Thursday, August 9, 2018

Billboards

On the way to Cedar Point (in Sandusky, OH) from our house (west of Chicago), I started noticing the "color," or lack thereof, of the people featured on advertisement billboards. I decided to notice it intentionally on the ride home. I'm becoming more and more upset with my own ignorance...

Here's the line that is representative of where I took notes on billboards I could see heading west:

Given the myriad billboards along this route (they came fast and furious!), I thought I'd organize them here in some fashion... I'm only going to use skin tone. Some last names may give away more of an ethnicity, but I'm only noticing color this time around. I'll start with the most prevalent.

WHITE / Caucasian people in billboards:
Males:
  Alvarez (lawyers) - two white males (5 billboards)
  NuMale.com - one white male - can only see his hands (4 billboards)
  Glen Lerner (lawyer) - one white male (3 billboards)
  Krazy Kaplan's (fireworks) - one white animated male (3 billboards)
  Reef River Waterpark - one white male child (2 billboards)
  Ken Allen Law - one white male (2 billboards)
  Leona's Law - one white male (2 billboards)
  Blackburn & Green - two white males
  Shoreline Brewery - one white (older - 80s?) male
  Fly South Bend - one white male on a tablet
  Sarkisian Assoc. (lawyers) - two white males
  Franciscan Health - one white male
  Philippe Homes - one white male
  Pilot - one white male
  Portage Dental - one white male
  Purdue - one white male
  Langer Law - one white male
  Specialty Physicians - one white male
  Accelerate - one white boy
  One-Hour Tees - one white male
  Raging Waters - one white boy
  U.S. Waterproofing - one white male
  United Home Loans - Einstein
Females:
  Franciscan Health - one white female (3 billboards)
  St. Mary Cancer Care - one white female doctor and one white female patient
  Club 39 - one white (fake blonde) female
  Polekatz - one white (fake blonde) female
  Dream Girls - one white (fake blonde) female
  Serenity Salon - one white female
  Mane Image - one white female
  Caldwell Banker - one white female
  Exact Time (watchmaker) - one white female
  Cosmetology - one white female
  Webb Ford - one white female ("Even if your credit isn't perfect!")
Mix of genders:
  Pintas & Mullins (lawyers) - one white male and one white female (7 billboards)
  Pintas & Mullins (lawyers) - two white males (one a doctor) and one white female (7 billboards)
  Teeth Tomorrow - one white male and one white female (3 billboards)
  Pintas Law - two white males, one white female
  Midwest Express Clinic - one white male doctor, one white female child patient
  Dark Forest (homes? subdivision?) - one white family
  Adopt U.S. Kids - one white male and one white teen female
  In the Game - one white female and one white child
  Hotels of Oakbrook - two white children

BLACK / African-American people in these billboards:
Males:
  Marines - one black male
  Gary Community School - one black male
Females:
  Webb Hundai - one black female ("Where everyone gets the 'family' treatment!")
  Church Girl Closet - one black female
  Kali Beauty - one black female
  Kreations by Kashell - three black females
  Entenmann's Lite Bites - one black female child
  Brookfield Zoo - one black female child
  UTI.edu - one black female
Mix of genders:
  107.5 FM - two black males, one black female (musicians/artists)

MIX of ethnicities in these billboards:
  Community Health - three white females, one black male, one white male (2 billboards)
  Ken Allen Law - one white male, one black male child, one white female child
  Purdue University - two black males, one white female, one I'm not sure of
  Summer Learning - mix of young adults

I'M NOT SURE of the ethnicities in these billboards:
  Anti-abortion ad - one baby
  Don Quixote / Best of Spain - one male
  103.5 FM / Fred and Angie - one white male and one female
  IKEA - one female
  Cabela's - one male silhouette

These are simply observations of the billboards along this area that had humans in them. Now I know I need to notice more intentionally - more often!

Immediately, I thought of when I was going through my undergrad classes, in Deaf education. One of my friends who is Deaf, mentioned one time that she thought Deaf people died early. She'd never before met any other Deaf person (her parents are hearing) until college. I wondered - where are the advertisements with people with hearing aids? Service dogs? Wheelchairs? This is a whole other avenue that needs to be noticed.

And here are more questions I have now...
What does this say?
What are the demographics of this area?
Who are the billboards appealing to?
Who goes through this area the most?
Do many truckers need lawyers?
Why are there so many billboards for lawyers?
Are most lawyers white?
Are most strippers white?
Are most people who attend strip clubs white?
Should I look next time on our way to Michigan at only the strip club billboards?
Can people tell the ethnicity of babies just by looking at them?
How do people tell the ethnicity of other people? I, obviously, can NOT.
What IS white? Does it include Hispanic? Italian?
What IS black? Does it include Dominican? Brazilian?
Where are the Hispanic, Asian or Indian faces on the billboards?
Are these people on billboards role models?
Where are the doctors and lawyers of color?
How much do they charge for these billboards?
How many billboards is too many in one area?
Do multiple billboards (Pintas & Mullins!) increase business? Or just plant a seed?
Do billboards contribute to accidents?
How many of these billboards are lit up at night?
How can I ask students about their own ethnicity so I make sure to include those characters in the books/stories we read?

If you'd like to contribute to this blog, contact @JoyKirr via Twitter, or add a comment below as to how we can contact you. The more voices, the better - we need to keep having the conversations!

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