WHAT THE &%$@

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Comment by Geneva Holder on August 18, 2009 at 9:30pm

At the risk of receiving blog lashings…

To our American eyes, the little girl and the woman are of European descent. Look more closely, they are Thai. This is a Thai product and a Thai commercial.

To our American egos, this is a commercial about our racial tensions. But it is not. This is their social commentary about issues in their country, not ours.

I’ve been told that black men are not very common in Thailand. White men are not common either, but since they didn’t use a white man in the commercial, that’s beside the point. It seems there’s also a shortage of incredibly tall people of any color. If this tiny Asian lady sees a man twice her height with a skin color she has never encountered, is it not possible that she might have the very common experience of fearing what she does not know? I’m not saying it’s a reasonable fear, only that it’s common.

I must concede, it does seem obvious that race is the primary subject of the marketers’ commentary. But there are suggestions of other fears as well.

Here’s a mom who turned her back for a moment and her little girl wandered off. She realizes her daughter is no longer by her side. She feels panic. Then she spots her daughter across the street and a man is handing a balloon to her. She runs to save her daughter. Most moms would react this way whether the stranger was black, white, yellow or green.

Don’t we all tell our kids not to accept candy or other gifts from strangers? Not to talk to strangers? Aren’t we afraid of having our children stolen off the street? Sadly, these days we have such a heightened fear of sexual predators that we can’t recognize genuine kindnesses from strangers. So sad.

There are nearly 30,000 sex slaves in Thailand, mostly young girls. So there is legitimate reason for a Thai mom to fear losing a pretty young daughter to a strange man on the street, no matter what color his skin.

ps In addition to the 30,000 slaves in Thailand, there are now more than 27 MILLION slaves worldwide, more than any other time in history, including at least 15,000 here in the good ole USA.

Comment by Geneva Holder on August 18, 2009 at 5:00pm

OK. I think I get it. I think I get why some people think it's repulsive, why some people think it's funny, why some people think it's sad. This commercial pushes a whole lot of buttons, and how you react is all about your unique perspective.

My post is full of assumptions, suppositions, probabilities and possibilities, all wrapped up in my perspective, which is a product of my personal experience and history. So, please bear with me.

Let’s set the stage. One day the marketers for Twin Lotus Herbal Toothpaste are sitting around trying to come up with a new pitch to make people want to try their toothpaste. They fear it is the appearance of their product that people find unappealing. And they are right. I mean, this stuff really does look like doggy poo. Most people are accustomed to toothpaste that is white, red or bluish green, shiny, firm, with sparkles and foam and minty fresh flavor. Not brown and dull, not gooey, not gritty.

The marketers have to come up with something to divert attention away from the doggy poo look. How to overcome that? So, they decide to send a familiar message: looks can be deceiving. How? It has to be something big. Some aha moment. Something to make people feel guilty for not accepting the doggy poo toothpaste.

The concept is simple. Take a big social issue exploit it for capital gain. They piggyback onto a social issue that is up front and personal and very much in the news right now – racial prejudice. The tagline is “Appearance can be deceiving.” Message: “you should not pre-judge a person by the color of his skin, and you should not pre-judge our toothpaste because of the color. “

The marketers pat themselves on the back for sending a socially relevant message. Uh oh. Here comes the backlash. They get hammered from all sides. Every perspective. Every voice.

A person on another website concluded that the marketers are calling black men monkeys. I understand the historical memory of injustice that prompts some African Americans to assume this. But for me, this scene provokes positive thoughts from personal experiences. I think of Samoa, Tonga, and Jamaica – my second homeland. I think of beautiful men of all shades of brown who climb coconut trees this way all over the world in order to harvest food for their families, and have done so for centuries. It is a proud tradition, a brave and noble deed, a highly sought after skill. To me, this says family man willing to work hard and put himself in danger to support his family.

Maybe the marketers simply wanted to create controversy because controversy sells. No matter what you think of this commercial, it has gotten lots of attention and sales are up.

Comment by Desire Grover on August 12, 2009 at 8:33am

:) It's not a personal video of mine so I haven't a clue that's why I posted it and titled it WHAT THE blankety blank.

Comment by Richard Lund on August 12, 2009 at 3:41am

Desire: What is this supposed to be? I'm a white boy and I haven't a clue.