*UPDATE* I wanted to quickly add that there is no implication of this being a racist act or some egregious action taken in order to be offensive. I thought there may be value in discussing why a marketing dept. would choose to darken or lighten the skin tone of the model depending on the supposed demographic they are trying to reach. It’s merely for discussion purposes only.
While I was at the Sprint store the other day picking up a MiFi device I happened across this pamphlet. I immediately noticed something odd about the photos although I couldn’t immediately put my finger on it. At first glance they seemed to be the exact same brochure lying next to each other but still, something seemed a different.
It was obvious that it’s the same model on each pamphlet and I was still under the impression that they were identical brochures so it was bugging me why one looked so much different than the other. I guess it’s the designer in me but I still couldn’t let it go. Then it dawned on me that the image of the woman on the left was slightly darker than the one on the right almost as if the saturation had been turned down a bit. But why? Then I saw it. The brochure on the left was in Spanish.
Is it possible that Sprint used the same stock photo/model for their plans brochure and then photoshopped it to give the English version a lighter skin tone and the Spanish version a darker one?
I realize the difference is slight but there definitely is a difference. And just for the record these two pamphlets were lying right next to each other when I took this photo so the lighting and angle were exactly the same on each of them.
Is this a common practice among businesses? The last time I remember something like this happening is when Time Magazine put O.J. Simpson on the cover after his arrest and darkened his skin tone about three shades darker.
Does anyone else find this a little bizarre?
UPDATE: There seems to be some question about whether or not
About James Poling
I think you’re looking for something sinister to be afoot. The green looks darker too, so it isn’t like they darkened the skin tone of the woman, the whole brochure probably had a different batch. They don’t print them alternating on the press.
Honestly I’m not trying to stir up shit or imply that there is anything sinister going on. I certainly don’t think it was done maliciously.
That being said I don’t think it’s a coincidence. I think it was definitely intentional in my opinion. More than anything I think it has the potential to open up some insight into marketing departments and what they think (or possibly) is effective with minor tweaks like this.
And yes, I agree they didn’t just darken/lighten the skin color on the model they blew out the saturation on the entire graphic. You can tell that not only are the greens darker and lighter respectively even the teeth in each photo are darker and lighter as well.
I don’t know, the green looks a bit darker… but if they did opt to darken the skintone to appear more “hispanic,” it would make sense. They wouldn’t want to spend the extra money paying an actual hispanic model when they have photoshop.
I’ll stop everyone right there…. I happen to be the husband of the model… And just a heads up… Caucasian folks should be the ones up in arms, as my wife (the model in the Spint ad) is of Pacific Island descent, and is of darker skin… SO… they actually lightened up the photo for the English speaking market.