Everybody must have heard about the term, 'stereotyping'. I'm pretty sure that everyone knows what stereotyping is. Now, the next question you have would be "why is stereotyping wrong?" Well, I will tell you why it is wrong. How would you like it if you were an Asian and people said that you were 'good at math', although you were terrible at it? Would you like it if you were a studious person and people said that you may not have a 'social life' because of that?
I am an individual who strongly disagrees with stereotyping. I do not think that stereotyping is desirable as it groups people into categories that lead to limiting the opportunities that they get. It can eventually end up in fights and even civil wars. The main thing that we have to remember while stereotyping a person is that, while we are busy stereotyping them, The facts based on which we are stereotyping them may be misguided or can even be utterly false.
Some of the advantages of stereotyping are that when we are put in a new situation, this can help us in making quick and fast judgements, which will, in turn, help us in responding well to the situation at hand. Sometimes, celebrities and their publicists use stereotyping in their favour. This happens when they want their fans to see them as role models. In this case, actors and stars are stereotyped in a good light. The last advantage is not exactly one, but rather, a characteristic. It is known as 'positive stereotype'. This is when some kind of favourable belief is held over a group of people which may give them an edge over another group. While it is not exactly 'positive', it may be deemed as the same by some groups as well. Coming to the disadvantages, there are many. But, I'll only be listing a few. Some people may think that "since they all look the same, they might behave the same as well". This is a wrong notion as everybody has their own characters and behaviours. For eg, people tend to categorise the Chinese, Japanese and the Koreans into one group as they all 'look the same'. One major disadvantage that all of us have to understand is that stereotyping can definitely lead to problems and conflicts at schools, offices and even at home. One final characteristic that is negative would be racial stereotyping. Stereotyping people according to their race, culture and creed can wreak havoc in the community.
First and foremost, what we have to understand is that stereotyping, no matter what kind will be detrimental to your business. The most common type of stereotyping that is found in marketing is gender stereotyping. Girls are said to be like that and boys are said to be like this. While we can see advertisements that break stereotypes, most of the others are just make stereotypes stronger.
The first example I'd like to quote is Lipton Green Tea. For a long time, green tea was just another type of tea or chai. But, as soon as Lipton came along with the concept that drinking green tea leads to weight loss, people started believing it. Consciously, or subconsciously, consumers started drinking green tea to reduce their weight. The perfect example of this stereotype is my mother. A person who always prefers coffee over tea, she drinks a cup of green tea every day to lose weight.
Now, the second example that I am going to use is Kohinoor Basmati Rice. One of the most common stereotypes seen globally is that Indians and Pakistanis are forever at war. However, this advertisement by Kohinoor shows even though Indians and Pakistanis may have their differences, they will bond over Kohinoor basmati rice and biriyani. This ad completely breaks the stereotype of 'India v/s Pakistan'.
The last example that I will be taking the help of to drive the point home is an advertisement by Zigy. An online medicine portal, it delivers medicines if you just upload the prescription which you want medicines for. This ad by Zigy shows a woman buying medicines for her mother who lives far from her. But the surprise comes when it is revealed that the elderly woman is not her mother but in fact her ex-husband's mother. Although she has had a divorce, she still cares for her ex-mother-in-law like it's her own mother. Our society has this deep-seated notion that if divorced from her husband, a woman has to cut all ties with her husband's family. Smashing this stereotype, this ad has emerged as the winner.
You have to always break stereotypes. No matter where you find them, if it is wrong, it has to be crushed and destroyed. No good comes from believing in a stereotype and acting accordingly. Embrace the changes that people have, respect their emotions and always love them for the uniqueness they have in them.
No comments:
Post a Comment