Howard University students were baffled when they returned to school and were greeted with a Giant Grocery store circular featuring a white model – which doesn’t exactly represent the student population at the historically Black college.
The ad was placed in the grocery store’s circular near the campus. Students of Howard University, one on the nations preeminent historically black university’s, were more confused than offended, concluding the white model marketed to a HBCU was nothing short of lazy marketing than racism. Students expressed their disdain on social media, especially Twitter, creating a trending hashtag, #adfail, with Giant’s handle repeatedly mentioned. The local chain took to Twitter with an apology. Whether or not the ad is still running is unknown.
Online conversations about race relations on college campuses have become popular as of late, especially with the popularity of social media and ease of social interaction from anywhere. Last November, University of Michigan students launched the hashtag, #BBUM, standing for “Being Black At University Of Michigan.” It helped other colleges spark race conversations.