Participação e representação social de indivíduos Afro-descendentes retratados em anúncios publicitários de revistas: 1968-2006

The present research aimed to investigate the social representation of afro-descendant individuals on printed pieces of advertisements along the timeframe comprised between 1968 to 2006. The main objective focused on research the way printed pieces of advertisements have been portraying afro-descendant individuals in order to identify possible signs of progress, setbacks or stabilization of representation on what regards the social roles played by them on this kind of media. On what concerns methodological procedures, the research has made use of content analysis technique on 1,279 pieces of advertisements out from 76 issues of six Brazilian large-circulation magazines (Veja, O Cruzeiro, Exame, Pequenas Empresas Grandes Negócios, Cláudia and Nova) which, on their turn, comprise three categories of publications (general interest, business & economy and feminine). Additionally, it has also been used qualitative analysis on two automobile pieces of advertisements that contain at least one afro-descendant character on it. The main results revealed by the present research indicate that along the timeframe of 38 years, the relative frequency of afro-descendant individuals portrayed on pieces of advertisements has reached an average value of 4.20%. However, when assessed by periods within the timeframe (1968-1969; 1979-1988; 1989-1991 and 2006) it is possible to notice a general trend of increasing participation, especially on the last 10 ~ 12 years, reaching the relative frequency of 7.18% in 2006. On the other hand, besides the relative frequency lower than 10%, what demonstrates a significant level of social invisibility, on what regards their social representation it is still possible to notice the existence of a large gap between their diversified and increasing social participation and the way they are usually portrayed on pieces of advertisements.