i was watching BET last night because they had on a bunch of episodes of the Wayans Brothers on.... i very, very rarely watch BET, though, and i noticed last night how different the commercials on BET are. i mean, i always knew that different channels advertise different things....but..... ok, you know the charmin bears ad campaign? the bears are in the forest behind trees with a roll of charmin or something....anyway, i've never seen it on ANY other channel before, but last night i saw an "urban" version of one of these commercials. the voices were different, i think the music was, and they even a little fist pound at the end...... then there are commercials that apparently are never shown on other channels. for example, hair products that work miracles with straightening out frizzy hair..... a lot of products i'd never even heard of. its really kind of strange to me that one channel would essentially have commercials no one else plays...... advertising is often one of the most prejudiced aspects of modern life in the US....most ads are geared towards young to middle aged white men. so of course the ads on BET are going to be different....... yet even though this is the way it is, is it the way it should be? i mean, its not like black people only watch BET and nothing else. it almost seems like TV segregation....."ok folks, this is YOUR channel....and we get all the rest" i mean come on, whites may make up the biggest portion of our society, but i dont believe for a second that we're the MAJORITY....it would just seem like good sense to diversify in advertising....it seems very slow to occur, though. i watched something that had been taped off of TV in the early nineties, and i watched all the commercials. there wasn't a single one that had black people in it except as laborers, and they almost never spoke in the commercials. this was the nineties! you'd think people would get pissed off about this as much as people get up in arms regarding how women are portrayed in ads....
There are other channels that are predominately for Black programming like Channel 240 (Black family channel) 183 (Black Starz) and let's face it the WB channel. The thing is that when one ethnic version is in control than the whole channel is about them and they don't share. There is Channel 70 (The Spanish channel and there is a Filipino channel and an Arabic channel. Why can't we have a diversity channel so that people will grow closer together? Why are there still white and black shows when you can have shows abot people instead?
why bother using the numbers? its not like its the same for everyone. anyway, BET is one of the very few BASIC cable channels that is geared towards black people. i have no problem with ethno-centric or subculture channels (there are black channels, the asian channel, several country and generally redneck channels, a gaming channel, youth channels, religious channels, all sorts of things) its perfectly fine to have channels with programming geared towards certain cultures, ethnicities, age groups, whatever. but like i said, no one only watches one channel. its not like black people have special TVs that receive nothing but BET. you'd think that advertising -on other channels- would reflect this. why make "black" versions of commercials for the same product for BET? why don't you see many ads geared towards black people on, say, NBC or FOX or any number of other channels that are not generally geared toward one specific demographic but are instead supposed to appeal to the largest number of people possible? programming is one thing. you turn to certain channels based on what you want to watch. but nobody and no group watches only one channel. hell, i'm white, and occasionally i'll watch BET or the asian channel....although occasionally is the key word....but still, you'd think advertisers would wise up to the fact that it would really pay off for them if they didn't keep "black" advertisements on BET...... what if all channels ran ads geared mostly towards black or hispanic or asian folks, and ads "for white people" only ran on TNN? hell, i never watch TNN......it would be painfully stupid to think that black people only watch BET. i'm sure there are many that simply don't enjoy the programming....... its not about specialty programming, its about the ads that get run....
you do realize that blacks and whites ARE people.....right? i think a diversity channel is a bad idea from a business point of view. people wouldn't watch it. almost all channels have themes....be it ethnicity, gender, age, interest, types of programming (religious services, news shows, sitcoms, music videos, movies) or whatever. having a diversity-themed channel would likely be a flop because its not a point of interest for most people. and sitting at home watching tv hardly helps people grow together, regardless of how wholesome or inclusive the programming may be.
Yeah I do realize that but I said it that way because usually when you see "Black shows" the people are just about all Black and the Same with the White programming. I use the numbers to show what channels they are on in my area but I listed the names so you can find them in yours. (Digital cable.) When you look on most channels all you see are white people in commercials and if you look on Bet, at times, you'll see white people in commercials. What happened was that some people wrote in and complained that here you have a Black channel and the commercials have White people in them. Some views felt they were excluding blacks from the profit and revenue portion of the television. (I actually heard someone complain about the number of White commercials on Bet a few months ago and was surprised to see that it has changed. (Your post is the first time I heard of this.) I for one watch everything I can even the Logo channel. (It's for Gays, Bi Lesbians, Transgender and Asexual.) I just try to see how everyone is doing lol. Every once in awhile there are movies on Indians but this is very rare. What I'm saying is that there should be less mono racial shows and more diversity. I'd like to see all kinds of people interacting because it makes things more enjoyable. I got into watching the Black movies from the 70, about 3 years ago before then I was watching mainly hippy movies and French movies. I don’t think it would flop. I just think people ignore the other groups. No one really talks about Asians, Indians, Pacific Islanders and other groups because they don’t have an entertainment voice. (I don’t know why but there are very few shows on that aren’t White cultured and target white audiences. Black television is a distant second and other television is almost non-existent. It will change one day I hope.
