Total Market American

In Total Market American, Marcel Rosa-Salas explores how US advertising reinforces racial categories for profit. Through ethnographic research at advertising agencies and key industry events, Rosa-Salas highlights advertising strategy as an influential commercial arena for racial theorizing, closely linked to the forms of racial knowledge prevalent in government, academia, and business. Central to her analysis is what she calls the industry’s “racial information system” - a network of practices, personnel, and technologies that institutionalize racial classification as both a predictive and persuasive tool with the aim of influencing consumer behaviors among Hispanic, Asian, and Black Americans. Within this information system, the “general” market is implicitly defined as both white and the average American while other racialized groups are classified within a “multicultural” market that sustains white normativity and monetizes racial difference. While brands claim to champion racial inclusivity amid demographic shifts through the rise of “total market” strategies, Rosa-Salas shows that these techniques actually perpetuate a legacy of racial distinctions in US advertising, including within the classification algorithms that drive digital advertising and surveillance.