Racist Toothpaste Commercial?

[[Ned]]

http://filecabi.net/video/racisttooth.html

[Sanhedralite]

what the hell was that? Disgusting.

[LuckyChef]

It could be interpreted as racist but then again a strange man offering to give your child a balloon when your not looking I'm sure racism isn't the first thing on your mind. What the commercial is trying to say is that their toothpaste is black probably because it's an herbal toothpaste and that people shouldn't judge what colour it is so long as it works.

[nano]

ya its racist.

[Ojam]

ok, maybe its just my whiteness showing, but how is that Racist? The guy went up a pole, he needed to use both hands to climb down, so he needed to use his teeth to get the balloon down. The mother saw a stranger trying to give her child a balloon, ok. He goes home, you see more balloons, so the guy is either nice guy who gets balloons often for kids, and then their mothers only see him as a stranger, or he likes balloons. Then he lies down on his bed, which happens to look like a tooth brush, and he turns into tooth paste and they say black herbal tooth paste. Which is not the only think that uses black herbs, there is also black herbal tea, black herbal soap, black herbal everything its a type of herb that is used for lots of things. So what is racist? Is it because he is black, because they really couldn’t use a white guy to turn into black colored toothpaste?

[Sanhedralite]

I don't think the average person watching will see it that way. You have to think of the masses in media. I can see your point though.

[formalentity]

That was Strange, I didn't like it, seemed kinda racist..

[x86asm]

wth was that?

[Moot]

First off, that was an odd commercial to say the least.

Secondly, the only racist thing I saw in that commercial was that asian broad. She grabbed her child and ran off because that guy was black. Burn in hell asian bit**.

The commercial was promoting anti-racism in that it doesn't matter what colour your skin(or toothpaste in this case :lol: ) is, they are all equal.

[cheeseshredder]

How is this racist...

[emptypocket]

ok, maybe its just my whiteness showing, but how is that Racist? The guy went up a pole, he needed to use both hands to climb down, so he needed to use his teeth to get the balloon down. The mother saw a stranger trying to give her child a balloon, ok. He goes home, you see more balloons, so the guy is either nice guy who gets balloons often for kids, and then their mothers only see him as a stranger, or he likes balloons. Then he lies down on his bed, which happens to look like a tooth brush, and he turns into tooth paste and they say black herbal tooth paste. Which is not the only think that uses black herbs, there is also black herbal tea, black herbal soap, black herbal everything its a type of herb that is used for lots of things. So what is racist? Is it because he is black, because they really couldn’t use a white guy to turn into black colored toothpaste?

Um, the tagline is "Appearance can be deceiving." Just what about his appearance do you think the commerical is referring to? His clothing?

And don't blame it on your "whiteness showing". It's you that's showing.

[cheeseshredder]

Um, the tagline is "Appearance can be deceiving." Just what about his appearance do you think the commerical is referring to? His clothing?

And don't blame it on your "whiteness showing". It's you that's showing.

What are you talking about, if anything this commercial is AGAINST prejudice?
Just because they're using a black person automatically makes this racist? I'm so tired of the sensitivity.

[nano]

they should have had an asian or white guy wearing black clothes

[gordholio]

Just a dumb commercial to me!

[kgen]

I agree with some of the above, it is apparent that some people (thai?) have stereotypes towards african people, but the commercial is trying to show that such stereotypes can be deceiving. i personally don't think it's racist per se; but a little unusual for playing the race card;

[Ojam]

Um, the tagline is "Appearance can be deceiving." Just what about his appearance do you think the commerical is referring to? His clothing?

Well

1.) I didn't see the "appearance can be deceiving"

2.) It's society which is doing the stereo typing (the mother) the commercial is saying she is wrong. (by the very statement you quoted)



And don't blame it on your "whiteness showing". It's you that's showing.

3.) That was a joke, since so many "is this racist" threads come up around these parts.

4.) I'm probably one of the least racist people who post here (as in not at all), go look at my post history, so maybe you are the mother in the commercial, and need to stop stereo typing.

[Indeed]

The MDG commercial with Steve Nash is racist.

Why would they have a white basketball player? Since MDG computers are utter crap, are they suggesting that white men can't play basketball? So MDG tells us that Nash was MVP. So what, just because he's white? :confused:

[Sanhedralite]

First off, that was an odd commercial to say the least.

Secondly, the only racist thing I saw in that commercial was that asian broad. She grabbed her child and ran off because that guy was black. Burn in hell asian bit**.

The commercial was promoting anti-racism in that it doesn't matter what colour your skin(or toothpaste in this case :lol: ) is, they are all equal. - Do you realize you're criticizing racism by a racist comment there?

