Missed window.
Ya’ know my local Kroger has an international/ethnic isle in it. There’s an asian section, European section and the I noticed in the mexican section, they have those Jesus candles. You know the ones, they come in a tall skinny round glass with a picture of Jesus on the side.
Isn’t that pretty much on par with putting fried chicken and grape soda in the black section?
Jus’ say’n.
There’s a “black section” in your local Kroger store? What else does it have? Watermelon? Collard greens? Where is this Kroger? Do they have a web site telling me which black products are available?
On edit: well… maybe you are being sarcastic and I just didn’t catch it first time around.
I don’t know WHY this is, but for some reason making any references to the cultural foods that certain groups like eating is perceived as racist. Well, not for everyone, just for some people. Like, if someone here mentioned that a Polish exchange student was staying at his house for a while, and someone else joked “make sure you have Polish sausage in your fridge!” nobody would get offended. Even if someone said that his French relatives were coming over and another poster said, “make sure to serve frog legs,” people would take it (at worst) as a silly joke and at best, a legitimate recommendation for food that French people actually like to eat.
But acknowledge the fact that blacks tend to like fried chicken and collard greens? That’s racist.
I don’t get it, but whatever.
I don’t get it either. It’s like we’re overcompensating for our history by pretending race doesn’t exist at all.
I’m absolutely serious. If someone posted a news link mentioning that a large Polish delegation was staying in the U.S., and someone else joked, “in other news…delis across the D.C. area have reported a shortage of sausages” (even though that’s a really unfunny joke,) nobody would have any objection at all. Or Irish and corned beef and whiskey, or Russians with a shortage of vodka or something, or if a huge Greek contingent visited DC, someone might joke about farmers having to slaughter thousands of lambs. Hell, if a Scottish group came over, someone might make another kind of joke about sheep (farmers - hide your sheep!) - actually I just about guarantee somebody would. And it would all be considered legitimate and in good fun.
Some people are just “off limits” to make fun of in any way.
Same principle: it’s not the company or person directly, it’s their marketing staff or a contracted advertising agency.
The Obama example is a good one to support my point: it’s guaranteed that during the campaign, he probably did not approve all aspects of his campaign as, well, he was busy campaigning. A large company can’t control every thing that their marketing company/staff does, such as a few links on their home page.
On the other hand, if McDonalds was selling a racially insensitive item on their menu, e.g. Chinky McChinks Chunky Chinese Chicken, that would be something the company should be held responsible for.
It’s not that you can’t make fun of certain groups. It’s just a lot of people tend to hide their racism behind humor and then blame you for being unable to take a joke.
The Korean translation stuff is weird. They jump around from being extremely formal to totally casual.
As for the site itself, I think it’s stupid, but I don’t think it’s racist.
One person’s racism is another person’s cultural awareness, I guess. Hard to know how to be a good liberal, these days, isn’t it?
BTW: The rapper’s page says, “Working with McDonalds”, not “Working at McDonalds.” Big difference.
I have a feeling a lot of people would have laughed if they had a Jewish-aimed site that was covered in diamonds and dollar bills… but putting origami dollar bills on the Asian site is offensive.
I’m not saying that I agree with their marketing campaign, but there’s two sides to this coin.
How does one determine that certain things are ‘off limits’? Nothing is off limits. One can say whatever one likes in this country. If one plays dumb and pretends to not understand that the legacy of slavery is different in this nation than the relationship with, say, Russia, then they shouldn’t have any issue people being kind of put off by that. Sometimes the people who are put off talk with their dollar power, and certain people may lose advertising and so on…but hey.
Asians don’t really have the same level of negative stereotypes as blacks do in this nation, but it is still rather insulting to say they all eat rice or fish heads or something.
Saying Mexicans eat beans and rice all the time, or tacos or whatever is insulting to them, but saying the Polish eat sausage is not…different experiences and circumstances and relationships…just apples and oranges, altogether.
All of that rambled, I will say this; I only watched the black commercial, which is clearly a joke. It is aimed at making black people laugh at over the top R&B crap.
I can’t hear the phrases but I am kind of strangely pleased they thought to include Indians in “Asians”. So often we get left out.
As for the dollar menu, it’s a little bit snippy but hey, a lot of Asians are cheap! McDonald’s doesn’t make the stereotypes, they just observe them and take advantage of them. It’s like the casinos catering to Chinese ladies - they love gambling, so why not?
As for the ethnic food aisles in grocery stores, I love them.
I was with you until the end; it’s very wrong to suggest that Scots are into hominid-ovine relationships! Everyone knows that the Welsh and Kiwis are the real sheep fuckers!
Here’s an archived version of Barack Obama’s website from before the election:
Roll over “People” near the top to see a selection of what I am talking about.
I don’t believe this was done without his knowing about it. It’s very prominent. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it either. He’s explaining to every group why they in particular should vote for him.
Why is the Asian dollar menu thing ostensibly offensive? Jews are stereotypically regarded as the cheap ones; is that how Asians are viewed? Heck, most of the Asians I know are Indians and Chinese, and I certainly wouldn’t call any of them cheap. Actually the same goes for the Jews I know. Actually amongst the minorities I’m friends with or work with, it’s the blacks who are overwhelmingly cheap. And none of us are under-privileged.
Not to turn this into some kind of pissing match over what ethnicities have it the worst, but I don’t think this is a fair statement. There are current threads on this board right now where people are bandying about the small-dicked, effeminate-yet-misogynistic stereotype of asian males with hardly anyone taking notice.
Imho, you guys are missing my polint: it’s not McDonald’s making the stereotpe, it’s a separate unit or agency doing it.
Point taken.
I’ve noticed that on English-language channels and networks in the United States, voiceover announcers on commercials are both male ad female, with a variety of vocal ranges. On Spanish-language channels and networks like Univision and Telemundo, commercial voiceover talent is predominantly male, and almost always a deep baritone.
Would you say that advertisers on Spanish-language networks are pandering to the machismo culture of their target audience?
Got a link? I’m curious now.