Slideshow: 13 Swirl-Inspired Ads You Wouldn’t Have Seen 13 Years Ago

Jan 21st, in Pop Culture, Swirling Singles, by Christelyn Karazin

Advertisers aren’t in the business of social engineering, but do keep their hands firmly on the pulse of demographic shifts, and interracial relationships have not escaped their radar. Just like all of us, they’re seeing more and more black women moving across color lines to find love, and since the universal color of money is GREEN, the amount of ads with interracial depictions have risen so that the people involved in these unions can see themselves buying whatever product or service the company peddles. Here’s 15 ads you wouldn’t have seen 15 years ago. Enjoy!

Author : Christelyn Karazin

Author's Website | Articles from Christelyn Karazin

Advertisers aren’t in the business of social engineering, but they do keep their hands firmly on the pulse of demographic shifts, and interracial relationships have not escaped from their radar. Just like all of us, they’re seeing more and more black women moving across color lines to find love, and since the universal color of money is GREEN, the amount of ads with interracial depictions have risen so that the people involved in these unions can see themselves buying whatever product or service the company peddles. Here’s 13 ads you wouldn’t have seen 13 years ago. Enjoy!

Edun, is a global fashion brand bringing about positive change through its trading relationship with Africa.

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imahrtbrkbeat 88 pts

I'm still floored by the Billy Idol commercial. I've always thought he was down with the swirl anyway, but this confirmed it! LoLNever knew this existed. Wow!

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Sean

Wedding dresses under $100? I would have been struck dumb too!

MySmile 4277 pts

The only sad part is that a lot of these ads either weren't made in the US, weren't shown in the US, or received very little exposure in the US

Sunshine789 752 pts

My word, that Versace male model is fine...

valeriesmith15 139 pts

The adverts are really great. My favourite is the Old Navy and the Brides one. Billy Idle is just gross.

JQAbroad 369 pts

Don't forget the Philly Cheesecake Commercial!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKWuzhuOBQs

nicew0 184 pts

Love the Old Navy ad! I think I'll be making a trip there this weekend. See, advertising does work!

AshleyFisher 397 pts

That last one is downright bloody adorable.

lovely orchid 34 pts

I have the same sentiments about seeing interracial relationships in the media. Ever since I was little, I have always loved to see that, especially bw/wm together:) The Old Navy commercial is really cute and I love the picture with the butterflies so much! I set it as the background on my macbook:)

lovely orchid Same here! The butterfly one was my favorite, by far...so beautiful and peaceful...look at their faces...especially his...they look like they are a real couple (maybe they are! who knows?) I think it's going to be my background, too.

MySmile You should! It'll make you smile every time you log on:)

lovely orchid It does!! beautiful!

Brice Cameron 2268 pts

I really liked all of those commercials. I was recently wondering what happened to Billy Idol. I think that the Old Navy one was probably too long and not pushing the product enough for American TV. I doubt that the IR was the reason it wasn't shown here.

mzsunshine 2614 pts

Has anyone seen the new "IPHONE' commerical with a wm having a dream playiing handball with two beautiful black women?. And he expresses that he doesn't want to wake up! LOL

it think it's Venus and Serena Williams

mzsunshine

I saw that one and loved it. When I was a kid, I had a recurring dream in which I played for the Lakers. I honestly couldn't wait to get back to sleep, so that ad struck a chord with me.

DWB 8825 pts

mzsunshine I LOVE that commercial ... Venus Williams ... Hmmmmmm.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3IgFsEEOik

I like the last one best ... with the long haired boy stepping up to the nerdy black girl with glasses ... I started early as well as I believe that my first black "girl" crush was on my first grade teacher!

Lily

The last ad is the cutest little thing I've ever seen. OMG lol :)

Oaktown Paul 859 pts

OMG. I saw the Ikea video, and thought to myself --- this is the best ever. Then I read the comments about the Old Navy video clip --- and I had to keep going to see it myself. Wow.....That was truly awesome. It was especially funny to me because I have been in similar situations (helping the girly-girl who is a bit scattered about), and I have "purse issues." (Meaning I will not even touch a woman's purse except under the most extreme circumstances.) An inspiring montage of images about men and woman being themselves, and really appreciating their differences!!!

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Brenda55 20963 pts moderator

Oaktown Paul LOL. You are just as bad as my husband. He swears that he can feel the manhood draining from him if he touches my pocketbook for more than a second. You all are some kind of strange critters.

EarthJeff 3578 pts

Brenda55 Oaktown Paul "You are just as bad as my husband. He swears that he can feel the manhood draining from him if he touches my pocketbook for more than a second. You all are some kind of strange critters. "

Hey... not all of us.... I will carry Bee's purse for her when she wants me to hold it.... she has draped her floral scarf over my shoulder to hold it for her in the move... I have even grabbed the package of THOSE for her and carried them to the register. OK, I did make her go in the store with me for those. Ten thousand different kinds on the shelf and I am NOT going to read every package to find the ones she wants...

