The Racial Effect of Advertisement

The Racial Effect of Advertisement

The National Football league is a diverse professional sport that gives equal opportunities Regardless of races to succeed and thrive at the highest level. When one is exceptionally talented at football, then the NFL will accept you with open arms, no matter the persons skin color or race. However, there is a large discrepancy in the description, of athletes’ style of play based on their race, and coverage of Black and white athletes. As stated in his article, Quarterbacks, and the Media: Testing the Rush Limbaugh Hypothesis, David Niveu describes these differences in his article; “Rainville and McCormick and Rada found that football announcers’ attributions credit the innate physical ability of African American players, while crediting hard work and cognitive ability more often for White players” (Niveu p. 687). In other words, the announcers would downplay the successful things that Blacks were doing, saying it is apart of their natural ability; they were born with those abilities. When describing the White players, the announcers would applaud them for their hard work, and smartness that whites had to use to be successful in sports, because of their lack of innate athletic ability. Another inconsistency is the amount of coverage of White athletes that is much greater than that of black players. David Niveu writes, “White college football and basketball players received more coverage and more positive coverage than African American players in the sports pages of the Washington Post. Andrews and Simons both found disproportionate attention paid to unsportsmanlike behaviors of African American Athletes” (Niveu p. 687). What Niveu means is that he found that Whites received more media coverage that would be considered good publicity, but when the Black football players received coverage, it was to point out negative aspect, such as off the field or court issues in their personal life, for example girlfriend problems or DUIs. This kind of lopsided coverage shapes the community of sports fanatics’ young and old, view of African Americans as misfits and only good for their athletic abilities.

   

Photo courtesy of Icon SMI                            Photo by Pioneer Press: Chris Polydoroff.

            Two National Football players that are both starters in the NFL, are both used, and described in unique ways on and off the field. The left picture is of Detroit Lions Quarterback Matthew Stafford, and on the right is Minnesota Vikings Running Back, Adrian Peterson. Stafford is described as hard working and a smart football player. However, when announcers describe Peterson, they do not mention hard work, but they claim Peterson has natural ability that you cannot develop with hard work. Innate ability is something you either have or you do not have, but if you do not work hard with this ability then you will not last long in the National Football League. Peterson has combined hard work with his natural ability, which is why he has played for seven seasons at a pro bowl level. The picture of Stafford is one of him after he has received the snap from the center and has dropped back in the pocket, which is the barrier created by the linemen blocking the opposing team, while his eyes are downfield looking for an open receiver. When Stafford uses his athletic ability to avoid getting tackled, announcers will describe that as cognition. When in actuality, all he did was run away from the player on the opposing team, which is athletic ability that he was blessed with. The picture I selected of Peterson is of him running the ball, but he had to jump over a player on the ground to continue his run. This is true when the announcer says look at Petersons athletic ability, that is an athletic move being displayed but by saying it is just his innate ability is false. Moves like this are hard to perform because one has to be smart and know whether the player can jump over the guy and land on the other side before you are tackled. It takes hard work in the weight room to be able to jump while going full speed and not to fall when landing. Both Stafford and Peterson have innate ability, but to be as successful as they have been in the NFL, one must be both hard working and smart regarding the way they compete. The way announcers describe White and Black football players differently are similar to how White and Black people are portrayed in advertisements White athletes are given more opportunities to advertise none sports products, such as watches, and nice business attire. Advertisements like these portray whites as more than just football players. The advertisements that Blacks indorse are sports products where they are seen as only athletes, solely used for nothing more than their athletic ability to sell athletic apparel. They are branded as only a football player and nothing else. These differences are expressed through my next pictures where I analyze the different advertisements between Matthew Stafford and Adrian Peterson.

             

    Photo by Van Heusen                                                 Photo by David Kindervater

Stafford, who is pictured on the left, and Peterson, who is pictured on the right, are both professional Football players. However, it is interesting that Stafford gets the opportunity to advertise a watch dressed nicely when Peterson is shirtless advertising Nike football gear. This view of African Americans only being used for their athleticism is also noticeable in sales of products outside of athletic apparel.  Niveu writes in his article, “With the exception of sports-related products such as sneakers, Wonsek found that African Americans were basically absent from the sales pitches for most major product categories” (Niveu p. 687). Stafford was given the opportunity to advertise a Van Heusen watch where he dresses up and looks nothing like a football player. The only way one can tell that he is a football player is by the shoulder pads he carries like a brief case. This picture depicts Stafford as a regular businessman who wears a suit and tie that happens to play football. In Stafford’s picture, he is free to express himself, and his facial qualities are visible. The same cannot be said for the Black Peterson, who is advertising a Nike product while shirtless. Peterson is advertising the same Nike product that he wears to play football in, not separating football from Peterson as an individual. Unlike Stafford’s picture, Peterson has no separation from football because he is holding a football while in football leg pads. In addition, Peterson is not wearing a shirt, but has the Nike swoosh logo or words Nike Pro displayed in five different areas, twice being on Peterson’s body. This differs from Stafford’s picture because where the words Van Heusen is displayed only once in the picture, but not on Stafford’s body. Another difference that is depicted in these photos is that in the Stafford picture, the word “style” is displayed in the caption, representing that if you want to be considered to have style, then one will dress and wear the things that Stafford wears off the field. On the other hand there is Peterson who has so many Nike marks on him he looks like a Nike billboard, not a unique human.

