6 ms·

I thought you were possibly exaggerating. There really is such an ad. Pretty horrible. I never heard of this news almost 3 years after the fact. https://www.th

I thought you were possibly exaggerating. There really is such an ad. Pretty horrible. I never heard of this news almost 3 years after the fact. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/28/china-racist-detergent-advert-outrage https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/28/china-racist-d...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Simon_says 8y ago
Horrible is a matter of taste. I thought it was hilarious. > “If we just show laundry like all the other advertisements, ours will not stand out.” He's right. I haven't paid as much attention to a detergent ad since Tide's Superbowl ad.
- reactor4 8y ago
  Wow
- zozbot123 8y ago
  > “If we just show laundry like all the other advertisements, ours will not stand out.” Very similar to the Gillette thing, in a way. Makes sense when you think about it.
someperson 8y ago
Racism in China is a big problem, but the laundry advert alone isn't certainty not a big issue and is pretty over blown: being overly political correct around lighthearted comedy. The skin pigment 'melanin' is what causes a black person's skin to be black, and is also the same as in a non-black person's tanned skin. It's a added pigment that the absence of causes light skin. Removal of melanin can happen (through non-laundry!) causes such as developing vitiligo, or being born with albinism (a genetic condition which exists in all ethnicities not just black people). Removal of melanin literally turns a darker skinned/haired person white (but obviously not changing other features). The American TV show Everybody Hates Chris, based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood experiences made almost THE EXACT SAME JOKE more than once [1] [2], making fun of the very strict African-American mother trope of threatening a misbehaving child with 'slapping the black out of you'. The laundry commercial may have some problematic connections with the ideas of 'clean' and 'attractive'. America has a long history of minority TV shows aimed at mass audiences tackling stereotypes, Everybody Loves Raymond for Italian-Americans, Fresh Off the Boat for Asian-Americans, and a huge number of African-American cast shows including The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Belair etc. Comedy shows with characters with minority experiences are a good way to improve understanding. It will be unfortunate if lighthearted comedy dies because excessive political correctness. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mTfEcP76o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mTfEcP76o [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmqVW_qLmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmqVW_qLmk
- djtriptych 8y ago
  Wow your long history goes all the way back to Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Thanks for enlightening us Professor 26 Year Old.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - taneq 8y ago
    You tell 'em, Grandpa!
  - guroot 8y ago
    Interesting that you select only one example from the parent to construct an ad-hominem attack, and conveniently ignore the example that was provided that started in the 70's. Such a sharp rebuttal of parent's thesis is sure to convince many readers.
  - sctb 8y ago
    Please don't post like this here, no matter how you feel about another comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
apexalpha 8y ago
Focussing on a single Ad in the entire continent of China is a bit weird. This only caused outrage in the US, where political correctnes seems a national political passtime; who can be offended the fastest and most often? Win TV time as a politician! Here is the _exact_ same ad in Italy, but reversed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dntfod-Cbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dntfod-Cbo No one bats an eye. The is a big problem in China regarding racism, mostly because of the simple fact they aren't multicultaral like the West; it's just iganorance really.
- ddorian43 8y ago
  China continent ?
- yostrovs 8y ago
  Not exactly reversed. A clean Chinese guy never comes out of the laundry. One additional note: you will not see a gender reversal for these ads, where a men gets himself a more attractive girl. At least in the West.
malloryerik 8y ago
"黑日牙膏" or "Black Person Toothpaste" is one of the top two or three toothpastes in China, English name "Darlie," used to be "Darkie," and the logo is basically an old U.S. blackface comedy picture, now changed a bit (similar to the name's slight makeover). This masterpiece is by Hawley & Hazel, owned by Colgate-Palmolive. The idea is that black people have very white teeth... Seeing is believing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie
fastball 8y ago
You didn't hear about it because the majority of the West is too busy directing their moral outrage at the most ethnically diverse country on Earth, which, surprisingly, has problems with racism. My pet theory is that this is because Americans are one of the few groups of people who are willing to accept the fact that they have problems with racism. Every other country mostly just denies the existence of any racism that crops up (or overreacts in the opposite direction) and is therefore not so easy a target.
- tlarkworthy 8y ago
  If you think that country is US you are hilariously mistaken https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-ethnically-diverse-countries-in-the-world.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-ethnically-diverse-... Africa and India are more diverse than US
  - denzil_correa 8y ago
    Africa is a continent while India is a country. India is indeed much diverse than almost other countries.
    - moorhosj 8y ago
      The World Atlas link shows 16 African countries more ethnically diverse than India.
      - denzil_correa 8y ago
        It's not surprising that a continent is more diverse than a country.
        moorhosj 8y ago
        Sure, but that’s not what I, or the World Atlas, said. There are 16 individual African countries more diverse than India. 1 Guinea 2 Tanzania 3 Democratic Republic of Congo 4 Uganda 5 Liberia 6 Cameroon 7 Togo 8 South Africa 9 Congo 10 Madagascar 11 Gabon 12 Kenya 13 Ghana 14 Malawi 15 Guinea-Bissau 16 Somalia
mrighele 8y ago
This advertisement "takes inspiration" from an advertisement aired in Italy a few years before [1]. Even the music is the same. In that case though nobody complained since the person changes from white to black so it was more self-irony than racism. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-TsQIpK1Zk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-TsQIpK1Zk

