American-Muslim Identity

Advertising in the United States has often influenced the pop-culture identities of religious and ethnic minorities. To be targeted by marketers serves as an invitation to join in the national narrative of capitalism. To shop is to be an American. While this act of inclusion has merit, it has also fostered myopic marketing campaigns. Rather than diversity being, well, diverse, minority-targeted advertising often traffics in reductive stereotypes of soul claps and sombreros. While some of this is due to those creating content, it is also the fault of mass media, one historically comprised of “few senders and many receivers.” (Anderson 2003) But this is slowly changing. In 2008, with the new media environment of blogs, video and social networks, we are beginning to see a more accurate depiction of minority groups. Why? Because there is more content and the media is being created by them, not about them. Dialogue is supplanting monologue.