Pulled Mandom Ad
Posted on June 11, 2005
A mailing list I watch, which is concerned primarily with human rights issues in Japan, recently started a letter writing campaign to have Mandom pull an ad for Gatsby facial towels. The ad features a group of black men dressed in typical Rastafarian garb cleaning their faces with the wipes, and as the camera pans across the room a chimpanzee dressed in the same clothing is shown mimicking the others. Personally, I wasn't outraged by the ad. Done in poor taste yes, and I can fully understand how others would be seriously offended by the depiction of black men as primates. So I was happy to hear today that the protest was a success and Mandom pulled the ad and issued an apology. Congratulations to all those involved.
The ad was also removed from Mandom's website, but I was able to capture the stream a few days ago so you can have some idea what we're talking about.
Mandom's Gatsby 'Mogeha' ad (1.9 MB)
Leave a comment.
The apology letter is refreshingly honest and straightforward. I haven't seen it lately, but several times I've seen Japanese do R&B lip-syncing in blackface, including that skinny guy with thick glasses who turned out to be a garden variety peeping tom. Can't remember his name now, but it was so cringeworthy.
::posted by: nils at June 13, 2005 10:29 PM
I guess it's no surprise that a Japanese translation of Little Black Sambo is on Amazon Japan's best sellers list.
::posted by: mhegge at June 14, 2005 08:22 AM
Thanks message to my blog
AND a will reffer to it.
sorry my poor English
::posted by: satoru@Japan at June 29, 2005 05:49 PM
