Do you find this racist?

Doesn't Cadbury make white chocolate? HSY certainly does.

0 Replies

@msolga,

If actual images of Ms. Campbell were in the ad, she'd have been paid for them - and would have known about the ads well in advance of their appearance. Then she'd really have nothing to complain about.

1 Reply

This sort of reminds me of a situation that happened in a grocery store over here in which two little Asian/Indian boys were behaving somewhat boisterously apparently (in the opinion of an elderly, white Englishman) and he said to their mother, 'You should make those children behave like proper English children.'
The mother, Asian/Indian/brown (apparently) herself was very offended and considered his statement racist. She complained to the store manager and I guess alerted the media to the story - as I can't imagine anyone else involved in the situation doing so.

I can see it either way. I can see the man sincerely meaning/thinking that as those two little boys were living in England, they were most likely at least culturally English, and so should act as such - or in other words to the standards that he'd set for proper English children. In that sense, he'd almost be acting as if color-blind.
On the other hand, I wasn't there and maybe his tone implied that those particular children were so far from English appearing and acting that he was disgusted by their presence in the store. I don't know.

My mother used to tell us kids not to 'run around and act like wild Indians' all the time. I never took it as being particularly racist - I just thought she meant for us not to whoop and holler like the Indians did on the westerns on tv. But I guess if I were an American Indian - I might think that characterization was racist. Actually, I always picture native Americans as being serene and quiet.

But what I'm saying is that Naomi didn't like being compared to chocolate. Would they have compared Madonna (another celebrity/diva famous for wearing diamonds in a video) to chocolate? I don't think so.

So yeah - I can see it either way.

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

The ad execs for Cadbury probably should have called her. They were probably afraid she'd show up with her cell phone, though Smile

1 Reply

@Irishk,

I actually suspect max was right about this - she's been in on it from the beginning.

I was looking up celebrity endorsements for chocolate over the years ... Elizabeth Taylor ... Humphrey Bogart ...

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

It made sense to me, too. What about her threatening to sue, though? Would they want to take it that far, do you think?

0 Replies

@chai2,

I think the ad is offensive to divas.

2 Replies

@joefromchicago,

Well then, good.

0 Replies

@maxdancona,

Quote:

Geez you all are gullible. How could this be any more transparent?

Cadbury is paying Naomi handsomely behind the scenes for this stunt.

Some ad exec working for Cadbury is very pleased with herself that even here we are talking about their product.

No, this doesn't appear to be the case at all.
Kraft/Cadbury seems to have done it's image quite a bit of harm by the advertisement. Maybe it was the threat of legal action, or a threatened boycott of its products, but the advertisement has now been removed.
To justify the advertisement as a "light hearted" take on the pretensions of it's own product seems a bit of a stretch to me.:

Quote:

Kraft Foods said the poster has been removed and there are no plans to repeat it.

A statement read: 'It was certainly never our intention to cause any offence and the campaign itself is a light-hearted take on the social pretensions of Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss.'

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/belinda-white/TMG8548376/Naomi-Campbell-outraged-at-Cadbury-advert-comparing-her-to-a-chocolate-bar.html

1 Reply

I'd never heard of this advert until I cxame upon this thread, so much for it being all over the UK media. Anyway Cadbury's is the best chocolate in the world. The only scandal is it's been taken over by Kraft.

0 Replies

When you Americans white Americans say "African Americans" you immediately think of nice white African don't you.

3 Replies

@joefromchicago,

Quote:

I think the ad is offensive to divas.

Actually I don't think that the offense has all that much to do with "divas". Not that I know all that much about divas, mind.
I think it has much more to do with a woman of Jamaican/Chinese descent in the UK being likened to chocolate.
I suspect Jamaican/UK women might have been as offended as African American women would probably be if a well known member of their community had been associated with chocolate in an advertising campaign. Whether that person was a "super model" or a diva, liked or disliked, or not.

Quote:

The supermodel, who is said to be considering taking 'every available option' over the adverts, told the Daily Mail: "I am shocked. It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humour in this. It is insulting and hurtful.'

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/belinda-white/TMG8548376/Naomi-Campbell-outraged-at-Cadbury-advert-comparing-her-to-a-chocolate-bar.html

1 Reply

@tenderfoot,

Quote:

When you Americans white Americans say "African Americans" you immediately think of nice white African don't you.

I think you might be referring to my post, tenderfoot.
I'm not American, I'm Australian.
I used the term "African Americans" because that is the title that that I've seen most often used these days.
If that is offensive to anyone I'm sincerely sorry.
I didn't mean "nice white African", either.

0 Replies

@tenderfoot,

tenderfoot wrote:

When you Americans white Americans say "African Americans" you immediately think of nice white African don't you.

No.
I think that is what they have indicated that is what some people wish to be called.

It's not some term white people came up with.

Are you referring to white people from South Africa? I've meet people from there. We never discussed race relations.

Where are you from tenderfoot?

0 Replies

@tenderfoot,

tenderfoot wrote:

When you Americans white Americans say "African Americans" you immediately think of nice white African don't you.

Wrong. In the late 60's the term "African American" was used by the Black community to replace the word "Negro" that was associated with the slave era. No American (white or black) would think white anything when using this term.

1 Reply

@msolga,

msolga wrote:

Kraft/Cadbury seems to have done it's image quite a bit of harm by the advertisement.

I'd be surprised if there was any harm done to Kraft/Cadbury.

No upside for Ms. Campbell. She might have got a gig or two out of this, been perceived as having a sense of humour.

People like me are reminded of her blood diamond connection. Others are reminded of the assault charges (there was one here in Toronto as well as the others). Still others are reminded of community service she had to do. This could have been a good opportunity for her to change what people remember her for.

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Quote:

I'd be surprised if there was any harm done to Kraft/Cadbury.

Who knows?
The advertisements vanished pretty quickly after the publicity. So they weren't around for very long.
But there might well have been more harm done to Kraft's image if a threatened boycott of their products (which apparently was a real possibility) had occurred.
But whether any harm was done to Kraft or not, I still think the advertisement was silly & showed poor judgment on their part.

0 Replies

@Green Witch,

Yeah! I know, was only being sarcastic, was trying to imply that using the title of "African American" you mediately paint the person as a black , and to me that's unconscionably being racist - - - especially when you know that most the blacks in the states have been born and bred there for far longer than most of the so called white Americans

2 Replies

@tenderfoot,

tenderfoot wrote:

Yeah! I know, was only being sarcastic, was trying to imply that using the title of "African American" you mediately paint the person as a black , and to me that's unconscionably being racist - - - especially when you know that most the blacks in the states have been born and bred there for far longer than most of the so called white Americans

tenderfoot, that is why I asked where you were from.

In America, it's common for someone, let's say of Italian descent, to prefer to be called Italian American. Many people of let's say Sioux, Cherokee, or many other tribes/nations refer to themselves as Native American.

It has nothing to do with being white.

1 Reply

@msolga,

msolga wrote:

I think it has much more to do with a woman of Jamaican/Chinese descent in the UK being likened to chocolate.

I think it has much more to do with a person who has an extremely low threshold for butt-hurt being called a "diva" in an ad campaign for which she isn't being paid a penny. The ad, after all, doesn't liken Naomi Campbell to chocolate, it likens her to a diva.

1 Reply

Do you find this racist?

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know