Stereotyping of Native Americans through Brand Images

Stereotyping of Native Americans through Brand Images
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Introduction
The right to represent others in a certain condition is never published, then why do the people owe it and represent others in their own manner? The statement is still a question mark that intensely explains the concepts of stereotyping and its significance as an ethical concern. In association with this ethical concern, the stereotyping of Native American Indian has been observed openly and widely from the branding styles of American brands1. This study has critically analyzed the ethical determinations as proposed by Debra Merskin in the year 2010 and 2014. In her articles, Merskin has systematically represented the beginning of Indian stereotyping from the brand images. She further demonstrates the reasons for the creation of stereotypes. Ultimately, certain ethical change has been induced by the brand owners when studies like Merskin have contributed to reporting the concept of racism. These changes are also discussed in detail in the article.[Merskin, Debra. 2010. "Winnebagos, Cherokees, Apaches, And Dakotas: The Persistence of Stereotyping of American Indians in American Advertising Brands". Howard Journal of Communications 12 (3): 159-169. doi:10.1080/106461701753210439.]
Review of Article 1
In this article, Merskin detailed the racism concept that has been regulating through brand images. It has been analyzed in the study that anti-Indian sentiment has been a component of American branding that is persistence1. A significant reason for the persistence is the continuous use of racist images of Indians in a humored manner for the promotion of brands1. The role of black Americans in the society has been observed to be humored with their alignment with funny characters in the brand images of daily household products like "Aunt Jemima imaged for maple syrup and Uncle Rastus branded for cream”. These are daily use items therefore, the manufacturer induced humorous reinforcing that promoted stereotyping of Indians1. Moreover, the images of Indians are considered as Black since inception. It has been observed by many advertisements that the American society shares the belief Black American are meant to be laughed at, and the funnier their appearance is on the pack of products the more people would buy that product.
Merskin explains the correlation of signifier, signified and sign-in attempt to illustrate the theoretical framework of stereotyped brand image creation of Native American Indians. She elaborates the correlation theory with the example of a rose being considered as a symbol of passion, here rose is a signifier and passion concept is signified. Eventually, the signifier when get associated with signified it becomes a sign. For instance, Aunt Jemima is seen as a house-handling lady who enjoys working at the house and serving the family (signifier), her association with the house chores have built her image as a happy house-handling woman (signified) that ultimately yields Aunt Jemima (sign) suitable for branding the maple syrup. Further, the author writes that branding possesses two critical functionalities, one to optimize the sales and second it to communicate with right message1. The study is co...