Ford: Bold can’t wait Ad | BRAND INFECTION » Ads, Advertisements, Commercials

I suppose Walter Jacobs would say that I am becoming more media literate, but I went looking for advertisements that specifically seemed to send strong messages about race, gender, or sex.  In this case, it’s race and gender.  The ad for the Ford Cobra features a young African American boy wearing huge boxing gloves and standing in a typical fighting stance.  His face is serious, a clear message of toughness.  He can’t wait, it seems, to take on the world.

This depiction of boldness seems to carry a racial message: African Americans show their boldness through fighting.  The background of the picture suggests an urban location, with worn chain link fence and cracked sidewalk.  Is this the face of young black men to come?  Is this a young Muhamed Ali?  Certainly, an ad that showed someone “boldly” performing surgery or “boldly” completing a degree would not really help sell a muscle car like the Cobra.  But the choices made in this print ad play on cultural stereotypes.