A Jewish joke? Really?

And it's in Manhattan, too.

This is part of an ongoing campaign to sell cheap vodka by insulting everyone.

But unlike sex workers, Jewish people are not likely to take it lying down. Nor should anyone else.

Update: It's going down.

F'd Ad Fridays: Israeli insurer ensures racism outrage in America

This awful, awful Hebrew-language online infomercial for David Shield (דיוידשילד) insurance showed upin my Facebook feed for some unknown reason:



I have no idea why I watched it all. I guess I'm a masochist. And then I saw this scene, at 2:33:

Oh, L O effing L. Without proper insurance covering you while working in some God-forsaken country without public healthcare, you could end up in the hands of some kind of Native witch doctor.

Appalling. And shameful. Ignorant racism is still a worldwide phenomenon.

Texas gun school spot may be the year's most idiotic ad

Everything's bigger in Texas. Even the assholes.

“If you are a socialist liberal and/or voted for the current campaigner-in-chief, please do not take this class,” Mr. Keller said in the ad. “You’ve already proven that you cannot make a knowledgeable and prudent decision as required under the law. Also, if you are a non-Christian Arab or Muslim, I will not teach you the class. Once again, with no shame, I am Crockett Keller.”

For some people, this kind of hate speech would be the kiss of death. But to this Texas gun instructor, it's just common sense:

“Why would I teach people who have sworn the annihilation of the United States and who can lie, cheat, steal and murder Americans in order to further Islam?” Mr. Keller said. “Why would I arm someone like that? Why would I enable them to carry a weapon legally? I don’t want to be a part of that. I’m sorry those flight instructors didn’t have the same hindsight to know that these guys were up to no good, and they shouldn’t be teaching them, and they should have refused.”

Where's his head? I think it's up under his gun...

The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating if this warrants him losing his licence due to breaking anti-discrimination statutes.


Via AdFreak and the New York Times

F'd Ad Fridays: The race card is now in play for Cain 2012

For what it's worth, I think"Lynching", is one of those words that probably shouldn't be used outside of its awful historical meaning. It's like comparing your opponent to Hitler. It diminishes the awfulness of a really big issue just to make a cheap point.

I also love the irony: "That's what liberals do... they can't talk about the issues so they hit below the belt."

Ummmm... okay.

F'd Ad Fridays: Sexy teenage holocaust victim Halloween costume

I don't think you can sink much lower than this "Anne Skank"costume:

Lisa Wade writes in Sociological Images, "The Halloween revelers who made the choice to sexualize and laugh at this 15-year-old victim of the holocaust are graduate students in the Creative Writing program at Florida State University."

F'd Ad Fridays: How would you advertise skateboard wheels to teenage boys?

Oh! Oh! I know. With porn?

Or maybe a little racist lesploitation? (I just made up this word today.)

Or perhaps a bad pun or two?

And some trash talk.

Thanks for turning me on to this brand, Steve Hall. It's just awful.

You can see the rest of the ads here.

Sex, sex and racism at Belgrade's Grand Casino

Ads of The World featured this rather unimaginative campaign for Grand Casino in Belgrade, Serbia. It uses party shots to make visual puns on gambling, like this:

And this:

That's just run-of-the-mill female sexploitation. The guys, of course are all players, while the women are prizes.

But here's the one that really stopped me cold:

Even if the word "spade" does not have the same connotations in Serbian, it's still pretty damn offensive.

Agency responsible: Euro RSCG

See the entire collection at AOTW's Facebook page.

Slutwalk and the complex politics of activism

Photo by Ivy Cuervo

I wrote a lot about Slutwalk earlier this year on Osocio — from its inception and inaugural march in Toronto to its spread around the world.

The whole thing started as a visceral reaction to one cop's poor choice of words when addressing women, that they "should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized". The women who organized it simply wanted to take to the streets and express their rage against victim-blaming by authorities.

From the beginning some critics noted that Slutwalk appeared to be a movement of privileged white women, noting that the participants did not reflect Toronto's famous diversity. Nonetheless, the movement spread as slutwalks sprung up, in localized versions, as far afield as India.

