Stereotypes in advertising

I believe that in order to progress in the modern world, we must be morally conscious of the content we distribute and publish. Therefore, advertisers should best avoid stereotyping because putting down one innocent group in favor of the other is never a sound thing to do. People must be treated as equals, everyone is different and there must be an acceptance of that. Stereotypes are based off of historical misconceptions or unfair assumptions in the modern day, contributing to any stereotypes is generalizing an entire group of people. Most stereotypes contribute to historical oppression towards marginalized groups, or contribute to toxic idealizations towards any group. Either way, they do nothing to make progress, they exist to guilt, punish or undermine.

Putting stereotypes into advertisements could mean two things: Garnering the attention of the wrong crowd, people like bigots who you would not want to associate with your product, or your product being boycotted for unethical, demoralized practices (like stereotyping). With internet culture, both are likely to happen which will either way, give you bad reputation and turned into a laughing stock of social media with jokes or memes. Normally, social media attention is a good thing, but having done something morally and ethically wrong will increase the jokes and decrease sales.