Are McDonalds Commercials Racist?
A huge multinational corporation making racist sterotypical commercials that targeted blacks was the topic of conversation at my house last night. It seems that Mcdonalds cannot put a black person in a commercial unless he or she is dancing, rapping, popping and locking, or doing double dutch jump rope in the ghetto. Now contrast this with whites who appear in commercials, who merely enjoy a steaming cup of coffee and hash browns for breakfast, in a friendly, clean restaurant with broad American appeal. See the difference?
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You begin to feel that McDonalds is being racist with the way they portray blacks. It began, some say, with this double dutch ad.
Now they have a black man rapping about chicken nuggets, and in this ad, the beautiful light-skinned black woman is dressed to the nines. Fried chicken bits and sex appeal accompany these stupid lyrics: “Girl you got a 10-piece please don’t be sting-ayyyy..”
Watch this next commercial where the child of the well-dressed black family enters the room with a giant boom box, and proceeds to pop and lock his way through a package of apples, yogurt, and caramel dipping sauce. The child’s stereotypical antics brings a smile to the stern faces of his family.
So is McDonalds deliberately portraying all blacks as having magical powers to dance and sing their way through a Big Mac meal? What is even more ironic is that McDonalds has done extensive market research and focus groups proving that these commercials are well received by their target audience, which means that not only do blacks not find such commercials offensive, they actually prefer them to other commercials! And this is not just in the USA either. Watch this commercial from Brazil where 4 black guys sing their way across a McDonald’s restaurant just like minstrels in a traveling roadshow.
Even when McDonalds portrays a black person in a positive light, such as a business owner who is taking a lunch break- McDonalds still brings on the racism. In this commercial the business owner runs a shop full of African knick-knacks. Not something sensible, such as a coffee shop, printing business or fashion boutique. And since the black owner won’t sing and dance, those African knick-knacks will.
So is McDonalds racist? Or the best ever at focus group marketing?