But the criticisms continued, hitting a crescendo with polarized reactions to a NYC Slutwalker's decision to quote Yoko Ono's early feminst slogan (via John Lennon, who wrote a song about it):

The Racialicious blog noted, "But can you appropriate a term like nigger if your body is not defined/terrorized/policed/brutalized/diminished by the word? Can we use it in a context that is supposed to belie gender solidarity, without explicitly being in racial solidarity? I think not. And I am not alone."

Last month, a partnership of activists representing black women's issues in the US and Canada wrote An Open Letter from Black Women to the SlutWalk in which they explained why they felt excluded by the movement:

"We are perplexed by the use of the term “slut” and by any implication that this word, much like the word “Ho” or the “N” word should be re-appropriated. The way in which we are perceived and what happens to us before, during and after sexual assault crosses the boundaries of our mode of dress. Much of this is tied to our particular history. In the United States, where slavery constructed Black female sexualities, Jim Crow kidnappings, rape and lynchings, gender misrepresentations, and more recently, where the Black female immigrant struggle combine, “slut” has different associations for Black women. We do not recognize ourselves nor do we see our lived experiences reflected within SlutWalk and especially not in its brand and its label.

As Black women, we do not have the privilege or the space to call ourselves “slut” without validating the already historically entrenched ideology and recurring messages about what and who the Black woman is. We don’t have the privilege to play on destructive representations burned in our collective minds, on our bodies and souls for generations. Although we understand the valid impetus behind the use of the word “slut” as language to frame and brand an anti-rape movement, we are gravely concerned. For us the trivialization of rape and the absence of justice are viciously intertwined with narratives of sexual surveillance, legal access and availability to our personhood. It is tied to institutionalized ideology about our bodies as sexualized objects of property, as spectacles of sexuality and deviant sexual desire. It is tied to notions about our clothed or unclothed bodies as unable to be raped whether on the auction block, in the fields or on living room television screens. The perception and wholesale acceptance of speculations about what the Black woman wants, what she needs and what she deserves has truly, long crossed the boundaries of her mode of dress.

We know the SlutWalk is a call to action and we have heard you. Yet we struggle with the decision to answer this call by joining with or supporting something that even in name exemplifies the ways in which mainstream women’s movements have repeatedly excluded Black women even in spaces where our participation is most critical. We are still struggling with the how, why and when and ask at what impasse should the SlutWalk have included substantial representation of Black women in the building and branding of this U.S. based movement to challenge rape culture?"

What's interesting about this letter is the assumption that Slutwalk was some kind of carefully organized and branded American movement that had gone forward without full consultation.

In a response posted today, the Toronto organizers tried to set the record straight:

"SlutWalk Toronto has endeavoured from the beginning to not operate outside of our knowledge and experience, which for us has meant doing our best to not cross geo-political boundaries or speak for communities and SlutWalks outside of our home city of Toronto. We are not a formal NGO, or non-profit organization, and what has happened across SlutWalks as a movement to date has been a collaboration. While SlutWalk Toronto as the inaugural SlutWalk is often looked to as the ‘head’ of SlutWalk, we are not involved with organizing other SlutWalks and we are not structured to oversee and determine what all of SlutWalk will look like. We do not envision our activism as a hierarchical dictation of our ideas upon others, whether across Canada or across the world. In recognition of this, SlutWalk Toronto is committed to engaging with our community here in Toronto for direct feedback, so that we can hear more from people in Toronto what criticisms, concerns, feedback and ideas they have, and how they’d like to see SlutWalk Toronto move forward and evolve as we hopefully move collectively towards organizing our second year in 2012. We’ve been having many conversations and exchanges to better understand the experiences and criticisms of people within our own city and outside of Canada and now we would like to turn these conversations into actions to make SlutWalk Toronto better, more anti-oppressive and more inclusive."

In other words, they are not responsible for what women in other cities do with the "brand" because it has been given away freely. They don't even have a structure or formal organization. They did, however make broad promises to do everything they can to be more open and inclusive.

Personally, I found both letters full of polite attempts at trying to be respectful of each other, but at the end of the day every Slutwalk organizer has to make a decision about what they want to say. The message, in Toronto and in other early Slutwalks, was all about the word — and concept of — "slut". It was a re-appropriation of women's sexual identities, in public, to make the point that sexual dress and behaviour should never be seen as an invitation to sexual violence.

