Schema Magazine

Thanks, Scout Magazine for just telling it as it is:

Did Tourism BC err on this or are all of our readily identifiable (in the US market) celebrities white like rice? I understand David Suzuki probably isn't very big in Texas, but with the absence of any colour in the spot, Barber has a point, albeit a cynical one. Call me naive, but I prefer to think we're so post-racial here that it never even occurred to the team that greenlit the ad. That said, ad creatives do think about these things, don't they? I'd hate to think a meeting was held and it was decided that BC would be more marketable if it was portrayed as a rugged whitefest. One of the BC's greatest strengths is its diversity. It's something that should be celebrated and sung to the rafters, no?

Just for clarification, I AM A HUGE FAN OF EVERYONE IN THE BC TOURISM AD, and VERY PROUD that they are all from BC. But something's missing. In fact, Ontario Travel got it right in their ads, also running at the same time. Somehow they were able to feature some of their local talent, such as PHATT Al, Annick Obansawin, and Ryan Isojima, and still make Ontario appear like a diverse province. Take a look at ontariotravel.net

In similar fashion to my post about the opening ceremonies, this sparked some comments on Scout Magazine that make me wonder if we've digressed to the 1960s. But this anonymous comment really sums all of it up.

This bizarre 'you're a racist if you complain about racism' shit is such a joke...

I've been reading multiple articles on the Games and I've found the ones discussing cultural diversity to be the most inflammatory and surprising. Any time someone mentions anything about representing a more full (and accurate) picture of our cultural diversity, all I hear are cries of 'political correctness', 'don't like it, go back to where you came from' and accusations of being 'anti-white'. There are others that somehow believe that we live in this post-racial society up here in Canada when there is plenty of evidence that we haven't achieved this utopic colourblind parity just yet. Considering that the majority of our 'celebrities', politicians, executives, billionaires and decision makers are still significantly of a specific demographic, we can hardly say we're somehow beyond racism being an issue.

This is hardly a bleeding hard liberal argument or some whining ethnic kids that needs attention, but plainly represented in advertisements like these and most major events. The fact that most people know very few famous people of colour from BC and/or Canada is something we should question, not take for granted. We would all love to get to a place where we don't have token-coloured people or that people don't have to scrutinize the media for only featuring people of one demographic, skintone, gender etc. That day isn't here yet folks, which is why we're still having this conversation.

Being 'blind' to this doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Further, wanting to see a more accurate representation of the people who live in British Columbia in an ad promoting the place we ALL live in is not racist and/or anti-white. This is our reality and the reality of people, urban and suburban, who live in British Columbia... It is something to be proud of and one of the most significant parts of what makes our province and our country great.

Couldn't have said it better myself.