Jacey Fortin

61-90 (out of 832)

Fortin is the IBTimes Africa Correspondent based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She joined IBT in February of 2012, and has previously worked as an editor and reporter for various publications including The Suit Magazine and The Glass Hammer. Fortin is from New Bedford, Mass. and received a B.A. from Northeastern University in Boston.

Jacey Fortin

Cheerios Commercial Serves Up Racial Tensions For Breakfast: Why Boring Is The New Bold

A Cheerios advertisement ignited controversy this week after a slew of racist comments erupted on the brand’s YouTube page. The vitriol came in response to a 30-second commercial showing a mixed-race family. It got was so bad comments were disabled. YouTube is no stranger to discriminatory comments, but this video content was as prosaic as it gets. Who’d have thought cereal could get so serious?As a biracial American, I was excited to see this advertisement precisely because it’s so dull. As commercials go, this one can’t get any more conventional: cute kid, sunny day, happy family, banal humor. But it’s got everyone talking about Cheerios, myself included. Smart move by Saatchi & Saatchi, a marketing and communications firm that counts General Mills (NYSE:GIS) as a client.

Pages