Slutwalk may not be about branding, but I am. And I think they need to hold their ground on this one. Just be what they are, and say what they set out to say. If that message attracts supporters from only some socioeconomic and cultural groups, so be it. Nobody can be all things to all people. Instead of one anti-victim-blaming-movement that has its message determined by a completely diverse committee, the activist world is more enriched by many movements that clearly and concisely express a diversity of views. There is no need for everyone to agree.

Take FEMEN, from Ukraine. They do their feminist and anti-corruption protests topless because they say that it's the only way to get noticed. Other feminists, worldwide, might applaud or denounce their sexualization of activism. They don't care. They just do their own thing and find allies along the way.

In my opinion, "solidarity" is overrated in activism. It means compromising the complexity of your unique vision to create the appearance of a hive mind. Just look at Occupy Wall Street's struggle to agree on why they're camping out in the first place. Everyone has their own ideas about what's broken.

Agreeing to disagree on some issues, while still teaming up to take action towards reaching common goals, is far more respectful of human diversity. Even if, to quote Facebook, "it's complicated".

Starbucks falsely accused of racism?

This poster, via Gawker, appeared recently in Starbucks locations in France to remind customers to watch their valuables. A group called SOS Racisme complained that it was racist, because they saw the man portrayed as a brown-skinned  stereotype of a pickpocket. Starbucks took them down.


A simple case of successful activism?


Depends how you look at it. And whether or not you have seen the other poster in the series:

Do you read this illustration of a smiling woman as a portrayal of a criminal? Or do you see her as a potential victim?


Here's the problem. France, like many other once-homogeneous nations becoming increasingly multicultural, has a serious racism problem. It's so bad that apparently groups who specialize in speaking out against it see even an innocent portrayal of a brown person through a racist lens.


These people are both, obviously, supposed to be customers. The man is presumably a student or a young worker, with his casual attire, backpack, smartphone, wallet and laptop. The woman is perhaps a little older, carrying a purse (although that may be my prejudice peeking through).


There is nothing to see here, really. In context, it is clear that the illustrator, agency and client were just trying to reflect France's modern diversity in positive portrayals of customers. And it backfired horribly.


Should Starbucks have tried to defend itself? Or is this kind of discussion best avoided by PR-vulnerable brands?

F'd Ad Fridays: Racist Ramadan ads

According to 154 Media, this series of ads sparked controversy in Malaysia when non-Muslim minorities complained about the racism depicted by the Chinese tourist speaking accented English.



Using insensitive cultural stereotypes to promote cultural sensitivity. Jesus! (Oh, wait! Wrong prophet.) Let's just say it's both disturbing to see the global nature of xenophobia and comforting that some people won't stand for it.

Mexican restaurant takes shot at anti-immigration laws

Well done, Lime Fresh Mexican Grill of Orlando. Well done indeed.

Via The Consumerist

If you don't get it, read the news.

F'd Ad Fridays: American stereotypes, cast in polyresin for your enjoyment

I was doing my usual rounds for content, and decided to see if I could find any tacky Jesus Christ toys on Amazon. (There were many.)

And then I stumbled upon this:

Jesus is part of the "American Diorama" series of die cast metal miniatures. You can also buy his girlfriend Erika, complete with acid wash jeans and slutty top:

Am I reading too much into the choice of a Latino name for this guy?

BTW, he also has a twin brother, Jose, who for some reason costs $2 more.

Ah, wait... here's the problem. They screwed up the product shot. According to the manufacturer's site, Jesus is actually this car thief:

His half-dressed girlfriend is Monica.

And he likes to steal police cars.

Man, Sheriff Dave is going to be pissed.

Once he finishes writing up these very strange looking rednecks for open liquor at their tailgate party.

And runs the Hell's Angels out of town...

And don't even ask what he's going to do to Sailor Moon (...?)

Ah, America...

Check out Monica's Arschgeweih...

F'd Ad Fridays: Oh, come on now. Nobody who speaks German could be a racist...

Via Hypervocal

Blackface Obama? The ad is a political one for Martin Sonneborn, leader of the satirical "Die Partei" (The Party) party. He claims he had no idea it would offend black people.

Another of their recent controversial election ads, by the way, is "MILFs against Merkel"...

Via Flikr

At least they are equal opportunity assholes. I guess.

F'd Ad Fridays: Racism, homophobia and dirty old men... sell cookies?

Grey Kuala Lumpur, we need to talk...

"Your inner desires. Right in the middle."

Via Ads of The World