A recent consumer survey says Canadians react favorably towards advertisers that show non-whites in their ads, and 40% of respondents believe showing non-whites in ads makes the pitch more believable.

The study of attitudes toward visible minorities in advertising was conducted by Goldfarb Consultants for the Race Relations Advisory Council on Advertising and is funded by the federal Department of Multiculturalism.

rraca was set up in 1990 by the Canadian Advertising Foundation.

According to the study, 70% of Canadians believe advertising is too geared to white consumers and does not reflect the demographic reality of the country.

That figure jumps to 80% when broken down to include visible minority respondents only.

Beer and liquor ads

Beer and liquor ads are seen as the most ‘white’ and least representative of the multiracial population.

Fast food, soft drink, department stores and fashion/apparel industries were cited as sectors which attempt to make ads more representative of reality.

Newspaper and outdoor ads are seen as the worst offenders.

Asked which medium is doing a good job at being representative, 57% of the study’s respondents named tv, and 56%, magazines, while 29% cited outdoor, and 28%, newspaper. PS