A Study of Ethnic Markets

This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

A Study of Ethnic Markets

This 1969 R.J. Reynolds marketing document gives demographic information about the "Negroes, Spanish-Language and Jewish markets" in the U.S. and then makes general assumptions about these markets. In profiling the African-American market, for example, the document contains the following descriptions and conclusions:

In the typical sociological diagram of American power and prestige, the Negro woman is at the bottom of the heap. Above her is the black male, then the white female, and, at the top, stands the white male. The majority of Negro women are still imitating the styles and attitudes of white women who are considered more sexy and attractive. The white image is deep inside them, planted there by a lifetime of exposure to white standards of beauty as reflected in the media. Now a movement is underway to elevate the Negro woman, to reshape her vision of herself from broad-beamed kitchen laborer and head-of-household to svelte femininity, to make her a target of male desire and to give her a separate identity that is black, warm, and cherishable. Although her role is beginning to change rapidly, today it is the Negro male who dominates the movement, venturing along new paths, and presenting an image of defiance and resolution.

[From page 62, Bates No.5019809291]:

Negro masses are only at a point in time where economic security is a possibility. They have only begun to feel the freedom of economic security. Quality rates as a cherished attribute. Negroes buy the best Scotch as long as the money lasts, most marketers agree.

[From page 64, Bates No. 501989293]:

The strategy for advertising the Negroes through their media is to create "Negro upscale situations" and to make these consumers feel that the advertising is directed to them. Negro principles should be used against the background of identifiable settings and situations in which they might find themselves...Effectiveness depends upon the degree of Negro realism captured in the situations in which the Negroes are principals. Negroes are primarily urban dwellers, and as such, settings and situations used should reflect this. Examples of urban situations that could be used are:

• A scene outside a telephone booth on a busy street;
• A night out at a cocktail lounge;
• Driving an automobile in a traffic snarl;
• Just missing a bus; and
• Leaving a motion picture theater.

Date: September, 1969
URL: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/luy62d00