Australian Racism take II

**Ash** · 01-07-2010, 03:12 AM

Following our Jackson 5 skit on Hey, Hey it's Saturday last year made infamous by Harry Connick Jr and putting Australia in the spotlight for being racist showing such material intended only for Australian TV (https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-talk/75875-harry-connick-vs-jacks...ed-racist.html), we're now revisiting a similar issue by virtue of KFC's new ad depicting an Aussie appeasing a bunch of rowdy Caribbeans with KFC:

[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FftZt-Dw_hQ[/YT]

This time it's got the name of an American company on it, so it had to be rescinded and a formal apology made.

KFC Australia has acknowledged that the ad could be perceived as racist. They said the ad had been "misinterpreted by a segment of people in the US" in a statement released this morning.
"It is a light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team," the statement read.

"The ad was reproduced online in the US without KFC's permission, where we are told a culturally-based stereotype exists, leading to the incorrect assertion of racism."

This kind of satirical Aussie sense of humour just doesn't gel well abroad. It's no longer permissible to release such an ad just for Aussie TV - they now all need an American filter for local airing... or seemingly so the way things are going...

Last edited by Ash; 01-07-2010 at 03:18 AM. Reason: fix link

cupic · 01-07-2010, 04:56 AM

Seems not everybody has a sense of humor evry one different or only interested in appearing to give a toss.
On tonight menu:
Racism
Target:
mmm lets see Australia

Lighting up oops done it again
Quick foot in mouth

cheers

Livewireshock · 01-07-2010, 06:28 AM

The problem is that it has been taken completely out of context. It is not meant to be a white man trying to appease black people. It was about an Australian cricket fan trying to appease fans of the West Indies cricket team, who are touring Australia at the moment.

It is like an outsider being amongst the opposing teams fans in any sport. Like being seated amongst the Cheeseheads at a Green Bay Packer game for NFL, amongst the Man U red fans while you wear Chelsea Blue or trying to keep the Tifosi Ferrari fans happy.

It is definitely not about black people vs white people, race, colour or creed. Just the team they support.

The YouTube video and the way it is presented it wrong and is very misleading in its introduction to the ad. It is deliberately trying to stir up trouble where none exists.

It is part of a series of ads, all featuring the same Australian cricket fan. If this ad is supposed to be racist, then it also is degrading to Parents-In-Laws, loud friends and Girlfriends.

Wheatfield · 01-07-2010, 06:59 AM

Hmmm, I didn't see the racism in that. Just a token white guy with a bucket of junk food.
Now if he had been handing out slices of watermelon, that would have been different.

Kelarch · 01-07-2010, 07:37 AM

It's a racist sterotype in the US. It's not the only foodstuff in that group either. Grape/Orange Soda, Watermelon, and Kool-aid just to name a few.

Most of it is dumb though. Just people grasping for straws just so they can play the Race Card. Which is exactly what I see this as.

And this thread makes me want to post a Dave Chapelle video (NSFW):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4B7G8Rw3Q

seacapt · 01-07-2010, 09:12 AM

Problem is that alot of the PC crowd are in fact the racists themselves. I remember another KFC ad back in the early '70s depicting a young black girl saying "I like it better than stewed tomatoes". This add was quietly taken off the air after several civil rights groups complained and threatened boycotts.I was in 5th grade at the time and had a very liberal english teacher named Ms. Levy. She used the classroom to push her ideas on the kids. One day she brought up the ad and told us kids how WASPS were the problem in America. She went on and on about food stereo types :
stewed tomatoes , watermellon ,fried chicken = Black
potatoe pancakes , pickled herring , bagels = Jewish
beans , pina colladas = Hispanic
When I raised my hand and said I disagreed with her she got all bent out of shape , gave me detention and sent me to the principal's office for making racist remarks.
The following day my Dad took off from work to go to the school and explain that we were members of none of the above mentioned ethnic groups but did regularly enjoy all of the above mentioned foods and in fact he was going to cook stewed tomatoes and potatoe pancakes for dinner that night(it was a regularly served meal in our house, a tradition from when his family didn't have enough money to buy meat)! I got out of detention but did wind up with a bad grade in that class ( Kinda funny since every year before and after I got an A or B in english).
These millitant civil rights activists take themselves too seriously ! They look for problems in places where the problem really doesn't exist! They then pat themselves on the back for successfully stepping all over the rights of others!
Ash , there are some people reading this thread right now that actually believe that you are a racist for starting it!

seacapt · 01-07-2010, 09:36 AM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

Hmmm, I didn't see the racism in that. Just a token white guy with a bucket of junk food.
Now if he had been handing out slices of watermelon, that would have been different.

