Excessive Political Correctness

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Excessive Political Correctness

Companies are afraid. Very afraid. They are not offending anyone, catering to all ethnicities, cultures, and backgrounds, and being “politically correct” in every sense of the word. In fear of offending any potential customers they might have, companies adopt an “all-inclusive” approach to their image. Advertisements depicting groups of people of identical race have become an endangered species; all walks of life are being crammed into any group of people representing a logo. This practice may seem insignificant, but it has infiltrated everything, everywhere, and has reached an unrealistic level.

Burger King had good intentions in creating the Kid’s Club in 1990. The group pictured below littered all Kid’s Meals, cups, and were often within the meals themselves as toys. Within their slew of characters, Burger King managed to represent Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, tomboys, dogs, nerds, and those confined to wheelchairs. Kudos to Burger King for this unprecedented and unabashed attempt at political correctness before P.C. was even a household term. However, somewhere in the planning process, the Kid’s Club went horribly astray. The characters were not only representatives of their respective societal group, they were stereotypes. In one of the most obvious instances, the bright young boy in the wheelchair was cruelly named Wheels, as if to add insult to his debilitating disability. The redhead to the right of the picture is named I.Q. and is stereotyped as a nerd with his thick glasses, loaded backpack, calculator, giant digital watch, and a finger pointed knowingly upward, as if I.Q. himself knows the answer to any question life may throw his way. The group as a whole looks cheerful...

... middle of paper ...

... every walk of life within the smallest space possible can be considered normal. Companies go to the extreme in marketing to every group of society possible, fishing for consumers in every walk of life. This practice is not only overdone; it appears forced, artificial, and is excessively politically correct.

Works Cited

Block, Ryan. "Sony Under Fire for "Racist" Advertising." Engadget. 6 July 2006. 25 Oct. 2006 .

LexisNexis. 15 Sept. 2006. University of Connecticut. 25 Oct. 2006 .

The Princeton Review. 25 Oct. 2006 .

"United States History." Microsoft Encarta. Microsoft Corporation. 25 Oct. 2006

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