The most racist ad in history?

jimgoose

Can I just add that the original ad would have been much funnier if instead of black dudes, the rest of the line-up consisted of similar-looking 1950s City gent types with identical moustaches and bowler hats?

Killer Wench

Nodin, Old Hippy, here is another article discussing the historical context related to the backlash for this commercial:

http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2013/05/almost-dosnt-count-mountain-dew-owes-women-an-apology/

"First, we have a goat, who is clearly a conduit for cultural onomatopoeia. Spouting “gangsta” Hip-Hop catch phrases, from “you better not snitch on a playa” to ” snitches get stitches,” he is clearly intended to embody the stereotypical, hardcore, sinister, animalistic, barbaric, aggressive, Black man who forces innocent white women to clutch their pearls and move to the edge of a sidewalk wide enough to fit 20 people.

That’s the obvious racism, but there’s much more — less visible to the myopic eye, but embedded in the very fabric of this nation and the literature that we teach our children.

Tom Robinson, a Black man in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, was tried in the court of public opinion and faced being executed for allegedly raping a white woman.

Bigger Thomas, a Black man in Richard Wright’s Native Son, was so afraid that people would think that he raped a white woman that he accidentally murdered her instead.

In a tragic twist of irony, Emmett Till, the Chicago teen who was brutally murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman, and who was at the center of Lil Wayne’s own Mountain Dew controversy, is the ultimate example of why a malignant joke about a Black man — albeit one in muppet form — raping a white woman is the height of offensiveness and cultural insensitivity."

This is from one of my favorite National Public Radio shows. It's called "Tell Me More" and it is hosted by a Black woman who is a Harvard graduate. The show looks at things in the news and injects minority perspective. Anyway, every Friday, she hosts a panel of diverse men from different backgrounds to talk about the week's news. Last week, they talked about the NBA player who came out and the Mountain Dew commercial. Not sure if it will play in Ireland but you can read the transcripts, I think:

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/03/180855416/by-coming-out-has-jason-collins-changed-the-game

Here they discuss Charles Ramsey in yesterday's show:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=182861723


Finally, this is "Talk of a Nation", a radio show that allows listeners from around the country to weigh in on news stories. They had a segment about Charles Ramsey:

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/09/182622613/what-we-can-learn-from-the-viral-spotlight-on-charles-ramsey