I hate political correctness. I hate the fact that you can't joke about certain things and that everyone walks on eggshells to avoid offending the easily offended. But I do like fairness and it seems to me if SalesGenie.com ran a Super Bowl ad featuring an African-American who spoke like Amos 'N Andy that the company would be getting some flack from the NAACP, among others. But this ad, which features pandas talking in pidgin English seems like it would be offensive to some Asian-Americans. And indeed it was. Here's an e-mail from Phil Lee, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans: We do have some concerns with the ad, and we're not the only ones. We're presently considering how to respond without just giving the company what they want, which is of course publicity. It's not just about responding that the ad is offensive or stupid, but trying to explain why.
Of course, I'm not the only one who's noticed.
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