In this race-baiting commercial the hip young black dude makes fun of a group of older white guys.
I especially like this line:
Well, a big hearty FU to WAMU.
Wow. Your scorn seems to have caused Washington Mutual to collapse . Nice going.
Thank you!!! Although I suspect that WAMU’s collapse was more due to their poor lending policies. I imagine those “stodgy old bankers” would not have approved of those policies.
Skammer
September 26, 2008, 7:40pm
4
Old stodgy white men get the last laugh! Ha!
Fuckin’ A, brazil84 ! Lokk what you done! Do me a favor and don’t heap scorn on me or I might just assplode.
Were those ads “race baiting?” That never occurred to me, and I’m an Old White Guy. Never occurred to me that the WaMu guy was “hip,” either. Seemed mostly nerdy. Visible t-shirt? Ironed work shirt with the cuffs buttoned? A smile on his face? Feh! Complete dweeb!
How many stodgy old bankers aren’t white?
Four!
Shit. I give up.
I don’t know . . . I would guess that if you define “stodgy old banker” in a reasonable way, they would be very disproportionately white men.
That spot doesn’t even approach “race-baiting”. It’s anti-elitist, the yang to The Ladder’s ‘better than the great unwashed’ yin.
ivylass
September 26, 2008, 8:48pm
10
Well, this stodgy old guy is laughing all the way to the bank.
I presume it’s not a WaMu bank.
Maybe race WAS a factor in WaMu’s demise!*
WaMu's last press release beforeit collapsed:
WaMu Recognized as Top Diverse Employer—Again
Company ranks in top ten of Hispanic Business’ Diversity Elite and earns perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index
Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked WaMu sixth in its annual Diversity Elite list, which names the top 60 companies for Hispanics. The company was honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations.
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also awarded WaMu its second consecutive 100 percent score in the organization’s 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures progress in attaining equal rights for GLBT employees and consumers. WaMu joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses that also received top marks in the annual survey. The CEI rated a total of 583 businesses on GLBT-related policies and practices, including non-discrimination policies and domestic partner benefits.
In both surveys, WaMu earned points for competitive diversity policies and programs, including the recently established Latino, African American and GLBT employee network groups, all of which have a corporate executive sponsor and champion.
“Diversity is an integral part of cultivating a welcoming, innovative and dynamic workplace here at WaMu. We are proud to be recognized for the opportunities and benefits we offer to all of our employees, including the specific efforts we have made to engage Hispanics and the GLBT community,” said Steve Rotella, WaMu president and COO. “We are committed to diversity at WaMu and pledge to listen to our customers and work closely with our employees to continue to make progress.”
These two recent honors build upon diversity recognitions WaMu received earlier in 2008. WaMu was named one of 25 Noteworthy Companies by Diversity Inc magazine and one of the Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity by Hispanic Enterprise magazine.
It’s a press release. They would WANT it quoted in full.
Scylla
September 26, 2008, 8:54pm
12
Stan o’neill, former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Black man. Walked away with 500,000,000 or so. Pretty much started this debacle.
Bringing race into this is a bad idea. It creates the opportunity for counterarguments such as “see what happens when a black man run a financial services co.”
Putting racial issues aside, I would submit that bankers need to be a bit stodgier.
I’m sure some of his best friends are hispanic, though.
WAMU: White Men Get the Last Laugh?
No offense, but that’s the dumbest acronym I’ve seen in a while.
That is positively maddening.
Miller
September 26, 2008, 9:19pm
17
Scylla:
Stan o’neill, former CEO of Merrill Lynch. Black man. Walked away with 500,000,000 or so. Pretty much started this debacle.
Ah, but the question was specifically about stodgy bankers. Is Stan O’Neill stodgy?
Wolfian
September 26, 2008, 9:40pm
18
Anyone else see the thread title and wonder what Diane Rehm had to do with White men laughing?
I thought the thread was going to be about 88.5 FM too.
incomprehensible grunts of rage
