Erase the Black Face: Microsoft "Sanitizes" its Euro Ad

Submitted by Eternity on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 14:44.
Max Eternity - It seems the anti-Black bias disseminated in the corporate [communications] sphere is virtually never-ending. Take this article featured today @ The Huffington Post bearing the title "Microsoft's Ad In Poland Photoshops Black Man, But Keeps Asian Man, White Woman."

Microsoft's U.S. version of the ad:

Microsoft's Polish version of the ad:

We talk about racism, but it's more complex than that. Yet it's an anti-Black bias, the most pervasive form of Xenophobia, which colors public discourse more than any other ism. It's a cruel, cruel reality.


Read the full HuffPost article here.

( categories: )

yes, it's more complex

It makes an impression when we can highlight this in two versions of the same ad. And maybe it says something about Polish people and something about American people, but I don't think this is all that significant an example of that (real) bias.

Ads are targeted. Any ad campaign with much of a budget gives a great deal of consideration to the identity (race, gender, etc.,) of those portrayed.

Similar choices are made constantly. Drive around Cleveland and the suburbs and look at billboards. Clear decisions. It's just not always so easy to hold up one against the other and isolate the differences.

Look at advertisements in another country. Do you think, in Microsoft's ads in India, that they used the first photo? I doubt it. If they didn't, does that mean that Indian people are racist about people of African, Caucasian, and East Asian ([I'm guessing]) descent?

Microsoft tried to cut costs by not doing an entirely different ad campaign or photoshoot for two somewhat different markets... Unfortunately for them, we're [understandably and well-foundedly] very sensitive about these issues.

The largest minority nationalities and ethnic groups in Poland are Silesians (about 200,000), Germans (152,897 according to the census, 92% in Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship), Belarusians (c. 49,000), Ukrainians (c. 30,000), Lithuanians, Russians, Roma, Jews, Lemkos, Slovaks, Czechs, and Lipka Tatars.[13] Among foreign citizens, the Vietnamese are the largest ethnic group, followed by Greeks and Armenians.
-- Poland (Wikipedia)
See also, Demographics of Poland (Wikipedia)

 

Whitewash and Mea Culpa

Hi Jeff,

I don't need to be told what I see.

I'm a 20+ year artist, who writes for a couple magazines--also owning my own graphics company, with much experience in marketing and advertising.  So, I won't even bother to debunk your weak-ass mea culpa.  Because, it's nothing more than a farcical attempt at using an elaborate rational so as to whitewash the glaringly obvious.

Microsoft thought that a black face would be offensive to white people in Poland....end of story.

Why you so interested in this anyway?  And I have to wonder, considering that just today that a couple contributors here have arrived at the conclusion that I've gotten a little too big for my pants, as it were.   Is your contrary explaination of the article to discredit me?  Are you or someone you know on here, disgruntled by my well informed and ever so friendly damn-it-all-to-hell attitude?

If this is an innocent attempt to justify an authentic opinion...great!  But if this is something more insidious, I can assure you, you're wasting your time.

I am not the one.

And ya know...how can you be so sure of your own theory, especially when you consider the legacy of vitriolic white supremacy that has endured in the nation, and indeed some might say around the world, for the better part of the last 1000 years?

The evidence clearly speaks for itself, and were it not the case, CNET would not have reported that Microsoft issued an apology...as reported in the article @ The Huffington Post.  Did you bother to read it; all of it?  

We are looking into the details of this situation," a Microsoft representative told CNET News. "We apologize and are in the process of pulling down the image."

So what's next, you'll pull out a bible and try to convince me with it, that slavery was a good thing?  Oh I get it, let's teach this boy how to think. 

Please tell me you're not a friend of Schleps.

But whatever the case, if you've got a bone to pick with this, take it up with Microsoft, CNET or The Huffington Post.

I'm not your nanny or your mother, so go burp on someone elses shoulder.

Blah...blah...blah...

Eternity

Eternity vs Schuler - going with Schuler on this one

I agree with JeffS that it was probably less racism and more conform to the local norm that drove the ad image for Microsoft. 

It is the motive behind the color change that determins its guilt.

How do we know the motive - we don't even know who did the photoshop...