How so? Ilove watermellon. Bouge Sound watermellons are famous , George Washington had a wagon load sent to him every Summer. Are white people not supposed to enjoy watermellon?

Rupert · 01-07-2010, 09:38 AM

I know Black people, plenty of them, and they laugh their asses off at this kind of ignorance by white "Protectors of their Race". The radical Jesse Jacksons are not near as popular among Blacks as they are among white "Do-Gooders" either. Racism has a face, so does comedy,....there is no racism in this ad, just fun!
Regards!
BTW-If you have never eaten at a really good "Soul Food Restaurant", you have missed some of the best food every served.

Parallax · 01-07-2010, 09:48 AM

I find that the more racist a person is the more likely he his to find racism in something where none was intended. Just an observation.

Ratmagiclady · 01-07-2010, 10:20 AM

The KFC thing is kind of weird over here, to say the least. I don't think you can lay the blame on 'PC' for it existing, though. It's certainly petty and bizarre, but some racists *do* use 'Black people eat at KFC' as some kind of attack. Gods know what it's about, (I presume it has something to do with it being seen as a particularly low-rent fast food, possibly that when a lot of black folks migrated out of the South, they brought their cuisine with them, and it became associated with old 'outsiderness' but the racist use of the brand most certainly happens.

Once in a while, around the country, you find one where the staff and patrons really don't consider it a place for white people. I presume there's some local backstory there when it occurs. The re-branding from 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' seems to have been an attempt to deal with these perceptions.

Bigotry rarely makes sense, though. Doesn't mean it's not there.

I'm sure, in context, it wasn't meant that way, or clearly seen that way in Australia. People forget that much of the USA basically had apartheid within living memory, and there was a *whole* lot of racial tension even in my lifetime: in Boston there was a whole chain of events where they basically knocked down the biggest 'black' part of town to build 1-93... and essentially shoved the residents, largely, right on top of the Irish and other parts of town: the fallout from that was still playing out when I was a kid. Boston's a little different: it was kind of more about *ethnic* groups than the typical racist propaganda and screeds, but it was certainly there.

Some things about it, occasionally I look back and think how much things had changed since the Seventies there. And in the rest of the country. When they made an American version of 'Life on Mars' ...awesome idea, but it did that sort of retroactive-these-issues didn't-exist thing, which is maybe why it lacked for something.

LGBT people essentially had no rights at all, around when I was born, police or just about anyone could brutalize you at will: people now try to separate these issues from the civil rights movement, but the reality of history was very different: and if anyone around has seen 'Milk,' and knows about how the appearance of AIDS was used to start with the 'Queer folks are plague-carriers and God's killing them: Be more right-wing and oppose research, God wants to exterminate them...' thing, those events were going on when I was a young kid. Still are, in a lot of ways, but a lot of kids growing up now... Just don't know how it was, and that's... Not all bad.

Things are *very* different now, in a very short time, actually. Last time I was in Boston, it'd really take something incongruous, or being in a neighborhood still kind of defined by onegroup or another in a longstanding way, to really notice how *comfortable* people generally are with each other. Starting from back when Irish and Italians still didn't mix much, then Catholics and Protestants...

It's easy to forget how things were, not too long ago, and maybe on balance that's really a good thing. But this forgetfulness shouldn't be used to claim, "Racism? Never existed. This isn't racist, you're just being PC, you arugula-eating cappucino-slurping Zima-drinker..."

Basically, Australian folks, there's still kind of alot of healing to be done over here. It *looks* stupid, but, hey, if we're down to brand names and fast food restaurants on some points, I'm gonna call it a win, as long as it's heading in the right sort of direction, rather than where those loud ones who want to take us back to the bad-old-days are talking.

That's not to minimize the lingering effects and ongoing injustices, but some of this is bound to be stupid and be about things other than what they appear to be. People might see things on a global Internet and not even realize that there's places where some of this stuff never *did* mean anything bigoted to anyone.

