No Indians in Advertisements?
Lawyer and newspaper columnist Anand Ramlogan wrote the following piece in yesterday’s Sunday Guardian:
One Indian male to go
Could someone explain why Indian men are so scarce in advertisements? In a country where we’re hardly a minority, the conspicuous absence is glaring and shocking.Is it that we have no purchasing power and companies can comfortably ignore us with impunity?
This is one of the sorest points with the Indo-Trinidadian community, and it is often used or misused to buttress perceptions of and discussions on discrimination, alienation and marginalisation.
I am sick and fed up of hearing people complain about how interracial or mixed couples are always portrayed by reference to a non-Indian man.
Women of all races (and yes, quite a lot of good-looking Indian ones too boot) are frequently shown as partners or spouses of African, mixed and white men, but it is as if it is a criminal offence to show them in a relationship with an Indian man.
Small wonder it is used as ammunition and evidence by those who believe in sinister conspiracy theories about this being part of the attempt to assimilate or “douglarise” us.
Indian men are relegated to the mandatory rum and roti advertisements or flour and oil. And, of course, the Clico ad about the rural rice farmer “who knows where to go for good financial advice.”
The pot-belly, lethargic stereotype from the countryside features a lot, but it’s bad advertising to show young good looking Indian guys in ads.
We don’t go to gyms or play any sports, and hence don’t look good enough to be associated with any product.
I was thrilled to see Denesh Ramdhin and Ramnaresh Sarwan featuring in a Digicel advertisement, with Chris Gayle on the cover of Air Caribbean’s magazine.
In fact, Digicel’s advertisements have been a breath of fresh air! Digicel seems to have discovered that we exist and have broken with tradition by using Indian men in its ads.
(Mind you, we are yet to feature in any of the ads with sexy girls whispering sweet nothings into the ears of their boyfriends—that might have been pushing it too far!)
No company has given us such prominence in ads before.Thank you, Digicel.
Compare Digicel to bmobile. Imagine the Cricket World Cup advertisement with our prince, Brian Lara, calling friends to play cricket with a youth on the beach does not contain a single Indian in it!
I wonder if bmobile would have ever dared to run such an ad with only Indians in it? If it did, I wonder how the non-Indian community would have felt.
Add this to the on-going bmobile soap opera with Margaret trying to use her hunky neighbour’s phone and all the other ads and you will see that we Indian men are simply not the “smart choice” when it comes to bmobile!
(And no, Spalk does not represent us, he is mixed). To make matters worse, the one Indian artiste bmobile sponsors (Raymond Ramnarine) has done his best to look like Shurwayne Winchester, cane rows and all, because he is in the midst of a grave identity crisis, or thinks he would get further with his crossover music if he dilutes his Indian-ness.
Sadly, he’s probably right.
When an Indian guy does feature in an ad, his role is peripheral and subsidiary. Even when it comes to little children, Indian boys are treated in a similar manner—never the centre of attention with the pretty girl.
I challenge readers to conduct their own informal survey. Even with children, the discrimination is the same: Indian girls, yes, Indian boys no, or, with a minor subsidiary role.
Scotiabank’s advertisement of its sponsorship of West Indies Kiddies cricket barely manages a token reference glimpse of an Indian boy.
Could Scotiabank have ever constructed this ad with a young Indian boy hitting a six and smashing the glass in the bank, only to be comforted by an Indian bank manager? I doubt it.
Only last week, the press published pictures of Nataki Dilchan, a clerk from the House of Representatives, and Joseph Dipnarine, whose daughter was murdered.
It reminded many that non-Indian women do, in fact, choose us as their life partners. No ethnic group has a monopoly on racially-mixed couples.
Why not have some balance and reflect our diverse racial groups?
For those without the capacity to walk around in our shoes and see how nasty it feels to be treated as though we have the plague by the advertising industry, I have composed this poem for you to sing:
If yuh mixed, yuh fixed
If yuh Afro, yuh good to go
If yuh Indian, yuh just not Caribbean.