 

PS: usually I get along with the both of you. 

best,

jeffb

Eternity vs Schuler

 I think that it is both. Business people want to target their audience. It is the norm, but it also panders to the worst in us, be it racism, sexism (hot babe's), homophobia, etc.  

Both: Racism and merchandizing

dwebb has the larger vision.    Corporations are whores to be sure.  And lying ones to boot.  But anyone who has been a vendor succumbs to commerce.  And anyone who sells anything, including their own platform/person, tailors their sales speach to the audience in front of them.               

Point: How many "Polish Jokes" do you think go down in Polish bars?  

The motive for photoshoping out the black guy's head and sliding in a white guy's head may have had nothing to do with racism, but everything to do with selling microsoft monopoly products - in a cultually comfortable context.

culturally comfortable context

To me, this usually means that we are comfortable with people like our selves. You example of vendors and sales persons is a good one. How many of us though, are willing to speak up when that vendor/salesperson is appealing to our inner fears, feeding on our insecurities of people or concepts that are outside of our "norm". It is tough to do so, and it is uncomfortable for us to think about. It needs to be appreciated when it does happen. 

Comfortable? At who's expense?

Jeff B,

Here's the deal.  I'm totally down with what you're all about; architecture, innovation, civic pride and all that.  HOWEVER, I can't let you slide on this. 

You end this (above) comment saying "selling...products - in a cultually [sic] comfortable context"

What the hell?  Who we trying to make comfortable here, and whoever it/they are, don't they fucking know that black people have computers too? 

It's the same money, even when a black person's holding it.

WHAT?  Are we even having this discussion?

This shit is beyoooooooooooooood ridiculous.

Just quit trying to put lipstick on this pig. 

It's a pig.  Dammit, it's a pig!

But no hard feelings; honestly, I mean that.

Eternity

Jeff B, you know how I feel about all this

Coming from the most racist place I have ever been - NEO - Eternity, don't expect sound judgement on racial issues here.

Ain't gonna happen.

Disrupt IT

Eternity, you are right on

You nailed this situation, w/ MS and here in Cleveland. 

I'm coming down to Atlanta to hang out with you asap. You rock.

And, no, we do not have anything here like the ADA (Atlanta Development Authority???), and we never had anyone like MLK or the Carters, so we have so much to learn.

Thank you for your sharing here - you bring us great joy.

Disrupt IT

Norm, you rock!

Norm,

You're awesome.  And you know what?  You're always welcome here in Atlanta...anytime.  Because Atlanta's not just the home of King and Carter, it's also the home of McKinney...as in Cynthia McKinney.  Yea, you know the one.  She's a true patriot; Tom Paine style.

Just let me know when you're ready, cause I'm in like flynn with someone who works for the Marriott, and I can get you a hella good deal on a hotel room...or suite.

I wouldn't kid ya on that.  Fa'reel.

But hey, I still love myself some RealNeo.  Cleveland rocks!

Eternity

not us nor them

Hi Eternity,

My response had nothing to do with you, so, if you don't mind, I'll stick to the original subject matter rather than making this about either of us.

In case I wasn't clear, in my remark "I don't think this is all that significant an example of that (real) bias," I meant that while the anti-Black bias you referred to is very real, that this is not an example of it.

This is an example of targeted marketing, yes. And I agree that money is at the root of this issue. However, I don't agree that racism has always been about money, as you suggest below in Power, Corruption, Lies and Money. The two have long and often been intertwined, and each has served the other: the group in power, with money, (white people,) have exerted and exploited that power to carry out their xenophobic tendencies, and have also used those tendencies to gather more power and money. But xenophobia+hatefulness, and the quest for money/power exist independently of each other, as well.

The drive for money and power will serve and exploit any bias -- any -ism -- if it means more money and power.

This ad demonstrates that Microsoft thought that in Poland the ad could do better with a white face than a black one. So Polish people identify better with a white face. It could be racism. Might very well be. But...

(Back to my earlier examples.) You wouldn't see an ad here with all Asian people in it unless it was specifically targeted at that population.

You see more ads with people of African descent in the city of Cleveland than you do in the suburbs. This means the burbs are more white, and the city is more black. That's how those people identify. By your logic, it means that both groups are racist.

