Calvin’s Got a Job, by Tony Price – Urban Spin #5
McDonald’s can officially kiss my Black Ass.
I see the world in Black and White…and Brown and Yellow…and sometimes when in an Indian Casino I see the world in Red. I’m into race…which is a simple way of saying I am into people and culture. I love the little things that distinguish us as people and how we sometimes make those little things into huge divisions. One of the things I love to examine is the way advertisers market to each racial group…and often times nothing is more infuriating than the way big brands advertise to Black Folks.
I first encountered it as child while watching Saturday morning cartoons. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble were featured in a new commercial for “Fruity Pebbles.” But this wasn’t the loud mouth/woman beating Fred I knew…no…this Fred had dark shades, a large gold rope chain, and was rapping with his “nigga” Barney Rubble.
When I was a child I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man I would have told that child that Fred Flintstone rapping is some, “bullshit.”
The way they market to black people is sometimes so wrong it makes me laugh. I used to play a game with my college roommates regarding black focused commercials. The game was simple, how many brothers could we see on TV either dancing, yelling or eating…dancing always placed first.
This year’s crop has been especially bad. If you have been watching NFL football you have certainly seen the commercial with the Black Husband and Wife. While opening a Christmas gift the brother accidentally cuts himself and being a diehard Packer he bleeds Green Bay Green and Yellow. Nothing is wrong with the concept. A man loves his team so much he bleeds the team’s colors. The only problem is they have this husband and wife duo sounding country as hell and the brother is giggling throughout the commercial like Nat Turner watching his first Interracial Gang Bang. I have to ask myself…is this the best idea they had?
But nothing is pissing me off more than good ‘ole McDonald’s. Yes, the same company that brought us “Calvin” in the 90′s is at it again.
You remember Calvin don’t you? He was the young brother from the corner who was headed for a life of crime until he got a job at good ole Mickey D’s. The hood was so proud of Calvin, and people cheered like Calvin was Maximus in the movie Gladiator as he walked to work. C’mon. Are you serious? Go to any hood in America and the brother who works at McDonald’s is NOT a hero, in fact, you’d get more respect being unemployed than working for Ronald McDonald. The brother who works at McDonald’s is getting zero trim from working fries and the register. Which is ironic because all the brothers I have seen working at McDonald’s try a little tOo hard to be “cool” at work. The company issued cap is cocked to the side and instead of the customary McDonald’s jacket, my man has a Rocawear hoodie on while he takes orders at the drive through.
So now…my critical eyes and ears are exposed to some more bullshit on TV, and this time it’s these Keith Sweat ballads about McNuggets. The main character cries and wines about his woman skipping out on him to eat McDonald’s and her refusal to share. So let me get this straight. Dude’s woman is cheating on him with a 10-piece McNugget meal? So what does the commercial say about Black people?
- That we cheat on each other is the first thing to come to mind, and while my experiences have told me that this is true, I do NOT need Ronald confirming it for the rest of America.
- There we go singing again and…
- While other races sing “Food, Folks and Fun” and “Have you had your break today?”…we sing “Why won’t you share your love with me?”
Am I trippin? Or does mainstream media put a little coon in how they advertise to us?
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January 7th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I think that’s true, Tony. I also think they put a little coon in how they advertise to everybody. Advertising is all about creating a desire and a need where none existed before. Advertisers are Pushers, and they go to the streets to do their work. Advertisers are Slavers; they want to own your credit line.
It’s amusing to see the difference in advertising in “white,” black, and Latino neighborhoods and media. As far as I can tell, the cigarette people are not the least bit interested in selling menthol to whites — which, I guess, means my menthol-smoking mother must be black. I don’t drink alcohol, but I swear there’s all sorts of stuff I never heard of being sold in black neighborhoods.
I put white in quotes because clever advertisers adjust their approach for various religions and ethnicities. It’s not unusual to see advertising directed towards Polish and Croatian folks in various Chicago neighborhoods. No menthol, though.
And it’s a whole ‘nother thing when it comes to advertising music. Most of it seems to be geared to black and Latino audiences, but its not: it’s geared to white kids who can (or at least could) afford to buy box sets and concert tickets. In other words, it’s geared to black and Latino wannabees. As per George Carlin’s famous routine about growing up in Morningside Heights in Manhattan, a “neighborhood” that was called “Harlem” or “Spanish Harlem” if you were of a different heritage.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I don’t think you can expect most any people in advertising to appear normal or intelligent. It just doesn’t happen.
This is the commercial you are talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpCqa0Rx0Yk
I thought it was hilarious. Goofy. Loopy. Wonderful. And, all in all, not too shabby a parody of the “Begging Soul Ballad.”
