Rough on Rats

Historically, the Chinese faced blame time and again. In the 19th century, public health officials depicted Chinese immigrants as “filthy,” carriers of disease. These views influenced Anti-Chinese policies and practices, including humiliating medical examinations at Angel Island — the entry port for many Chinese immigrants coming to America — and the violent quarantine and disinfection of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the early 20th century when a case of the Bubonic plague was confirmed there. In this advertisement specifically, it represents an ad in the 1880s. This endorsed a poison made from arsenic and coal, which was developed and marketed by the chemist and druggist Ephraim Wells and printed by Forbes Co. Boston. This poison was designed to address the elimination of vermin but instead also propagated racism against the Chinese. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, which effectively prohibited the migration of Chinese laborers to the United States. 

This was one of the mass mediations that shaped racist social + personal identities toward Asians. As a designer, you can say a lot through what you're promoting. And the designer who made this Ad had hate towards Asians and showed that through the ad. The large red text on the top says “Rough On Rats”. And the specific imagery of the man eating the mice centered on the box. All these elements show how design can promote and influence mass mediation that shapes social + personal identities for the better or for the worse.