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South Oak Dodge in Matteson, Ill., normally wouldn't get our attention, but the ad they're running on Fox Chicago, which features "Import Man," a guy in a sumo wrestler outfit who speaks with a crude accent, is pretty offensive.
We left two messages for Don Peterson, the general manager of the dealership and star of the commercial, and we'll keep you posted if we hear something back.
The Asian American Institute's action plan after the jump....
In the email they sent out this morning, the AAI said:
Please fight this racist and offensive advertising.... The following message can be sent to the Dodge dealer, a FOX Chicago manager, and the majority owner of Chrysler (Cerberus Capital Management).To: dpeterson@southoakdodge.com
Cc: media@cerberuscapital.com
Cc: andrew.finlayson@foxchicago.com
Bcc: aai@aaichicago.org
Subject: Pull Asian-Bashing South Oak Dodge Commercial
South Oak Dodge Managers:I have learned that your car dealership has been running an "Import Man" commercial. The anti-Asian sentiment, grotesque mockery of Asian people, and Asian-bashing nature of this commercial is offensive and harmful. In fact, twenty-five years ago, comparable anti-Japanese sentiment led to the eventual murder of Vincent Chin (two unemployed autoworkers in Detroit, believing that Vincent was Japanese, beat him to death with a baseball bat). You should immediately remove this anti-Asian and xenophobic ad from all media spots and your website.
Thank You.
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Great ad.
Unfortunately most Japanese cars are assembled in the US while most US cars are assembled in Mexico or Canada.
So if you want to buy american, buy a Jap car.
The Asian American Institute doesn't know what it's doing.
The correct way to protest this ad to to contact the trademark lawyers at Time Warner, which owns DC Comics & the Superman trademarks.
They'll put an end to this ad faster than you can say "stupid, racist ad"!
@scooter: good point.
I have learned that your car dealership has been running an "Import Man" commercial.
Shouldn't you at least *see* the commercial before you dash off a missive rather than just say you "learned" about it? While in this particular case the assertions being made by the AAI are correct, it reminds me of the nuts that want to ban books they haven't even read.
I see no difference between this ad and "The Guru" Comcast uses. Has this organization sent threatening letters to Comcast and sent out a "Call to Action"? Or is it not mockery to take a religion practiced by many people including Asians and use it to sell Cable and Internet access only or perhaps it's easier to pick on an independent business man.
Drew Peterson owns South Oak Dodge?
I usually wince at political correctness. But not here. This goes in the "What were they thinking?" category. Sumo Guy needs to be belly-bumped out of the ring and off the airwaves.
Comcast has the most racist Asian ad campaign going.
you tigga now...
What B News? The Serene Buddhist Monk (tm) used to sell you more crap wasn't enough to turn you off?
I demand they run a new series of ads with a really touchy-feeley priest to be more "fair and balanced."
Why is it still ok to show racist parodies against Asian people?
You can see them on MAD TV, Saturday Night LIve, many many shows on tv still do,what I consider to be, crude and demeaning rants on Asians.
This kind of thing would NEVER fly if you did it towards black people, but it's ok for Asians. I guess because people still think that Asians will not fight back...they think of them as the quiet minority.
I, for one, am sick of it. No, I'm not Asian (my children are half Asian) but I still cringe when I see this kind of thing. Imagine the outcry if that sumo man transformed into a caricature of a black person in full jungle/sambo attire. It's the same thing...so where is the outrage?
Ingrid, really? Not that I disagree with your main point, but half the examples of Black America we see in the media are caricatures of stereotypes.
Agreed on the Monk, interestingly it can not be found on you tube. That is the worst though.