EarthJeff Oaktown Paul

Forget the lady products. What is up with this line you snuck in?????

"she has draped her floral scarf over my shoulder to hold it for her in the move"

What move???????

Brenda55Oaktown Paul "

What move???????"

Oh, movie. sorry. when she took her scarf off her head when we got inside for the movie and she took it off, she put it over my shoulders and said " hold this for me" so I sat there with her pretty floral scarf over my shoulders and didnt worry about losing any points on my man card. When the movie was over and we were going to go back outside I handed it to her, she tied it back over her head, and we left.

EarthJeff Oaktown Paul Wheeeew!!! Boy what a difference one letter makes. Here, I thought you two were setting up housekeeping.

Brenda55 Oaktown Paul "Here, I thought you two were setting up housekeeping. "

Nah, I am a man.... afraid of commitment..... ;)

Eventually I suppose....

SirLoinDeBeef 2659 pts

Oaktown Paul For every minute of purse-holding (past the 10-second mark), a guy can loose up to 10 munites of 'manhood' subtracted from his life - ya need to put an 'insulating material' (such as a latex glove or even a Kleenex) between the finger-tips and the dreaded, life-sucking material.

SirLoinDeBeef Amen to "never" more than 10 seconds. What makes the commercial work: (1) she did not "ask him" to hold her purse; (2) he understands her so well (he waits behind the door because he knows she is coming coming back for the purse), and (3) She is obviously very special because he accepts her carefree ways, and is willing to hold the purse for a full 9.5 seconds!!!!

Parisinlove 9 pts

@Oaktown Paul so good to appreciate our differences. And thank God for the men who help collect us when our minds are scattered. ;)

It is funny... I was talking in class how racial differences will disappear over time due to interracial relationships and mixing of the races and I asked how many of them knew someone (friend, aunt, parent, etc) in an interracial relationship. Probably got 6 - 10 hands up in a class of 40 (I teach in Detroit). Including mine (my students all know I have a black girlfriend). I told them 10 years from now 20 hands will go up. 20 years ago probably only one would have.

Karla 19130 pts

Love the IKEA (cow) and Old Navy advert. Believe it or not, these kind of commercials do affect my buying power.

Elegance 2146 pts

Oh I would not want those butterflies on me! Eeek! I liked the second Ikea one, especially her hair, the one with the swing, the bridal one, and the Old Navy. I also really like that the ads tended to choose very feminine women :)

"Advertisers aren’t in the business of social engineering", that's not their primary business but they do seem to socially engineer a lot! I even heard that a cigarette company was the one who first inspired women to smoke. They started a "liberty torch" campaign (I think that was the name) and showed women's movement members smoking in a parade. It made the newspapers and then women who supported the women's movement took up smoking as a show of their support and empowerment. I really think that advertisers push their views and try to influence society a lot, way more than they should.

Veron 1412 pts

Elegance I was just thinking that that photo is beautiful, but dear goodness do I hope those butterflies are plastic or photoshop. Because if otherwise, please excuse me while I run screaming from the room.

Veron LMAO! In that case, I'm screaming right along with you... I'm actually scared of butterflies throughout their life span...caterpillars creep me out too!!...I'm also scared of dragonflies...not a fan of anything that flies that close to my head, but at least butterflies are pretty!).

MySmile DON'T LET THE PRETTY WINGS TRICK YOU! IT'S A TRAP. The tricky pretty wings distract you while the butterfly tries to touch you. But then as it gets closer, you can see that those wings are just camouflaging a hideous beast. A BEAST. And you suddenly realize that butterflies without the wings are actually giant disgusting death bee-roaches. But by then it's too late, and the damn thing has touched you, and you're forced to embarrass yourself in front of a park full of people by screaming hysterically and running in circles until someone rescues you, or until the beast is done with its cruel jape, and flies away.

As you can see, I am very passionate about not trusting butterflies.

Veron LMAO!!!! :-D This cracked me up!! You made me laugh so hard!

thecrazyartist 2419 pts

Cute couples! I am happy to see advertisers taking note and potraying black women and interracial couples in a positive light(I hope more catch on)

AminahMatthews 603 pts

I liked them all (I don't know about Billy Idol though I like some of his music, yes) ESPECIALLY the Old Navy ad. ***sigh*** :D

Seenyc 814 pts

Billy Idol was looking good if not a bit cheesy in that video. He does deserve the serious side eye though.

I saw the Old Navy video a while back, I had to put that one in my personal archives becasue could not believe my eyes! According to some comments on YT they are/were a real couple and the guy is British! The D&G ad made my jaw drop because they were called out about not using black models in thier ads or thier shows. I wanted to like them ( and many other designers), but I like to see some diversity. I am glad to see they have changed that. Benetton has been ahead of this for years, United Colors and all that, eveyone else is just now starting to catch up. I thought the last one of the little kids was so cute. That's right start 'em young! LOL!

Zaydyn 5 pts

@LadyLittlefoot @ivanperonaamo @The_Boss The song is Espacio sideral by Jesse y Joy...they're actually Mexican.