Rupert · 01-07-2010, 10:30 AM

Ellen DeGeneress doing a commercial for Trojan Super Sizers....now that is funny...but over the line. Lots of stuff is truly over the line, but more stuff is not. We apparently no longer know the difference?
Regards!

Ratmagiclady · 01-07-2010, 10:33 AM

Originally posted by Rupert

Ellen DeGeneress doing a commercial for Trojan Super Sizers....now that is funny...but over the line. Lots of stuff is truly over the line, but more stuff is not. We apparently no longer know the difference?
Regards!

I'm sure I'll regret asking this, but. If that isn't something you just made up....

Over what line?

Parallax · 01-07-2010, 10:34 AM

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

........................

LGBT people essentially ...................

What does that have to do with fried chicken?
Never mind! I don't want to know!

Ratmagiclady · 01-07-2010, 10:41 AM

Originally posted by Parallax

What does that have to do with fried chicken?
Never mind! I don't want to know!

That'd seem to be a recurring theme. The point I wrote a lot of text to go into was to mention that things have changed rapidly in America on the various bigotry fronts: some stupid stuff therefore has associations with that bigotry, and is still used as such by bigots, ...what has nothing to do with 'race' in Australia... Could well be a hot button to some, here. (And that this isn't something "PC" manufactured: it comes from recent history, however silly it may seem. Add global Internet, stir.)

Guess LBGT folks are next in line, eh? After my little analysis of comparative culture there, it seems I've been told it's 'over the line' in some way for a lesbian talk show host popular with a lot of people (gay men included) to advocate safer sex, and had some insinuation that if I speak about bigotry, I must be imagined to be doing something 'indecent' with fried chicken?

Parallax · 01-07-2010, 10:50 AM

Originally posted by Ratmagiclady

That'd seem to be a recurring theme. .................

The recurring theme is that you can't make a post about ANYTHING without somehow trying to make it about gays.

01-07-2010, 03:12 AM	#1
Ash Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toowoomba, Queensland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 23,920	Australian Racism take II Following our Jackson 5 skit on Hey, Hey it's Saturday last year made infamous by Harry Connick Jr and putting Australia in the spotlight for being racist showing such material intended only for Australian TV (https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/general-talk/75875-harry-connick-vs-jacks...ed-racist.html), we're now revisiting a similar issue by virtue of KFC's new ad depicting an Aussie appeasing a bunch of rowdy Caribbeans with KFC: [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FftZt-Dw_hQ[/YT] This time it's got the name of an American company on it, so it had to be rescinded and a formal apology made. KFC Australia has acknowledged that the ad could be perceived as racist. They said the ad had been "misinterpreted by a segment of people in the US" in a statement released this morning. "It is a light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team," the statement read. "The ad was reproduced online in the US without KFC's permission, where we are told a culturally-based stereotype exists, leading to the incorrect assertion of racism." This kind of satirical Aussie sense of humour just doesn't gel well abroad. It's no longer permissible to release such an ad just for Aussie TV - they now all need an American filter for local airing... or seemingly so the way things are going... Last edited by Ash; 01-07-2010 at 03:18 AM. Reason: fix link

01-07-2010, 09:12 AM	#6
seacapt Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: North Carolina , USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,271	Problem is that alot of the PC crowd are in fact the racists themselves. I remember another KFC ad back in the early '70s depicting a young black girl saying "I like it better than stewed tomatoes". This add was quietly taken off the air after several civil rights groups complained and threatened boycotts.I was in 5th grade at the time and had a very liberal english teacher named Ms. Levy. She used the classroom to push her ideas on the kids. One day she brought up the ad and told us kids how WASPS were the problem in America. She went on and on about food stereo types : stewed tomatoes , watermellon ,fried chicken = Black potatoe pancakes , pickled herring , bagels = Jewish beans , pina colladas = Hispanic When I raised my hand and said I disagreed with her she got all bent out of shape , gave me detention and sent me to the principal's office for making racist remarks. The following day my Dad took off from work to go to the school and explain that we were members of none of the above mentioned ethnic groups but did regularly enjoy all of the above mentioned foods and in fact he was going to cook stewed tomatoes and potatoe pancakes for dinner that night(it was a regularly served meal in our house, a tradition from when his family didn't have enough money to buy meat)! I got out of detention but did wind up with a bad grade in that class ( Kinda funny since every year before and after I got an A or B in english). These millitant civil rights activists take themselves too seriously ! They look for problems in places where the problem really doesn't exist! They then pat themselves on the back for successfully stepping all over the rights of others! *Ash , there are some people reading this thread right now that actually believe that you are a racist for starting it!* Last edited by seacapt; 01-07-2010 at 09:50 AM.