You wouldn't put 70-year olds in a My Little Pony ad. Kids wouldn't identify.
Is that age-ism?
Maybe.

yogi is black and carrys his leash because yogi demands equlity

yogi is black and carrys his leash because yogi demands equlity

yogi and guy http://www.nationalwardogsmonument.org/

Jeff, I think you answered

Jeff,

I think you answered your own question in the last sentence of this post (above).  In so far as where you say:

"You wouldn't put 70-year olds in a My Little Pony ad. Kids wouldn't identify. Is that age-ism? Maybe."

Oprah Winfrey is the wealthiest, post popular woman on TV.  People all around the world identify with her.  GET IT!!!!  White people (all around the world) identify with her; first and foremost before they identify with any other talk show host--face on TV.

Will Smith is the most famous actor in the world.  He's black.

Please, please. get your head out of your ass.

But you see, in this comment and in your statement where you attempt to surmise my "logic" you omit (hacking what I see to hell) that this was not a new advertisement.  This ad, an existing ad that was perfectly fine, was sanitized; erasing the black face with the false and cruel belief that black is offensive (less worthy).  Isn't that what we do to gay people in the military...erase their face; shaming and humiliating them by telling them that that shouldn't "tell" anyone that they date (marry) people of the same gender?  Isn't that what we used to do to black people in the military...earase their face.

The dog ate my homework.  I slipped on a banana peel.  Blah...blah...blah...

Furthermore, let me refer you to this comment that I made entitled "Power, Lies, Corruption and Money."  And should you have future questions, re-read that comment.

Beyond that, here's a thought.  Why are you insistant on explaining this away?  Don't answer me on that.  Answer yourself on that. 

Really, why is that even with Microsoft having issued an apology, are you still trying to convince yourself that this was a "whoops, I dropped the soap" moment.

Come off it.  You and I and everyone in this country knows, that if black people were seen as FULLY human.  We wouldn't even be having this discussion.  It's self-evident.

Finally, I'll say it again, as it seems you didn't hear it the first time...I don't need you to tell me what I see.

Eternity

jeff s. lives with a gorgous african american goddess - do you

jeff s. lives with a gorgous african american goddess - do you

 

yogi and guy http://www.nationalwardogsmonument.org/

White Racist - Black Mistress

Cowards.

Tomas Jefferson had a black mistress, who he hid from the public eye, while keeping  their offsprings on the plantation as slaves.

So, what's your point?

Ever heard of Strom Thurman? He was a (very famous--infamous) white guy who was a known for his virulent anti-black, racist fevor; holding the distinction of having supplied America with the longest running filibuster in our (Senate) history.  And why did he do that you say?  It was to block the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1957.  Yet ironically, cruelly so, it was revealed shortly after Thurman died, that (guess what) he'd been getting on with a least one black woman all those years, having had a bi-racial love child.

So questministries, exactly what point were you trying to make here?

I don't know anything about Jeff S, beyong what I've seen here.  And if you notice, I have not (yet) called Jeff out as a racist.  Yet racism by anger or racism by ignorance, the net effect is still the same.  It causes great harm.

And too, make no mistake, racists are notorious for also being hypocrites; being proud of both--apologizing for neither.

Sadly, there are some blacks (Condoleeza Rice and Clarence Thomas to name a few) who are all to willing to buy into this sick and twisted thinking.

Eternity

Thank you Eternity

You make things here real

I was giving a white downtrodden long-time Tremont resident a ride home to Tremont, a few weeks ago, and he said "you know they hate blacks here". We still have strong pockets of white power in inner-city places like there, and Little Italy, dedicated to holding the line rather than integrating and promoting diversity, here and worldwide.

Get out in the suburbs, and the racism is palpable... my daughter called her former high school, in Medina, the most racist place she had ever been. When Obama was elected president, the students painted swastikas on the front of the building... I believe it made CNN but was not covered here.

I live under strangely different circumstances, being the only white family on an African American street, in a 95% African American city, and being hated by some for that. And, I have learned, some people in leadership here have encouraged some African Americans in my neighborhood to be especially racist toward me and my family.

The race card may be used in many ways, and cause death.

Very ignorant of MS to use race for profit, even if some view that as good business.

MS is not a good business.

Disrupt IT

Well, there it is

Norm,

Thank you Norm.  And really, does anything else need to be said about racism in America--around the world...when the heinous scars of it remains so self-evident; equivelent to the resulting scars from having a bucket of hot grits poured on one's face and body?