Now, this commercial is offensive! Maybe even evil!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9oR2EmU854
I can’t believe they could even convince puppet nuggets and a clown to appear in that piece of garbage! It makes me want to hurl my mcnuggets. Horrible rap. Horrible puppet nuggets. And a terrible clown. Yikes!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
@ Mike…”….I guess, means my menthol-smoking mother must be black.”
Hope Moms stops, but THAT was funny! LOL.
@ Tony….
You’re right on point with this, man. It’s bamboozlement at its worst…and it’s insulting as all get out. It would be of interest to find out which agencies are being used to bring this crap to the masses….Black, Brown, or White owned.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
And then there’s the coming attractions in movies that seem to be divided along racial lines. From the movies advertised ahead of SLUMDOG MILLIIONAIRE, you would have expected it to be the sequel to X.
Maybe all those swarthy people look alike ….
January 7th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I am white. Whiter than white. When I try to dance, the music (even if played via an iPod) gets that record scratching “vrrzzz!” noise. And it bugs the piss and vinegar outta me too, when advertisers shoot for those lowest common denominators. Put a hip hop beat behind your ad, add a black man or woman who use “Mmmmmm Hmmmmm” in it, and make the tag line always about finding value… Seriously, what a crock.
Where’s the Wal-Mart ads for the rednecks? Oh is “that” unPC?
To go one step further though, I think even within whole mediums, they are starting to segment the product for a specific racial audience. I don’t know if I even have the right to say this, but I’m half offended by Tyler Perry’s sitcoms. Seriously… they look to me like minstral shows. Take decent black actors and actresses, and make em’ countryfied. Give em catch phrases, and make sure they break out into dance once an episode…. Is that even appealing to a black family, at all?
If there is an obvious stereotype being played (See Blacksploitation, or Grindhouse movies) I enjoy the product, knowing that those who put out those pieces are playing with their themes as such so as to wink and eye and nudge their audience. But McDonalds with their “Ba-da-da-da-da….” and the like… just help keep this country divided.
Lucky for all of us, Michael Davis is black, and likes Asians… and allows Jews (who are like the blacks of the whites…. see, we were slaves too!) to write on this site too. Kudos Tony, great thought provoking article.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Great article Tony. Wouldn’t it be nice if they just advertised to all of us as people instead of profiling this way? And, by the way, usually managing to be extremely insulting to someone. I hate the way men in general are shown as idiots to be abused by wife and children. Women are know it all shrews. Kids are whiny brats, etc. even before we get to the ethnic crap.
January 9th, 2009 at 1:38 am
You’re not trippin. It seems the stereotypical images have lessened just a bit from the TV shows and movie screen, but you will see those images still creep up. As an African-American female, my formative years were in Los Angeles and Compton. In Junior High, we moved to the Valley. All of these years, minus a few, I have lived in the Valley. I was oblivious to how the Black race was viewed in the media. Why? My family, for the most part, are educated, gifted, skilled, etc. My father’s side includes professionals in aerospace, law, medicine, etc. My mother’s side includes entrepreneurs and educators.
Even with my BA is in Radio, TV and Film I was still not aware of how our race was perceived in the media until I took a course in college that pointed out the Black stereotypes in the media. I was horrified. My eyes were opened. Today when I write, my Black protagonists are true protagonists, not the stereotypes that have been glorified over the years on the screen.
So, Tony, you’re not alone in your views. It’s wonderful that the Talented Michael Davis has created the wonderful series “Static Shock” and many other creative things that puts a positive focus on the Black race and other minorities. The more positive images we get out there, the more people will see there is much more to our race than just music and sports or violence, etc.
And as far as working for McDonald’s…when I was in high school, I worked at McDonald’s for 3 weeks and I was done! Some of my family members hung in there for much longer. For me, there was no way that I could take being put by that extremely hot fries machine or continue to fake like I was busy when I was assigned tasks that I completed in a handful of minutes on a four-hour shift.
It seems that fewer shows have the obvious stereotypes nowadays, but there is still some eliminating of these images to be done.
Let’s help improve on things!
Sincerely,
Mary
January 9th, 2009 at 5:22 am
McDonalds used to have a Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich back in the day, with a commercial so black it was blue.
A young man and his lady (who never spoke) were getting on a bus (cause, y’know, they can’t afford to drive) and lamenting that he’s “Got a taste for Beefsteak hit my wallet’s kinda light”, when the bus driver tells him McD’s now offers a Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich in the evenings. Followed by the Barry White deep voiced announcer talking about the sandwich like it was a car.
And I think we all remember the greatest last line to a commercial in history…
“Nooo, my brother…you got to buy your own.”
January 10th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Marc Fishman–
Not all rednecks shop at Wal-Fart. Some of us shop at Kmart.
====
I worked for a time at Jack-In-The-Box. One year, they sent out a promotional disc that featured various versions of their advertisement. I remember Country and Latino versions, but I’m sure there were more, as I seem to remember at least 7-8 versions. Targeted advertising needn’t be offensive.