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Dublin: 15 °C Wednesday 19 June, 2013

Is Ashton Kutcher’s new “dating” ad racist?

Or does it just highlight that the actor is actually pretty good at accents?

Image: YouTube Screengrab

AN AMERICAN SNACK company has apologised after its latest ad campaign took some serious flack for featuring a ‘browned-up’ Ashton Kutcher imitating an Indian man.

Popchips founder and CEO Keith Belling said he appreciated the feedback on what he thought was a light-hearted dating campaign parody. On his website, he posted the following statement:

our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody featuring a variety of characters that was meant to provide a few laughs. we did not intend to offend anyone. i take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended.

Anil Dash, one of the most vocal complainants, explained his hurt at what he described as an emblem of the flaws in culture and not just a PR mistake.

Naturally, a bunch of us (initially mostly Indian diaspora members whom I follow on Twitter) started complaining about it, and a number of like-minded allies also registered their offense as well. I can’t imagine I have to explain this to anyone in 2012, but if you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad “funny” accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course. Make some different decisions.

What do you think? Light-hearted parody or racism?



Vote


Poll Results:





The company has featured separate videos for each of Kutcher’s characters but has taken down Raj’s from Facebook, YouTube and its website.

250 years of genius: The evolution of Guinness advertising>

Too sexy, too violent or plain offensive: 20 ads banned in the UK>

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Comments (32 Comments)

  • If thats offensive then we may as well say goodbye to comedy.

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  • Have people gone completely mad? How come it’s completely acceptable to say and do multiple taboo/racist acts on stage as a comedian or ventriloquist while an actor can not openly act in an advertisement campaign?? It’s clear from the majority who have voted above that it’s not offensive….so why entertain a small minority of moaners??

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  • John 03/05/12 #

    FFS. The only thing offensive about it is his woeful acting!

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  • Would it be sexist if he dragged up as a woman?

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  • In my view its not offensive but he is not ripping the p#ss out of me. Give me a rep of Cork accent booooooyyyyyy & maybe he will offend me but most of my Dublin bleedin buddies do that anyway so I doubt it.

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  • Its offensively crap.

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  • Its only racist because he is white.

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  • Tim Wise 04/05/12 #

    Everybody says there is this RACE problem. Everybody says this RACE problem will be solved when the third world pours into EVERY white country and ONLY into white countries

    The Netherlands and Belgium are more crowded than Japan or Taiwan, but nobody says Japan or Taiwan will solve this RACE problem by bringing in millions of third worlders and quote assimilating unquote with them.

    Everybody says the final solution to this RACE problem is for EVERY white country and ONLY white countries to “assimilate,” i.e., intermarry, with all those non-whites.

    What if I said there was this RACE problem and this RACE problem would be solved only if hundreds of millions of non-blacks were brought into EVERY black country and ONLY into black countries.

    How long would it take anyone to realize I’m not talking about a RACE problem. I want the final solution to the BLACK problem?

    And how long would it take any sane black man to notice this and what kind of psycho black man wouldn’t object to this?

    But if I say that, I’m a naziwhowantstokillsixmillionjews.

    Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white.

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  • Not offensive at all !!!

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  • The Americans love using Indian people in comedy. One of the first was prob Van Wilder, and it continues with That seventies show and the big bang theory. I think its because the way they are portrayed is diametrically opposed to what people expect of Indian folk, as they are perceived as conservative. Maybe the Indians are fed up with people making a living out of using them for cheap gags? I dont think it was that offensive but maybe the Indian people are tiring of it? Its not exactly very clever comedy anyhow.

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  • His hippy character *is* Peter Andre with dreads!

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  • Personally, I’m not offended by it. But if the article says that a number of complainants of Indian origin found it so, then you’d have to say that it was offensive to that group. It’s easy enough for me as a white Irish person to say I don’t see it as offensive but I’m not the one who matters here. If a group felt that they were targeted unfairly, even by clumsy accident then it’s simply good manners to apologise and remove the ad. Simples.

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    • Yes its racist because hes taking the piss out of Indian people. There is a lot of Indian people living in our great city of Dublin and I bet they think its racist.

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    • If he did an Irish piss take and some Irish people complained and it got taken down Id be just as annoyed.
      Its completely harmless, theres no insituation of anything deeper, no demeaning hints or implications, and he has a go at other steroetypes just as much.

      Just because you are offended by something doesnt give you the automatic right to put an end to it. Pretty much all of comedy has a go at someone/something/some stereo type. If the receiving end of it is willing to enjoy other bits of comedy then they should shut up if they are the brunt of it, so long as there is nothing deeper than harmless fun in it.

      This isnt an issue about racism , this is an Indian version of someone that would ring up Joe Duffy about somehting that the majority of the country thinks is a bit of fun.

      Its killing comedy.

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    • Not simples: simplistic!

      Nothing is offensive. There are just people who take offence. Just as there are people who trip and fall. It’s life. God, our generation are such a shower of wet blankets…

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    • Ah I’m calling shenanigans on that argument. Your ‘right’ to have a laugh trumps someone’s right to not feel like their being discriminated against by a company for money? Sorry… I don’t buy that. And when it comes to comedy, it’s pretty lazy when a comedian has to resort to making someone else feel like shit to get a cheap laugh. The Roy Chubby Browns’ of this world were on the decline, but arguments like that just give the morons , without enough wit to write genuinely clever jokes, the justification to do what they want because it’s just ‘banter’. Comedy should uplift people and make them laugh at themselves not the other way around. As always I refer to my general riule of ‘Don’t be a Dick’. It has never steered me wrong.

