This is one of the five extraordinary sections of this must-have CD for media literacy advocates. When smoking appeals are made to women, advertisers will, at times, segment the appeals toward women of color. Both of these ads reflect that smoking attracts sexy men. It would seem that unlike the appeals targeting minority men, many tobacco ads targeting minority women do not promise power or status as much as they promise being sexually attractive to men. That is the power here.
Smoking is the main way, but look closely at the female models.
Except for the color of their skin, these women could be Anglo. Remember, Virginia Slims probably did an extensive model search before it chose to feature these particular women. They could have picked women with distinctive and striking ethnic features, but they did not. Many ethnic writers and artists have pointed out that this kind of advertising reinforces stereotypes of attractiveness in ethnic communities. Most advertising and especially that which targets women, attempts to convince them that they are less attractive and, therefore, need to consume fashion and beauty products in order to become beautiful or popular.