Race Logic and “Being like Mike”: Representations of Athletes in Advertising, 1985–1994

Abstract

Although participation in sports by black athletes has increased, evidence remains that these athletes still face discriminatory practices. One arena in which black athletes are treated differently from their white counterparts is the advertising of products by athletic spokespersons. This paper examines the stereotypes used in portraying black athletes in advertising by scrutinizing advertisements in Sports Illustrated from 1985 to 1994. I hypothesize that advertisers will draw on stereotypes from both sport and more general society to depict athletes. Two hundred ten advertisements in the sample contain well-known athletes; content analysis reveals that black athletes are more likely to be portrayed as succeeding because of innate physical abilities, while white athletes are more often portrayed as succeeding because of hard work, intelligence or leadership qualities. In addition, black athletes are more Likely to be portrayed as angry, violent or hypersexual.