We read:
"A campus humor magazine printed a racially charged fake advertisement last week that sparked outrage from dozens of students who said it was bigoted and offensive. The incident has brought to the forefront intense feelings of discrimination among some racial-minority students. And the editor in chief of the magazine, Gravity, resigned Monday night because of the controversy.
BlackJerry advertisement features a "BlackJerry," which it bills as an alternative to the popular BlackBerry cellular phone. It depicts a black man dressed in the minstrel style-he dons a top-hat, bow-tie and pin-striped suit-offering to drive a white traveler from Waltham to the airport in his Camry.
The text beside the image reads, in part: "I don't know where the car came from or why it's missing a window, but in no time I'm doing a buck-twenty down I-90 while the BlackJerry rolls up a j and starts humming my favorite mp3s. And all for only 3/5 the cost of a BlackBerry."
Source
The author of the mock-ad explains what he was trying to do:
"Where Gravity Magazine's "BlackJerry" advertisement failed was in not making its targets -the BlackJerry company and their advocate, Chris Washington-look overtly foolish enough. Washington should be seen as irresponsible, oblivious and generally dim-witted for the material to work. He is described as being late for a flight, doing 120 mph down the Mass Pike in an obviously stolen car, stoned out of his mind from the joints his BlackJerry rolls. However, the wording used to describe this situation is insufficient in that it provides only subtle clues as to Washington's dubious nature. Even the hint that Washington is a pornography producer is rather subtle: he is named as the CEO of "3X Media" (3X media; 3x for XXX). These clues are too easily missed when the first thing one notices is a black man and a list of stereotypes that seem to apply to him.
Source
Lesson: You must NEVER portray a black in any sort of unflattering light. They are too fragile to cope with it. You can portray Christians any way you like, however. Does that sound like negative stereotyping of blacks to anyone?
Update:
I am a bit amused that the above ad was regarded as offensive in part because the black was portrayed as an old-fashioned entertainer. Yet entertainment and sport are the two areas of conspicuous black success. Why can we not mention that? I remember that my father's favourite music was the "Inkspots". What an incorrect name for a singing group that would be today! But they did have a very smooth sound. And I myself have always thought that Louis Armstrong was quite wonderful -- even though I am a classsical music fiend usually.
