On Wednesday, Amazon introduced its new Fire Phone, a product meant to directly compete with the two largest phone providers in the United States, Apple and Samsung, and immerse users in the world of Amazon.
In a big presentation, Amazon founder and chief executive officer, Jeff Bezos, displayed all the bells and whistles the phone has. In the four years it took to create the phone, Bezos said the company asked itself only one question: “Can we build a better phone for our most engaged customers?”
What followed was a video presentation of the phone in use, featuring “regular people” that are to represent the engaged Amazon customers that would use the phone.
The thing is, after watching it, I was less impressed with the phone and more questioning whether or not Amazon thinks their most engaged customers are only white. Because the cast of characters featured in the video feels more like a commercial for the Mormon church, and less like a fancy new phone.
But it’s okay, Amazon — even though racial and ethnic minorities make up 28% of the U.S. population while your video features 2 minorities out of the 16 people used (13%), I think we get the message. Only plaid wearing, mostly blond, white engaged Amazon customers are truly immersed (and can afford) new technology.
