# Do you find this ad offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 4, 2007, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409 "2007-08-04T11:56:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/21 "2007-08-04T16:26:21Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] I didn’t get it right away, the first thing I came up with was to ponder if the problem image was sexual (a bunch of guys bending over). The light bulb came on eventually, after about a minute. I agree with **VC03** that the issue is “What were they THINKING?” Sure, it didn’t hit me right away, but the people that designed and approved this do it for a living. [/QUOTE] That was my first impression–a sexual one. A bunch of subservient guys bowing to their leader…yum! (Plus, I found the white guy pretty sexy.) Then when I realized they were all black (and…uh, the same guy), I got why people might find it racist. Personally, I think the creepiest part is that it’s the same guy, over and over. That’s partly why I found the Oompa Loompas so odd in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (same guy, again and again and again). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/22 "2007-08-04T16:32:24Z")
Until I read the article, I thought the offense was going to come from the stereotype of blacks being good athletes. They still don’t look like they’re bowing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/23 "2007-08-04T16:35:07Z")
I have to admit, when I looked at the poster I was trying to find the hidden offensive message. The first one I came up with was, “Aha! They’re portraying blacks as strong athletes and fast runners!” Well — yeah. Aren’t the best runners from Kenya? I asked myself. Then I saw what everybody else saw, and it made me wonder. Why did they photoshop all the runners that way? The light doesn’t even match. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/24 "2007-08-04T16:44:48Z")
[QUOTE=VCO3] I immediately saw black men bowing down to a smug white man. I don’t find it offensive as much as hilariously “what were they THINKING?” [/QUOTE] That was pretty much my reaction as well. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/25 "2007-08-04T17:01:08Z")
Not only does the subservience jump out at you, but so does the fact that the subservients are faceless clones. The ad seems targeted to impersonal management-types who have come to think of their employees as dime-a-dozen. Was the ad company that short of money that they couldn’t find more than one guy to photoshop? It’s not obvious that they are track runners, either. Probably because the copy doesn’t really link up well to the track metaphor. So yeah, even ignoring the racial stuff, the ad is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/26 "2007-08-04T17:27:44Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Darn, now I’m thirsty. [/QUOTE] Then the terrorists have _won_! Why do you hate America? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/27 "2007-08-04T17:41:35Z")
I didn’t see it. My assumption was that the runners were tanned from being outside. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/28 "2007-08-04T17:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] They’re sprinters? It wouldn’t have occurred to me. All I saw was subservience in an office environment. The offense taken at the Starbucks ad seems bizarre until you read that it was generated just 6 months after 9/11. I agree with the Snopes article that the problem was with the word “collapse”. [/QUOTE] Also, there was _a lot_ of bad blood in NYC over how Starbucks had treated resuce workers at Ground Zero on 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/29 "2007-08-04T18:06:18Z")
[QUOTE=delphica] **Unauthorized Cinnamon** , I see your point but I think there’s an additional factor. It’s great that the people who made this are devoid of racism, but I still fully expect adult Americans to have a functional awareness of the history of race as a social construct in this country and be able to anticipate when particular images have the potential to evoke unintended associations. [/QUOTE] Being aware of history, yes. Continuing to apologize for your ancestor’s mistakes? No. If this ad came out in 1866, I could see your point. But immediately jumping to the conclusion that Intel is run by a bunch of racist bastards who want nothing more but a return to the good ol’ days of slavery implies another kind of racism, I think. (I do not think you are doing this, **delphica** , but someone must have, otherwise the ad would not have been pulled.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/30 "2007-08-04T18:16:01Z")
It’s not helping that the sprinters are partially obscured by the desks, so it wasn’t immediately apparent to me what the hell they were doing. It’s just piss poor composition. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/31 "2007-08-04T18:31:52Z")
My first reaction was that it would make more sense to have the sprinters staggered because I was having a hard time with the fact that they were lined up head to head. After looking at the poster for a little longer I just started laughing. Someone definitely dropped the ball on this one. I don’t find it particularly offensive but one of the people reviewing stuff probably got tossed out for letting this one slip through. The racist interpretation is too prominent. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/32 "2007-08-04T18:37:34Z")
Offensive, no…confusing, yes. It took me more than a minute to figure out that the men bending over were supposed to be sprinters. At first I thought they were all naked! Then I thought they were monks or something because of the bald head. But why are they bent over? I thought the monks were maybe praying to the dorky IT guy to try to make their computers faster…?? So after looking at it a few moments, I could see the sinister subliminal message…dark skinned employees praying to their white overlord. Not a happy message to be sure, and it sure doesn’t convey speed, which is what they are trying to sell. (I think!) As someone upthread mentioned, an utter failure of a print ad. ---
**Author:** ![Guest1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecccb3/32.png) [@Guest1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest1)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/33 "2007-08-04T18:49:26Z")
Wow, I t didn’t even register that they were black…not paying attention I guess. I just thought the choreography was wierd… ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/34 "2007-08-04T18:54:55Z")
The ad is stupid first – identical runners, facing each other – offensive second. I saw them as runners right away, and didn’t pick up on the bowing interpretation until I read the Snopes piece. Seeing them as bowing is a stretch – who bows like that? If the runners had been a mixture of races, it’d still be stupid, because of the way they’re lined up. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/35 "2007-08-04T19:23:34Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] I think the funniest thing is that it’s arguable that the people making the ad missed the possible interpretation precisely because they are so devoid of racism, while the people who were offended probably think much more in terms of classifying people by race. So who’s more enlightened? [/QUOTE] Exactly my sentiments. How are we supposed to ignore race when some people are determined to keep drawing out racial implications where none are intended? ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/36 "2007-08-04T19:37:05Z")
I don’t think we are supposed to ignore race. You can’t erase history. It would be interesting to know how that ad came into being. Why use uniform colors that are, at a glance, basically invisible? Why eliminate the sprinters’ facial features? The lighting doesn’t make any sense because the runners are in deep shadow. Maybe it just shows the problem with doing everything on computers rather than hiring models - had they used real human beings to do a live shoot, I don’t think the picture would have come out as badly. It would also be interesting to see the ad with the races reversed, to see what the visual impact would be. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/37 "2007-08-04T19:44:39Z")
Even if no racial meaning was _intended_, is it possible one was _un_intended? Ie: why _didn’t_ it strike anyone at Intel or their agency as worth noting that all the runners are black males? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/38 "2007-08-04T19:49:15Z")
I wasn’t offended. I noticed that they were runners and that they seemed to be dark-skinned. It didn’t seem to me they were bowing, rather they were ready to take off from the blocks. I didn’t catch the “slaves bowing to a white master” interpretation until I read the Snopes article, and wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t pointed out to me. I interpreted it as a “Dilbert” style cubicle farm. I would say Intel was the victim of poor composition in the ad and no racist meaning was intended. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/39 "2007-08-04T20:00:50Z")
[QUOTE=FairyChatMom] My first reaction was that those guys were going to run into each other and crack heads. [/QUOTE] That’s what I got, too. Notice how their hands and feet are in the “sprinters position”. Now, if the white guy was dressed as a referee and had a track gun held to the ceiling… that would make the analogy work. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409/40 "2007-08-04T20:11:27Z")
I saw sprinters too, and only realized it could be offensive after reading the Snopes. Misguided, stupid, not adequately thought out before being published, but I doubt highly that any ad agency, OR Intel is going to intentionally offend anyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-find-this-ad-offensive/414409.md?page=3)