Anyway, let me explain this to those who don't get it yet.

There are many things that make this a racist commercial - I'm tired and will just post a few, but here we go:

1. Objectification of a man
2. Using his "blackness" to equate to a product, in this case, black toothpaste.
3. He climbs a pole = like a monkey or animal, this is nearly impossible for a human to do
4. He lays down in bed, defeated
5. His body tuns into the black toothpaste
6. You then consume and use this product
7. He's black, he's wearing black even, he's dressed in a basketball outfit for goodness sakes!

[nano]

so the representation of anything black must be a blck guy

[Ojam]

so the representation of anything black must be a blck guy

How do you know they chose the black guy because of his skin, maybe he was the best actor for the job. Are you suggesting that he isn't talented enough to be in the commercial simply based on his skills?

See, anything can be twisted to be "racist" when you are looking for it.

Personally, I probably wouldn't even thought of him in terms of race if the post title was "racist commercial" so I was on the looking for race.

[cheeseshredder]

- Do you realize you're criticizing racism by a racist comment there?

Anyway, let me explain this to those who don't get it yet.

There are many things that make this a racist commercial - I'm tired and will just post a few, but here we go:

1. Objectification of a man
2. Using his "blackness" to equate to a product, in this case, black toothpaste.
3. He climbs a pole = like a monkey or animal, this is nearly impossible for a human to do
4. He lays down in bed, defeated
5. His body tuns into the black toothpaste
6. You then consume and use this product
7. He's black, he's wearing black even, he's dressed in a basketball outfit for goodness sakes!

You're thinking way too hard. I don't understand how using a person's skin colour is racist. His skin is obviously black, it's a fact, and it adds to the commercial. Why is it acceptable to use midgets for TV and movies then?

He climbs a pole TO HELP a girl, there is NO indication that he is like an animal or a monkey. I'm sure there are tons of people who can accomplish the feat of climbing a poll.

A white or asian guy wearing a black shirt would not work in this scenario. I agree, RACISM IS USED IN THIS COMMERCIAL... BUT it's not trying to refer to the black man as inferior. The commercial is saying not to judge people by appearance because if we think toothpaste...black would seem repulsive compared to white. It's simply playing on the well known asian response to black people.

Again, I'm so disgusted with this sensitivity. I'm starting to think that people view this commercial with the intention of seeing something racist, so they look way too hard and miss the idea. "Oh no, there's a black guy, it must be racist".

EDIT: Even if they decided to use a white guy, for an entirely different scenario that doesn't depend on racism and they decided to paint the white guy black...There would be even MORE of an uproar.

[that_staples_guy]

See what happens when it's introduced into a North American context. lol I'm sure it would've been acceptable there (whatever country it was played in) - personally I'm cool w/ the commercial, but as you can see, there are people that'll say it's racist. In a North American perspective that commercial is sure as hell racist.

[Yukikaze]

I'm pretty much surprised at what i just saw. Was this commercial a leak or was it already aired on tv? Someone should have fire the person in the research marketting department and the judging panel.

[Atheral]

It's a poorly made commercial and that's that.

[keanefan]

what's the origin of the commercial?

sort of sounds European to me.

Mother looks Asian.

Kid looks white.

why is Moot ranting and raving about "Asian *****" when she is just an actress in a tv commercial?

bizarre world.

[formalentity]

It's a poorly made commercial and that's that.

Agreed!

[vee_one]

booooooooooo!!!

plain stupid

[travelmate]

- Do you realize you're criticizing racism by a racist comment there?

Anyway, let me explain this to those who don't get it yet.

There are many things that make this a racist commercial - I'm tired and will just post a few, but here we go:

1. Objectification of a man
2. Using his "blackness" to equate to a product, in this case, black toothpaste.
3. He climbs a pole = like a monkey or animal, this is nearly impossible for a human to do
4. He lays down in bed, defeated
5. His body tuns into the black toothpaste
6. You then consume and use this product
7. He's black, he's wearing black even, he's dressed in a basketball outfit for goodness sakes!

Well said.

This is one of the thread's more insightful comments, particularly #3, i'm surprised most of you missed that connection until now.

There are definate racist connotations, but i'm not sure that might have been what this foreign company sought to achieve.

