Showing posts with label wild Indian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wild Indian. Show all posts

Saturday, July 29, 2006

"Wild Indian" stereotype

Yesterday at the doctor's office, flipping thru magazines on the table, I was surprised to see a full page Tylenol ad on the back page of an AARP magazine. The text said something like "when you have the grandkids for the weekend." It showed an elderly person holding the hand of a kid. In the kids other hand was an ice cream cone, and on his head was an Indian headdress with multi-colored feathers. The kid was not Native.
Parents use the "stop acting like a wild Indian" phrase when their kids are out of control, but I haven't seen it in an advertisement before. I have occasionally come across it in children's books.

AARP is a huge and powerful organization. There's a lot of people out there who get their magazines. I haven't heard any protest to the ad. Have you? Why not?