May 10, 2013
Tyler the Creator
6. BLACK CRICKETER FOR KFC
In 2010, Australia showed a West Indian cricketer appeasing his rivals by sharing some delicious fried chicken. When the commercial made it to America, KFC was forced to apologize. It is wrong of them to imply blacks enjoy fried chicken. Regarding this awful stereotype, black comedian Dave Chappelle famously quipped, “if you don”t like chicken and watermelon, something is wrong with you.” Apologizing for implying that many black people enjoy fried chicken sounds funny, but it’s kind of scary, too. The Canadian Human Rights Commission recently declared that hate speech can include things that are true, AKA “hatefacts.” Soon censorship will be entirely based not on what a smart person said but how it made some irrational idiot feel.
7. MARY J. BLIGE FOR BURGER KING
Last year Blige got in hot water for appearing in a commercial that mentioned chicken. African Americans did not react favorably to the ad because they are sick of being portrayed as leather-clad greasers who stand on tables in restaurants and sing about chicken wraps, even though Mary J. Blige is the only black person on Earth who has ever done that.
8. MONKEY FOR ANIMAL PRACTICE
Last year NBC was accused of racism not because they aired a racist ad but because the time they chose to air it was racist. The ad depicted a monkey gymnast shortly after we saw an African American gymnast compete at the Olympics. This controversy is proof the outraged don”t really think the people they vilify are actually racists. This outrage is all about not being sensitive enough. It’s all about your subconscious and knowing how that might make other people feel.
9. PETE HOEKSTRA FOR PETE HOEKSTRA
Last year, the Republican Senate Candidate made a campaign commercial that criticized America’s investment in the Chinese economy. The commercial shows a woman living in China who does not speak perfect English. Despite this being the norm over in Asia, Hoekstra’s commercial “sparked outrage“ mostly because…oh, Jesus, I give up.
10. EVERYTHING
Basically, if you depict actors playing anyone but themselves or show any group doing something they tend to do, you are enforcing racist stereotypes and you need to apologize. Only a minute fraction of the population sees all these commercials as anything but harmless. They are usually white and educated, but technically they are a minority. The problem is, this minority is very loud and the more we kowtow to their shrill hysterics, the more powerful they become.
