It took someone all of five minutes to criticize the commercial for not being the television equivalent of a high school text book. Where all races, ignoring proportional representation, are represented on a check box bases.

Maybe next time the Microsoft marketing team can include a giant black face mascot and place him in impromptu situations where the act college kids socializing is the general theme?

Up next on Gizmodo: Race-baiting through ads for feminine hygiene products, the Chevy Tahoe and Captain Crunch!

Woops, in complete rant...

In conclusion, maybe then this argument would have an actual base on which to stand, instead of arguing a point to such a stretch that it seems the only reason it is mentioned is to argue.

It was clear to me -- living in not one, but two of our nations major cities -- that the first adopters of the iPod were, for the most part, white males between the ages of 20 and 35. At first, the price of the iPod was prohibitive, and it still is. Furthurmore, you (usually) need a computer to use them. Poor people cant afford iPods, nor can they afford computers. Since white people have the majority of the wealth in this country, why bother marketing to people who cant afford them. Makes sense to me, Microsoft. The Dog part, I can't explain. I hate dogs. Most people love dogs, more than poor people in fact. (I live in San Francisco, I know this to be true). Dogs are more likely to own iPods than poor people? I get it. I can see it now... DogPod. You just wait.

Wow. Just wow. At first I thought "hey, maybe a little racial humour. Haha. Those crazy gizmodo editors. Always having fun at the expense of others." Then I realized "this isn't funny at all". Either it's a weak attempt to be anti-microsoft for no apparent reason other than irritating adverts, over-politically correct to an extreme, or just being a jerk just for the heck of it. White/hispanic? No minorities? Last time I looked at a demographics chart, hispanic WAS a minority. Also, you also seem to want to include every ethnicity, every race, in every commercial. Or none at all.

If so, where are the East Timor natives? A man of Islamic faith from Berlin? My aunt May?

I'd like to see a chart of people who own iPods broken down by race. I after seeing said chart I think you all would change your tune and think that the agreeably argumentative statment made by Mr. Lam is not such a baseless attempt at enciting a riot after-all, but an observation that might actaully have some merit.

Okay, so ill admit it. I didnt even watch the stupid ads when I posted the other comments. But after seeing them, I think I felt like I wanted to vomit.

I dare anyone at this point, to make the statment that these spots are directed at anyone other then white males and females between the ages of 15 and 35. (maybe the occasional 40 year old who just cant let go)

Go ahead... I dare ya!

Before you jump down people's throats without so much as a fully-formed argument, you might want to consider that maybe Microsoft's marketing people have some thoughts going through their heads other than willfully excluding and oppressing so-called minorities. Did it occur to you that they might have a plan that extends beyond your knowledge?

And so what if Microsoft were to focus a particular marketing campaign more toward one particular demographic than another? Smart marketers focus their marketing dollars where they are likely to have the greatest return on their investment (e.g., by gaining new customers) or the greatest public relations benefit (e.g., by appealing to emotion and pseudo-logic instead of real logic). I often see advertising campaigns that feature primarily one so-called minority ethnicity or another, but that doesn't make those marketers racist; they are probably just trying to spend their marketing dollars INTELLIGENTLY.

In case you didn't know, in some places quite distant from Asia, including Silicon Valley, so-called "white" people are as much of a minority as so-called "Asian" people (I say "so-called" because both generalizations are misleading). At San José State University, non-"white" Asians (referring to ethnicity, not actual skin colors, of course) are the single largest ethnic group.

what a random coincidence, I'm posting this whilst in a religious studies course where we happened to be studying (watching movies) of Malcom X

bode well this does not for the zune

Well, one commercial shows a hip hop concert, though the dubbed music isn't the same genre, it doesn't take away from the video images, f a hip hop concert.

Another shows a black couple in a parking lot, playing hip hop music in thee background..

And you can tell the ethnicity of the break dancers from one commercial? Oh, of course.

Man! So racist!

