Minorities in Advertising

My observation of minorities in advertising in Berlin is that it is very minimal and almost non-existent. After spending close to one month in Germany, I was surprised that the majority of advertising is not targeted towards any minority groups. Furthermore, the advertisements do not display minorities within the advertisements themselves. I found this to be very unusual due to several factors. First, Germany is an industrialized country known for its innovation and technology. It is very surprising to see that a country that is so advanced failing to recognize minorities. Secondly, there is a large immigrant population, consistent of Turks and other Middle Easterners that are not recognized through advertising either.

I chose the following advertisement to demonstrate that even when companies are advertising about a minority population in Germany it is not very obvious based on the visual images. In this particular advertisement for Turkish Airlines and Turkey the two models used in this advertisement are two Caucasian children that look very European. Given that much

of Turkey’s tourist population is probably streaming in from European countries, it understandable that they would show two European children on the beach in Turkey. However, it would make more sense to me to incorporate Turkish models or people who look more ethnic. Considering the large Turkish population in Germany I believe that this advertisement could be more effective if they recognized Turkish people and perhaps ignite interest for them to visit their home countries. From a different view point show a typical setting of the country with people from the country, to give a tourist a snapshot view of something they could see or experience.

The only other advertisement that I came across during my four weeks in Berlin that was targeted to a minority population was an advertisement for alcohol. I found this advertisement placed in a Mexican restaurant called, “Cancun”. This restaurant would be a popular tourist spot because it is located in a central S-Bahn station right outside Potsdamer Platz. The advertisement was in poster form placed towards the back of the restaurant. They were advertising for Havana Club—a dark Cuban rum. This advertisement did display a minority and the person look like they coincided with the product as far as ethnicity. My only problem with this advertisement is that it would not be completely noticeable unless the person was carefully observing their surroundings.

I think that in such a cosmopolitan city such as Berlin, which is the capital of the county the economy could benefit from acknowledging other populations other than Germans in their advertising. As a minority living in the United States I feel that advertisers do an extensive amount of research advertising to the diverse populations residing within each state. I think that this is important to consider when you stop and think about what factors people think about when choosing places to live. I think that as a minority I would think very carefully about locating in Berlin due to the simple fact that I would never be acknowledged or even advertised to. I do understand that in comparison to the United States the figures of minorities residing in Berlin are drastically lower. However, as companies become global it is important their brand image demonstrates that they acknowledge all types of people of various races, ethnicities, and skin colors.