Marketing Ethics Western Stereotypes promoted its foreign-designed buildings with Japanese touris...

Marketing Ethics Western Stereotypes promoted its foreign-designed buildings with Japanese tourists wearing blonde wigs and big noses. At other times, Western- ers have been portrayed as hapless visitors, a role that has not been met with viewers' approval. In January 2014, the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) was forced to pull a TV advertisement after being accused of racist stereotyping by viewers. The TV commercial featured two Japanese men in ANA uniforms. They were discussing, in English with Japanese subtitles, how they could boost the image of ANA as an international airline. The punch line of the com- mercial saw one of them suggesting that they change the image of Japanese people. The camera then cut back to the other man, who was now wearing a blonde wig and a long rubber nose. These are stereotypical Japanese images of what West- erners look like. This is by no means the first and probably not the last time potentially racist stereotyping of Westerners has been employed in Japanese advertisements. In 2013, Toshiba featured a Japanese girl with a blonde wig and a fake nose in an advertisement for a bread maker. In 2010, Nagasaki Prefecture 14-11 Westerners are comparatively rare in countries such as Japan. Is it right to portray them in this way? Explain why or why not. (AACSB: Communication; Reflective Thinking; Ethical Understanding and Reasoning) 14-12 Find other examples of marketing strategies that have employed racial stereotypes which could be considered inappropriate by viewers outside a specific culture. (AACSB: Written and Oral Communication; Reflective Thinking)