How would you feel about a grocery store advertising collard greens and frying chicken as part of a Black History Month celebration? What if the ad was targeted to inner city stores only? What if the ad included watermelon?
Those are some of the questions we're going to look at for tonight's (Tuesday) Good Question.
UPDATE: Here's the story.
First, the background: Neal Justin covered the media angle of this story; David Brauer's readers discovered the ad. Rainbow Foods placed the ad locally. It did not include a discount on watermelon, but it was targeted to inner city stories. Here's a look at the ad.
Your thoughts? Is this racist? Some of the black people in our newsroom think this is just fine and it's a case of white guilt. The logic: what else would a grocery store advertise for Black History Month?
UPDATE: I heard from Rainbow's Corporate Parent, Roundy's. Vivian King is their spokesperson (she and I were both reporters in Milwaukee at competing stations. She is African-American.) Vivian said: "In no way was this ad intended to offend African Americans or anybody else. On the contrary, this ad was intended to celebrate Black History Month and African American culture by sharing with our customers some of the contributions African Americans have made to the grocery industry." She did say that if the ad included watermelon, "That might have been a stereotype, I think." She also said the items were selected based on a sales rotation (chicken is almost always advertised on sale) and based on popularity. Basically: She was arguing that this ad is an example of targeted marketing. At their stores in African-American areas, these items are popular. So it makes sense to advertise them in a targeted manner, along with education on Black History Month. She does concede that "moving forward the advertising department will be more mindful... There's a fine line in these things."