Nike Pro Combat Advertisement

            The photo above is Adrian Peterson when he did an advertisement with Nike Pro Combat. The picture depicts Peterson’s body as a Nike Pro Combat pad with the shapes embedded in his skin. These marks represent Peterson being branded by Nike on the field when he wears these pads and now also off the field where photos show his body as the Nike Pro Combat pads. Peterson represents the Nike brand, but this almost blurs the lines between Peterson on the field and off. Nike is an athletic sporting line where there is no separation from his sponsors on the field and off the field. Nike did not select Peterson for his cognitive ability, but he was selected based on the way he plays football physically running over opposing players and his body’s muscles and definition, because majority of the photos, his body is vividly present. In these Photos, Nike’s pads brand Peterson as they make scares on Peterson’s body, taking away from his unique physical features. The scars mark Peterson as a part of their brand, which he wears and represents by choice. Peterson is identified with the Nike Pro Combat tribe. These tribal marks are quite similar to those of the ancient African Americans.

               

Photo taken by Horst Luz

            The photos above are of two African Americans that are marked and scarred for their tribe in order to represent status. In many ways, these marks are similar to those of Adrian Peterson because they represent a status and a bond with a company or group. Just as Peterson wears his marks with pride, ancient African American tribes wore their marks with pride. Similar to how tribal marks can represent status, the marks on Adrian Peterson face represent a certain status too. This elite status comes from Nike because; Nike Pro Combat does not just select anyone to advertise their product. Nike strives to have the best people to advertise and Peterson is an elite player. Nike uses scarification but like the ancient African Americans to represent the tribe they are a part of. The ancient African Americans made these scares by choice as they express their rank in their society. These scars on ancient African Americans are everlasting marks that will be with one for their entire life, just as Petersons Nike Pro Combat scars will forever be a part of him.  However, not all ancient marks and scars are made by choice. Some scars have been used as slave marks to represent captivity and ownership.

Nike Pro Combat photo shoot

The marks on Adrian Peterson resemble the marks found on African slaves. The Nike brand, which owns Peterson, is making him a part of the Nike Pro Combat brand and scaring his body. These marks represent the control that Nike has over Peterson. Enid Schildkrout writes, “inscriptions are part of systems of control and surveillance” (Schildkrout p 323). Peterson has inscriptions on his face, which represent the control over him by Nike Pro Combat. Nike controlled the way that they portrayed Peterson, and the scars Nike placed on his face taking away from his facial features and personal expression. Another sign of enslavement and the marks of slavery are that Peterson has lost facial qualities that made him unique but Nike has degraded his face, and yet somehow enhanced his scars. Another thing that Petersons master Nike did is not show Petersons whole face, taking away part of his identity and marking him with the slave scars. These types of slave markings date back to the ancient times of scarification and captivity and when slaves were property of their master. Just as Whites used to enslave African Americans, now there is a new way to enslave African Americans through branding and marking Black athletes.

    

A slave displays the scars of whipping. National Archives. Nike Pro Combat.

            The slave marks in the above photo and the picture of Adrian Peterson represent the marks of slavery. Although Peterson did not physically go through the beatings like the man on the left, Peterson is victim to modern day African American athlete slavery. This type of slavery is when a Black athlete is used for his athletic ability but it is not always in the best interest of the athlete. This is a common theme in sports for college and professional when a player gets injured, and the coaches push the player to come back to soon and it leads to health risk after the players career is finished. Whether it is coming back from a head injury to soon and having brain trauma later in life or knee injuries that hinder ones ability to walk when they are fifty years old. Also there is the advertisement slavery where a company finds a subject and has him portrayed however the company wants. The subject does not have control to express him self freely but is limited by the desires of the master, also know as company. Nike branded and enslaved Peterson by putting slave marks on his body and using his physical features such as his body to help advertise their product. Enid Schildkrout describes the athlete’s body in his article Inscribing the Body. Schildkrouts describes the body, “On the one hand, these advertisements point us toward the understanding of the body as a site of where human beings become canvas for the inscription of political power; on the other hand, they raise the question of the agency of the individual in constructing a relationship between body and society” (Schildkrouts p. 223). Nike enslaved Adrian Peterson’s body, by marking his body with scars, and turned his body into a canvas of political power that Nike used as a billboard for advertisement, fame, and money. Nike has the physical power over Peterson’s body to depict his body to maximize Nikes revenue. Nike also branded Petersons body similar to how slaves and cattle would be branded in the South to indicate their master. Peterson’s master is the Nike name and the swoosh that was marked all over his body in the photos above. Peterson is no longer seen as an individual, but now as the brand Nike, who uses his body as advertisement. Nike has built a relationship with society involving Peterson’s body. Adrian Peterson’s body is like an ornament that Nike has used as a prop to advertise Nike. African Americans are targeted differently than whites when being analyzed to advertise a product. African American athletes are seen as important for their bodies whereas Whites are known for their intellectual ability and discipline. This is displayed from an earlier picture of Mathew Stafford modeling for a Van Heusen watch advertisement where he is dressed like an upper class businessman wearing a nice suit. However, Black athletes are not given the same opportunities to advertise products that are not associated with sports. Black athletes are enslaved for their bodies while White athletes are portrayed as smarter athletes that can think for themselves.