It ceases to amaze me, to what lengths people will go in an attempt to rationalize and justify evil.

Eternity

empty apologies

today's AP story: Congresswoman apologizes for 'great white hope' comment

oh - and "She apologizes if her words have offended anyone," "That was not the intent in any way, shape or form."  so what the hell is tHAt supposed to mean - what was the intent then????

"there are some great young Republican minds in Washington"

Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a freshman Republican congresswoman, certainly doesn't offer proof "there are some great young Republican minds in Washington"...

The phrase "great white hope" often is associated with pre-civil rights-era racism and is widely believed to have entered usage in the United States when boxer Jack Johnson, who was black, captured the heavyweight title in the early 20th century. Many whites reacted to Johnson's achievement by trying to find white fighters -- or a "great white hope" -- who could beat him. The boxer's story inspired a play, then a movie, with that title, both starring James Earl Jones.

Frightening

Disrupt IT

What is it called when a

What is it called when a white person who is living in a black community is hated?  Is that called racism?  How exactly is racism defined now?  What does it mean and what actions constitute racism. 

Simply racism, I believe, which cuts many ways

From Wikipedia:
Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.[1] In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment, while Reverse discrimination favours members of a historically disadvantaged group at the expense of those of a historically advantaged group. Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, even though anybody can be racialised, independently of their somatic differences. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination.
 
What is shocking, living in a poor African American neighborhood, is everyone here suffers from the discrimination against African Americans (decades of that) and the poor, just by proximity and association - racism makes a place unlivable. We have economic disinvestment - a food dessert in a sea of junk food - bullet proof glass at every service counter, including the post office - we have police and other local government that treat common people like dirt - it sucks.
 
If people in the urban poor neighborhoods were treated as well as in Beachwood, they would have a very different attitude about life and society.

Disrupt IT

If you really seek the truth, look to King and Carter

To ward14resident,

Contact the NAACP.  They can answer your question(s) quite succinctly.

As well, in Atlanta, there is not one, but two (massive) private institutions that are open to the public--whose sole purpose is to demolish the heirarchy of white (male) supremacy, in part by way of answering any and all question that one might have on the issue of race(ism) and every other ism:

  1. Dr. King's King Center   (404) 526-8923 
  2. President Carter's Carter Center (404) 420-5100 or  (800) 550-3560

Give them a call and come down for a visit anytime.  And while you're here, be sure to pay a visit to our beautiful refurbished City Hall, whose occupant of the Mayor's Office if a black female named Shirley Franklin. 

But I have to wonder, are you seriously interested in finding an answer to your questions?  Really?

Eternity

Eternity, why would you

Eternity, why would you doubt me?  I really can't just travel to Atlanta as my income is low and I care for someone with a disability.  That does not constitute not caring.  I think a lot of people want to know exactly what racism is and how it is perpetuated in our society and in our communities.  I live in a poor area that has a diverse population.  I don't think I need to travel outside of my area to learn first hand about it.  Who do you think I am?  You don't really know me but here you are assuming things about me that may or may not be true. 

Educate yourself

To ward14resident,

Did I not provide phone #'s to both King and Carter Centers?  And did I not provide a link to the NAACP headquarters?  Thus why are you sloppily mashing-up my clear, concise comment(s) in a Fox styled fix.

If you have doubts or assumptions, attach that language to your name, not mine.  Furthermore, did Norm not already provide direct quotes from Wikipedia on this?  And have not Norm, I, and others given more than a few in-depth observations; clearly and redundantly pointing out the grotesquely obvious [racism] we see.

So, give it a rest.  Come off the naive, airhead bullshit.  Give it up pollyanna.

I owe you nothing, but you owe yourself much.

Use your resources and like I told Jeff S (who I have nothing against, as I have nothing against you either) quit burping on my shoulder. 

Just because I care, does not mean I'm a door mat.  I'm nobody's mama or nanny, and in this age of free information, there's little excuse to be ill-informed.

Wise up--Tighten up--Educate yourself.

Eternity

I have no idea what you are

I have no idea what you are so angry about?  I didn't attack you.  But, you definately are attacking me.  For what reason?  I said that you don't know me.  Why do you judge me so harshly?  I am not an elitist but from your post you sound like you may be one.  You may know a lot but none of us knows everything.  I suggest that you keep an open mind instead of being so opinionated. 