Lili2009 1850 pts

When I kept my attraction to white men private, I would find these ads such a "turn on" ! I got a weight watchers email advert tonight and lo and behold, there's a picture in the email captioned "couple sorting through groceries" and it's a bw and a wm. (Picture is my profile pic.) Shouldn't these ads go a long way to show black women that at least advertisers consider us "couple worthy" and marriage material? PS: Has that segment from The View a few weeks ago been discussed here? They had a "superfan" come on to pick a hot topic and hers was how her friends are afraid or are apprehensive about dating outside their race. I sat there and said "Let me guess. black women, right?" They sure were black women! It's such a tired anxiety but I guess it's out there in full force.

VintageNarcissa 3152 pts

Lili2009 I found the clip (http://youtu.be/vCaNhVFIBsA) Hot mess, smh. But good for the lady asking the question for looking outside race to find a nice guy. The too short argument pisses me the hell off too!

VintageNarcissa Lili2009

Hats off to girlfriend at that table finding her guy and not letting frump 1 and frump 2 slow her roll.

Brenda55 VintageNarcissa Lili2009

I, to an extent keep my attraction to white men private still. It's like if I openly say I am attracted to white men and a few other non black men exclusively, I will get bombarded with "self hate" and "sellout" accusations. I work covertly though, I realized I can't rely on friends, family or co-workers to set me up, my friends will always choose the most gangsta ignorant man, and my mother just can't understand how anyone could not be attracted to black men. I just find men on my own, if anyone doesn't like it then fine- your opinion is not going to dictate my life. - sorry for the mini rant.

Kudos to the woman at the table though, by the time you are in your 40's you should be able to express what you want without others obstructing you like you are a child.

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thecrazyartist VintageNarcissa Lili2009

Ok. You are going to get those kind of comments from the Blackman Defence League. It comes with the territory. I no longer check for black men. They are no longer on my radar screen and have not been for years.

These days I just state my preference. Why? Well at 57 I can say and do whatever I darn well please and quite frankly walking around with a white husband and saying "Oh I still luvs my black man too" comes off as a little disingenuous since I did not make a black man my choice or wait for one or move heaven and earth to get one. It is just easier to accept who I am and who I like and defend that position when I have to which is not often.

I have been asked directly if I have given up on black men. I have thought about that, and the answer is no. Black men were never mine to take up or give up. They are individuals just like I am. They are one of a number of individuals walking the earth that may or nay not be of interest too me. Just because they share the same race as I do does not put them at the head of the line when it come to who I want to spend my time with, have sex with or marry. Once I accepted that belief the rest fell into place.

At my stage of life there are few if any consequences for my actions. I am independent, so that helps when making such a definitive stance. When you are younger and/or financially under someone's thumb it is harder, so stealth mode may be the way to go.

The woman in the video is age 49 and my guess has had it with the Blackman Defence League's bull s*it about who she should be with. She is happy and this was important enough for her to state that on a national TV show when she got her one chance to do that. It was important enough for her to tell black women to get on with it and go for what you want. High five my sister, you are one of us.

Skayi 574 pts

Oh my God they all got me. Especially the Old Navy one. I always feel like a freak getting excited at seeing IR pictures and romances, but i'm glad others understand me here. Cheers.

LiveWire12 7 pts

Skayi lol, I feel like that too. But it makes me smile.

That Old Navy commercial was so cute!

Honestly, there is something very intricate I notice about advertisement these days when it come to black women. Not only do I see more and more bw/nbm interracial advertisements, but there are also an increasing amount of advertisements featuring black women with natural hair. We always talk about companies not catering to us, but they are in way doing so on the sly.

I honestly feel like opposite ir couples, bm/nbw are seen much more infrequently in advertisements. The first thing that popped into my head way the alarm that raised when Giselle Bundchen and Lebron James did that Vogue cover together and how "controversial" that was. Ironically, as much as bm/nbw couple seem to be, at least tolerated in real life, companies apparently don't see them as a target demographic. While black women receive nothing but flack for their relationships in real life, but damn me if every time I turn on my TV or flip through a magazine that I don't see things that pert my interest. I definitely remember seeing that ad of the black girl with the Asian guy in some teen magazine a while back. And lets not act as if we don't know that thousands, maybe millions of dollars were put into these ads for them to come out exactly how they do. Companies know exactly what they are doing.

I feel there's a sense of nurturing security in ads featuring bw/nbm interracial couples. Usually black women in such advertisements are very beautiful and ultra feminine. The context of the advertisement is that she is somehow serious about the man she's with. With the exception of the Billy Idol ad. We've got a marriage proposal, a couple romping around their house that they most likely own together. Now that's quite funny when you consider that bw/wm parings are the most successful parings after aw/wm, and you rarely even see aw/am parings in advertisements either.

On a side note in aw/wm ir news, Michelle Kwan got married over the weekend. Wrote about it for work ;) http://www.ibtimes.com/michelle-kwan-marries-coast-guard-lt-clay-pell-rhode-island-ceremony-photos-1028062