An Interesting Footnote
Dolores Huerta’s comment about the Harvey Richards photo of her taken in September, 1965 during the Delano grape strike adds an interesting footnote to the iconic image from the Harvey Richards Media Archive. The image on the right is assembled from a New York Times advertisement for the Google Pixel 6 phone that appeared in the New York Times Sunday Magazine section December 26, 2021. The original add is a half page ad shown below. I rearranged and enhanced it for readability on this post.
Dolores Huerta on Harvey Richards Photo
I find it remarkable that an advertisement would be the occasion for adding a significant insight into that now iconic moment. Of course I love her comment about Harvey’s genius, but even more is her memory of the event. I had always seen her expression as one imploring the workers to join the strike. And I think that is how it plays. But behind that is her interaction with the camera that she describes in her comment. Amazing little tidbit that popped up out of history in an unusual way.
New Direction for Advertising?
Also worthy of comment is what this advertisement shows about the evolution of advertising in today’s world. Instead of just boring us with the virtues of their new phone, the composers of the ad chose to bring forth a meaningful insight into history through a comment from a remarkable woman. We are all so fed up with the dubious claims of advertisers that seeing this insightful comment of Dolores Huerta on Harvey Richards photo actually might create more sympathy for the product (Pixel 6 phone) than a list of its virtues ever could. I hope it sets a trend in the advertising industry. I might actually start to look at ads again if it does.
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