[thendless]

In hong kong and taiwan there is a brand of toothpaste called Darlie, it used to be called Darkie, and the literal translation of the name is black man's toothpaste:

http://val.kolpakov.com/toothpaste/Image002.jpg

Notice they changed the picture drastically when they renamed it to darlie... I never realised how racist the old picture was till I researched it and found that pic.. hahah

http://www.bigwhiteguy.com/archive/2004/06/30/black_man_toothpaste/ has some info on it

Anyways you can pick up the toothpaste at any chinese supermarket, I've used it before and it is really good toothpaste I must say :D Worth of the name Black man's toothpaste ;)

[Sonbuster]

i'm not sure what the message of this commercial:
1. black herbal toothpaste is a-ok!
2. not all black people are bad people.

[Brownbear]

and he turns into tooth paste and they say black herbal tooth paste. Which is not the only think that uses black herbs, there is also black herbal tea, black herbal soap, black herbal everything its a type of herb that is used for lots of things. So what is racist? Is it because he is black, because they really couldn’t use a white guy to turn into black colored toothpaste?


in short


yes

[Brownbear]

You're thinking way too hard. I don't understand how using a person's skin colour is racist. His skin is obviously black, it's a fact, and it adds to the commercial. Why is it acceptable to use midgets for TV and movies then?

He climbs a pole TO HELP a girl, there is NO indication that he is like an animal or a monkey. I'm sure there are tons of people who can accomplish the feat of climbing a poll.

A white or asian guy wearing a black shirt would not work in this scenario. I agree, RACISM IS USED IN THIS COMMERCIAL... BUT it's not trying to refer to the black man as inferior. The commercial is saying not to judge people by appearance because if we think toothpaste...black would seem repulsive compared to white. It's simply playing on the well known asian response to black people.

Again, I'm so disgusted with this sensitivity. I'm starting to think that people view this commercial with the intention of seeing something racist, so they look way too hard and miss the idea. "Oh no, there's a black guy, it must be racist".

EDIT: Even if they decided to use a white guy, for an entirely different scenario that doesn't depend on racism and they decided to paint the white guy black...There would be even MORE of an uproar.


eheh, actually now i agree with this synopsis

[cheeseshredder]

I believe the commercial is Thai, probably didn't stir much attention there. Our North American views on racism is probably why we're so critical of these types of commercials.

Many commercials here are worse in the amount of prejudice present, it just tends to focus on things things besides race.

Those who believe that the actor was being depicted as an animal, or a monkey of some sort need to open up their minds and stop viewing the commercial in such a critical way.

Edit: Actually, not sure if it's Thai..but somewhere in Southeast Asia probably.

[Sanhedralite]

Brownbear,

You have no clue of my sensitivity or what my experiences and background are. What if I said you're being overly insensitive to the stereotyping issue here?

When all is said and done, if I am thinking way too hard, that would be a good thing. The problem is when we don't think. Please don't let these attitudes lull you into a comfortably numb state of acceptance. That's what they want.

[cheeseshredder]

Brownbear,

You have no clue of my sensitivity or what my experiences and background are. What if I said you're being overly insensitive to the stereotyping issue here?

When all is said and done, if I am thinking way too hard, that would be a good thing. The problem is when we don't think. Please don't let these attitudes lull you into a comfortably numb state of acceptance. That's what they want.

I think you mean me.

Society's obsession with being anti-racist has made us overcritical of many things. People are viewing things as racist when they really aren't. This kind of mentality creates more racial problems than it intends to fix. Obviously, it's better than what previous generations are, but there is a limit to how "anti-racism" we should be.

The intent of the advertisement was not to depict the actor as inferior because of his race, it's playing on the fact that Asians tend to fear black people. So the message is more related to not being racist.

Let's just agree that it's a misleading commercial.

[aw3s0me]

wow you guys take things too seriously. that was a great commercial.

[cmge]

i dont c anything wrong with the commercial... :S

[Instagator]

Who cares? ... its a stupid video.

[charger]

I have a co-worker who is so unoffensive it just sickens me. He said "I don't mean to be racially blunt, but was that guy you were talking to earlier black, I'm not a racist here." My response was "How is using a descriptor in any way racist?" I mean, c'mon. If I was in an asian neighborhood and someone described me as white in front of me I wouldn't be offended. The PC idea of not using any simple word to describe things is silly. Same goes for terms like first nations, and other "pc" terms.

It's one thing call an Asian guy yellow (which is bad) to saying someone is black.

I live in the Okanagan, there are about 20 black people in the entire valley, (with about 160,000 residents). The racial demographics are the same as they were in 1900.

Racial differences exist, and denying that they exist is a bigger scourgethan anything out there.

Working in sales has made me the ultimate equal opportunity person. When east indians come into the store and they are obviously first generation (as many in the Okanagan are) I find that they are generally pretty conservative and difficult to sell to. There are communication barriers, cultural, and simply speaking, many first gen immigrants of any race are going to be very careful with their money. And they find me, the fast talking white salesman quite intimidating... Their children on the other hand, are not that different from anybody else.

