Exploring Racism and Media Representation in Cheerios Commercials

For: Sociology  class

This video has several parts. The major one is a bi-racial little girl with her parents discussing the product Cheerios, which promotes healthy eating.

The media promotes or advertises the general public census, which is happening today. We use media and blame them, but who do we need to blame?   We cannot blame the media as they have the means and tools to bring it to the viewer. People talk about change, but it begins with ourselves. This commercial only advertises their cereal, but the viewer sees a bi-racial child with parents who are in an interracial relationship. 

 I find this commercial interesting from our culture’s perspective that a bi-racial individual in our society does not fit in with the white or black culture. Most people would say they are not white or black enough to be a part of one race. The bi-racial little girl’s Cheerios commercial with a white mother and a black father has raised the question in the black and white community. When General Mills made the commercial, I am sure they were not thinking of racism and the impact it causes in the media. The General Mills company had to turn off the comment section because the public posted hate messages. In modern times, we should expect mixed race in our culture because this is the norm of today. Our diverse cultures face prejudice outside of their race of not being white or black enough.

Goffman states, “face is the esteem in which others hold an individual.” What makes it right or wrong for others to live as they choose? In another video, a black narrator mentioned that the pre-millenniums were the ones who had genuine concerns. The real issue is about mixed race, which affects our society’s family values because they are not a primary group, such as white or black. I would think the public would consider them to be a secondary group based on the size of their population in ratio to the white and black race as a whole. As biracial, they will face many obstacles because they would not fit in with the white or black communities. By socialization, this commercial represents most people’s values and beliefs of being who you want to be or loving the person regardless of color or even same-sex relationships. Cultural relativism accounts for the differences across our races by not passing judgment. People have some racism or pass judgment whether they realize it intentionally or not. It seems to be an ongoing human issue about the separation of race. Is this a learned behavior or inbred in our DNA? With the media advertising the reality of people’s actions and society’s culture, we blame them; however, I think they promote what is happening today, whether we agree or disagree.    

Written by: Greg MD