# Mike Rowe jean commercial - Racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914 "2010-08-29T20:36:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/81 "2010-11-02T18:54:21Z")
I’m sorry, which one was black? I don’t see color. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/82 "2010-11-02T19:05:47Z")
I actually had to go back and watch the ad on YouTube again because I didn’t realize that the woman making the comments was a black…just that she was a pretty woman (my thoughts were ‘Umm…biscuit’ but then I’m a sexist male who notices pretty women). Until the OP pointed it out it never occurred to me that she was black and he was white and that some folks would even see it that way…more that he’s kind of a cool guy (and one of the few actors or whatever that I know their name and something about them) and she was pretty, and that I wish some random biscuit would pat my butt and make flattering comments about it to me on the street (preferably when my wife wasn’t around :p). -XT ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/83 "2010-11-02T19:36:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I’m sorry, which one was black? I don’t see color. Stephen Colbert’s a Doper?! Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/84 "2010-11-02T19:45:25Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > The ad does have the cliché light-skinned black woman with curly hair and no Afrocentric features. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Meh. I’m a lot more tired of, “I don’t hate black people. I just hate when they wear baggy ass pants and go around raping and looting and popping a cap in my ass. I’m not a bigot, right? RIGHT?” > [@BigT](#): > > The only thing I saw as remotely racist is that the pretty girl had to be a light skinned black woman. ::sigh:: Look, folks, I’ll make a list for you so that we don’t have to do any more “Is this commercial racist”/“Was this rally racist” threads, OK? Racist: Refusing to hire someone because of their race Believing someone will commit a crime because they’re of a certain race Thinking that someone is of lower intelligence because of their race Refusing to do business with someone because of their race Not racist: Appealing to a culture dominated by a race (e.g. Jon Stewart) Finding physical characteristics of a race sexy (e.g. light skin, curly hair) Hiring/casting a person of a minority race (e.g. a black actress) Hating/being annoyed by aspects of a culture dominated by a race (e.g. rap, baggy pants, curry, day laboring) It’s not racist to hate baggy pants because not all black people wear baggy pants. It’s not racist to cast a light-skinned black person when that’s, by and large, what Americans find sexy. And it’s not racist to find that sexy, either. It IS racist to think that Mexicans are lazy or that black people are criminals. Does everybody have it now? Good. Glad I could help. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/85 "2010-11-02T19:53:19Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > It IS racist to think that Mexicans are lazy or that black people are criminals. Is that because Mexicans are criminals and black people are lazy? Don’t mind me, I’ll show myself to the door. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/86 "2010-11-02T21:14:02Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Is that because Mexicans are criminals and black people are lazy? > > Don’t mind me, I’ll show myself to the door. What? No. It’s the Salvadorians that are lazy criminals. Sheesh, do I have to teach you _everything_?! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/87 "2010-11-02T21:20:00Z")
Wait…what?? I’m Mexican and I defy you to find a Salvadorian that’s more lazy than I am. Hell, I defy you to find ANYONE more lazy than me. I’m shiftless too… -XT ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/88 "2010-11-02T22:33:18Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > I’m shiftless too… That’s the problem with illegals. They don’t have enough shift. What the US should do is send a whole boatload of shift down there and the problem would be solved. We have so many Americans that are absolutely full of shift, I don’t see why we don’t give Mexicans more of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/89 "2010-11-02T22:38:12Z")
I’m more baffled by this Mike Rowe person being someone who can get multiple advertising jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/90 "2010-11-02T23:07:35Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > That’s the problem with illegals. They don’t have enough shift. What the US should do is send a whole boatload of shift down there and the problem would be solved. We have so many Americans that are absolutely full of shift, I don’t see why we don’t give Mexicans more of it. Well…ok. They can have the 11-7. But you can pry my 9-5 from my cold, dead hands! And BTW, haven’t you ladies ever _seen_ Mike Rowe without a hat? Dude’s got [a forehead](http://media.photobucket.com/image/MIke%20Rowe%20without%20hat/judypearl/lol2097edit.jpg) fit for a Martian prince. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/91 "2010-11-02T23:12:36Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Wait…what?? I’m Mexican and I defy you to find a Salvadorian that’s more lazy than I am. Hell, I defy you to find ANYONE more lazy than me. > > I’m shiftless too… > > -XT Screw that. I’m Irish and we were lazy long before you guys ever where. And we’re drunk and violent too. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/92 "2010-11-03T13:09:43Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > And BTW, haven’t you ladies ever _seen_ Mike Rowe without a hat? Dude’s got [a forehead](http://media.photobucket.com/image/MIke%20Rowe%20without%20hat/judypearl/lol2097edit.jpg) fit for a Martian prince. Yum. Now post pictures of Mike Rowe without pants! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/93 "2010-11-03T13:35:27Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I’m not convinced that those pants actually do that much for him. Yeah but you can’t see them as well as the gal can because she’s got that extra muscle in her eyeball. Agreed that the comment is simply stating "Oh crap, these make me look good to _all_ women. And yeah, no way Mike does anything that might even remotely hurt anyone. He’s good to the bone. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/94 "2010-11-03T13:40:30Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > You must be looking \*really \*hard. I saw nothing racist. The KKK rally in the background that Mike was obviously coming from. (I love ending sentences with prepositions!) ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914/95 "2010-11-03T15:00:31Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > (I love ending sentences with prepositions!) The end of the sentence is where I like to move my prepositions to! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mike-rowe-jean-commercial-racist/551914.md?page=4)