“What Do Italian Americans Want?”
Sons of Italy CSJ Informs Ad Industry
Washington, DC--
November 29, 2006
Adweek, the popular trade magazine for
marketing, media and advertising agency
professionals here and abroad, published an article in
its Nov. 13 issue that highlights how the the
advertising industry stereotypes Italian Americans.
The article’s publication marks the first time that
Madison Avenue has paid attention to this issue,
according to the Sons of Italy Commission for Social
Justice (CSJ), the anti-defamation arm of the Order
Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the nation’s biggest
organization for men and women of Italian heritage.
The article, entitled “Take Off the Apron,” was
written by Dona De Sanctis, OSIA’s deputy executive
director, who also directs OSIA’s anti-defamation
activities from the organizations’ headquarters in
Washington, D.C.
With a paid circulation of nearly 70,000 readers,
Adweek is the most widely read magazine in
the advertising world. It covers every aspect of the
billion-dollar ad industry and reaches all levels of
advertising professionals from the smallest agencies
to the biggest conglomerates in the U.S. and abroad.
In her article, De Sanctis notes that thanks to the
popularity of The Sopranos and entertainment
like it, most commercials portray Italian American
men as gangsters while the women are usually
presented as unattractive housewives and
grandmothers.
“Commercials using Mafia imagery range from breath
mints and lip balm (Wrigley’s Eclipse and Blistex), to
herbicides (Round-Up), batteries ( Eveready), diet
pills (Stacker 2) and even milk (the International
Dairy Foods Association) and stuffed animals
(Vermont Teddy Bears),” De Sanctis notes.
The article offers studies that show how the
stereotypes found in commercials help shape public
opinion about the character and status of Italian
Americans and other ethnic groups.
Click here to read the article.
Order Sons of Italy in America
OSIA is the largest and oldest national
organization in the United States for men and women
of Italian descent in the United States. Established in
1905, OSIA has more than 600,000 members and
supporters and a network of more than 745 chapters
coast to coast.
OSIA works at the community, national and
international levels to promote the heritage and
culture of an estimated 16-26 million Italian
Americans, the nation’s fifth largest ethnic group,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Contact:
Kylie Cafiero
Director of Communications
phone:
202/547-2900
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