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Where are the black fathers?

Advertising is a very powerful method used by companies to communicate their products as well as their culture.

As much as most adverts are created with the main purpose of generating profit, it is not unheard of for some companies to use their adverts as a form of social and racial profiling to corner a specific share of the market.

Baby K'Tan, a company specialising in baby wraps and carriers found itself under the spotlight when it used these pictures on its Baby K' Tan Carrier product.

The image on the left depicts a single black mother with a baby resting on her chest. The opposite image shows a white woman who also has a baby resting on her chest. 


(Image: Twitter)

The difference however is that unlike the black woman, she has a man (supposedly husband) standing behind her.

Once this picture hit twitter it instantly went viral with many people accusing Baby K'Tan of being racist. The company immediately responded with an apology statement explaining that the photo is misleading and is in no way a reflection of the company's culture. In its defense, the company also states that it has a total of five different product. Four of the products feature single mothers (of all races) with their babies and ONLY ONE product features a couple with a baby, and the couple so happens to be white. Does Baby K'Tan not realize that it's not just white men who stand by their women and help raise their kids.

Critics of the picture argue that it perpetuates a negative stereotype about the black community, specifically black fathers.

Although statistics (in South Africa) show that Only 33% of black children live with their fathers whereas 87% of white children live with both parents, as a black person I still find this advert offensive. Even if this is a reality for many black households, the company could have chosen a different approach; one more sensitive to the black community as a whole.

This picture is extremely unfair to the black fathers who play a prominent role in the lives of their children. By having the images in contrast, Baby K'Tan subtly disparages the black community.

Do you think this picture is racist or is it a fair representation?

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