KFC Pulls "Racist" Australian TV spot

Invasive and lazy at the same time? This does not sound good at all.

BM

Note to self, made it to page 24.

Jeez, Eorl, we just can't seem to get anything right, can we?

Back to the drawing board again!

Must be a pretty regional slur. 30 years in Texas, and that's one I've never heard.

Yeah, that's way more nuanced than the racism I grew up around.

The term blue-gum is pretty common here, has been since I can remember....I think it is mostly used in the central and lower Mississippi river valley area....from Commerce MO, to the gulf....there is a high concentration of black folk in that area....I live toward the upper end of the valley.

It means a person that has a somewhat bluish {actually purplish} hue to their gum line.....usually found in individuals with very dark skin.

It is a real physical feature, and that's all it is....a physical feature.

As far as the "lazy" part....I've never heard the term used in a "nice" way, and if someone were to use the term, you can bet that ...lazy, useless, stupid...etc...is also implied. Bluntly, it simply means a dark nigger.

I be durned. Learn a new insult every week or so.

New ones are invented daily.

My 18 year old daughter is not familiar with the term, she knows what it means, but says she never hears it used. My wife, who was born out of the "valley" by just a few miles, is also not familiar with the term.

Thanks for that information, 2Packs.
Knew there had to be some reason!

Yeah, but is there anything that won't offend somebody, somewhere?

Of course, roger. But the point is, both Oz references (in the KFC advertisement & also "Operation Blue Gum") were altered in deference to US "sensibilities". That's what thread has been about.

What's always amazing to me is the amount of unfamiliarity expressed by folks hearing a racial slur like 'bluegum'. Maybe its 'cause I'm black and old; maybe its because I recognize a slur from the context - I don't know, just always gets me that so many folks go "Really? Never heard that one!"

Let's try a 'speriment...
Have y'all ever heard (in reference to a black person): Moolie, tar baby, spade, darkie, eggplant, monkey, spearchucker, jig, jigaboo, sambo, ape, eightball, coon, jungle bunny, pickaninny, or porch monkey?

Of course you're referring to the US, snood.
In Australia blue gum is purely a reference to a type of gum tree.
Some of the other nasty names you mentioned I have heard, though ...

I thought it was about 'everybody is picking on Australia'.

That's true.

(And we haven't forgotten either! )

But the secondary purpose was ....

I got about half of those snood. How many Australian slang words for aboriginies do you know?

Perspective from a 30 year old white man who grew up in Washington State.


Yes
darkie, monkey, coon, porch monkey

No
Moolie, tar baby, spade, eggplant, spearchucker, jig, jigaboo, sambo, ape, eightball, jungle bunny, pickaninny

Never heard moolie, eggplant, eightball growing up in segregated Virginia...of course those terms might be more recent.

I might add that the derogatory terms that I do know of, I've learned about mostly from watching US films & also via the US media.

heard everyone of those

some from films, some from books, some from radio, some from tv