Russian Ads With Obama Seen As Racist
By Wyatt Earp | March 22, 2009
The Russian ad for Duet Ice Cream.
Has it come to this? Can anyone ever have fun at Obama’s expense without being labeled a racist? Are we really that sensitive?
MOSCOW – Obama ice cream, anyone? Chocolate-vanilla ice cream is one of several Russian products being marketed using America’s first black president, even as critics call the ads racist.
But the creator of one Obama-themed ad — for ice cream bars which have a chocolate-flavoured centre embedded in a layer of vanilla — insisted Friday that it was not racist and should be seen as a joke.
The ad for Duet ice cream bars features a smiling, cartoonish black man flashing a V-for-Victory sign in front of the US Capitol, along with the Russian slogan: “Everyone’s talking about it: dark inside white!”
So, I guess that is supposed to mean that Obama is not a “real” black man. Apparently, when the Russians imply that, it’s racist. When African-American columnists and “spokespersons” like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton actually say it – as many did during the primaries – it’s acceptable.
Some blasted the ad as insensitive after it surfaced on English-language websites this week. “This is just racist,” said one visitor to the Ads of the World website, while another asked: “Is the ice cream as tasteless as the ad?”
Andrei Gubaidullin, who created the ad, told AFP that it was not racist and that Russia simply had a different attitude to race than Western countries.
“For Russia, this is not racist. It is fun and that’s it,” said Gubaidullin, creative director at Voskhod advertising agency, based in the Urals Mountains city of Yekaterinburg.
“We don’t consider teasing ethnic groups racist. It is just seen as a joke,” he said by telephone, adding that he personally liked Obama.(H/T – AFP)
Is the above ad racist? Eh, maybe. Is the Obama cartoon funny? Absolutely!
Topics: Evil = Funny | 10 Comments »
This must be what he looks like in Hello Kitty’s world…
It might be racist! The real Obama’s head is much rounder!
OT (sorry)
3 cops dead, 4th seriously injured, maybe dead? in Oakland Ca after a traffic stop. Murderer also dead. He used a high power rifle to shoot through a wall to get 2 of the cops!
Governor orders flags flown at half mast.
http://www.floppingaces.net/2009/03/21/four-police-officers-killed-in-oakland/
We have all said it but Go carefully Marshall.
I would like the ad more if it said something like “now it has a soft center… on issues”.
Don’t worry, when it melts down, it all blends together. lol
Code Monkey – Yeah, it’s creepy, yet funny at the same time.
Proof – And emptier.
Alan B – Saw it. Posting at 7am.
Elm – Now that is funny!
DL474 – Ba-zing!
Oops….tried to post a link………didn’t work…….oh well.
I think dark inside white refers to a Black man in the White House.
agree it is referring to a black man in the white house.