Human Commodities Project

Since the mid-19th century, advertisements have featured African Americans as stereotypes and caricatures. With the challenge of beliefs and values from the past, ads helped promote racist views and reassure White consumers during the changing times. Advertising often placed African Americans in violent situations, depicting them as savages to reinforce racist ideas and racial and ethnic supremacy. In the British American Tobacco Co. ad, White soldiers battle against dark tribal Africans with spears and loincloths. The image focuses on the savage and brutal African stereotype, implying that African Americans are violent by nature. The stereotype of the violent Black male continued into the 21st century and made headlines through the Black Lives Matters movement. Spreads at times presented African Americans in nonsensical situations that often mocked their features. Rice’s Seeds promotion depicts a dancing African American woman whose hair is a large white cotton ball. The products had no connection to the horrific and degrading images of African Americans. They existed to appeal to racist. 

As Jim Crow became a staple in American culture, it was important for White advertisers to connect to the social construct of racial hierarchy in their advertisements, linking the buying of the product to racial superiority. The commercializing of African Americans' likeness and slave past to products reassured many White consumers that some things would remain the same even during social change.  

The mammy became the most prominent figure in advertising depicting African Americans. In 1889 Pearl Milling Company, known for their pancake mix, created Aunt Jemima, a large dark-skinned woman wearing a bandanna and an apron. Aunt Jemima is the most well-known image of the mammy, the Black woman who served White families and helped raise their children. She reinforced views of African American women as cooks, house servants, and nannies for White families. A box of Aunt Jemima pancakes in the home reminded many of the tradition of owning a Mammy.  

B&G Foods based their logo for Cream of Wheat after chef Frank White. However, Rastus, a racial slur for Black men, is the known name of the smiling pinstripe suit-wearing chef who dons his chef's hat while ringing a breakfast bell. His image of a servant reminded people of the racial hierarchy. Advertising continued to push the narrative of Blacks as servants, cooks, and butlers, reminding Americans of the past and social placement of Blacks in America.