News Intel in trouble for 'racist' ad

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/08/02/intel_in_trouble_for_racist_ad/1

A recent advert for Intel chips could be attracting some unwanted attention for racist undertones.

 

Ach just unlucky , I guess this guy was trying to redirect to the old times when black people were slaves or something , clearly a bad decision with all of the whiners in our world today .. i'm still buying their Quad core you know , black or not :>

 

I'm sure they didn't mean harm, but they have to be some pretty unobservant people to let this past...

 

It's bad BUT I think I can see what they're going for. The slogan is "multiply the power of your employees" so that's why is the same sprinter cloned a few more times. Plus, no disrespect to any white athletes out there, but it just wouldn't work with white sprinters. From Carl Lewis and Linford Christie to today's champions, nothing conveys a sense of power and speed like a muscley black guy with a shaved head. Am I wrong?

It's a lose-lose-lose situation for the designers IMO:

1) White Manager with black sprinters = Lose
2) White Manager with all white sprinters = Lose
3) Black Manager with all white sprinters = Lose

Best to steer clear of it altogether

 

That, too put it as blatently as possible is just retarted... I mean seriously. In todays world of law suits and general im-gonna-sue-you-because-you-looked-funny-at-me times, you think it would have crossed their mind that it does have some underlying tones.

Altough the thing with racism can get a bit ridcule. BHS had a attempted law suit because one of their adverts for childrens clothing did not include anyone of a ethcnic mionority. For all we know they could have asked a nice lttle rural school with a nice class if they could do a photo shoot, and it so happened that there was no one coloured or similair in there. I have no one of an ethnic minority in my high school (we are quite rural...) except for my french teacher, who is an asusome guy!

Sorry these kind of things really piss me off...

 

Ditto. I Couldnt care less about adverts, etc -- if the product performs, I'll take it. Besides, people are far too politically correct these days.

 

What about the one combination you missed? I bet people wouldn't have thought twice about a black manager with black sprinters.

 

If it was reversed with a black man smiling with white athletes I wouldn't be offended. I don't consider this racist at all, a small (or large) minority like making a mountain out of a mole hill in the name of racism. If the ad was showing the white guy buying more black men on the slave market then it's a different story.

 

sorry but its just not so - all its infering is the best runners are often black gents. in a way its racist against non-blacks!!

ie. its a load of pc garbage - maybe we should stop the way races are started - rather than have atheletes bow to starter - we'll have them standing proud & the starting person drops a white flag????

 

Actually, I'd have to kinda agree. "Racism" is really about some sort of discrimination based on someone's colour or creed. Sure, the ad might spark some anger from any African Americans (or others) sensitive about the slavery issue, but this ad isn't really the same as the whole get-to-the-back-of-the-bus thing

 

Some one care to explain how that advert is racist?

There is a white guy standing beside some cloned black athletes who are bending over because they are in the starting position of a race. So now any white guy who stands next to a black athlete is racist? C'mon saying thats a racist advert is just plain ridiculous and is a far greater indicator of what a idiotic state society has got itself into.

All these 'race' campaigners are missing the point. It should not matter would colour or race the people in the advert are as we are all equal.

[edit] Slavery? Is the white guy holding a whip and forcing the black guy to bend over? [/edit]

 

Yea, but everyone knows that white guys can't run...

For that matter, where are the women!!! G'Dam! It's sexist too!

 

I think I just realized how to make this work. Have the sprinter guy also be the IT guy. So it's like he cloned himself to do more work, faster. Eh, might still come off a little "off".

 

Oh for the love of god, it's not racist! Next they'll being saying diet coke cans are racists because they are silver and keep black stuff inside under pressure. Grrrrrrrrrr

 

Laughing my a** off over that one!

 

Hell yea that's racist! The white manager is an effin racist! He didn't hire any white men, asians or whatever! It's a black-only office leaving all other races standing in the rain.

[/sarcasm]
If that's really to be considered racist then I'll have to admit it's poor times we live in.
And as mentioned before black athletes just look better than white ones (except for some of the girls ) so it's just common sense to put some black dudes there.

 

To be honest, I think everyone just looks at it and laughs about the whole thing... I mean really if they wanted to make it racist they would but the white manager at the top end at a desk in a big boss chair and glare down the room.

I think it's just an honest mistake, that's not to say it should stay there, I think they need to pull the ad off and think of something like a Funky Frog saying "why don't we Leap ahead?" and then the frog is duplicated and put into super sonic. If they want attention (and that's what ads want) then do something crazy, cool and funny!

(LOL at my post, and my crazy imagination )

 

I think people need to understand the difference between the meaning of the English word racist and the politico-legal meaning of the word.

In English, it means to discriminate against a person of a different ethnic origin. To treat them differently (i.e. negatively) because they are of a different race.

In the modern legal sense, someone is racist if they do or say something that is interpreted as racist by a 3rd party. You don't need to intend to be racist to be construed as racist. There is supposed to be the 'reasonable' test applied - is it reasonable for the 3rd party to feel offended by said actions or words, but inevitably this test is rarely applied.

The modern PC movement in the UK takes this even further - a white person will generally find it difficult to claim racism in similar circumstances to those of ethnic origins. In addition, positive discrimination is not regarded as racist (even though it is based on discrimination against a particular ethic group) but is generally viewed as a form of anti-racism.

In the context of this ad, it's clearly not intended to be racist, and if anything, merely having to consider the races of the spinter(s) and the manager could be considered a racist requirement. The advertisers should be blind to the races of all protagonists.

However, legally it could be deemed racist if someone was offended by this and this was accepted as being a reasonable reaction - which is a distinct possibility. And therefore, as perverse as it may seem, it is usual that companies would go to great lengths to avoid the possibility of such an interpretation - which makes it all the more unusual that this ad actually made it so far.

As an aside: I'm sure some of you guys (in the UK) will have come across Balamory (children's TV program). There is an extraordinarily high proportion of children from different races and ethic origins appearing in the nursery in the program. While the program is set on a small Scottish island, rather than reflect the current ethnic composition of a typical island, they have over-compensated in order to prove their multi-cultural credentials. On the other hand, perhaps coincidentally there just happen to be a larger number of children from ethnic origins who want to appear in the program.

Final comment on the ad - never mind racist; it's a crap advert - not sure even that the intended message is any good anyway. They guy(s) behind it haven't exactly showered themselves in glory with this one...

 

Thats what I thought.

If people think its a racist ad then I'll have to remember that next time im at a field and games event. When I see white starter standing near the black athletes who have bent down in there starting position. Ill have to run over to the starter and warn him hes being racist and the athletes should start the race standing and result in getting a slow get away when it starts.

 

Now your just being kinky