Do advertisers have an ethical responsibility to not harm other people?

Racial stereotyping is very tricky to do correctly. People shouldn't try it at all unless they have expertise in the culture they're stereotyping, as well as familiarity with research on the impact of that stereotyping. 

This means that they should 

1. get equivalent education to a college-level class on the history of the group they're stereotyping,
2. hire people from the groups being stereotyped, and
3. hire people with degrees on the topics of minorities, ethnic groups, and the shit they've been through.

Substantial research has shown that racism is all over the dang place in every corner of media. To paraphrase literally the first thing I found in a Google search for "media representation effects", here are some distorted patterns of media representation of black males:

1. They are underrepresented overall as main characters in stories, as experts, as owners of luxury items, and other roles.
2. They are overrepresented, proportionally, when negative traits — such as criminality, unemployment, and poverty — are being portrayed.
3. Their are underrepresented, proportionally, when positive traits — such as achievement in sports or music — are being portrayed.
4. Compared to white people, disproportionately few aspects of their lives and historical context are portrayed.

For all our talk of 2014 progress, those patterns were ALL OVER the Super Bowl.

To quote directly from the same executive summary of 117 studies, this has had the following (empirically proven) effects:

• General antagonism toward black males;

• Exaggerated views of, expectations of, and tolerance for race-based socio-economic disparities; 

• Exaggerated views related to criminality and violence;

• Lack of identification with or sympathy for black males;

• Reduced attention to structural and other big-picture factors;

• Public support for punitive approaches to problems.

Again, these are the empirically proven results of the patterns of media representation that were ALL OVER the Super Bowl.

I'll quote the second thing I found, this one from Australia!

research has linked ongoing stigma such as that seen in the mainstream news media to negative physical and mental health outcomes, to negative material implications such as poverty, to the reproduction of racism which may in turn lead to persecution, and to heightened inter-community tensions.

We've got laws against murdering people, because it's obviously harmful. We've got widespread social disapproval of murdering people, because it's obviously harmful. 

We've got data, from real-life scientists, that proves that media representation of ethnic minorities is, on average, harmful. But because it's not obvious, advertisers get off scot-free, ignoring criticism and avoiding regulation. 

I don't think advertisers specifically have an ethical responsibility not to harm people. I think everyone does. And I think this shit should be taught in high school. 

But I do think it's much easier to regulate and educate industries like advertising than everyday conversations and teenagers' social media accounts. 

Anyway, if you're going to stereotype, do it responsibly. Or, ideally, don't do it at all. Because you're hurting people.