A Diverse Set Of Problems
December 24th, 1971 | 
Author: A Diverse Set Of Problems
Lets try an experiment. I want you to form a mental image of Joe Sixpack.
Advertising people talk about Joe Sixpack all the time. But what does he look like?
Picture him in your mind. Look away from the screen until youve got him picturedthen come back and read the rest.
Got a picture?
OK. Nowlet me ask you a question:
Is he black?
Id be willing to bet the Joe Sixpack you pictured in your mind was a white dude. With a beer belly sitting on the couch holding a beer watching NASCAR or something like that. Right?
Its not a particularly flattering image but Ive heard numerous clients and ad professionals refer to the imaginary Joe Sixpack as some sort of average typical consumerand proceed to commit millions of dollars to messages targeting that very type of person.
But in reality we have no idea who Joe Sixpack is. Its just another condescending stereotype. And stereotypes and prejudices have a special place in the advertising industry. We call them demographics.
Were living in an age in which marketers are desperate to reach disparate audiences. Whether its using CRM segmentation targeted marketing or whatever youd like to call it the search is on to know as much as we can about every single customer.
But it cant be done.
The problem is most marketing is mass marketing. Even if you break your audience into 200 different segments for some direct marketing initiative youre still mass marketing. It will never ever be truly oneonone marketing lest you unleash an army of doortodoor salespeople. We have to make assumptions. We have to make guesses. Because human behavior isnt as predictable as we wish it could be. And we dont have the budgets necessary to create ideas and programs that truly treat people as individuals with different backgrounds tastes ideas or hot buttons.
Whatever attempts our industry makes at including different audiences is invariably a token effort an afterthought to fill some perceived obligation. Thats why any ads that promote a companys commitment to diversity always depict a carefully blended group of freshly scrubbed differently hued people. For example there are always some AfricanAmerican peoplejust not ones that look too black. Other things are lacking in those diversity group shots: No midgets no wheelchairbound coworkers no really fat chicks. Just a happy rainbow coalitionoh wait no gays or lesbian couples either.
Advertising far from taking any risks is determined to stay as oldfashioned as possible. Of all the ads Ive seen on TV that show a typical nuclear familya mother a father and childrenI dont think Ive ever seen one with a mixed race couple adopted kids from a different ethnicity or a father with a prosthetic leg.
Its amazing how so much advertising seems so disconnected from the real world. Just like software programs such as Excel Photoshop or PowerPoint our industry has default settings the images clients are most comfortable with. In this business white is the default setting not black. Young is default not old. Same goes for thin straight married Christianall preferable to whatever the alternatives are. Anything that deviates is different. And different makes people particularly clients and agency executives nervous and uncomfortable.
While we fret over how best to communicate with new generations and new media we need to also concern ourselves with what we communicateand how we attempt to portray those were communicating with. I dont think theres an easy answer. Real life simply is too imperfect too messy too disordered and too unpredictable to accurately portray in advertising.
We cant account for the nuances found in everyones lives. So were going to get more generalizations. More middleofthe road. More work that tries to appeal to mass audiences with massive doses of mediocrity.
Sounds to me like Joe Sixpack isnt just the target audience. Hes also the client.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Branding. Religion. Censorship. Office politics. Global politics. Sexual politics. And getting drunk during a job interview.
Since 2002 Danny G. a.k.a. Dan Goldgeier has been writing the most provocative advertising columns ever published. They’re all witty thoughtful and probing and a must read for those who want a perspective rarely seen in traditional industry publications.
An Atlantabased copywriter and ad school graduate Dan has worked at shops big and small. He reads incessantly about advertising and is a whiz at rock roll trivia. Learn more about him by visiting his copywriting website or AdColumnist.com the View From The Cheap Seats Archive website. You may also find articles by Danny G at TalentZoo.com.
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