Just saw this ad on TV for a seasoning product.
Right at the end of the ad, while the family is eating their Chinese-seasoned meal, conical straw hats magically appear on their heads, and the small boy… well… pulls a face. It may be that he is just grinning, but I think it could also be interpreted as a facial gesture intended to mock the stereotypical image of Asians.
I’m not sure. What do you think?
It appears to be using Asian stereotypes. Would have caused a minor uproar here in the US.
Schwartz, that’s a Jewish name isn’t it? :rolleyes:
The hats make it offensive, but what face did the kid pull? He looks up toward the hat and then laughs or grins. The way you said “the small boy… well… pulls a face” I thought that he was going to use his fingers to pull up the outer corners of his eyes or something.
It’s a terrible shame that the conical woven bamboo hat – a beautiful, classic design that people from all around the world should admire – has been turned into a symbol of bigotry just because Westerners found it odd-looking. Does nobody have any taste? 
It’s not so much that westerners have found it odd looking. It’s more because it’s been used as part of offensive stereotypes so often in the past that it’s seen as stereotypical itself.
I think OP is suggesting the kid was directed to make this face.
But I wouldn’t infer that. Some people squint when they grin, and having the spot end on the grinning kid is pretty formulaic.
Fair enough but, as you say, it appears that it was just a grin that didn’t have any intended ethnic connotations.
I assumed the kid was just one of those that squints when he grins. His eyes are almond-shaped anyway, which makes that tendency more likely.
I don’t know if the hats are a “racist” symbol or not. They’ve been used as racist shorthand, sure, but does that mean they’re always verboten? If so, can Popeye’s Fried Chicken still use the commercial with the African-American lady?
BTW, I saw the product name (Perfect Shake) and thought this was going to be about mom drinking a diet “shake” (like SlimFast) while her family eats real food.
I didn’t think he was squinting, I thought he was looking up to see that he was wearing a hat and being happy. Most commercials are stupid, this one was no exception.
It’s hard to work up a lot of outrage, at least for me. YMMV.
Regards,
Shodan
I’m more offended by the idea of a container of “Chinese Spice.” Not, like, racially or ethnically offended. Culinarily offended.
IMHO not offensive at all. It (the hats) were meant as a joke, perhaps one that did not go over well.
Like I said, I’m not sure if I’m misinterpreting it. His smile didn’t look particularly genuine, but then he’s a kid actor and it’s not after all a genuine smile, so maybe it was just awkward, but it did seem to me that he might instead have been pulling a face that was intended to appear mock-Chinese. NB: ‘pulling a face’ does not necessarily imply manipulation with the hands.
I don’t think the kid was trying to slant his eyes to look Chinese.
Even so, the coolie hats were in bad taste. Not insulting, just… dumb.
I mean, if the commercial were selling a French spice, and the commercial played accordions while putting berets on the family’s heads, that wouldn’t be racist, just cheesy. Same here.
I thought it was more sexist, but then I’m a child of the 70’s and am kind of conditioned that way
I still think it’s using stereotypes. I’m sure there was more than one take and they picked out the stereotypical image to use. Someone approved the concept of using the hat which is enough of a problem, they probably approved the final copy based on the best portrayal of an Asian stereotype.
Not seeing it. The kid was just grinning, and the hats… well, would it be racist if a Chinese commercial for French bread had a guy wearing a beret? Sometimes a hat is just a hat.
I just watched the shot frame by frame - he adopts a fixed facial expression with eyes closed to slits and teeth exposed, then turns and shrugs or bows down slightly.
It definitely doesn’t look like a natural smile (the same kid is seen smiling naturally at about 0:20 in the same video). As I say, it might just be that the kid had trouble acting a natural-looking grin, but I dunno.
This.
Jeesh.
Before viewing: “It’s gonna be British.”
After viewing: “Yup, British.”
What is it about the Brits that makes them need to portray every racial and ethnic stereotype they can think of?
It’s probably related to that whole “world domination” thing they got into a while back.