"Racist" cupcakes?



We read:

"Bakery goods maker Duncan Hines has decided to open up its marketing doors to just about anyone these days. In their new website and YouTube promotion they’re giving various artists and directors the chance to create Duncan Hines commercials which will be promoted and sent out online. If their first ad is any indicator I won’t be buying Duncan Hines products for a long time.

The first ad, by director Josh Binder, is called “Hip-Hop Cupcakes" and features a bunch of plain cupcakes that suddenly start to sing and beat-box once the chocolate glaze is poured on top of them…. That’s right. Chocolate glaze makes the cupcakes rap-stars. The problems with this ad are almost too numerous to point out ....

Finally the racial component can’t be overlooked. It doesn’t matter that they’re cupcakes; the fact that they start rapping isn’t too far a stretch from making them in blackface. If the icing was in different flavors, or the lips weren’t so big and pink maybe we could give the ad a pass, but as it stands it’s a pretty poorly constructed and potentially racist

Source

Commentary and video here. I would have thought that red lips were more likely to indicate Jews than blacks. Silly me!

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).