My letter to Spirit Airlines and their most recent advertisement.

Dear So-and-So,

Let’s get to the point.

You've had some tacky advertisements before. I cringed when I saw the one with what looks to be Michael Jackson dropping Kate Middleton's newborn baby over a ledge (Classy.) Nonetheless, you do offer the "cheapest" prices in the airline industry, so sometimes, I find myself overlooking the ads to get to the plane ticket.

Until today. I opened your website to find an ad I assume is poking fun of the President Obama's selfie picture incident trending on the web.

Am I mad that it’s poking fun of President Obama? Nope.

Maybe it’s the fact that there’s a white woman and a black man in the ad? Nah, who cares.

What I don’t like, no, what I actually HATE are two things: First, you are perpetuating the “Angry Black Woman” stereotype by showing an, well, angry black woman. Please show me a picture where you see our First Lady screaming like a madwoman and I will head to the nearest Hallmark to buy you an apology card. I’m sure your marketing team thought it was funny. Maybe you didn’t read that much into it and did it to get a cheap laugh. But as a Black woman that knows what it feels like to be branded with such a negative label because maybe I’m not smiling enough or because sometimes giving my opinion is thought to be the equivalent of a rant, it is offensive. I won’t even waste my time giving background on what the Angry Black Woman is because you can 1) open your Web browser , 2) type in www.google.com, 3) enter “angry black woman” into the search field, 4) read results. (You are welcome.)

Second, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the First Lady of the United States of America. Again, FIRST LADY of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. She is not anyone’s “wifey,” nor boo, nor baby momma, nor any other term you felt appropriate to indirectly use on a woman that is married to one of the most powerful men in the world.

Okay, so let’s say you magically made up the advertisement and it has nothing to do with the picture incident. Where in your mind did you think it was okay to use the term “wifey” in an advertisement with Black people? Again, I frequent your site often and receive your emails on a regular basis. It’s just funny to me that out of all of the advertisements (that you bombard me with on a daily basis I might add), you want to use “wifey” in this particular ad. I’d be willing to bet that you didn’t (and won’t) pull in Black customers with that line “Make wifey happy with Spirit’s low fares!” I’m pretty sure a Black man somewhere in the world didn’t push back his chair and say “Spirit’s right. I SHOULD make wifey happy!”

Here’s a fact that you maybe didn’t know: Black people…speak Standard English!” Who knew??? So save your slang, please and thank you. Don’t try to be hip or dumb anything down to make something either appeal to Group A or get a laugh out of Group B (who’s essentially laughing at Group A.)

I understand advertising and crafting things that are funny, attractive, and sometimes shocking in order to capture a consumer’s attention, but please. Have some couth in what you put out there. And don’t use your advertising as a platform to perpetuate stereotypes.


Sincerely,

CC

P.S. - Kick rocks.
P.P.S - With no socks.
P.P.P.S -Did that make me sound like an angry black woman?