01-07-2010, 10:20 AM	#10
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	The KFC thing is kind of weird over here, to say the least. I don't think you can lay the blame on 'PC' for it existing, though. It's certainly petty and bizarre, but some racists do use 'Black people eat at KFC' as some kind of attack. Gods know what it's about, (I presume it has something to do with it being seen as a particularly low-rent fast food, possibly that when a lot of black folks migrated out of the South, they brought their cuisine with them, and it became associated with old 'outsiderness' but the racist use of the brand most certainly happens. Once in a while, around the country, you find one where the staff and patrons really don't consider it a place for white people. I presume there's some local backstory there when it occurs. The re-branding from 'Kentucky Fried Chicken' seems to have been an attempt to deal with these perceptions. Bigotry rarely makes sense, though. Doesn't mean it's not there. I'm sure, in context, it wasn't meant that way, or clearly seen that way in Australia. People forget that much of the USA basically had apartheid within living memory, and there was a whole lot of racial tension even in my lifetime: in Boston there was a whole chain of events where they basically knocked down the biggest 'black' part of town to build 1-93... and essentially shoved the residents, largely, right on top of the Irish and other parts of town: the fallout from that was still playing out when I was a kid. Boston's a little different: it was kind of more about ethnic groups than the typical racist propaganda and screeds, but it was certainly there. Some things about it, occasionally I look back and think how much things had changed since the Seventies there. And in the rest of the country. When they made an American version of 'Life on Mars' ...awesome idea, but it did that sort of retroactive-these-issues didn't-exist thing, which is maybe why it lacked for something. LGBT people essentially had no rights at all, around when I was born, police or just about anyone could brutalize you at will: people now try to separate these issues from the civil rights movement, but the reality of history was very different: and if anyone around has seen 'Milk,' and knows about how the appearance of AIDS was used to start with the 'Queer folks are plague-carriers and God's killing them: Be more right-wing and oppose research, God wants to exterminate them...' thing, those events were going on when I was a young kid. Still are, in a lot of ways, but a lot of kids growing up now... Just don't know how it was, and that's... Not all bad. Things are very different now, in a very short time, actually. Last time I was in Boston, it'd really take something incongruous, or being in a neighborhood still kind of defined by onegroup or another in a longstanding way, to really notice how comfortable people generally are with each other. Starting from back when Irish and Italians still didn't mix much, then Catholics and Protestants... It's easy to forget how things were, not too long ago, and maybe on balance that's really a good thing. But this forgetfulness shouldn't be used to claim, "Racism? Never existed. This isn't racist, you're just being PC, you arugula-eating cappucino-slurping Zima-drinker..." Basically, Australian folks, there's still kind of alot of healing to be done over here. It looks stupid, but, hey, if we're down to brand names and fast food restaurants on some points, I'm gonna call it a win, as long as it's heading in the right sort of direction, rather than where those loud ones who want to take us back to the bad-old-days are talking. That's not to minimize the lingering effects and ongoing injustices, but some of this is bound to be stupid and be about things other than what they appear to be. People might see things on a global Internet and not even realize that there's places where some of this stuff never did mean anything bigoted to anyone. Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 01-07-2010 at 10:30 AM.

01-07-2010, 10:41 AM	#14
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by Parallax What does that have to do with fried chicken? Never mind! I don't want to know! That'd seem to be a recurring theme. The point I wrote a lot of text to go into was to mention that things have changed rapidly in America on the various bigotry fronts: some stupid stuff therefore has associations with that bigotry, and is still used as such by bigots, ...what has nothing to do with 'race' in Australia... Could well be a hot button to some, here. (And that this isn't something "PC" manufactured: it comes from recent history, however silly it may seem. Add global Internet, stir.) Guess LBGT folks are next in line, eh? After my little analysis of comparative culture there, it seems I've been told it's 'over the line' in some way for a lesbian talk show host popular with a lot of people (gay men included) to advocate safer sex, and had some insinuation that if I speak about bigotry, I must be imagined to be doing something 'indecent' with fried chicken? Last edited by Ratmagiclady; 01-07-2010 at 10:46 AM.

