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CNN Sunday Morning

Commercials Are Changing With the Times

Aired August 05, 2001 - 08:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Some new census figures are showing a changing American populace. Americans are older, they are more ethnically diverse and they include a growing number of nontraditional families. But if you look at product advertisements, you might think that Madison Avenue is a little slow to catch on to the trend.

CNN's Jason Carroll has our report on this now, from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, "OXYDOL AD")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not a bad idea, putting bleach in Oxydol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whether advertisers were selling us suds...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "OXYDOL AD")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New in Oxydol. It's green crystals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: ... or dishing out TV dinners...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SWANSON AD")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has delicious, complete dinners, practically ready to serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: ... the product could be just about anything. But for years, the pitchmen always looked the same.

It was OK to have an Ozzy and Harriett style family telling you how tasty a frozen beef dinner could be, but today advertisers aren't seeing a world in just black and white.

ATSUKO WATANABE, NEW-A: I believe that there is going to be an immediate need to really react towards the changing face of America.

CARROLL: The latest census numbers show Americans are older and far more ethnically diverse than we were 20 years ago. Our families are dramatically different too. The traditional nuclear family now only makes up about one-quarter of all households. The rest are mostly single parents and unmarried couples.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "U.S. POSTAL AD")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll need a perfect 10 to qualify.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Yet, most commercials and ads in magazines still show a current version of an old ideal. Ad exec Atsuko Watanabe and advertising writer Stuart Elliott say a lack of diversity behind the scenes effects what we see in front of a camera.

STUART ELLIOTT, ADVERTISING WRITER: Part of it, of course, is just a lot of these companies are headed by affluent white men.

WATANABE: Definitely, fear is one factor.

CARROLL: Fear over how advertisers should target this diverse audience without offending them or alienating their old one.

If you look around, you'll see things are changing slowly.

ELLIOTT: It just takes a long time for the proverbial battleship to turn around in the water. So, it takes something like the new census data to really hit them in the face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "JOHN HANCOCK ADVERTISEMENT")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is your new home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't tell her that, she's going to want to go back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Elliott says commercials like this one, for John Hancock, featuring a lesbian couple, and another for Lipton, spoofing the traditional family, show advertisers are breaking some ground.

ELLIOTT: Maybe not a lot more, but you're going to see more spots that address the diversity of consumer lifestyles now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know what we're targeting here...

CARROLL: Citibank is just one company that has identified this new marketplace.

The old rule of marketing to the masses doesn't work anymore. Their strategy: target specific groups. This ad is for Indians. The next, Mexican Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "TIDE AD") UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How was your day?

CARROLL: Procter & Gamble is running a spot for Tide, starring a stepmother.

DAWN WILLIAMS-THOMPSON, PROCTER & GAMBLE: The key, again, is that not being in any extreme, not trying to say all of America has to look one way.

CARROLL: Corporate America has come a long way.

(on camera): But ultimately, it will be the commercial marketplace that decides whether or not advertisers embrace American's new diverse population, sooner or later.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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