I don't care what is written on official websites.  But, I do care about what real people think.  The people in the trenches.  If that is being naive, airheaded, and pollyannaish than I guess I will own those labels. 

Really now...?

ward14resident,

Really now...?

Angry.  These are your words; words often to used to describe a black man, the minute he uses his voice to say something certain ears don't want to hear.

You also call me an elitist.  Let's see now.  I'm a black, gay artist, who grew up in the projects.  I don't have a college degree and my car is a 1992 Ford Taurus.

Yep, guess that qualifies me for an elitist.

When Dr. King went to Chicago, he got hit in the head with a brick.  And guess who threw the brick, another black man.  Why?  Because the guy was threatened by the truth.  Some slaves, in their ignorance, will kill you if you try to set them free.

I am not that kind.

Eternity

I did not call you an

I did not call you an elitist.  What I said was that from your post you sound like you may be elitist.  And your anger is showing through loud and clear.  I have no beef with you.  But yet I felt attacked by your words.  It might be best for us to not engage in this topic anymore as it seems like we will just go round and round and accomplish nothing. 

Good day to you.  I hold no animosity towards you and I do not want to have a discussiion with you anymore on the topic of racism.  It is too volatile of a subject. 

 

this column

 is getting narrower

and narrower

and narrower....

dbra...an artist's mind

dbra,

That's funny...a narrow column for a broad discussion.

Eternity

a brOAd discussion??????

 don' be gettin' all sexist on me max...

Column squeeze is new

I'll check in with the Realneo technie who keeps this site afloat - maybe this is a Drupal feature which has been recently amplified.  At this rate a conversation will be in a vertical column of single letters.

 

Are people still using that word to describe women?

dbra,

Broad, as in wide.

Narrow...broad.

You know, and it's funny you should mention this because I've always kinda thought women should have a word that doesn't necessarily include the word "men" to describe who the are.  I have no idea what such a word might be, but it should be something that's stands on it's on.

Eternity

eASy... EAsy....!

 i like the term broad - i was joking!

and i like the narrowing columns - gives a sort of visual impact that i find charming................................

All is well

To ward14resident:

Being an informed, egalitarian man, with grit, will and determination, with a heart filled with passion, vivacity and assertation, leaves little or no room for anger. 

I have little use for that which I find foul.

And of anger, since you mention it, is for those who believe they have limited choices.  I believe no such thing. 

I am liberated.  I am empowered.

Hence to you and to all of NEO--Cleveland, I send a wave of love...healing vibrations of wealth and transformation.

All is well.

Eternity

circle

completed. love back to you. 

taking a risk

I am taking a risk by jumping in on this when I haven't read all of the postings, so please consider that when compiling a response.

Ward14: Hate is ugly. It hurts. It can destroy communities and cities. I think that what the discussion here is about is racism as institutionalized hate, i.e. hate based on skin color, ethnicity, etc.  I am a white woman, and I listen to the world around me. Lots of racism. It is there. It is so there that it becomes a part of our lives. Our country was built on it. And all people are involved with it to some degree. No one is innocent but again we have to challenge it when we can.

Debbie

Well said

Hate is ugly. It hurts. It can destroy communities and cities.

Disrupt IT

Actions of convenience and the cruelty of isms

Debbie,

I endorse most of what you say (above) in reference to institutionalized racism, saying "Hate is ugly.  It hurts."  However, it is more than a stretch to say "all people are involved...no one is innocent"

That would be wrong.  Many are innocent. 

And your use of such haphazard verbage waves a subconscious red flag of what I call tacit racism; lumping victim with perp--muddying the waters--whitewashing the true horror of the isms insidious effects.

There are occasions when complex societal scenarios can be swiped with a broad brush, so as to get to the point, as it were.  Which it seems, is most likely what you intended to do.  I have no doubts of that.  And yet however, to effectively deduce that everyone is guilty of racism, would be patently false...adding much insult to injury.

For as you yourself also state, "we have to challenge it [rascism] when we can."  Hence that's what I've just done, challenged a racist notion, that we're all doing it.

No, we most certainly are not; no more than all police are taking bribes or all food is tainted with Monsanto poison.

When pigs fly.

