Comments on: There are no tigers in Africa – Advertising 101

By: Charles Porter

Charles Porter — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:59:34 +0000

Love the blog post. I grew up in Luxembourg and everyone thought it was a city in Germany back in the states. I now live in Dar and work with Urban africans who are often more educated and traveled than their american counterparts.

But stereo types are still common here. All white people are rich. There are only black africans. If there are African Americans, Brits of African heritage, then it must stand to reason that immigrant Europeans ought to begin to be given the standing of “africans” and be able to be proud of their country to which they have belong for decades. Regardless of the ignorance of racism and colonialism, we must embrace the reality of what is, not be stuck in what was.

As for advertising, bingo. Spot on, no tigers in Africa. But there are rhino’s in asia. Go figure.
Keep up the angry ranting. try sending out some love too.

By: Joaniche

Joaniche — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:19:54 +0000

That should have been “make sense of the world”, and ‘rasta with locks”

By: Joaniche

Joaniche — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:18:34 +0000

Stereotpes abound. It is part of the way in which we make send of the ‘rest of the world’. I am Jamaican but it does not automatically mean that I am passionate about reggae, nor does it mean i am rast with locks, nor does it meanI smoke marijuana (ganja), nor does it mean I can swim (not everyone on an island can swim), nor does it mean I run around in shorts all day.

How is that for breaking sterotypes?

By: I know

I know — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:43:13 +0000

You got a point. MY problem is the fact that everytime people represent Africa they throw some type of wildlife in it period. WTF is up with THAT! The continent has over 800,000,000 people and all these folks can manage to find is like seven animals and one guy. What gets me about this to is that the guy is NEVVVER in the metro cities either-like Lagos,Dakar,Djibouti, he is ALWAYS in nature-the savannah,the prairie, the dessert in traditional clothes. I have NOTHING against INDIGENOUS TRIBAL CULTURES NOR CLOTHING which is often VERY CUTE. “EITHA!” But the implication of always showing the rural folks is that Africa is so cut off from the outside world and so backwards that NO Africans ANYWHERE have EVER been exposed to modern appliances or modern culture.Not to say that modern lifestyles are the end all or be all-or that they will last forever.My problem is just the inference that Africans are so sheltered that they have never seen jeans,tennis shoes, and two piece suits.WHY? Sorry if I offend Angry African.

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:20:01 +0000

The point is, tigers aren’t native to Africa “chummy”.
When you hear the name “africa” tigers should not come to mind. They’re asian. Thank you.

By: chummy

chummy — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:12:41 +0000

On a previous sheep farm in the Cape, tiger cubs,Ron and Julie were introduced.
So people there are Tigers in Africa.
Make sure of your facts Mr.Knownothing.

By: Me

Me — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:57:03 +0000

There are captive bred, wild taught tigers in Africa but everything else is fairly accurate.

By: Jess

Jess — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:16:31 +0000

Really enjoyed reading the post – slightly depressing, because you’re so right – but still funny! And let’s not even get started on portrayal of the Orient in the media…

By: Rodney North

Rodney North — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:39:33 +0000

I’m glad I’m not the only one who is riled by annoying displays of ignorance – like the ads (most recently it was Coke) with polar bears (who live only in the Artic) frolicking with peguins (live in the Antartic mostly, and never in the northern hemisphere).
It’s true that these are “only ads”, but all this advertising (umpteen billions of dollars worth annually in the US alone) inevitably doubles as a kind of education medium. Especially given that children are typically exposed to much more high-impact advertising than they are high-impact teaching. The result? – people think polar bears live at both poles and that tigers run loose in Kenya. Sigh.

By: Justin D-Z

Justin D-Z — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:18:21 +0000

Last year, I took a trip to London, then to the Netherlands, France, Germany, back to London, Japan and Hong Kong, then home. I thought about the global stereotype that Americans are fat; turns out that one is true. When I arrived back to Dulles airport and deplaned, I had this moment of disorientation. “Why is everyone so overweight?” I realized I was having re-entry shock from being in Europe and Asia for about a month. I’d like to say I’m exaggerating but it was really weird. I was genuinely shocked, albeit briefly.

One of my college roommates lived in Africa on and off growing up while his parents volunteered teaching services, etc. Here are my two favorite anecdotes related to misconceptions, ethnocentrism and cultural eye-openers:

1) My roommate tells me that while in Africa, he learned to eat with his hands. Someone at the table chimed in, “What’s there to learn?” My friend proceeds to explain that when he was told they eat with his hands he started digging in and looked up to find all the African kids laughing at him. They explained that he was doing it very, very wrong and looked like an idiot. Silence around the table. No one had considered that it might be a developed skill.

2) My friend’s parents were in town and we went to an Indian buffet. We got to talking to the owner who recognized our faces. My roommate’s parents were telling him how amazing they thought the Taj Mahal was. The owner says, “I’ve never been.” They start giving him a hard time, along the lines of “How could you live in India and never see the Taj Mahal? So the guy says, “Ever been to the Statue of Liberty?” They say, “Oh… no.” And he walks off.