You're all forgetting some important factors. Which channel will the ad be played on? What shows will the ad be run with? What timeslots will it be included in?

I disagree with Brian. Smart marketers will try and, first and foremost, invest in a market which is already stable and overflowing with cash. In this case, the market is already there, it's just a matter of penetrating that market.

Considering that this ad is saying the key selling point is the sociability of the product, I think it could have done a better job highlighting this in a more creative manner. People hanging out in a park?

Show two people walking down a sidewalk towards eachother with white earphones on, bump into eachother, exchange dirty looks and keep walking. Then have two people doing the same across the street, and then pull out their Zunes and commence happy song sharing.

Something along those lines...or maybe the DogPod is the answer. (as long Brian is sure that a dog is an ethnic group)

Whoa, a weighty topic on a tech blog? What's up with that?

Anyways, just wanted to point out a couple things. First of Mr. Brian Sexton, I see what your saying, but I'd have to disagree on certain points. I love how you call us "so-called" minorities. I would have to argue that the term minority is not a reflection of actual numbers. It is referring to those in power. If you look at the racial breakdown of those in political positions, CEOs of American corporations, and basically the majority of land owners in America, most of them are white males. That's why, even thought there are more women on the planet than men, they are considered a minority.

And to Galls, personally as an Asian I find it callous of Microsoft to completely ignore us in their marketing. Seriously, how many Asians work at Microsoft? I'm sure it's not a small number. And yeah it pisses me off to no end that the majority of ads I see are targeting to white people. Personally I would like to see more interracial ads, because it reflects the world we live in. or maybe just my world.

And for those that say "who cares it is only an ad". Well, these ads help to sumbliminaly reinforces how our society is structured. To this day I hear comments that are blatently racist, either directed at me or others. I'm not saying that this is a direct correlation between ads and racism, but I am saying that ads, especially those that reinforce the institutional racist beliefs of this coutry, are a part of the problem.

In conclusion I love the Apple ads because they market a product to people not different ethnicities. And Mr. Brian Lam, thanks for stirring up the pot.

I am trying to determine if anyone actually watched all the ads here. I find it odd that Mr Lam and others see it as not being representational for blacks. Given that the last commercial has only two people in it, and they are both black. That if you actually look at the mix of people in the first two commercials you will find that there is a broad range of ethnicities. (and 2 dogs? there on the order of 20 it seemed in the first) If anything why not pick on MSoft for not including Samoans, Inuit and the obviously complete absence of anyone from Afghanistan.(additionally I where are the cats, lizards and goldfish) Comparing to Apple, come on, a bit tired there, no? All Apple did was make everyone the same color, oooh really big cajones there. Of course by that logic, MSoft should spray everyone in the ad a beautiful Pantone color.(maybe mix these and the Sony Bravia ads) Leaves me wondering, where the big fault is and why it was worth a post on Gizmodo.

What a country, where it seems to be worse to even accidentally exclude a race from something a company uses to generate revenue, than to actually break a law.

andronmon, you are the exact kind of person who uses euphemisms to erode the English language, are you not? A minority is w.r.t. population, not arbitrary notions of "who is in power." If you want to come up with a new term for who you see as "less socially empowered people" then you would seem far more rational, and give merit to your argument.

I, for one, am very thankful that courts are run by judges (crotchety as the system may be) than by the ruthless court of angry, emotional, reactionary, group-thinking public opinion.

Whew, that felt really good. I'm sure I'll get heat for this one. ;)

Up next, Gizmodo hires teenage trolls to write blog articles, decides to ditch any attempt at real reporting and instead opts for banging on keyboard.

Dear Microsoft:
Please make a yellow Zune so Mr. Lam will be happy and stop ranting about racism that's just not there. Thank you.

So, as I understand it from the posts, white people are more likely to be stupid enough to buy a Zune and fall under the Big Brother graces of all might Bill?

Got it.

That's pure and simple bullsh*t.