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    • @Siobhan: it’s a pity you didn’t read what I wrote.

      Discriminated against? How? Why? What discrimination?

      I said nothing about laziness. I agree with you on Chubby Brown. But I am just as offended by you prescribing what comedy may or may not be. So, now you know I’m offended, are you going to delete your post? I doubt it. I certainly hope not. Time to grow up…

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    • I was rather replying to all the replies to my comment, as opposed to just yours there Jonathan. But I’ll respond to you anyway. I’m going to go ahead and guess that you’re not actually offended, in any way, and you’re just being a patronising little gentleman. You can take my *idea* of what comedy *should* be as seriously as you wish to. But I doubt my opinion on treating people with a modicum of respect smacks of someone who needs to be condescended to about maturity. Have a nice day now :)

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    • Siobhan, genuine question, do you think priests could have had a right to get father ted shut down? Or working class people a right to get rubberbandits banned? Or certain British stereotypes to get little Britain banned? The list goes on, lighten up. Nearly every bit of comedy, even the clever funny stuff is at the expense of someone else.

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    • Short answer… No because they’re not in danger of becoming a minority class. If you’re genuinely interested then get online and research race and discrimination of minorities in the media and inform yourself.

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  • We have had to put up with americans pretending to be irish for years and have had to put up with brutal irish accents in films and yet we never cried racism!!

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  • “Because of history” does not justify White genocide.
    “For the economy” does not justify White genocide.
    “Low birth rates” does not justify White genocide.
    “We all bleed red!” does not justify White genocide.
    “We are all human!” does not justify White genocide.
    “Race is just a social construct!” does not justify White genocide.
    “We are all from Africa!” does not justify White genocide.

    Meanwhile, no one is flooding Africa with Non Africans and telling them… “we all bleed red” …we are going to create a blended humanity in ONLY Africa.
    No one is flooding Japan with non-Japanese and telling them… “we all bleed red” …we are going to create a blended humanity in ONLY Japan.
    Only White countries are doing this, only anti-Whites like you are pushing it. It is genocide.

    Anti-racist is just a codeword for anti-White.

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  • In my opinion, not offensive, certainly not intended to be.

    If he did a ridiculously badly stereotyped Irishman I wouldn’t find it offensive either, cringy perhaps, but not offensive. It’s clear that it’s not supposed to be a realistic representation of any nationality.

    Perhaps these complaints are simply because some people aren’t familiar with how the English speaking country cultures view this sort of parody, there may be a fear that we try to see Indians like the poorly acted character in this video. I can understand it from this angle, I can only assure those that are complaining that we certainly don’t see Indians this way, it’s an over the top stereotype, he’s about as Indian as how much an oversized guinness swilling red haired Leprechaun called Seamus who greets everyone with ‘Top o the mornin to ya!’ is Irish.

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  • “Its only racist because he is white.” Those poor oppressed crackers not being allowed to black up and poke fun at brown people, what’s the world coming to eh Diego? Tango whiskey alpha tango…that is all….

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  • Svenn 05/05/12 #

    I have a question for the anti-White academics:

    “African-American studies” celebrates blacks

    “Asian-American studies” celebrates asians

    “Chicano studies” celebrates hispanics

    “Whiteness studies” denies that White people even EXIST, and that these White people (who don’t exist) have unearned “White privilege”

    Here is my question:

    Who do you think you are kidding anti-Whites?

    “Anti-racism” is just a code word for anti-WHITE

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  • Wow surprising to see the notorious Tim Wise posting Mantra. Why the change of heart Tim? Maybe you realized that ALL White countries and ONLY White countries are flooded with massive 3rd World immigration to the detriment of the indigenous White populations?
    In 50 years there will be NO majority White countries on earth. Yet Africa has over 50+ all black nations. Asia will remain totally Asian. And that will be true a century from now. It is White countries and ONLY White countries that are being flooded with non-Whites and it is EVERY single White country.

    Whites will have gone from almost 30% of the world population in 1900 to approximately 2-3% by the year 2100, per the UN. This is what genocide looks like, educate yourself. When the Chinese try and force assimilate Tibet, it is rightly called genocide. Genocide does not require lining people up and killing them.
    If Africa was undergoing forced assimilation and massive immigration of non-blacks, against the wishes of most Africans, to the point that every single African country would be non-black by midcentury – well we would know it was genocide.
    Diversity is White GENOCIDE and anti-racist is just a CODEWORD for anti-White.

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  • comments removed on what basis?

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  • Zorkozy says the only way Europeans will “survive” is to miscegenate with hundreds of millions of non-Whites. That’s backwards. Are you anti-Whites honestly telling me the only way the Japanese people can survive is by miscegenating with tens of millions of Africans? Isn’t it actually a logical fact that the opposite is true? Isn’t it also a fact from ALL the evidence, that ALL self proclaimed “anti-racists” support this mass 3rd world immigration and “assimilation” for EVERY and ONLY White countries? Does not what YOU anti-Whites advocate result in the ongoing program of White geNOcide? Then what kind of psycho does not believe that ‘anti-racist is just a code for anti-White’?

    Reply

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