I’m not a fan of Anand Ramlogan in any way, shape, form or fashion. I think he’s one of those people who looks at the world through jaundiced eyes and then complains that the whole world is yellow. Reading his columns from week to week, I think (in my own personal opinion), reveals a man who is willing to believe the worst about us. However, as with anyone, it’s impossible to be wrong 100% of the time and this may be one of those instances.
There really aren’t any Indian men in advertisements save for a few. Why is that? It’s something that’s really easy to ignore if you’re not looking for it, but broaching the subject makes it inescapably apparent.
I tried hard to think up some ads where Indian males were present, and all I could come up with were the Digicel ads and one Scotiabank ad with a some guys playing cricket. That’s about it. There are Indian women of course, but then again, there have always been Indian women. But why no Indian guys? Are there no handsome ones? Surely, if anything, there are light-skinned Indian men, and we know how advertisers just love the light-skinned people. So why not them?
What Mr. Ramlogan said here is particularly striking:
Compare Digicel to bmobile. Imagine the Cricket World Cup advertisement with our prince, Brian Lara, calling friends to play cricket with a youth on the beach does not contain a single Indian in it!I wonder if bmobile would have ever dared to run such an ad with only Indians in it? If it did, I wonder how the non-Indian community would have felt.
Can you see that ever happening? A group of Indian men and women on a beach playing cricket? You and I both know that will never happen.
I think that if a visitor were to sit and watch an hour or so of Trinbagonian TV commercials, and maybe sift through a random selection of newspaper ads before going out into public, they’d be in for a big surprise. The discrepancy between what is fed to us and what is true is huge and it’s a little sad to see that.
Of course there could be other factors coming into play rather than just discrimination. It could be an unwillingness to participate, but I think that’s a stretch at best.
I’ve become tired of listening to conversations about “dem Indian and dem” or “dem Creole and dem” and ever since I began this blog, I’ve made it a point to call a spade a spade. There is just so much abject stupidity floating around these days and people are unwilling to be honest for fear of letting their race down. After all, what kind of Indian are you if you criticize Indians, or what kind of African are you if you criticize Africans? Surely that makes you a race traitor. And so when I began this blog, I wanted it to represent me and my beliefs as closely as possible. That having all been said, what do I think the reason is for this discrepancy? I think advertisers are pandering to stereotypes and prejudices. Somewhere along the way (or maybe it has always been so) the image of the Indo male became unpalatable to some and advertisers decided to ease our discomfort. And so to advertising agencies, Trinbagonian means “African” and, only coincidentally, light-skinned*. I really want this to be not true, but unfortunately, I don’t get to sit in board rooms and make decisions.
*Yes, the incessant light-skinned fare bothers me almost as much. Not that light-skinned people don’t exist in Trinidad and shouldn’t be represented as such, but dark-skinned people – especially dark-skinned women – do also exist.
17 Responses to “No Indians in Advertisements?”
By ed on Apr 9, 2007 | Reply
This sort of discrimination in advertising is really fascinating to me, as advertising is generally a reflection of a society’s aspirations. In the case of Trinidad, that seems to be an aspiration to be “red,” by and large (which is in keeping with broader Caribbean & Latin American attitudes towards race).
Maybe it’s also just a reflection of the makeup of marketing departments. Are Indians severely under-represented in ad agencies? That might have something to do with it.
Certainly, here in the US, black people are pretty much used to give a product “urban” flavour, since both whites and blacks associate “blackness” with “hip-hop coolness” or whatever. I’ve noticed some improvement on that front, though, largely because of the growing black middle class. Given the buying power of Indians in Trinidad, it seems odd that the same thing isn’t happening there.
By Chennette on Apr 9, 2007 | Reply
I think Anand Ramlogan may have a point, although like you I tend to regard him as wanting to find the negatives. And it’s true that outside of T&T, Guyana and Suriname, Indians aren’t seen as Caribbean. Some of these ads are made for regional markets and that may be why they don’t focus on Indian people – not right, but given that in other countries in the region they have a different view of who is Caribbean…I think we may find that ads meant primarily for local markets may be more inclusive.
