ions more than Whites do; and (d) can be reached with some general magazines publications, but prefer to read advertisements contain elements that reflect their lifestyles. From historical research, we know that African Americans have often been portrayed in popular culture as inferior to Whites and subservient to them (Coltrane, 2000). Mainstream ad agencies using African American Super stars to target African American consumers is not a new concept. Pettigrew (1965), one of the first researchers to evaluate the portrayal of African Americans in the mass media, found that as far back as the 1930’s African Americans were regulated to three roles: entertainers, athletes, and servants. Humphrey and Schuman (1984) discovered that, between 1950 and 1980, the occupational level of Blacks as portrayed in Time and Ladie’s Home Journal rose in the sense that they were no longer portrayed as maids or servants. Corporations like Coca-Cola have been pulling in the African American dollars for about 50 years now. In 1950, Coca-Cola portrayed Alice Coachman, the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Still today Coca-Cola is using African American images like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal to target African Americans. Five decades later, corporations are still using African American Supper Stars to market athletic gear, soft drinks, cosmetics, cars, and many other products to enhance sales. In the famous words of today’s youth, “This would be all gravy”. Gravy meaning this is all-good but there is still something missing like the steak and the potatoes. In other words, corporations can do more for the African American consumer instead of using Supper Stars to target African Americans. Other ways of targeting Black consumers is to invest in the Black community or by giving scholarships or high paying jobs. For the African American culture, relevant socialization factors that affect ethnic i...
