Garcia, Justin Ram A.

ZGE 1105 - CS1B

20181128347

Module 4 – Homework 1: Racial, Gender, or Cultural Sensitivity

 Rosa Parks once said, “I believe there is only one race, the human race.” An
advertisement from a brand offering skin-lightening products has caused a stir on the
public around April last 2019. Written in Taglish, the advertisement reads: “Just because
she’s fair-skinned, she is pretty? Unfair, right?” Moreover, the advertisement continued:
“Don’t be mad, use GlutaMAX! Your fair advantage.” This controversial advertisement
also made an appearance on their Facebook page but the original post was taken down
after, and unsurprisingly, receiving backlash from netizens. Analyzing the context of the
advertisement, they were emphasizing prejudice and bigotry based on one’s skin color –
often referred to as colorism. This outcome brought by colonial mentality has been deeply
embedded in our culture that there exists an extensive impulse to control and change skin
color through various methods. But more than that, the aforementioned brand not only
reminded us of this unfortunate mindset and even used it as a marketing strategy. They
sound as if they are insinuating that people should whiten their skin to gain a ‘fair
advantage’ because having darker skin tone equivalents to fewer rights.

The problem here is not about one’s choice to use whitening products if one wishes
to do so. While I do believe that there is nothing wrong with having the desire to have
fairer, lighter skin, there is also nothing wrong with not having fair and light skin. People
should not be judged by their skin color. The problem was the advertisement’s grave,
intentional misuse of language and conceptualization to establish a mindset of victimhood
in their target audience through repetition. The aforesaid advertisement also appeared in
copies on the same theme with variations. One copy says: “Maputi lang, pinaupo na sa
bus? Unfair ‘di ba?” and another reads: “Maputi lang, favorite na ni boss? Unfair ‘di ba?”
I cannot stress enough how the rest of their copies was no better.

Nonetheless, good aftermath sprang, albeit accidental, from the brand’s

advertisement: a spur on public pontification. It has spread awareness about issues on
colorism, their manifestations and links to identity, and poor outcomes on individuals and
society. And as I close this paper, let me quote Toni Morrison as she once said, “There
is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race – scientifically,
anthropologically.” Diversity is the only true thing we have in common so let us celebrate
it every day.