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Simon_says 8y ago

Horrible is a matter of taste. I thought it was hilarious. > “If we just show laundry like all the other advertisements, ours will not stand out.” He's right. I haven't paid as much attention to a detergent ad since Tide's Superbowl ad.

reactor4 8y ago
Wow
zozbot123 8y ago
> “If we just show laundry like all the other advertisements, ours will not stand out.” Very similar to the Gillette thing, in a way. Makes sense when you think about it.

someperson 8y ago

Racism in China is a big problem, but the laundry advert alone isn't certainty not a big issue and is pretty over blown: being overly political correct around lighthearted comedy. The skin pigment 'melanin' is what causes a black person's skin to be black, and is also the same as in a non-black person's tanned skin. It's a added pigment that the absence of causes light skin. Removal of melanin can happen (through non-laundry!) causes such as developing vitiligo, or being born with albinism (a genetic condition which exists in all ethnicities not just black people). Removal of melanin literally turns a darker skinned/haired person white (but obviously not changing other features). The American TV show Everybody Hates Chris, based on comedian Chris Rock's childhood experiences made almost THE EXACT SAME JOKE more than once [1] [2], making fun of the very strict African-American mother trope of threatening a misbehaving child with 'slapping the black out of you'. The laundry commercial may have some problematic connections with the ideas of 'clean' and 'attractive'. America has a long history of minority TV shows aimed at mass audiences tackling stereotypes, Everybody Loves Raymond for Italian-Americans, Fresh Off the Boat for Asian-Americans, and a huge number of African-American cast shows including The Jeffersons, The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince of Belair etc. Comedy shows with characters with minority experiences are a good way to improve understanding. It will be unfortunate if lighthearted comedy dies because excessive political correctness. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mTfEcP76o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44mTfEcP76o [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmqVW_qLmk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmqVW_qLmk

djtriptych 8y ago
Wow your long history goes all the way back to Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Thanks for enlightening us Professor 26 Year Old.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- taneq 8y ago
  You tell 'em, Grandpa!
- guroot 8y ago
  Interesting that you select only one example from the parent to construct an ad-hominem attack, and conveniently ignore the example that was provided that started in the 70's. Such a sharp rebuttal of parent's thesis is sure to convince many readers.
- sctb 8y ago
  Please don't post like this here, no matter how you feel about another comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

apexalpha 8y ago

Focussing on a single Ad in the entire continent of China is a bit weird. This only caused outrage in the US, where political correctnes seems a national political passtime; who can be offended the fastest and most often? Win TV time as a politician! Here is the _exact_ same ad in Italy, but reversed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dntfod-Cbo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dntfod-Cbo No one bats an eye. The is a big problem in China regarding racism, mostly because of the simple fact they aren't multicultaral like the West; it's just iganorance really.

ddorian43 8y ago
China continent ?
yostrovs 8y ago
Not exactly reversed. A clean Chinese guy never comes out of the laundry. One additional note: you will not see a gender reversal for these ads, where a men gets himself a more attractive girl. At least in the West.

malloryerik 8y ago

"黑日牙膏" or "Black Person Toothpaste" is one of the top two or three toothpastes in China, English name "Darlie," used to be "Darkie," and the logo is basically an old U.S. blackface comedy picture, now changed a bit (similar to the name's slight makeover). This masterpiece is by Hawley & Hazel, owned by Colgate-Palmolive. The idea is that black people have very white teeth... Seeing is believing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darlie

fastball 8y ago

You didn't hear about it because the majority of the West is too busy directing their moral outrage at the most ethnically diverse country on Earth, which, surprisingly, has problems with racism. My pet theory is that this is because Americans are one of the few groups of people who are willing to accept the fact that they have problems with racism. Every other country mostly just denies the existence of any racism that crops up (or overreacts in the opposite direction) and is therefore not so easy a target.

tlarkworthy 8y ago
If you think that country is US you are hilariously mistaken https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-ethnically-diverse-countries-in-the-world.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/most-ethnically-diverse-... Africa and India are more diverse than US
- denzil_correa 8y ago
  Africa is a continent while India is a country. India is indeed much diverse than almost other countries.
  - moorhosj 8y ago
    The World Atlas link shows 16 African countries more ethnically diverse than India.
    - denzil_correa 8y ago
      It's not surprising that a continent is more diverse than a country.
      - moorhosj 8y ago
        Sure, but that’s not what I, or the World Atlas, said. There are 16 individual African countries more diverse than India. 1 Guinea 2 Tanzania 3 Democratic Republic of Congo 4 Uganda 5 Liberia 6 Cameroon 7 Togo 8 South Africa 9 Congo 10 Madagascar 11 Gabon 12 Kenya 13 Ghana 14 Malawi 15 Guinea-Bissau 16 Somalia

mrighele 8y ago

This advertisement "takes inspiration" from an advertisement aired in Italy a few years before [1]. Even the music is the same. In that case though nobody complained since the person changes from white to black so it was more self-irony than racism. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-TsQIpK1Zk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-TsQIpK1Zk