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01-07-2010, 04:56 AM	#2
cupic Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Australia-NSW Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,824	Seems not everybody has a sense of humor evry one different or only interested in appearing to give a toss. On tonight menu: Racism Target: mmm lets see Australia Lighting up oops done it again Quick foot in mouth cheers

01-07-2010, 06:28 AM	#3
Livewireshock Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Lismore, NSW, Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 144	The problem is that it has been taken completely out of context. It is not meant to be a white man trying to appease black people. It was about an Australian cricket fan trying to appease fans of the West Indies cricket team, who are touring Australia at the moment. It is like an outsider being amongst the opposing teams fans in any sport. Like being seated amongst the Cheeseheads at a Green Bay Packer game for NFL, amongst the Man U red fans while you wear Chelsea Blue or trying to keep the Tifosi Ferrari fans happy. It is definitely not about black people vs white people, race, colour or creed. Just the team they support. The YouTube video and the way it is presented it wrong and is very misleading in its introduction to the ad. It is deliberately trying to stir up trouble where none exists. It is part of a series of ads, all featuring the same Australian cricket fan. If this ad is supposed to be racist, then it also is degrading to Parents-In-Laws, loud friends and Girlfriends.

01-07-2010, 06:59 AM	#4
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,975	Hmmm, I didn't see the racism in that. Just a token white guy with a bucket of junk food. Now if he had been handing out slices of watermelon, that would have been different.

01-07-2010, 07:37 AM	#5
Kelarch Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Lawrenceville, Ga Posts: 14	It's a racist sterotype in the US. It's not the only foodstuff in that group either. Grape/Orange Soda, Watermelon, and Kool-aid just to name a few. Most of it is dumb though. Just people grasping for straws just so they can play the Race Card. Which is exactly what I see this as. And this thread makes me want to post a Dave Chapelle video (NSFW): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4B7G8Rw3Q

01-07-2010, 09:36 AM	#7
seacapt Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: North Carolina , USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,271	Originally posted by Wheatfield Hmmm, I didn't see the racism in that. Just a token white guy with a bucket of junk food. Now if he had been handing out slices of watermelon, that would have been different. How so? Ilove watermellon. Bouge Sound watermellons are famous , George Washington had a wagon load sent to him every Summer. Are white people not supposed to enjoy watermellon?

01-07-2010, 09:38 AM	#8
Rupert Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 25,123	I know Black people, plenty of them, and they laugh their asses off at this kind of ignorance by white "Protectors of their Race". The radical Jesse Jacksons are not near as popular among Blacks as they are among white "Do-Gooders" either. Racism has a face, so does comedy,....there is no racism in this ad, just fun! Regards! BTW-If you have never eaten at a really good "Soul Food Restaurant", you have missed some of the best food every served.

01-07-2010, 09:48 AM	#9
Parallax Senior Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Dakota Photos: Gallery Posts: 19,332	I find that the more racist a person is the more likely he his to find racism in something where none was intended. Just an observation.

01-07-2010, 10:30 AM	#11
Rupert Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 25,123	Ellen DeGeneress doing a commercial for Trojan Super Sizers....now that is funny...but over the line. Lots of stuff is truly over the line, but more stuff is not. We apparently no longer know the difference? Regards!

01-07-2010, 10:33 AM	#12
Ratmagiclady Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: GA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 13,563	Originally posted by Rupert Ellen DeGeneress doing a commercial for Trojan Super Sizers....now that is funny...but over the line. Lots of stuff is truly over the line, but more stuff is not. We apparently no longer know the difference? Regards! I'm sure I'll regret asking this, but. If that isn't something you just made up.... Over what line?

01-07-2010, 10:34 AM	#13
Parallax Senior Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Dakota Photos: Gallery Posts: 19,332	Originally posted by Ratmagiclady ........................ LGBT people essentially ................... What does that have to do with fried chicken? Never mind! I don't want to know!

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01-07-2010, 10:50 AM	#15
Parallax Senior Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: South Dakota Photos: Gallery Posts: 19,332	Originally posted by Ratmagiclady That'd seem to be a recurring theme. ................. The recurring theme is that you can't make a post about ANYTHING without somehow trying to make it about gays.