Marketing Discrimination in the Media
After a 10- year run, neither ‘The Bachelor‘ nor ‘The Bachelorette‘ has yet to feature a Black, Latino or Asian person. In the 16 seasons of ‘The Bachelor’ and seven of ‘The Bachelorette’ only 16 were Black out of a collective total of 610 contestants, and none were selected for the lead.
According to black football players Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson who had tried out for “The Bachelor,” ABC has intentionally excluded non-whites from the shows. Claybrooks and Johnson claimed in a lawsuit that ABC excludes non-whites solely because of the perceived risk that more diverse casting would alienate white viewers, which are the majority, as well as ADVERTISERS. The complaint also says that minorities in lead roles and interracial dating is unappealing to the shows’ audiences.
Are both ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ examples of marketing discrimination in the media? The determining fact is the business objective. In general, if a TV network targets a white population to secure advertisers and product placement deals because they believe non-white viewers are less valuable, that is marketing discrimination.
To date, only a handful of social-media users commenting on the news, and most are not shocked by the allegations. As a result, a social-media campaign that has been lobbying for Lamar Hurd to become the first Black “Bachelor” (@1stblkbachelor) may finally have paid off. CBS Los Angeles reports that the show’s producers are considering the Black sportscaster from Portland as their next bachelor.
‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ call attention to changing demographics and expectations among the American audience, and the importance of television accurately reflecting our society. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the white population is decreasing and projects that whites will make up less than half of the total population by 2050.
For TV networks, the challenge is to remain abreast of changing audiences. Importantly, when it comes to defining an audience, networks must find the right balance so the audience recognizes that the program, advertising, and product placement deals are talking specifically to them.
Tags: Christopher Johnson, discrimination, Lamar Hurd, marketing, Nathaniel Claybrooks, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, the mediaFOLLOW MARKETING FASHIONISTA ON
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TV Networks believe that non-whites viewers are less valuable. They are less valuable because they aren't targeted to and if they are not targeted, then they don't show any value. Once TV Networks start to become more diverse because of this lawsuit, It will show how valuable non white viewers are. White viewers also appreciate diverse entertainment and as a society, we need to become more diverse.
I do not agree with what ABC is doing in terms of alienating non-whites, but I do however understand why they might do this. Their top priority is to make a profit, by targeting the widest audience, and if that audience consists of mostly white people then it would make sense why they put people on the show who would appeal to them. Again, I'm not saying I agree with this, because it is discriminatory. One point I will raise is that if people want to criticize ABC for appealing to a certain demographic then they should not turn a blind eye towards networks like BET. BET has always appealed to black people and most if not all of the programs they show feature mostly black or an all black cast. Should BET be criticized for only featuring one race?
I do hope that this case is put into the public eye and displayed as an issue that needs to be resolved. TV Networks need to open their eyes and realize that we are in the 21st century. Unfortunately for them they do not realize that having a diverse range of people on their show will actually be more profitable to them. So what if they lose a certain percentage of white viewers. By embracing diversity they will actually gain respect and in the process become more profitable.
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