The “How offensive is “Mammy”” thread was a bit hijacked so I thought I would post a new thread to a larger but related topic. How do you feel about the use of caricatures that stereo type a particular type of people in an effort to market products. Mammy was used to market foods and cleaning products, Paul Bunyan has been used on Foods and Cleaning products. Indian Chiefs have been used on the beef jerky I have seen lately. Betty Crocker, Mr. Clean, Popeye, the list goes on and on. These caricatures are used for people who either identify themselves directly with the caricature or identify the caricature with specific traits. “If Paul Bunyan ate these baked beans they must be good for big strong guys like me”. “Brawny paper towels must be tough, just look at that guy”. The Redskins footbal team has been in all sorts of battles over their mascot. So, where does it leave us ? Do we stop using anything that might be construed as offensive lest we have our pants sued off ? Plain white paper packaging for everything ? I’m sure some would prefer brown paper packaging to white in that case. Where does it end ?
That’s supposed to be Paul Bunyan??
I thought he was one of the “Village People,” or a stereotypical 1970’s-vintage porn-star.
So would you eat pork and beans with the figure of a porn star on them ?