The Ask—discover implicit bias in advertising.

The insight
In 2017, 74% of American National park visitors were white.

The idea
Replicate a study from the 90s to see if representation (other than white men) has increased.

I spent a year analyzing over 1000 magazine advertisements to understand how the relationship between race and recreation is depicted in modern advertising for my undergraduate honors thesis.

The Background

Historically, ethnic/racial minorities have had fewer positive experiences with outdoor spaces than White people in America. Throughout centuries of American history, outdoor spaces have typically been associated with exploited labor among Latinx, Asian, and African Americans, while White Americans have had the privilege to fully enjoy nature. This segregated access to Great Outdoor recreation — recreational activities engaged in a “wild” or natural setting — permeated through media. One significant medium was print magazines. As we can see in the Sunset magazine above, ethnic/racial minority groups were often used in magazine advertisements to evoke a sense of “untamed wilderness” as an attempt to lure White Americans westward, rather than shown in settings of recreation in the Great Outdoors.

More recently, in a study that analyzed over 4,000 magazine advertisements in Time, Outside, and Ebony magazines between 1984 and 2000, Dr. Derek Martin found evidence to support his theory of a “racialized outdoor leisure identity”, which is a “socially constructed conception of participants in wildland recreation”. Martin found that Black models were not only rarely included in wilderness settings whereas White models were heavily featured, but Black models were also “confined to urban and suburban environments” while it was clear that White models had “exclusive domain over the Great Outdoors”. Martin argues that this difference has potentially negative consequences on how ethnic/racial minorities are viewed by others and themselves in relation to nature.

Few studies have examined the geographical location of models in advertisements as a connection to their access to the environment and Martin’s theory of a racialized outdoor leisure identity was strikingly evident.

As you can see in the Tropicana campaign above, Martin found that the portrayal of White models in Great Outdoor settings was far-reaching in regard to geographical setting, whereas Black models were often confined to urban or suburban settings. We can see two White men in wild and rugged locations such as atop a mountain, while the Black man is shown in what appears to be a park, a standard suburban location.

Beyond just location, race-based differences among model recreational activities were also evident. In this Gatorade advertisement from 1994, one can see evidence of a racialized outdoor leisure identity in Outside magazine, as the Black models are participating in urban or suburban leisure, such as basketball, track, and cycling, whereas the White models are shown partaking in mountain biking and climbing, both Great Outdoor leisure activities. The Humalog ad also shows a clear contrast between the White couple (shown cycling through water, fully equipped with helmets, gloves, and sport sunglasses) and the Black couple (depicted leisurely biking in an urban environment in everyday clothes).

In his study, Martin found that in Ebony and Outside magazines, the odds of White people being shown in the Great Outdoors was 6 times greater than Black people. In addition, depictions of recreation were also racialized.
White models were shown at a higher rate participating in Great Outdoor leisure activities (such as hiking or kayaking) more than their overall presence in the magazine. In contrast, Black models were shown participating in urban leisure activities (like playing football) more frequently than they appeared in the magazine as a whole. In Outside magazine, Martin found that only 5 out of 354 models participating in Great Outdoor leisure activities were Black, while 13 out of 181 models participating in urban leisure activities were Black. In other words, Black models were 7 times more likely to be shown participating in urban leisure activities than in Great Outdoor activities.

Shocked by his findings, I was curious to see if representation among ethnic/racial minorities in advertising had increased almost two decades later. With efforts in the industry as a whole to promote inclusion and diversity, the picture must have changed, right?

My study

After flipping through dozens of magazines and analyzing over 1,000 advertisements in Time, Outside, and Essence* magazines over the past year, it was evident that not only are outdoor spaces still reserved for a White population, but the recreational activities within these spaces also remain racialized.

In both Outside and Time Magazine between 2016 and 2018, 9 out of every 10 models shown in the Great Outdoors were White. In Outside magazine, even though Black model representation increased by almost 8 times since the previous study, their presence accounted for only 42 of the 480 models shown in Great Outdoor settings.

Above, although there is a clear objective to include women in outdoor spaces in this North Face campaign from 2018, evidence of a racialized outdoor leisure identity was evident. Strikingly similar to the Tropicana ad twenty years prior, the White and Asian models are shown climbing mountains and fully enjoying the Great Outdoors, while the Black model is shown in a completely indoor setting. This advertisement depicts a figurative and literal barrier between “Tiera” and the Great Outdoors as she gazes to the outdoors through an office window.

Expectedly, Outside magazine depicted the highest number of people shown in both the Great Outdoors and participating in Great Outdoor leisure.

However, I found that of the 362 models shown participating in Great Outdoor Leisure activities in Outside, 338.5 of them were White. In other words, ethnic/racial minorities made up only 6.7% of people shown recreating in the wilderness. In contrast, 35.6% of ethnic/racial minorities were shown participating in urban leisure activities in the Great Outdoors, a representation five times greater than the population’s overall presence in the magazine. This racialized outdoor leisure identity can clearly be seen in the 2018 Go Rving campaign above, as the White families are enjoying Great Outdoor leisure activities, such as camping and hiking, while the Black family, while they are in the Great Outdoors, are playing football, an urban activity.

In summary, the Honda advertisement above serves as an exemplar of the evidence I found over the course of eight months and thousands of paper cuts. Great Outdoor activities like fishing, rock climbing, and camping seem to still be reserved for a White population, while the people heading to urban activities, such as a meeting or a picnic, are racial/ethnic minorities.

It is clear that although some forms of racial/ethnic minority representation have increased since 2000, racialized outdoor leisure identity remains both stagnant and problematic in contemporary advertising. I hope that this evidence encourages advertisers to think critically when casting models within campaigns because although some discourse surrounding inclusion in the industry is occurring, a significant change, in this case, has not. I argue that depictions of a racialized outdoor leisure identity in media have the potential to both further stereotypes and reduce participation from people who do not see themselves reflected in these messages.

While the relationship between Americans and their relationship to the Great Outdoors is as complex and diverse as the people who constitute our country, it is crucial that those with the privilege to do so encourage and defend the rights of everyone to enjoy and access nature.

*Essence Magazine was substituted for Ebony Magazine due to access to resources as it is similar in circulation and readership (Essence: 1,055,117 and Ebony: 1,333,421).