June 10th, 2010 
Adrienne 
I was on my way to Alabama when I started having an intense craving for some chicken nuggets. Since I was nowhere near the state line I decided to ignore it and press on. Well, somewhere between Columbus, Georgia and my destination my craving got the best of me; when I saw those golden arcs I knew I had to stop. After receiving my 10 piece Chicken McNugget (I know, I’m greedy) I took a seat to devour my meal. Mid bite I looked up and spotted this picture (left) hanging above a vacant booth.
Recently I have noticed more natural haired women in advertisements, print & television. This may be due to the fact that I am now natural; but, in my opinion, there seems to be an upsurge of models rocking their natural hair in mainstream media. This picture and recent ads sparked some thoughts.
When a model is chosen to represent a company she not only sells a product, she must embody the company (its values) & the message it is relaying to its consumers. What is it about natural haired African-American models that cause advertisers to prefer them over their relaxed counterparts? Or better yet, what does their natural hair represent?
What do you think?
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I’m not an expert marketer but I think that advertisers are trying to reach out to women who are natural. Personal appearance of whomever is selling the product does play a part in winning over the audience of the advertisement.
If you were to see an advertisement for a hair product, say, Garnier Fructis, and the woman in the commercial had natural hair it might convert you in some way to try their product. You might think “Hey, if it works for her it might work for me!” Although this kind of advertising is persuasive it can also be misleading. Like I said personal appearance can play its part. And a lot of African Americans and people of African decent the world over are not natural. Some do not want to be and some have not yet converted. Companies probably want their advertising departments to have their “finger on the pulse” so to speak. If the models (and they are most likely models or actors) in their commercials have natural hair then the company thinks that this is the African American woman.
As far as just the presence of naturals in main stream media. I think it is comforting to see that our new look is accepted at least by those who want to sell us something! lol.
I’ve noticed the same thing! From soap commercials to Coca-Cola commercials to McD’s. All of the black (and biracial) actors have natural hair. And, the kids definitely do. I do think that the marketers feel that “real” African Americans have natural hair. That’s what I think, at least… I have white friends to ask me often why I am not natural (I am currently transitioning and I will cut my relaxer off in a month), they cannot believe that I am straightening my hair when I have naturally curly hair…
I enjoy reading your information and comments. I must admit I have not developed the courage to go natural. But I truly admire all the natural, beautiful African American women who are natural. LOL
I made a mistake by placing LOL under my comment for June 22. What I meant to say was “Lots of Love”, definately not Laugh out Loud. Please forgive my mistake.
Thanks.
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