Throughout history, advertising has used racist ideas to sell products to their consumers. Companies rarely put different minority groups in their ads, but when represented, the ads portrayed them as slaves, servants, or problems in society. Although advertisements in the past have contained many different forms of racism, companies today have begun to focus more on creating diverse ads with ideals that appeal to all ethnic groups. Before the civil war, when slavery was a common practice, white people ran the advertising industry. The ads they released showed white people and were directed toward white consumers. Back then, ads included racist and stereotypical slurs that depicted people of color (specifically blacks) as inferior to whites
