Is it because black people are supposed to resemble monkey's? I don't see a resemblance.
Though I don't see how there can be such outrage. Look at how much bullshit asian people have been through in American television. That commercial is pretty tame compared to the racially insensitive commercials targeting asians.
I don't think the point of the commercial was to depict Obama as a monkey. Because as stated before, the monkey is the mascot. I don't know, it can be argued both for and against the commercial being racist. One thing the commercial did do was raise controversy, which in the business world, is good.
I wonder if Japan even has the same racial stereotypes that the West has? Maybe it's not racist to them at all? I know we have some users from Japan here, maybe they can comment.
Oh wow! This is totally justifies bombing Japan now! Let's go stab or shoot the next Japanese person we see because of this!
No wait, I have a better idea! LET'S ENDANGER LIVES AND DIMINISH OUR POPULATION IN A WAR BECAUSE OF THIS!
/sarcasm
Sometimes, I'm ashamed to be in a society with you people who make assumptions and judge people as a whole. If you feel like being a big boy and fighting against something, then blame the ones in charge of advertising that commercial, and NOT the Japanese in general.
I also thought this was pretty harsh, until I realized that the portrayal of japanese / asian people in western commercials is about 100000000 times worse.
Is it because black people are supposed to resemble monkey's? I don't see a resemblance.
Though I don't see how there can be such outrage. Look at how much bullshit asian people have been through in American television. That commercial is pretty tame compared to the racially insensitive commercials targeting asians.
Yeah, grabbing a 40 year old commercial. That's not stupid as hell. Your arguement totally holds water. The US devils had offensive commercials 40+ years ago so how dare people complain about brand new commercials from our benevolent Japanese overlords? Shameful, how dare you America 40 years ago!
I doubt that was racist. Like someone said, the monkey is a standard mascot, they're just playing on the whole 'Change' thing Obama has going. Even that jell-o ad, aside from the engrish, didnt really seem that bad.
To their defense, it could be just a monkey. A monkey probably isn't as derogative in Japan as it is here. What I'm wondering is why the hell the monkey is crying.
"To their defense, it could be just a monkey. A monkey probably isn't as derogative in Japan as it is here. What I'm wondering is why the hell the monkey is crying."
As I recall, Shintoists revere monkeys. I could be wrong, though.
I don't think its racist. They're calling him a monkey. I don't see how that has any relation to his race. Plus even if it is racist, we've all seen racism against Asian's in western media, so its no different really.
Bloody nora. That's horrible. Let's kill thousands of people that have no hand in the making of this commercial or the concept behind it because "we are America and we can".
As an Englishman I watched said YouTube video and all I saw was a monkey spokespersoning a product in which the customers campaigned for change? Now I'm presuming the advert (because I don't know Japanese) was promoting some kind of change in their mobile service. At NO POINT did it have ANYTHING to do with Obama or America. How the hell do you derive upon that?
The only way I can see this offending you guys is in the way it (possibly) parodies the ridiculous "sports fan" attitude your country has towards politics. Which is cringe worthy at best.
Japan is no more racist than America, which is no more racist than anywhere else I wouldn't doubt. Fucking hell Super Monkey Ball must be racist too. Why don't we stop using monkeys in pop culture because people don't have a backbone.
Why is it that whenever I enter a thread that Americans don't agree with the contents there's fucking always talk of bombs being dropped or war being raged? I don't get it. The commercial could easily be seen as racist, yes, no doubt, it's not in good taste,but you war mongers need to calm the fuck down. If you want something done, get the Japanese to apologise, take the commercial down or get them to acknowledge that this sort of advert is unacceptable. Contact Japanese embassies in America to see their views on the video.
(Remember the Japanese culture is completely different and this may not necessarily be taken as racist., maybe it is harmless after all, remember the Japanese don't have the same history as America, many of the acts that were perpetrated in the US are not applicable to Japan and Japanese history. You must put the whole video in a cultural and historical context.)
NB. I am not generalizing in this post, it's pretty much only directed to a small group of idiots who seem to always show in these types of threads. And what the fuck would dropping bombs on Japan achieve anyway? Would that make them less racist?
I saw another Emobile ad where the same monkey and a dog were talking, add that to my Sony ad and you get "Hey, look, it's a monkey wearing a Walkman! How cute!" "Hey, look! It's a monkey talking to a dog wearing a tie! How cute!" "Hey look! It's a monkey impersonating a well known black-" "That's not funny, asshole!"
"Why is it that whenever I enter a thread that Americans don't agree with the contents there's fucking always talk of bombs being dropped or war being raged? I don't get it. The commercial could easily be seen as racist, yes, no doubt, it's not in good taste,but you war mongers need to calm the fuck down. If you want something done, get the Japanese to apologise, take the commercial down or get them to acknowledge that this sort of advert is unacceptable. Contact Japanese embassies in America to see their views on the video.
(Remember the Japanese culture is completely different and this may not necessarily be taken as racist., maybe it is harmless after all, remember the Japanese don't have the same history as America, many of the acts that were perpetrated in the US are not applicable to Japan and Japanese history. You must put the whole video in a cultural and historical context.)"
