction, too, despite the diamonds & the “move over Naomi, there’s another diva in town” text.
If Kraft/Campbell had simply stuck to the one “diva” message & actually called its new product that, there would have been no ambiguity in the advertisement "message".
Though I’d still be baffled about the connection between Naomi Campbell & their new chocolate product.
As I can see from the previous posts here, few others have made a similar connection, but apparently it was made by elements of the UK press, for images like this one to have appeared in commentary about the advertisement.
Quote:No, the advertisement invited the public to make the connection between Naomi Campbell and divas. Face it, if Cadbury's wanted to make the connection between chocolate and a famous black person, I don't think it would have settled on Campbell, who is, at best, a B-list celebrity. Furthermore, there would have been no sense in talking about a "new diva in town." If the intent was to make the connection between chocolate and black persons, the tag line becomes incomprehensible (unless one were to claim that all blacks are divas). Rather, the ad would have said something like
..."Move over Oprah, there's a new diva in town?" Nope, still not upset.
But you see, Joe, Oprah would
never be the subject of an advertisement containing innuendos about her character. It would have to be an equivalent B-list “celebrity. A-listers would never receive this sort of treatment from the advertising industry.
Oprah is part of the US & international celebrity establishment, far more respected than someone of Naomi Campbell’s public status. Campbell would, & was, considered fair game, because of her notoriety.
In any case, any advertiser (especially in the US) wouldn’t be so foolhardy to take on Oprah in such a way. They wouldn’t even dream of it. The backlash would be something to see! Her lawyers would be on the case in no time, for starters. Not that much different to Naomi Campbell’s lawyers I’d suspect.
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