AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ADVERTISING ? NO WAY
BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX
I was counting on settling in to some exciting tennis with this week’s US
Open games, but instead have settled into yet another racial controversy.
Time Magazine’s news peg on the Open was a cover featuring Venus and Serena
Williams, with a hot title – The Sisters vs. The World. Between the covers,
there’s some carping from Williams competitors, and some mean-spirited race
talk from two Martina’s – Hingis, who seems to be smarting that the Williams
brand of power tennis threatens her #1 ranking, and Navratilova who seems to
chafe at life out of the limelight.
Martina Hingis said that Venus and Serena get endorsements because they
are black. She added, “They have had a lot of advantages because they can
always say ‘It’s racism’.” Navratilova, who must have had her head in the
sand for the past six years, says the Williams’ have been “treated with kid
gloves”. “People have been afraid to criticize them because they don’t want
to be called racist.” Navratilova seems to have been watching a different
tennis game than I’ve been watching since Venus Williams turned pro in 1994.
Both Venus and Serena have been treated to scathing criticism and
unconscionable bias on the part of their competitors and the tennis
commentators. John McEnroe, hardly the gentleman of the tennis court, has
had the temerity to lecture them on demeanor, and Chris Everett, offering
commentary, just about pulls out pom-poms to cheer on their opponents.
The Williams sisters seem to have weathered all criticism, winning Grand
Slams, and pocketing millions of dollars in earnings and endorsements. Does
Hingis have a point, though? Did Reebok sign Venus Williams to a $40 million
contract only because she is black? The concept, actually, is laughable. I
don’t know how things are done in Switzerland, where Hingis lives, but in the
United States profit is the bottom line. Venus’ contract with Reebok
reflects the extent to which she “sells” in the market. There’s no such
thing as affirmative action advertising. People get contracts because their
image sells.
What Martina Hingis and her ilk forget is that African Americans
represent a $561 billion market in the United States. It’s a market that is
younger and more urban than the general population, a market that has tuned
in to tennis because of the charisma and visibility of Venus and Serena
Williams. Reebok sells athletic shoes and clothing, and is looking for ways
to expand their base. Venus Williams, with her winning ways, lean elegance,
and incandescent smile, has been their ticket to ride.
Were she simply black (that is black and untalented), she wouldn’t have a
ticket to ride. Williams has been out there for seven years, building her
image and endorsements slowly. While other players had endorsement contracts
in their teen years on the junior tennis circuit, the Williams girls eschewed
junior tennis for education (and it shows when you compare their interview
composure with that Hingis offers) and their family covered many of their
expenses. No wonder Richard Williams breaks into a spastic dance when his
daughters win. He is gleefully viewing his return on investment.
Hingis’ ire at the Williams sisters is certainly understandable. She has
earned $16.2 million from tennis – almost twice as much as Venus and more
than three times as much as Serena. But she has hardly garnered the
big-ticket, high visibility endorsements that the Williams have – she has no
Reebok or Doublemint endorsements, and hasn’t gotten the centerfold attention
the Williams’ girls command – with photo spreads in magazines like Vogue and
Essence. Hingis may be number one in the rankings, but she’s way down the
list in endorsements and visibility.
In this country, though, the Williams girls are an exciting phenomenon.
They are ebony rarities in a sport that has, to date, been mostly white.
They don’t smoke, drink, or curse, projecting the clean-cut image that most
corporate advertisers insist on for their spokespersons. And they can
effectively hawk products among African Americans, and also among the many
young women who have become interested in tennis because of the Williams’
visibility.
Indeed, Hingis and Navratilova contribute to the Williams earnings with
their controversial carping, which only serves to sharpen the focus on
women’s tennis. According to most ratings measures, audiences are more
likely to watch women’s tennis than men’s, and tennis rivalries only serve to
bring more attention to the game, and to its stars, Venus and Serena
Williams. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Williams girls snap up another
endorsement contract after the US Open. As endorsement dollars rain down on
them, though, Martina Hingis ought to take notes. The bottom line in
advertising isn’t race. In the parlance of the ‘hood, it’s about the
Benjamins. The color of money is green, not black, and as long as the
Williams image sells, they’ll elbow Hingis out in endorsements, if not on the
tennis court.