19 replies to this topic

[Zinix]

 

PepsiCo on Wednesday announced it had pulled a Mountain Dew commercial that had been widely blasted as racist and tone-deaf to spousal abuse.

The minute-long ad shows police asking a severely beaten woman to pick out her assailant from a police line-up of all black men — played by members of hip hop collective Odd Future — and a goat. The goat, voiced by Odd Future co-founder and the ad campaign's developer Tyler, The Creator, threatens the woman to keep quiet because "snitches get stitches."

The ad drew intense, widespread rebukes for its negative portrayal of black men. Prominent social critic and Syracuse professor Dr. Boyce Watkins called it "arguably the most racist commercial in history."

"Mountain Dew has set a new low for corporate racism," he says. "Their decision to lean on well-known racial stereotypes is beyond disgusting. This doesn't even include the fact that the company has put black men on par with animals."

The ad is the third in a series in which a Mountain Dew-crazed goat, dubbed Felicia, runs afoul of the law.

In response to the mounting criticism, Pepsi said Wednesday it had pulled the ads.

"We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended," a spokesperson said in a statement to AdWeek. "We have removed the video from all Mountain Dew channels and have been informed that Tyler is removing it from his channels as well."

Tyler, The Creator's manager issued a lengthy statement on Tumblr, in which he apologized that the ad had offended people and claimed that it was "never meant to be taken seriously."

For those who know and respect Tyler he is known for pushing boundaries and challenging stereotypes thru humor. This is someone who grew up on David Chappelle. This situation is layered with context and is a discussion that Tyler would love to address in the right forum as he does have a point of view. [The Phuckery]

 

 

http://m.theweek.com...e.php?id=243601

 

 

The elements in this commercial are not "necessarily" racist alone, but if you put them together, I believe there's a racial issue to it. Even though Tyler The Creator created this, it can still be considered insensitive. . 

[dante👌]

So, it's "racist" because all the criminals are black...?

Edited by Miltonius, 02 May 2013 - 07:07 AM.

[Zinix]

So, it's "racist" because all the crminals are black...?

Companies don't generally want you to see how "shocking" or "controversial their image/commercial is. So they decide to play it safe, even when they're being edgy. The issue here is how the commercial is clearly disguised to be something that it's not.  Just because the commercial was done by a black man, doesn't mean it can't be racist. Racism doesn't only apply to one race, but this commercial does have LARGE elements of racism in it, you can't just blindly ignore it. Everyone in the line-up has a typical "sterotypical" name, isn't that racist? Is it okay to assume that every black man was raised or brought up to be a thug? This commercial basically portrays the typical black male as a delinquent wannabe rapper. I could go on, and on, digging much further into the true intention of this commercial. I doubt the headhonchos at Mountain Dew spend days upon days scheming on how they could make a racist commercial, they simply want to sell soda. However, my friend, the approach/ the way they carried this out is simply utterly tasteless/remorseless. 

[routerbad]

When you do a police lineup, all of the people in the lineup roughly match the description of the perpetrator.  If all of them were white would that have been less racist?  It doesn't matter what color they are in the commercial, and the goat is just part of the humor. 

 

The real racists are the people who jumped all over this because all they saw when they watched the commercial were black men in a police lineup, which obviously in their minds never happens.  Rather than watching the commercial and noticing the context of what was going on, they see one thing and immediately think about the race of the people involved.

[Gaymer]

unfortunately, black people are always the first to get offended. if it were any other ethnicity, no one would have even thought about it. the world we live in sickens me.

[dante👌]

i just need to say this, I'll say now i have nothing against any other race's at all, but if that was all white people in that line, You realize it would not be racist. it would be just like any other normal tv ad. And if it is so racist, why would those guys accept the job to be criminals in the first place? They are getting paid for it, if they thought it was racist they probably wouldn't have done it.

[Zinix]

i just need to say this, I'll say now i have nothing against any other race's at all, but if that was all white people in that line, You realize it would not be racist. it would be just like any other normal tv ad. And if it is so racist, why would those guys accept the job to be criminals in the first place? They are getting paid for it, if they thought it was racist they probably wouldn't have done it.

If it were all white people, there would be people out there that still will find some offense to it. 

[dante👌]

If it were all white people, there would be people out there that still will find some offense to it. 

True, but would it Blow up as much as this one did?

[Abcdude]

It deserved to be pulled just for that ****ing goat

[AegisReflector]

So it's okay for Tyler to rap about Nazism and assassinating Obama and yet a commericial like this gets pulled because of a so-called "racial stereotype"?

 

Alrighty, whatever flows your boat, America.

[Hunter]

Political correctness gone mad.

[Mitch]

I found that commercial obnoxious and incredibly stupid... and it didnt have much to do with mountain dew

 

But it wasnt racist

 

Reminds me of the episode of southpark where Chef and half the town wanted to change the towns flag because they said it was racist because it was 4 white people and then a black guy being hung and then the other half of the town wanted to keep it the official flag (mostly because they were racist) but Stan wanted to keep it the town flag because he didnt feel there was anything wrong with it because when he looked at it he said it was just 5 people on a flag and one of them was being hanged. And it warmed Chef's heart that he was so innocent that he didnt look at it as black or white but simply as people

 

And while South Park is far more extreme than that commercial, its true

 

 

We all need to get to the point where we look past color and dont see it as 3 black people in a police lineup, but simply as 3 people. But sadly that wont ever happen and people will always have to walk on eggshells trying not to offend someone else

 

 

And on that note I would like to end with this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[routerbad]

If it were all white people, there would be people out there that still will find some offense to it.

No, I'm pretty certain no one would care. It's okay in pop culture to represent Caucasians in a negative way, any one else and the ACLU gets involved.

[SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums]

Off Topic but I'd love to try Mountain Dew, I live in the UK so it's not really sold over here, but GAME are starting to sell it lol, Ima pick one up next time I'm there.

[Dragon]

UnchainedGoku, on 03 May 2013 - 12:09 AM, said:Off Topic but I'd love to try Mountain Dew, I live in the UK so it's not really sold over here, but GAME are starting to sell it lol, Ima pick one up next time I'm there.

It's pretty tasty. I don't drink it often. But when I do, I enjoy every last drop.

[Skeletor]

its sad to see the commercials go down i love them even though im a fan of his work, if you read about his life on wiki its pretty amazing how he got to where he is.

Btw im not trying to start a huge war on here....

[BanjoKazooie]

It's reaaaaallllyyyy ironic that I am watching "remember the Titans" right now

[Alianjaro]

So, it's "racist" because all the criminals are black...?

Not sure if subtle humor or sad belief.

[dante👌]

Not sure if subtle humor or sad belief.

No, just questioning why it was considered racist.

[Alianjaro]

No, just questioning why it was considered racist.

Damn, you know when you're tired and you read something, and you get it the wrong way? That's what happened now. Sorry... Anyway, have a great one!