Racist Or Not?
Tech blogs like Gizmodo are all over this Japanese mobile phone company's ad in which a monkey (long their official corporate mascot) appears as an Obama-like figure exhorting the crowds to "Change!" to their phone. Totally racist.
Unless it isn't. Maybe we shouldn't expect a local Japanese ad campaign to be sensitive to America's racism trigger points. Unless we should. Crap, I don't even know anymore. But it's worth mentioning how Japan's all-consuming pop culture worships monkeys in general. Chi Chai Monchan, anyone? Maybe like most advertising, it boils down to intent. Unless it doesn't.
Labels: advertising, Barack Obama, Japan, racism