Abstract

In April 2019, genealogy site Ancestry.com released an advertisement on TV and on YouTube romanticizing a mixed-race couple during the Civil War era. The ad shows a white male trying to convince an African American female to run to the North with him so they can be together. The ad received some negative reaction because during the time period, mixed-race interactions were often forced by the white male master onto his female slave. This case is a media ethics issue because of the ad’s content and the ad creators’ lack of consideration for those who viewed the ad. The TARES test will be used to determine the ethical grounds for the advertisement. The five elements of the TARES test include truthfulness, authenticity, respectfulness, equity, and social responsibility (Patterson, Wilkins, Painter, 2019). The communitarianism philosophical principle will be applied to this advertisement to further analyze the ethics of it. Lastly, three questions will be answered to help analyze the advertisement further:

1. (Micro): If the couple were both of the same race, would the message of the ad change?

2. (Midrange): Should advertisers stem away from controversial aspects of American history?

3. (Macro): What other images could Ancestry.com depict in an ad to convey a sense of genealogy and heritage?