Complaint

Gentlemen:

At 11:00 A.M. 05 February, 2005, I heard an SBC/YAHOO radio commercial on our local classical radio station, KDFC. The commercial "grabbed" me immediately, not because of it's content, but because of the manner of delivery.

As a black male, I immediately recognized the "voice over" as being that of a "fellow black male". . . a fact further reinforced when the person to whom the "pitch" was being directed was named "Keesha." And would you believe, "basketball" was metaphorically used throughout the entire commercial. Not all of us either play nor are we interested in the game.

Out here in the "real world" it is a proven fact that whenever the name "Keesha" is spoken on the phone, it is highly likely whatever service or job the individual was seeking becomes "quietly unavailable."

Overall, I found that particular radio commercial equally as offensive and insensitive as many (not all) TV commercials where blacks (especially women) and other minorities are portrayed as "minstrel" characters rather than "plain people" just trying to get through the day.

I would like to suggest that SBC and other corporations take additional steps of performing "sensitivity" screenings of their commercials prior to releasing them to the listening or viewing public.

Thank you,

Roland H. Paris