I am contradicting myself here, and I find racists to be sad individuals. I have my beefs about certain racial entitlement systems (like no tax for natives), but I feel like I have no control and neither does the person in front of me.

I have met a few black people who are complete dicks..as well as an even greater number of white people who are dicks (since everyone in the BC interior is white), Asian people too.

I base my feelings on someone on the person in front of me. I don't care about their background.

[Siefer999]

ya its racist.
i think its anti-racist

[ClubberLang]

Just a dumb commercial to me!
agreed

[Duality]

I'm black and I know this isn't racist. If a stranger offered a balloon to my daughter, I would take her and run.

[lip1978]

I thought it was racist until I saw the tagline at the end.
It then became apparent to me, and probably anyone who saw the commercial, that it wasn't racist at all.
Weird, but not racist. In fact, it tried to debunk social stereotypes.

[xwar]

The MDG commercial with Steve Nash is racist.

Why would they have a white basketball player? Since MDG computers are utter crap, are they suggesting that white men can't play basketball? So MDG tells us that Nash was MVP. So what, just because he's white? :confused:

riiiiiiiight :|

[Indeed]

http://www.connal.com/rtw/journal/june/CoconutClimb.JPG

[keanefan]

i think its anti-racist

it's trying to be anti-racist but then it ends up looking racist.

:lol: >:( :D :mad:

[ian1386]

Regardless of race, any stranger offering my kid a balloon unless it's a clown at a fair, would raise a red flag in my books.

It's not the race of the person they're saying isn't what it seems, it's the situation.

I chuckled...

[islandboy_007]

http://www.connal.com/rtw/journal/june/CoconutClimb.JPG

Thats a racist pic, you should take it down. ;)

[vladislav]

only on RFD.....*sigh*

[Ojam]

Thats a racist pic, you should take it down. ;)

Yeah I know! What are they trying to say with that picture, that all white people always have a camera? :mad:

[Piccolo]

There is a fine line and I haven't decided if the commercial crosses it.
1. Are poeple being overly sensitive? - Maybe
2. Are there negative images and stereotyes towards blacks? - Yes

The commercial is attempting to be "anti-prejudice/racist" and unintentionally or intentionally reinforces the stereotypes about blacks.
- the climbing was an incredible feat of strength, but bottomline is he did look like a monkey.
- Basketball shirt?
- Seen and not heard? (didn't say a word)

oh but its okay cause he was nice and got the ballon. :rolleyes:

-If a strange person handed my niece a ballon - would i grab her and run? For one thing I would not leave her unattended in the first place. The reaction from the mother/gardian seem a little over the top. Yes people should be concerned about their children taking things from strangers (duh) but are they going to grap them and start screaming and yelling like an idiot? Seriously?


Marketing departments dont just piece together a commercial without reason. They KNEW what implications this commercial would have when they aired it. How many people have watched this commerical in this thread? Whether its racist or not, the commerical is getting viewed and discussed and debated and who knows, someone might even go out and buy the toothpaste.

The intentions were to get this commercial as much viewing as possible and i would say they suceeded. EDIT: The commecial is getting viewed through these message boards without the company having to pay a cent.

[cheeseshredder]

It was fun reading this thread again, I'm going to bump it just to see how the response is now compared then then.

To clarify, playing on racism is not the same thing as racism.
E.g: In this commercial, an Asian lady reacts stereotypically to the black gentleman (this behaviour is racist). The commercial uses this instance of racism to make its main point of "appearance doesn't matter". So the commercial itself is not racist, it simply uses a case of racism to make its point. The racism in the video is internal and occurs among characters in the commercial, there is no racist message portrayed out to the public, so the commercial can't be considered racist because of that.

[EH100501AC]

Didn't seem racist in my opinion...just weird

[DaVibe]

It's like turning an asian man into a chicken ball IMO ... yeah, it's crazy but because the guy is dark skinned, he happens to match the toothpaste?
You don't USE people like that, that's ridiculous.

And the tree climbing crap, that could be anybody so that doesn't bother me as much. Okay, running stereotype, alright whatever but everyone climbs stuff.

[beerbaron105]

First off, that was an odd commercial to say the least.

Secondly, the only racist thing I saw in that commercial was that asian broad. She grabbed her child and ran off because that guy was black. Burn in hell asian bit**.

The commercial was promoting anti-racism in that it doesn't matter what colour your skin(or toothpaste in this case :lol: ) is, they are all equal.

or she ran off cuz it was a stranger talking to her child? but i guess i interpret things differently!