First, It's a pretty bad add but!

You american people are so racist that see racism everywhere!
"Duh.. if there isn't a black man, then it's for white people."
"duh... there are 3 dogs and no vatican priest.. that surely must mean that dogs are more important than the church".

Light off, this is one of the most stupid and out of purpose post (and comments) I've read here on gizmodo! Seriously, I'm still hopping this was a joke...

Be serious.

Ben.

It's all economics.

Black people steal their Ipods, so you have to make sure all the dumb white people own them so the black people have somebody to steal from :P.

This is a tasteless joke, nothing more. I don't believe it, and I want to make that clear before some treehugging, hippy motherfucker gets all irate. Humor offends somebody, that's why it's humor.

Interesting that anyone who would take offense at your words would be a "hippy motherfucker" one of which I'd assume you're not including yourself in which would seem to state that you don't find your words offensive in the least!

I've always felt if you have to explain yourself, then you're making the wrong comment to the wrong people. :)

by the placement of the Zunes in the picture... you can tell who they think is most important. whitey is up front and in charge. then we have the black Zune standing behind him menacingly (perhaps in the role of private security?). then there is the sleeping hispanic Zune. tired from a long hard days work in a grueling service industry. a job the white Zune is "too good for" (yet will still complain about the hispanic Zune 'stealing from him'). and of course there are no asians in the ads... they aren't selling a yellow Zune are they?

so yeah. it's like the klan produced this ad campaign. to corrupt the youth of america and promote a new world order of segregation and racial contempt. it's sick really. so don't buy a Zune. only pure hate-filled racists would buy a Zune.

woah, bigTrue, I was thinkin' along those lines too, as a joke in my head though, of course

On the whole race exclusion from commercials thing, I've no comment. I'm Asian and don't really feel that our kind or any other kind for that matter have been exclusively screened out by MS' mkting team. It's not like we feature alot of caucasians in our advertisements back home wherever it is, we all buy the same stuff at the end of the day anyway.

Haha, I actually found something funny in this post aside from the tense racial debate (well, funny to me anyways)

What was that dude in the photo trying to say?!

"Fffffff...."

It looks like it, but I'll never know...

white people *smh*
@bigtrue- humor doesn't offend someone. that is offensive humor.

the music doesn't match the pictures. It's a bit weird. These aren't very good commercials.

These ads, at least the first two, which were the only ones I watched, were filmed at Scribble Jam in Cincinnati, Ohio. It's the Midwest's largest hip hop festival (Eminem got his first break by coming in 2nd in the freestyle competition in 1996 or 97), and Microsoft was probably going for that balance between middle America and hip hop street cred.

The first clip is from Burnet Woods park, on what looks like the last day of the festival, when people mainly hang out. So, whatever the shortcomings of the ad vis a vis racial diversity, this was a real event that MS was trying to capture. And this is what hip-hop fans (especially indie hip hop kids in the Mid West) look like.

Black, Brown, and white? Racism like it should be....apple makes green and red, and silver ipods...who has silver skin anyways? Weird colors are so ipod mini...which werent good.

If Gizmodo is going to start posting racial breakdowns of every commercial they come across, I'm going to start reading Engadget.

For the record:

Video 1 - At least 10 black people, 6 viewable within first 10 seconds. More than a dozen Hispanics. One possible Asian, but I'm leaning against.

Video 2 - A handful of black people. Several possible Hispanics. No obvious Asians. This video has shorter cuts and the low quality makes it hard to distinguish between lighter-skinned people.

Video 3 - A couple of black people. No obvious Hispanics. One definite Asian. Big surprise, a rock concert is attended by primarily white people.

Video 4 - One person (white) and two dogs (one brown the other is brown and white).

Video 5 - Primary focus is a black couple. Six blurry light-skinned people in background.

They market for the audiance. These are the US ads. The close observer sees the Asian dude doing some kung-fu moves with a headband on in the second ad as the singer sings "Now to break the news, now to break the beat..."

