Cybernetic Tourism, the Internet, and Transnationality

In the article “Where Do You Want to Go Today?” the article talks about cyberspace that has no boundaries. For example there is no racism, discrimination, no gender, and no age limit. Yet the commercials these big companies put out, such as IBM MCI and Anthem, use a technique that pushes the racial barriers to try and promote their company and products. The “other” groups that these companies are referring to are Arabs or people in African tribes. The companies also are trying to keep the privilege of the white society.
The ads that these companies put on TV makes it seem as if Americans are the dominant society and how we are able to go to different places and experience different thing because of the privileges that Americans have. Nakamura states, “Like the Microsoft and AT&T slogans this one links networks with privileged forms of travel, and reinforces the metaphor by visually depicting sights that viewers associate with tourism.” The author is explaining one of the commercials put out by Compaq. Even ads put on TV by Coca-Cola have a distinct image they are trying to portray to people. One of their ads consisted of the slogan, “I want to teach the world to sing.” The ad features people of all ages and races and tries to get people to be “uniform” and get the idea that people can all be “just minds”.
Why do these commercials have such underlying meanings? Why do people not see the techniques these companies are using to advertise their product? Some people may not think about the commercials in a discriminating way, but others take it in to consideration. The strategies to promote such products could be changed, but the companies are only thinking about the privileged community and how it may apply to them.
I thought the reading was different. I did not enjoy it that much because I somewhat lost interest in the piece. But overall I think that the reading does have a point in how these major companies advertise their products and try to eliminate race discrimination in cyberspace. I believe all advertisements have some sort of underlying theme that people do not usually see unless it is pointed out to them.