Sunday, April 01, 2007

An Oldie But a Goodie--"Mexican" "Flesh" Bandaids, A Sarcastic Soliloquy

What a load off my mind! Finally, I can relax! For years, dear reader, I have suffered the pain of wearing band-aids that were not my skin color! For decades, tears have riven furrows 'cross my face as I walked through a world where bandages mocked the skin color of my Latina and Latino hermanas y hermanos! Like some vestigial cousin of the "flesh"-colored crayon, Band-Aids continued propagating the charade that when we bled, we did so on pinkish "skin-canvases" that were all the same color!

Now, at long last, we rest--our friends at Johnson and Johnson having followed the progressive souls of Binney and Smith. Click the box for a close-up!


Originally posted January 2, 2007

2 comments:

  1. This post caught my attention because not only were the images enticing but the title was just as enticing. I could definitely relate to “the pain of wearing band-aids that were not my skin color!” because as a child, I was pretty self-conscious about having to wear them, believe it or not. During my childhood years, I have always believed that band-aids were a display of how clumsy you were or how susceptible you were to getting hurt, which would go to show that I was an incredibly clumsy child who got hurt quite often. It was just that I loved riding my bike and roller-blading when I was younger so that led me to getting cuts and bruises frequently, especially because I seldom wore my elbow and knee pads. The fact that band-aids were so noticeable got to me because I never thought I looked so pretty having band-aids all over my arms and legs.

    Although the title of the post is referring to “Mexican” “Flesh” band-aids, I believe anyone non-Caucasian, or at least anyone with colored skin, is able to relate in one way or another. The image of the Crayola crayon box is pretty clever because it emphasizes the fact that the box contains “48 different brilliant crayons,” which conveys that there are many different skin types and colors so therefore band-aids should be made to represent a wide array of shades of skin. The fact that Johnson and Johnson made an effort to make band-aids that would blend with the skin is a great idea, but light, medium, and dark still doesn’t display a wide enough range of colors. However, I guess that’s better than one pinkish shade. Their advertisement on these new band-aids would be a good way of grabbing people’s attention, especially with their “Perfect Blend Clear Bandages” slogan. I’m pretty sure as time goes on, Johnson and Johnson will be innovative enough to think of a better way to better represent the different skin tones. Of course, it is impossible to reach the infinite amount of skin colors people have. The effort is appreciated and acknowledged.
    -Trina Sarmiento
    English 493

    ReplyDelete
  2. This post caught my attention because not only were the images enticing but the title was just as enticing. I could definitely relate to “the pain of wearing band-aids that were not my skin color!” because as a child, I was pretty self-conscious about having to wear them, believe it or not. During my childhood years, I have always believed that band-aids were a display of how clumsy you were or how susceptible you were to getting hurt, which would go to show that I was an incredibly clumsy child who got hurt quite often. It was just that I loved riding my bike and roller-blading when I was younger so that led me to getting cuts and bruises frequently, especially because I seldom wore my elbow and knee pads. The fact that band-aids were so noticeable got to me because I never thought I looked so pretty having band-aids all over my arms and legs.

    Although the title of the post is referring to “Mexican” “Flesh” band-aids, I believe anyone non-Caucasian, or at least anyone with colored skin, is able to relate in one way or another. The image of the Crayola crayon box is pretty clever because it emphasizes the fact that the box contains “48 different brilliant crayons,” which conveys that there are many different skin types and colors so therefore band-aids should be made to represent a wide array of shades of skin. The fact that Johnson and Johnson made an effort to make band-aids that would blend with the skin is a great idea, but light, medium, and dark still doesn’t display a wide enough range of colors. However, I guess that’s better than one pinkish shade. Their advertisement on these new band-aids would be a good way of grabbing people’s attention, especially with their “Perfect Blend Clear Bandages” slogan. I’m pretty sure as time goes on, Johnson and Johnson will be innovative enough to think of a better way to better represent the different skin tones. Of course, it is impossible to reach the infinite amount of skin colors people have yet the effort is acknowledged and appreciated.
    -Trina Sarmiento
    English 493

    ReplyDelete

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