Natural Hair in Commercials

I've noticed that in almost all commercials that feature African American females, they have natural hair. Some even have on wigs that are curly/natural looking. I'm not sure how long this has been going on but I know its been happening at least since I started transitioning back in April...

Has anyone else noticed this? How do you feel about it? Why do you think they are doing this or what message do you think they are trying to send? I would love to hear everyone's opinion on this.

I've noticed it too...or maybe I'm just more observant than before. But I do know that a lot of people have decided to go natural so maybe that might be a reason...

I definitely noticed an outpouring of naturals in commercials. From MCDonalds to Banking. I think its cool, becuz we as a ppl are so diverse that now at least children are getting to see someone that looks like them or has their hair on tv, now whether they are wigs or what not I don't know. I don't think it will last forever, as TV trends change quickly. But at least for the time being its nice being recognized.

yeah, the new TJ Maxx christmas commercial, Special K, Ross and Target. There are tons of others. Most are fro's or what looks like a WNG with someones natural curl pattern no/low manipulation. would be nice if more complex styles would be displayed but what we have is already HUGE... one step at a time right?

Its a car commerical where the lady is in the rain and a car splashes water on her.. I've seen it more too to be honest I don't remember seeing that b4. I been transitioning since last year Dec so I have to say I noticed it more about 6 months ago.. There are about 4 or 5 ladies at my job that are transitioning also and one who say she is but she keeps backsliding I was going by the comment that more ladies are going natural and its funny how we are have difference preference on how we wear our hair during the transitioning.. One gets her blow dried & flat ironed every week and has no preference to wear her hair curly. While me an another girl we choose to wear our hair back in a pony tail to show off our waves and I prefer when I am natural to wear my hair in its curly state.. The other lady who is unsure she just wears her out mostly.. Another lady she gets her hair blow dried and flat ironed during the winter months and summer months she just wear her hair out or pinned out..

bump

I noticed that a while back before i started transitioning i was almost incline to think in order to be in commercials you have to be natural lol jk

It's in a lot of the print ads here in Atlanta. Dominoes, McDonald, Wal-marts...natural hair everywhere. Praise the Lord.

I haven't see many commercials, or maybe I haven't been paying attention.

I did notice alot of curly hair before I went natural. Yes there are more commercials with curly hair but there were some.

I was just saying the same thing to myself while reading the newest issue of Essence. It seems like all of the African American women and children rock natural hair! Although I was quite disturbed to see an add for "kiddie relaxer" in the mag

Oh, it's been going on for a while. Longer than a couple of years. Hell, before I even went natural and I've been natural for 5 years now!

I'm seeing it a lot, but I do notice that it's more of the curly look than anything else. i don't see a lot of kinky/fro styles in ads.

I've been seeing it a lot too but I feel like I only started noticing it after I decided to transition. Once I made that decision it was like a blind had been lifted and I became hyper-aware of all the naturarls around me, including commercials.

Only very recently have I started seeing more of the kinky/afro textures, but I do see a lot of curly hair or curly wigs. I think the media is trying to capitalized on this new embrace by black women of their natural hair. I think that if women see women in the media with natural hair, they'll get more interested in it and may actually want to try it, which would help companies to sell all of these new "natural" lines they are coming out with.

i've noticed it alot lately, but i've seen commercials on tv where there were natural women like the pine sol lady commercial, but now she got a relaxer or a wig that straightened lol and also commercials w/ women and their children and even commercials w/ natural guys; probably becoming more popular to the general public~

This is definitely something they just started doing.. or rather increasing. People in the media are smart. They hire people to keep track of trends and then you see it on tv. Like having a black president on 24... lately there have been female presidents. They have their eye on the future. Trust and believe! You might have seen a light skin curly or random women with fros- but they are actually ALL OVER the television now. I actually love it. Now if we can start seeing commercials where it's not just implied but a product actually addressed. OH WAIT! I saw a commerical for Kinky Curly on tv this past weekend!

I was having a convo about this with a friend..Ive always noticed naturals in commercial and he said they only place natural in commercial to set black women apart from white women in the commercial..

have you ladies thought about it this way too????

I agree with you rayray19. I think they do it for a more "ethnic" look rather than for the sake of following trends. Marketing people put in front of viewers what they think they want to see, will be comfortable with, or to enforce a certain view of people, not actuality. Ironically, them doing this with curls/fros/twists may cause people to wear their natural hair or think that it's a "trend" worth following. Win!

I noticed it too; there is an Eggo commercial that shows in the DC area