So get rich and start (WET) White Entertainment Television, be sure the have assorted women in white tshirts then wet them down during your ad to advertise your channel.
so did you even read the post before commenting about starting a new channel for white people? my comment is simply that i find it strange that advertisers do not advertise to black people almost anywhere except in media specifically geared towards african americans. black magazines, black tv channels, and so on, have these commercials; however you don't see them on other channels and the like. the commercials exist, but for some reason they aren't played. according to the 2000 census, white people make up just short of 70% of the total us population (however it most likely is somewhat lower - the census is never completely accurate) and black people make up about 12%, as do hispanic people. only a handful of the population (when looking at the country as a whole) are asian or other ethnicities. still, when only about two thirds of the country is white, you'd think it would be profitable to advertise to everyone.
Yeah I know, I think those percentages have to be wrong. If so, that would mean Asians, Indians, and Hispanics make up 18%. (Give the Hispanics 10%) Why then is everyone getting mad because 10 % of th population is Spanish. There are 7 different kinds or more. Then Mexicans = 2%. Darn yall shure are fussy about 2% lol.
white people do not at all make up the biggest portion of our society...not at all... just the marjoity of the companies than run our media (there are only 7) are run by white men and it's not just tv, it's tv, news papers, magazines, radio stations, movies..it's all run by the same people... white people are in no way the majority and never truly have been, they just have more control than other races(and 'control' through means of forcing it on other races)
Yes I did and my sarcastic point is a company that would consider paying for very expensive air time would certianly wish to target the best group likely to purchase thier products. Companies research viewer groups to inform others what station, time slot ect would best suite there sales. Obviously BET by nature would likely have a larger "African American" viewer force so products would be geared to that target group for the best interest of the company that is trying to attract customers. A product to straighten hair for instance would be rather wasteful to attempt to say put ads on CNN. Not that some of the target group would watch that channel but a smaller concentration.
You know good and well when that census comes to the door everyone is White. I have yet to see that census come to our door. I think it's scared. The guy takes one look at us and says, "Oh No! I'm not doing all that paper work and dna testing tonight. My wife is fixng a potroast and I'm hungry! I'll just flip a coin when I get home."
BET is dumb, they shouldnt have channels like that. What if they had WET White Entertainment TV, that wouldn't fly. WET...
Has anyone pointed out that advertisers pay for ads. And this is a free market system, right? So if companies that produce products geared towards African Americans decide to advertise on BET, what's the problem with that? It's their money and their company. They chose where to advertise. It's not like there is a law that says that companies that produce African American products can't advertise during "white" TV shows.
That's true. Advertisers see only one color, green. They will sell afro picks to people in China if they thought there was a market. I think people just want to see more diversity but if you go to other countries then you'll find that they have their people as the mainstays in commercials. (They even dub over English-speaking voices so that it appears the people speak their language.) I think, because, we (Americans) live in a land that is diverse that people expect to see things that reflect this. People working in stores, restaurants, businesses and entertainment are expect to be multi-cultured and when you see a mono structure it can sometimes be disheartening. These situations sometimes lead to stereotypes. Asians work in Chinese Restaurants and Hair supply stores. Mexicans are fruit pickers, maids, or work clean-up on the side of the road. Blacks work in restaurants where they get paid under the table and other silly things like that. The Whites have diverse backgrounds and people get to identify with them more and they are more accepted. They are expected to be able to do anything and everything. I can remember The Cosby Show; People thought it was unusually for a Black Doctor and Black Lawyer to be married and doing well. People identified with the single parent homes of the 60's and 70's on television and the two shows that had two Black parents in it was Good Times that had the family living in the projects and The Jefferson that had only one person working. Here you have a Black man owning seven cleaners yet he had to do the cleaning himself. Then you had Chico and the Man. Chico worked in a garage with an elderly Jewish man. Chico was good-hearted but a little lazy. I mean why couldn't he have his own business and make lots of money. He lived in a van for goodness sakes! Enough tirade lol, that's why people are so wrapped up about television though. They just want it to reflect their lives, even the commercials.
IM surprised they never show ads for popeye's chicken or colt 45 on bet. I do remember when billy dee williams used to do ads for malt liquor.......
I also always know when Im watching a show or movie that is geared towards women, because you see tampon ads during every commercial break.....
You know what; they have. They did Popeye's with that Bruce Bruce guy lol. They stopped the colt 45 ads once that story broke about Billy Dee hitting some lady. I guess they didn't want that as an incentive lol. I trip out when I watch the Spanish channel and they have commericals for McDonalds hot and spicky chicken lol. I use to watch the Arabic channel when I was in Maryland. I call it the squiggly line channel lol. It had lots of squiggly lines and some lady was always belly dancing or someone was singing. I still love Law and Order CI and TV Land the best. (Don't tell anyone but I'm part Mexican and I still call it the Spanish channel lol.)
