Let me know which banner ad below is consistently clicked most frequently and why.

One of the banners below, after hundreds of thousands of impressions over the years, is clicked three times as many times at the other. Now I know the banners target different people (potential advertisers vs. readers), but I thought it might be a fun and intersting exercise anyway

Not sure this is really a fair comparison--these ads are not really "equal" but NOT because of the skin color...but because one shows a "reader" while the other does not--the fact that they happen to be of different complexions was of no consequence to me--I gravitated to the one which showed a "reading woman." It just so happened that she is light-skinned...I would be very interested to see what the response would be if they were BOTH presented as "readers"...

Hey KPCBookDiva, yeah I knew the quiz was flawed on that aspect but the impressions are still very useful. Ideally, I would have both models in both types of ads for a better test. I will actually run this type of test in the near future by running it all 4 in live ads. Thanks for your thoughts I'll post the answer after labor day.

I have to agree with KPCBookDiva, the question is woefully flawed. One image is asking a question, yet the other one is making a suggestion. Skin complexion would have no bearing on which ad I clicked on. Heck, if one of the ads was offering free chicken, pinto beans & rice and cornbread, I don't care if Betty White was in one and Halle Berry in the other, which one do you think I would click? But maybe I missed something?

I agree. The ad with the lighter skin model has a more personal touch, speaking directly to the consumer while offering a helpful suggestion.

When movies or television programs are filmed in Hollywood (and I know this from personally working on

daytime soaps).....up to 2 hours is often spent just Lighting the White or Mixed raced actress. They even

get 'airbrushed' with new video techniques now to make them look as perfect as possible.

When a Black actress is on the set...NO TIME is spent. She is just given her marker and the cameras roll.

(Victoria Rowell of "Young and the Restless" talks frequently about the fact that she had to do her own

hair & makeup every morning at 5 a.m. & was not "lit.")

I witnessed our own Tanya Boyd at "Days of Our Lives" go through similar disrespect and then be

called "evil; angry" when she pointed the unfairness out.

Herein lies a great overlooked reality in discussions like this.

Kola

I much prefer ad #2. It's cooler! If you put the darker sista in that ad, I'll bet you'd get just as much traffic. She's beautiful. You can't even see the lighter woman's face. Swap the woman from ad #1 into ad #2 and see what happens.

Lucky Lois, I've actually started the process of following your suggestion. I'm having 3 identical ads created. The only difference will be the model. One will be (for lack of better terms) "light skinned", the 2nd will be "brown skinned" and 3rd will be dark skinned. For a total of three ads soliciting people to advertise on AALBC.com.

I will do the same, creating three ads, targeting readers to visit AALBC.com. Those ads will run on other sites.

Someone off-line someone indicated that the model on the left is not dark skinned at all. At first I was a little taken aback, but ultimately had to agree. I guess it exposed by own bias Hence the addition of the "dark skinned" model.

Yeah Kola the entire media does setup unrelaistic expectations -- espeically for women. Photos are touched up to brighten teeth, the whites of eyes, to even out and lighten skin tone, remove marks, etc. Essence magazine is a master at this type of photo enhancement (manipulation). So they will have a bazillion covers of a retouched Beyonnce before you see a single unretouched photo of say an Ursula Burns on the.

Carey, as you can see some people already answered the question as posed. I'm not sure what you are missing, but it is not that deep. This is not a scientifc study -- just something I thought would be "fun and interesting". I will publish the results of the more rigous experiment shortly. In the meantime the discussion is useful -- like the relevations that the sister on the left is not "dark", and Cynique's belief that the Brown Skinned beauties reign supreme.

I just posted the article about the CHEROKEE INDIAN NATION ...today....officially kicking out

all the Black Slave descendents.

I see the crazy African lady is not so crazy.

Yeah.

You're right Troy, I didn't read the entire question. So this time I am going to say... hands down, the one on the right, simply because she's not "apparently" selling anything. Now, I have to hedge my bet by saying, my choice would depend on where the ad was displayed. It's sort of like picking a place to locate one's business or home... location-location-location. Different strokes for different folks with differing agendas on their mind.

Yes ad placement is a big factor Carey. Running the pink ad on the AALBC.com website is rather redundant (yes I did do that). And running the blue an on an wehere people likely to be interested in AALBC.com's content would be fruitless (I don't think I've done that).

I have to agree with KPCBookDiva, the question is woefully flawed. One image is asking a question, yet the other one is making a suggestion. Skin complexion would have no bearing on which ad I clicked on. Heck, if one of the ads was offering free chicken, pinto beans & rice and cornbread, I don't care if Betty White was in one and Halle Berry in the other, which one do you think I would click? But maybe I missed something?

Ha! Ha! Ha! I like that......