Some have an absolutely clear consciousness, standing on the right side of justice--being guilty of none of this.

Eternity

ism'd

 Eternity, it was not haphazard verbage on my part and I stand by it. I will amend it to exclude children who have yet to experience the world. I do believe that there are many people who rise above the ism's . I think that they are self actualized enough to know what input that they received from the world, which includes the media, and how it shapes them. To be innocent, either a person is a child or lives in a cave.

Debbie

This

Debbie,

When you spoke of the words "all people are involved with it to some degree" you were not talking about generalized guilt, as it were.  You were clearly speaking in the context of who participates in racism and who does not; declaring "all people are involved with it to some degree."

Now you haphazardly muddy the waters, applying a comment based on a specif topic, racism, to mis-represent my respone by implying that same comment so as to imply that I believe some people are innocent (generalized, exempt, innocent of all in all situations).  I never said anything of the sort, about anybody being totally innocent of everything.  But clearly, clearly, clearly, what I did say was that "Some have an absolutely clear consciousness, standing on the right side of justice--being guilty of none of this."

And what is this THIS?  It's racism.  That's the context that I used those words.  It's all here in black and white.

So yes, to imply that everyone is guilty [involved] of being a racist is patently false, and does add insult to injury--whitewashing the reality.

I am not of the belief that every child should be spanked because one child did something wrong.

And, because I know that words can hurt, I am most cognitive of what I say.  Thus, I ask that my words not be manipulated to fit your facts, or anyone elses for that matter.

But let not this engulf and overshadow what I believe to be most true about your comment in question, and that is that you totally got it right when you said "Hate is ugly.  It hurts."  That's the reall issue here.  You get it.  I get it. Norm gets it.  I think we all get it, including Jeff S who commented first on this.

And you know, does it not speak volumes, that of all the posts that Ive posted here in the last 6+ months, this is the one that has gotten the greatest response--stirred the most controversy; drawing a few lines in the proverbial sand?

Norm (comments here, here, here, here) seems to think that Cleveland has a HUGE racism problem.  Until now, I had no opinion of this (racism in NEO) but in assessing the onslaught of comments to comments to comments to comments, it would certainly appear so.  'Cause buttons definitely got pushed on this issue.

Eternity

this

 Max, this is what I was responding to in your response to me: "However, it is more than a stretch to say "all people are involved...no one is innocent"

That would be wrong.  Many are innocent. 

And your use of such haphazard verbage waves a subconscious red flag of what I call tacit racism; lumping victim with perp--muddying the waters--whitewashing the true horror of the isms insidious effects."  Does that explain my reaction to the above and the references to isms?

We will have to disagree on the belief that some people are not guilty, i.e. innocent, of racism. Many have learned from examining their lives and grown into good people. 

It is clear that we are going in circles.

Debbie

 

 

 

Yea, that's cool

Humm, er, um...agree to disagree.  Yea, that's cool. 

So, did you see Jeff B's new(er) post about the roller skate, yard sale thingy.  That sounds sooooo cool. 

If I lived in NEO, I would be all up in that.

 

Microsoft was wrong, in more ways than one.

My opinion is that Microsoft was wrong in more ways than one....changing the face of a model means that Microsoft did not have to pay for a model and someone was cheated out of money...and in this case it was a white person who got cheated.  I hate racism in all its forms but I would think Microsoft is more about what would sell than about being racist. 

I'm glad to know that this happened in Poland and not here in America.  Maybe we, as a country, are making strides to irradicate racism in all its forms.  I certainly hope so. 

 

Wrong, royalties still have to be paid

Royalties for photographs, augemented or not, still have to be paid.  So the white person who replaced the black person is the one who got paid.

This minor oversight, again, substantiates what I've been saying all along...that racism is all about money; leveraging power--making money.

Eternity

Are any of these people paid royalties

One complaint I have heard from actors and models is that they are not part of the future of "media" at all - none of these people need to be real people, and nobody needs to be paid royalties.

Disrupt IT

True, but we're not entirely there yet

Norm,

I've heard much of the same.  And I don't doubt that it's true or soon to be true; indicating yet another reality, occuring unexpectedly as a result of expanding technology.

Nonetheless, as far as I know--being that I am involved in graphics, marketing and such (having just completed a major CD project with a vocalist who performed at Carnegie Hall last year) models are still being paid royalties.

