{"id":4438,"date":"2009-10-28T10:15:46","date_gmt":"2009-10-28T01:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4438"},"modified":"2009-10-31T10:21:07","modified_gmt":"2009-10-31T01:21:07","slug":"tangent-microsoft-apologizes-for-photoshopping-out-black-man-from-its-poland-advertising-contrast-with-mr-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=4438","title":{"rendered":"Tangent: Microsoft apologizes for photoshopping out black man from its Poland advertising. Contrast with McDonald’s Japan “Mr James”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<\/p>\n

Hi Blog. Bit of a tangent but not really. Here’s what happens when another multinational apparently caters to “regional sensibilities” — this time Microsoft photoshopping out an African-American in one of its ads to cater to a Polish audience.<\/p>\n

Contrast with “Mr James<\/a>“. We see none of the cultural relativity that the whole McDonald’s Japan “Mr James” issue got<\/a> (or even claims of “just-deserts”<\/a> from certain parties). And Microsoft even apologizes — something McDonald’s Japan has steadfastly refused to do<\/a> (and still runs the “Mr James” campaign to this day<\/a>; fortunately it finishes shortly<\/a>). Any theories behind the difference?<\/p>\n

(One that comes to mind is that people are loath to criticize an apparently more esoteric and impenetrable culture, but I can poke holes in that one pretty easily — even the report below claims “Poland is ethnically homogeneous”.)<\/p>\n

Arudou Debito in Sapporo<\/p>\n

Original source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/news\/technology\/microsoft-apologizes-for-changing-race-in-photo\/article1265096\/<\/a><\/p>\n

(site is now pay-only)<\/p>\n

Archived at http:\/\/www.findingdulcinea.com\/news\/business\/2009\/aug\/Microsoft-Photoshops-Out-Diversity-for-Polish-Ad–Sparking-Race-Controversy.html<\/a><\/p>\n

========================================<\/p>\n

Microsoft Photoshops Out Diversity for Polish Ad, Sparking Race Controversy<\/h1>\n
The Globe and Mail, August 27, 2009 06:00 PM<\/div>\n
by Jill Marcellus<\/a><\/div>\n
Microsoft has apologized for replacing a black man\u2019s head with that of a white man in a promotional photo on its Polish Web site, but concerns linger over diversity in advertising.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
RACE RETOUCHED<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
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Sitting together and smiling over the slogan, \u201cEmpower your people with the IT tools they need,\u201d an Asian man, an African-American man and a white woman harmoniously appear in a promotional photo on Microsoft\u2019s U.S. Web site. When that same trio smiled over a translated slogan on the company\u2019s Polish Web site, however, the <\/strong><\/em>black man\u2019s head had been digitally exchanged<\/strong><\/em><\/a> for a younger white man\u2019s face, reported BBC News.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
\"microsoftraceretouch\"<\/a><\/div>\n
Visual courtesy<\/div>\n
http:\/\/mashable.com\/2009\/08\/26\/microsoft-photoshop-trainwreck\/<\/a><\/p>\n

The picture\u2019s poor editing made the gaffe more embarrassing for Microsoft, since the white man\u2019s head was simply perched atop the original African American\u2019s body, with his distinctly black hand still intact.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft has already apologized and removed the offending photo, and a spokeswoman in Poland insisted that, \u201c<\/strong><\/em>We are a multiracial company<\/strong><\/em><\/a> and there isn\u2019t a chance any of us are racist,\u201d according to The Times of London. She claimed that the photo\u2019s editors had already left the company before the uproar arose.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

While controversy often crops up when race meets Photoshop, other recent snafus have caught advertisers overplaying, not whitewashing, diversity. Researchers at Augsburg College found, Inside Higher Ed reported last year, that \u201cmore than 75 percent of colleges appeared to <\/strong><\/em>overrepresent black students in viewbooks<\/strong><\/em><\/a>,\u201d sometimes with the help of Photoshop. Similarly, the official Toronto Fun Guide made headlines earlier this summer for its<\/strong><\/em>digitally diversified cover<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, which replaced a Latino father with a black man in a family picture, according to Allison Hanes of the Canadian paper National Post. Toronto officials insisted that it was an \u201cinclusive\u201d act, obeying a 2008 policy to \u201cshow diversity\u201d in city publications.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

These incidents fit into a larger movement toward \u201cvisual diversity\u201d in advertising. By <\/strong><\/em>juxtaposing different racial groups in ads<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, advertisers hope to appeal to multiple audiences at once, MSNBC explained, while also \u201cconveying a message that corporate America is not just \u2018in touch,\u2019 racially speaking, but inclusive.\u201d According to Melanie Shreffler, editor of advertising newsletter Marketing to the Emerging Majorities, America\u2019s shifting demographics dictate this trend. Shreffler told MSNBC that advertisers \u201caren\u2019t turning out multicultural ads for the good of society,\u201d but rather they \u201crecognize there is money involved\u201d in marketing to America\u2019s rapidly expanding minority groups.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s blunder, rather than contradicting Shreffler\u2019s analysis, may confirm it. Unlike America, where Microsoft displayed the multicultural photo intact, Poland is <\/strong><\/em>ethnically homogenous<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, with almost 97 percent of its people identifying as Polish, according to the C.I.A. World Factbook.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n

BACKGROUND: AD INDUSTRY’S HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION ISSUES<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Sources in this Story<\/h3>\n
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