# Is this advertisement racist to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907 "2011-05-31T23:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/21 "2011-06-01T01:58:07Z")
As a white person do I get to decide what’s racist? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/22 "2011-06-01T02:10:51Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > Why would they make an ad that references Naomi Campbell? Is she still famous for anything? Yeah. I read and re-read that article, but nothing said that this was an ad from 1998 or whenever she was actually famous for her diva-like behaviour. I wouldn’t even have guessed it was referring to Naomi Campbell. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/23 "2011-06-01T02:19:04Z")
How has the Campbell’s Soup company gotten away with murder for so long? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/24 "2011-06-01T02:57:39Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Had Cadbury admitted it was supposed to be her they were referencing? Top Google results for “naomi diva” are for [some WWE bint.](http://us.wwe.com/superstars/wwenxt/naomi) She’s also black, though, so I guess that doesn’t help them out, much. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/25 "2011-06-01T10:47:37Z")
It’s not racist, but it is stupid. Naomi hasn’t been the top “diva” of anything for quite a while, so it’s like the ad execs were obviously scrambling for someone “chocolate” to compare their product to, regardless of how relevant that person is to contemporary pop culture. Also, there are some black women who vocally trumpet their “hot chocolateness.” Not Naomi. Everyone knows you don’t play with crazy-ass Naomi. Wouldn’t it have been wiser, I dunno, to actually ASK for Naomi’s permission before running with the ad? Unless this is the kind of attention they wanted. And I wouldn’t be least surprised if that’s in fact what they wanted. So, no. It’s not racist. But the ad is not blameless and I don’t think Naomi, who I personally know nothing about except that she has a hot-temper, is all THAT crazy to get angry to be compared to a piece of candy. Throwing racism in there muddies the waters, but I think her anger is justifiable. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/26 "2011-06-01T10:54:13Z")
I read it as describing the chocolate as a diva was more prominent than describing Naomi as chocolate. It would have made just as much sense if the product was a high-end fruit salad or the diva was… OK, I can’t think of any white divas off the top of my head. Jacques Cousteau? ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/27 "2011-06-01T11:44:29Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > How has the Campbell’s Soup company gotten away with murder for so long? By never manufacturing mutton-flavour soup I’d guess. As a vaguely white-guilt-ridden type, I do feel uncomfortable with the association sometimes made between chocolate and black people in adverts. Also perhaps things like the Sunmaid Raisins ( [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM2OK\_JaJ9I](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM2OK_JaJ9I) ). ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/28 "2011-06-01T11:58:29Z")
Is this Cadbury’s ad [racist](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo2wRvJ04ss)? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/29 "2011-06-01T11:58:34Z")
Can I cast another vote for not racist, but stupid? I don’t think you should refer to living people in ads without their permission, because it might be taken as endorsement of the product. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/30 "2011-06-01T12:22:08Z")
Not racist by any stretch of the imagination. Naomi Campbell is insane. As for why they chose her as the “Diva” to refer to in the ad, is she perhaps more famous in the UK (where the ad ran) than in the US these days? I know she still pops up on E! from time to time (when my wife is watching ;)), so she’s not a _complete_ relic yet. Or maybe the candy bar is shaped like a [cell phone](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20008655,00.html). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/31 "2011-06-01T12:22:14Z")
[And what about Naomi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_of_Chair)? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/32 "2011-06-01T12:41:50Z")
Sorry to double post but I’ve just remembered something. Many years ago (before her famous “incident”) Campbell actually did a print ad for a cellphone (IIRC). The text of the ad compared the phone to Campbell - it was black, slim and stylish. There was even a joke about it having a tiny brain. Sadly I can’t find it on the interwebs but I remember the jokes (if not specifically the product details). If that wasn’t racist I’m not sure why this would be. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/33 "2011-06-01T13:35:28Z")
Of course it is racist! Naomi Campbell says it’s racist! Case closed! ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/34 "2011-06-01T13:43:20Z")
Naomi Campbell needs to STFU. She is a bitch and she is lucky that Cadbury even considered mentioning her name in the same breath as their fine confectioneries. They make CHOCOLATE. Chocolate is BROWN. Isn’t her 15 minutes up already? FFS. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/35 "2011-06-01T13:45:00Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > How has the Campbell’s Soup company gotten away with murder for so long? Because they don’t make a split pea-brain soup. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/36 "2011-06-01T14:20:42Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Not racist by any stretch of the imagination. Naomi Campbell is insane. > > As for why they chose her as the “Diva” to refer to in the ad, is she perhaps more famous in the UK (where the ad ran) than in the US these days? I know she still pops up on E! from time to time (when my wife is watching ;)), so she’s not a _complete_ relic yet. > > Or maybe the candy bar is shaped like a [cell phone](http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20008655,00.html). Nope - she’s really not very famous over here any more. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/37 "2011-06-01T14:21:07Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > Naomi Campbell needs to STFU. She is a bitch and she is lucky that Cadbury even considered mentioning her name in the same breath as their fine confectioneries. Cadbury really isn’t even that good, so that’s the real insult. However, I’d be flattered to be compared to any chocolate at all. “Te creiste mejor que los chocolates!” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/38 "2011-06-01T14:50:36Z")
Move over Picard, there’s a new chocolate bald guy in charge now. Wednesdays at 8:00pm on Channel 34. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/39 "2011-06-01T14:58:22Z")
If it were for WHITE chocolate and used Paris Hilton, would it still be racist? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907/40 "2011-06-01T15:22:47Z")
Naomi is a hasbeen and a twat. That being said I’m surprised someone here hasn’t popped in with the assertion that “it is ‘racist’ because the main theme concerns race” :rolleyes:. I’m trying to think who today’s black diva is and I can’t really think of anyone. Maybe they should have referenced Aretha Franklin. Don’t know how she would feel about the chocolate part but she seems to have a good sense of humor aout herself as illustrated by the Snickers ad she did. Actually, that would tie it in all the better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-advertisement-racist-to-you/583907.md?page=3)