The portrayal of ethnic minorities in ads over the past 130 years
is to be the subject of a major research programme by the industry's
historians.
The initiative is one of the most ambitious ever attempted by the
History of Advertising Trust, which celebrates its 25th birthday this
week.
Advertisers and agencies are being encouraged to release all the
material they hold on ads featuring non-white people - even though much
of it would be considered offensive and potentially controversial by
today's standards.
The ads, together with those already collected by the HAT, the world's
largest advertising archive, will be available for study by sociologists
as well as today's agency executives and their clients.
"Nobody has done anything like this before and we think it will be of
considerable interest," Michael Cudlipp, the HAT chief executive,
said.
Cudlipp acknowledged that a lot of the material would not be
"politically correct" but he was hopeful the passage of time would mean
agencies and advertisers were comfortable about releasing it.
"We're not seeking to pass judgment on what people have done in the
past," he added. "We hope we'll get lots of help because this is social
history."
