Thursday, August 28, 2008

Racism + Ick = BK commercial

This may be old and no longer airing (I saw it on a recorded TV show on our DVR) but regardless, I'm shocked that this was EVER considered a good idea.



And it makes me sad because I like going to Burger King -- their apple fries and $1 side salad is a perfect snack.

I know Burger King has a history of stupid ads but this one is seriously making me reconsider if I should put any money in their pocket. Plus, it's not an appetite boost to see a man unhinge his jaw and swallow a triple woppher.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That was weird.

I must be sheltered. I failed to see the racism.

Sarah @ All The Book Blog Names Are Taken said...

Same here. Maybe it's because I'm tired and it's late and I've been studying for a long time, but I don't see it either :S

Tobes said...

I guess I felt it was racist having this Asian man act

A) SUPER weird and not even human
B) End with super hokey martial arts.

So we see him as
A) Not human
B) A classic Asian stereotype

It's subtle but I think it's there.

Tobes said...

More discussion here --
www.racialicious.com/2006/10/11/burger-king-eat-like-a-snake-commercial/

Anonymous said...

Oh.

Yeah I guess it does kind of put him into a stereotype. After he did the martial arts thing at the end, I wondered if he was actually doing the snake-move thing, which, if he was, is super impressive. So I thought the whole thing was more of a 'holy crap look what that guy can do' and then the unhinging of the jaw thing, I thought, was supposed to be the over-the-top clincher.

I'll go with you on point B, but not point A. Nobody acts human in a burger king commercial.

Tobes said...

Okay Adrienne, 100 points for making me laugh so hard that I snorted and excellent point. Burger king ads are evil.