When Markers Meet Marketing: Ethnicity, Race, Hybridity, and Kinship in Genetic Genealogy Television Advertising

Abstract

Abstract:The essay explores issues pertaining to genetics vs. culture in understandings of kinship, hybridity as a disruptor of essentialist conceptions of race, the fetishization of ethnicity and culture, racist misuses of genetic science, processes of racialization, and counter-hegemonic resistance. Thirtyand sixty-second television advertisements airing in the U.S. from the 23andMe and AncestryDNA genetic genealogy testing services are analyzed in this context. The investigation demonstrates that genetic ancestry testing providers are well aware that their enterprise is premised on belief in the superiority of biological kinship and that hybridity is mobilized primarily as a marketing opportunity with ethnic components signified in shorthand by fetishized objects. Moreover, the categories of race and ethnicity presented in the ads give cover to racist abusers of genetic science, as the ads are consistent with socially constructed racial classifications. While maintaining this consistency, the categories are subject to adjustment based on the expectations of consumers. Resistance is possible in the use of genetic ancestry by descendants of African slaves to make localized connections to Africa, something that conventional genealogy seldom provides.

I am a Viking! DNA, popular culture and the construction of geneticized identity

“…As observed by several researchers, the breakthrough of the DTC industry has had profound implications for popular notions of identity, race, origin and belonging (Carlson 2020;Greely 2008;Nash 2004Nash , 2015Phelan et al 2014;Roth and Ivemark 2018;Scodari 2017;Scully, Brown, and King 2016). With the growth of companies selling GATs where the genetic composition of an individual is represented as percentages of pre-existing racial, ethnic or national categories, the question has arisen whether such tests reify notions of ethnicity and race as a biological reality.…”

“…With the growth of companies selling GATs where the genetic composition of an individual is represented as percentages of pre-existing racial, ethnic or national categories, the question has arisen whether such tests reify notions of ethnicity and race as a biological reality. Some scholars (Greely 2008;Hogan 2019;Nash 2004;Phelan et al 2014;Scodari 2017) argue that this is the case, and that GATs essentialize notions of distinct human races. By ascribing racial or ethnic categories to the physical bodies of individuals, race is comprehended as a corporeal substance which can be discovered through scientific analysis.…”

A Little Bit of That from One of Your Grandparents: Interpreting Others’ Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Ancestry Results

“…Most consumers learn about direct-to-consumer genetic testing from television, radio, and the Internet (Agurs-Collins et al 2015). Aggressive marketing has contributed to the tests' popularity, with ad campaigns promoting greater identity awareness (Roth and Ivemark 2018), self-knowledge (Nordgren and Juengst 2009), biological kinship (Scodari 2017), and increased lifespans (Borry et al 2013). Curiosity and a desire to be educated and entertained motivate consumers to purchase the tests (Wagner and Weiss 2012).…”

Exploring your Inner Hades: DNA as Mortuary Archaeology

“…Ancestry composition tests are at the forefront of GAT marketing, and have been linked explicitly with relationships to historic groups of people intrinsic to notions of national, regional and individual identity (Nordgren and Juengst 2009;Figures 1 and 2). These marketing strategies commodify ancestry by placing it at the heart of an individual's sense of identity and heritage (Bliss 2013;Scodari 2017).…”