In Barbados, I remember talking to the hotel IT guy while setting up my internet, and afterwards he reported to the mostly Guyanese and Trini meeting staff, that he sorted out the woman from India. They were like “who?”. Yup. Me. Apparently my accent was no clue. Look at cricket – the overseas commentators during the Bangladesh-South Africa match were commenting on the number of Asian faces in the crow attributing it to fans from India and Pakistan who stayed on. Right. Where was this match again? Guyana. Maybe that’s why it had Indian-looking people.
By Crankyputz on Apr 9, 2007 | Reply
We Indian’s do this too. The majority of Indians are dark skinned, but you never see them in the ads, or comercials, all you ever see are the fair skinned, light eyed women/men….tis sad….
By Fed-up on Apr 11, 2007 | Reply
Why every thing has to be about race, color, etc, etc…..I am so tired with the race card.
By afrobella on Apr 11, 2007 | Reply
Mani,
I remember Naipaul had written about advertising images in Trinidad YEARS ago, and when I get a chance I will try to find his chapter. I don’t even remember what book it was in, but he addressed how the darkest of Trinis are only used in tire commercials and in general it’s all about pseudo-whiteness. And Naipaul being Naipaul, I am sure it made mention of the lack of Indians in advertising. Worth a read and when I find it I will share. I am always fascinated by ad studies — here in the States they’ll have a white McDonalds ad for MTV and a black one for BET. Weird.
By Deniece on Apr 11, 2007 | Reply
I agree…why does everything have to be about race? It’s ridiculous really…
By Jonathan on Apr 11, 2007 | Reply
Naipaul wrote about advertising in the chapter on Trinidad in his book, the Middle Passage.
By afrobella on Apr 11, 2007 | Reply
Ah, Jonathan. Thank you! I knew someone more erudite than me would know!
By saucydiva on Apr 11, 2007 | Reply
I can certainly see his point, just as I have often wondered why there are not many African looking females in ads in Trinidad. And by that I mean girls/women with darker skin,full lips, kinky hair and wider noses. The ones who do pass the grade are usually lighter skin with more European features and that is a fact. Just look at the models used to display Carnival costumes and you will see evidence of this.
I have done one ad and was the only black female along with another elderly gentleman.Everyone else on the set was “red” or “mixed” and yet we were supposed to represent a family :S. I can also attest there were no Indian males or females featured in the ad. My hubby also did an ad through the same advertising company, he fits the “red” mold and again they were looking for persons to represent the cosmopolitain makeup of Trinidad yet there was not one Indian person represented!!
So, as sad as it is to say, sometimes it does all boil down to race.
By CP on Apr 12, 2007 | Reply
Manicou, I admire how even though you did not like the article author and the topics he writes on, you still maanged to consider what he wrote and agree on it after finding it does have some merit.
In general, I find that despite the boasts of and existence of multiculturalism and diversity in society, many Trinis do tend to have a preference for light-skin whether it’s girls or advertising or identity.
The fact that Ramlogan writes about these things openly and people can discuss and debate them, that is positive for society. Trying to hold back or deny issues and pretend they don’t exist is not.
Take care.
By Mani on Apr 13, 2007 | Reply
Ed – I’ve also wondered too if Indians were underrepresented in ad agencies. I think that could have something to do with it.
Chennette – I think that’s true, maybe ads specifically made for T&T may (and should) be more inclusive. However I also have to wonder where are all these Indian-owned businesses who also advertise, don’t they have a say in the matter too?
Crankyputz – well that is for sure. It’s even more apparent in the movies. Who’s the darkest film star out there? Salman Khan?
Fed up & Deniece – It’s true that not everything is about race, but living in in Trinidad, unfortunately quite often it is. Ignoring it doesn’t make it any less true, or even disappear. Indians are a majority in T&T, yet faces of Indian men in ads and TV commericlas are all but non-existent. If the shoe were on the other foot, wouldn’t that bother you just a little?