A few people don't speak for all of America, just the same that the commercial doesn't speak for Japan.
"Why is it that whenever I enter a thread that Americans don't agree with the contents there's fucking always talk of bombs being dropped or war being raged? I don't get it. The commercial could easily be seen as racist, yes, no doubt, it's not in good taste,but you war mongers need to calm the fuck down. If you want something done, get the Japanese to apologise, take the commercial down or get them to acknowledge that this sort of advert is unacceptable. Contact Japanese embassies in America to see their views on the video.
(Remember the Japanese culture is completely different and this may not necessarily be taken as racist., maybe it is harmless after all, remember the Japanese don't have the same history as America, many of the acts that were perpetrated in the US are not applicable to Japan and Japanese history. You must put the whole video in a cultural and historical context.)"
A few people don't speak for all of America, just the same that the commercial doesn't speak for Japan."
Yeah, yeah I know that I am NOT generalising, I'm just calling out the idiots who seem to always show up in these types of threads, and they're all over the internet.
"Why is it that whenever I enter a thread that Americans don't agree with the contents there's fucking always talk of bombs being dropped or war being raged? I don't get it. The commercial could easily be seen as racist, yes, no doubt, it's not in good taste,but you war mongers need to calm the fuck down. If you want something done, get the Japanese to apologise, take the commercial down or get them to acknowledge that this sort of advert is unacceptable. Contact Japanese embassies in America to see their views on the video.
(Remember the Japanese culture is completely different and this may not necessarily be taken as racist., maybe it is harmless after all, remember the Japanese don't have the same history as America, many of the acts that were perpetrated in the US are not applicable to Japan and Japanese history. You must put the whole video in a cultural and historical context.)"
A few people don't speak for all of America, just the same that the commercial doesn't speak for Japan."
Well said. Plus you have to account for the internet tuff guyz phenomenon.
"Why is it that whenever I enter a thread that Americans don't agree with the contents there's fucking always talk of bombs being dropped or war being raged? I don't get it. The commercial could easily be seen as racist, yes, no doubt, it's not in good taste,but you war mongers need to calm the fuck down. If you want something done, get the Japanese to apologise, take the commercial down or get them to acknowledge that this sort of advert is unacceptable. Contact Japanese embassies in America to see their views on the video.
(Remember the Japanese culture is completely different and this may not necessarily be taken as racist., maybe it is harmless after all, remember the Japanese don't have the same history as America, many of the acts that were perpetrated in the US are not applicable to Japan and Japanese history. You must put the whole video in a cultural and historical context.)"
A few people don't speak for all of America, just the same that the commercial doesn't speak for Japan."
Yeah, yeah I know that I am NOT generalising, I'm just calling out the idiots who seem to always show up in these types of threads, and they're all over the internet."
Of course yes - you only get one or two per thread but it's still a sad thing that they're are present in threads like these.
Guess there is nothing any of us can do about these people that don't seem to value life at all.
You guys are jumping to some crazy conclusions. I don't see how that is racist at all; as someone said, their mascot is a monkey. Calm down everyone, there is no need to begin calling for violence.
Ummm, Bush is depicted as a monkey in political cartoons all the time. Depict a black person as a monkey (who is the mascot of the company) and omfg racist!
"Japan is the single most xenophobic place I've seen."
Where are you getting that from? My understanding of the word xenophobia (and also Google Defines) is "a fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people".
So how come Japan and the Eastern world as a whole love the Western world? Tell me why they love baseball and other western sports and why their modern culture is totally influenced by both their heritage and the Western world? Tell me why a lot of the pop-punk bands that don't quite make it over here still have huge followings in Japan (read: Sugarcult, Allister)?
"Japan is the single most xenophobic place I've seen."
Where are you getting that from? My understanding of the word xenophobia (and also Google Defines) is "a fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people".
So how come Japan and the Eastern world as a whole love the Western world? Tell me why they love baseball and other western sports and why their modern culture is totally influenced by both their heritage and the Western world? Tell me why a lot of the pop-punk bands that don't quite make it over here still have huge followings in Japan (read: Sugarcult, Allister)?
Agreed. Theres also iPods, they buy them up crazy over there and iPod is a american product.
IMO I don't think they were trying to be racist or anything as the monkey is pretty revered in Japan and a mascot for the company. They just used the whole "Changed" thing Obama has in his campaign for the ad. I think in todays society people are just so eager to jump the gun and say something "racist".
I'm not totally sure how you relate this to Obama. There are a lot of campaigns that have used the word 'change', and I just don't see any real indication that this is directed toward Obama. That said, it also is not racist, because that monkey happens to be their company mascot.
"I don't think its racist. They're calling him a monkey. I don't see how that has any relation to his race. Plus even if it is racist, we've all seen racism against Asian's in western media, so its no different really."
Agreed. The truth is none of us know who made the commercial and for what reasons. Maybe it is racially charged, maybe it isn't.
The eastern countries have all ways been very racist. In China and Japan, they teach racism in their schools as part of the curriculum (Our country is the best country). But damn I can't wait for WW3 when the US just nukes Japan again LOL.
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