In the Asian market the ad will be 95% Asians with a placed white guy in a football jersey smacking his wife to the beat.

Ok, that's it. Asians should boycott the Zune. Let's see how many dogs go buy their players.

Haha, I don't care WHATS in the commercials . . this is funny to me.

WHERE ARE THE ASIAN DOGS?!?!?!

bigTrue - if you have to tag a warning sign to the bottom of your "joke", perhaps it is something you should have left unsaid. there is a place and time for humor, but this might be the wrong forum for that.

sexton - yeah, roi is great, but so is a company's creation of good will through not seeming racially/politically/etc exclusive. Seems like it would be easier to hire an asian in place of a dog and avoid the whole conflict altogether. otherwise you risk boycots such as those proposed by jcc123

Why do people get so irate, and demand that the cultural origins of actors used in adverts match their origins.

It is a racist view point, inferring that a non-white person can not relate to the stand point of a white person. Surely people outward appearance shouldn't really matter.

.. and I never hear people say "I'm not going to buy that 103 inch plasma because those women next to it... in bikinis... are Japanese, and I'm not Japanese"

your "counts" of the different races are not only off they are indicative of nothing better to do/write. i only watched 1 so far (the others i will get to later) and i already know your numbers are off, way off.

now i appreciate picking apart pop culture as much as the next guy, but at least get the facts write when you complain, like all of those McDonald's commercials with black people eating their chicken.

if you have a racial bone to pick, write for a media outlet that caters to it, but if you are so bereft of original ideas or news to report on I'm sure most of us technophiles would rather nothing at all.

I'm appalled that nerdy whites & asians aren't on the crunk and pimp juice ads!!!

Ezza, you hit the nail on the head. Also, why does Gizmodo sink to trolling now? (I admit, I bit)

I know exactly why asian demographic was not represented in the commercials. The thing is that asian people generally like to look and act like white people that's why if you put an asian kid in the commercial, other asian kids wouldn't think it's cool. That's why it's smart for Microsoft not to put aisans in the ads, 'cause by doing so they will sell more to asians then if they did put an asian face in the commercial.

GAH! I knew it, it's a crusade against the Asian population! Think about it, They have BLACK BROWN and WHITE players? Where's the yellow love? or gold. At least apple had gold iPods! Then of course, they took em down, cause they weren't selling, because no self respecting asian would buy from apple, but instead would buy a nondescript, discount mp3 player, that's what I did, I'm asian. Asian pride! Then I bought an iPod cause my mp3 player broke, hey, I'm half white too.
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by the placement of the Zunes in the picture... you can tell who they think is most important. whitey is up front and in charge. then we have the black Zune standing behind him menacingly (perhaps in the role of private security?). then there is the sleeping hispanic Zune. tired from a long hard days work in a grueling service industry. a job the white Zune is "too good for" (yet will still complain about the hispanic Zune 'stealing from him'). and of course there are no asians in the ads... they aren't selling a yellow Zune are they?

Brilliant. Fucking CANNOT believe I missed this one. The yellow zune isn't yellow. It's GOLD. Notice how the gold ipod mini was killed by the man in the black turtleneck.

As an African-American I wonder about the demographic breakdown of the tech sites I visit as, unlike political sites the ethnic demographic isn't mentioned often.

It's depressing when I read an article like this that makes a good social point to see all the white nativists come out and slam the authors and editors they otherwise love as long as they don't rock the boat by making any references to white privilege.

It's like, 'please, just let us enjoy it (the privileged status quo) in peace'.

The rants I'm hearing in this thread are similar to what my Dad says whites in the South said about not serving Americans of African descent in the 60s, that it was 'all economics' and nothing more.

And this article wasn't even really critical. It didn't preach. Just pointed out the demographics in the ad spots. But even a mention apparently is tooooo much for most whites, I guess.

Depressing.