Afrobella – The different McDonald’s ads for MTV and BET have been a staple for other advertisers also. I think the good thing about that is that McDonalds recognizes that people want to be represented. This may also be a form of pandering, but I think that it’s a lot more acceptable that it’s polar opposite.
Saucy – I remember you writing about the carnival costume models in the past and I have written about it in the past also. You would think that beauty was only for the light-skinned. I think that they read your blog and listen to you, so hopefully they will change their behaviour. True, sometimes it does boil down to race.
CP – thanks for your compliment. Sometimes we have to learn to separate the things that are true from the things we want to believe. And trust me that is easier said than done and I’m still learning as I go along. Even though I am not Mr. Ramlogan’s fan I had no choice but to agree with him.
By 'rah on Apr 15, 2007 | Reply
I’m wondering if the ad agencies’ idea of representing diversity is to use mixed models rather than individual models each of a different race. Is it in a handbook somewhere?
By TriniObserver on Apr 17, 2007 | Reply
This is not only a Trinidadian problem–it’s an American (and even Asian/Indian) one as well.
Asian men are not seen as models of masculinity in any form–be they East Asian or South Asian–so they tend to be absent in advertising in the United States as well.
Let’s not even mention movies and television shows, where they often take the most “inoffensive”, minor and effeminate roles of all.
Then there is India (and other Asian coutires) where it is better to look more “white” than “Asian”. Advertising images are heavily Westernized as far as men are concerned.
There are a million and one reasons for this, but who would have thought Anand Ramlogan could be right about something?
By The TriniGourmet on Apr 18, 2007 | Reply
really really interesting and thought provoking! i think advertisers in TnT don’t just look for ‘lighter skinned’ representatives though, but those who look as multi-ethnic as possible. Which is great for those who fit that look, but pretty alienating for everyone else. But I guess that’s what the world of advertising is all about
It’s never been about representing what any society actually looks like 
By Anonymous on Apr 27, 2007 | Reply
allyuh eh remember denise belfon had ah song called ‘tonite ah looking for an indian man’? and d man she had wining (in a tight red speedos no less; thank heavans no less) was a reds. i mean how hard it is to find ah indian fella in he jockey shorts? shiva have mercy
By Fed-up on May 1, 2007 | Reply
Trinidad just has too many people to represent them all and please everyone. I’m a white guy; I certainly don’t see any of us in advertisments; well, obviously foreign ones, but I’m not a foreigner, am I? I don’t see the chinese either. Mostly it’s mixed people: I think that’s fine. I don’t think it should matter; if you’re gonna complain you don’t see anyone of a particular race, then you’re gonna further divide up a country along lines that shouldn’t exist. Why can’t people accept that we’re all Trinidadian, and the best average of us all is someone who is red-skinned? If you look very closely at everyone, you’ll see we are actually are all somewhat red; there are very few pure descended people left. If anything, I think we should see less ignorant people in advertising; it would be nice to see some people with intelligence. I guess it’s for who you’re marketing to.
By Interested on May 28, 2007 | Reply
Do individuals from countries such as Africa, India, China, Korea i.e. developing countries, respond better (more sales) to images that portray “successful, white individuals” rather than images of their own peer group or those of other groups? The reason I ask this is as follows. During a marketing meeting, discussing the images to be used in an up-coming ad campaign, I was pretty much told that the images needed to be of white, wealthy, sophisticated and successful types. I should point out that no famous people were to be used, just white models who exhibited these characteristics. When I questioned this; pointing out that much of their market was indeed the groups they intended to exclude from the picture shot, I was given the following reason. Images portraying “successful looking white people” are aspirational to our target market (African, Indian, Chinese .Korean etc). Put another way I was told that people in these fast growing economies want to join the club, which I took to refer to “white, developed, Northern countries!. Although unhappy, with this reasoning, I did not have any hard evidence to refute what they claim to be the facts of the marketplace and years of experience.
I realise this is not strictly on topic but hope to gain any insight on this issue others have.