But again, as you rightly suggest, this may not be the case in the not so distant future.

Eternity

Good test

Was the white head paid royalties... was the black head paid royalties... were either really real?

Remember the Seinfeld where George was suddenly a hand model?... I see the same hand in both the MS ads, being toned to suit the face. What about the hand... whose was it really, and did the owner get paid for the photoshop version.

All three models seem to have the same smile... could they all be the same?

I assume most digital media is now fake.

Music... they have been faking that for a long time.... what is real?

I'll introduce your vocalist to a cool violist in Cleveland and they may make beautiful music - it will be real

Disrupt IT

A Note of Caution

Hi Norm,

As the editor of Art Digital Magazine, a publication that has featured an international roster of artist working in both digital and traditional media, and being the author of a peer-reviewed white paper entitled "Collecting Digital Prints" I'd like to suggest a bit of caution before assuming and fully committing to the belief that digital=equals fake.

I've just completed an article about this very subject--digital media--digital editions--authenticity--provenance, which will be published in Artworks Magazine next month.  You can pick up a copy at most urban bookstores.

Simple test, is a digital phone call less real than an analog phone call?  And, is an analog phone call less real than a face-to-face phone chat?

Digital is very real.  And let's face it, there'd be no RealNeo with out digital media.

My writing and much of the art that I create is facilitated with digital tools.  As well, I have many fine colleagues who's tool of choice is a digital one. 

Copyright laws exist and still apply.  Professional models are still getting paid royalties.

Nonetheless, I love the idea of introducting my vocalist friend with your violinist friend.  When the time comes, and it will, we'll have to keep that in mind.

In the meantime, I'm still waiting to see those picture of the Central Viaduct you said you had.

AND...it's way past my bed time (1:11 am) so ciao for now.  Sweet Dreams RealNeo!

Eternity

Is it really necessary to use real humans?

Most IT advertising seems like clip art and I really wonder if these companies believe in using real models or tech around that legacy application of humans.

Are these humans at all?

Disrupt IT

Good question Norm. 

Good question Norm. 

digital or film?

 When the topic comes up as to the 'superiority" of film or digital imagery, I point out its like comparing acryllic to oil paints or printing to drawing - its just another medium - and its completely different in how it handles.

for awhile schools were getting rid of their "wet rooms" - film photography facillities, and then the smart ones realized that was a very stupid idea.

my work in a question of beauty is pure film imagery. i shot film and then i scanned the negatives to make the prints and the prints were done on a digital printer, but I was very insistant that the images not be manipulated on the computer. i still don't know why yet, but that was my sense.

i could not have achieved the same image through pure digital imagery. there is a quality that film provided that can not be replicated and the utilization of the media is very different.

 

Woman with the controls

  How about that fantasy ?:)
 

Actual Control isn't observable

If that handsome office lass really had the controls in hand,  no  one would know. We could not see....

We are all reacting to many influences in our environment. Many we don't recognize.

Is one the Scott's process?

the scott's process

 JBuster: please, more hints. and please tell us about those glasses one of these days.

Seems I'm not the only one

To lmchane,

Yup, I noticed that too...and thought pretty much the exact same thing.

 

Power, Corruption, Lies and Money

Rascism is always and has always, ultimately, been about money.

It's never been about anything else except leveraging power--maximizing profits; regardless of who it humiliates, maims or hurts along the way.  Thus, whether or not its intended to harm, if it harms, the net effect is still the same.

And again, for any one who really (and I make no direct accusations) read and absorbed my post and comment, again I'll provide the text from Microsoft, as was reported by CNET and subsequently written about within the overall context of said article @ The Huffington Post.

Microsoft states:

"We are looking into the details of this situation," a Microsoft representative told CNET News. "We apologize and are in the process of pulling down the image."

Hence whatever the justification, and apparently, by just looking at the rapid succession of comments to the post and my comment, there are lots of justfications; some perhaps plausable, but not believable.

Why?  Because, the bottom line is that this scenario reaks of something (however subtle) quite foul, which in no small way was clearly based on race...money!

Whether you call it ham, pork or bacon...it still clogs the arteries.  Fat meat is greasy.  It's all the same.

Eternity

i say

lets put all white men in cages and feed them bread and water.