Image

9:29 PM / Tuesday December 3, 2024

9 Sep 2013

Dunkin’ Donuts apologizes for blackface advert

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
September 9, 2013 Category: Color Of Money Posted by:

By Jocelyn Gecker

Associated Press

 

BANGKOK–Dunkin’ Donuts has apologized for the “insensitivity’’ of an advertising campaign in Thailand featuring a woman in blackface makeup to promote a new chocolate flavored doughnut.

 

The Dunkin’ Donuts franchise in Thailand came under criticism Friday after Human Rights Watch called the advertisements “bizarre and racist.’’

 

The company’s chief executive in Thailand initially defended the campaign, but the U.S. headquarters quickly followed up with an apology.

 

“We are working with our Thailand franchisee to immediately pull the ad. DD recognizes the insensitivity of this spot,’’ Dunkin’ Donuts said in a tweet posted on its official U.S. website after complaints erupted on Twitter, in a variety of blogs and in mainstream American media.

 

The local franchise launched the advertisement earlier this month to promote its new “Charcoal Donut.’’ In posters, TV commercials and on Facebook, the campaign shows a smiling woman with blackface makeup, bright pink lipstick and a jet black 1950s-style beehive hairdo holding up a bitten black doughnut. The slogan in Thai reads: “Break every rule of deliciousness.’’

 

Critics say the image is reminiscent of 19th and early 20th century American stereotypes for black people that are now considered offensive symbols of a racist era.

 

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said it was shocked to see an American brand name running an advertising campaign that would draw “howls of outrage’’ if released in the United States.

 

“It’s both bizarre and racist that Dunkin’ Donuts thinks that it must color a woman’s skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut,’’ said Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “Dunkin’ Donuts should immediately withdraw this ad, publicly apologize to those it’s offended and ensure this never happens again.’’

 

The campaign hasn’t ruffled many in Thailand, where it’s common for advertisements to inexplicably use racial stereotypes. A Thai brand of household mops and dustpans called “Black Man’’ uses a logo with a smiling black man in a tuxedo and bow tie. One Thai skin whitening cream runs TV commercials that say white-skinned people have better job prospects than those with dark skin. An herbal Thai toothpaste says its dark-colored product “is black, but it’s good.’’

 

Hours before the apology was issued by Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters, the company’s chief executive in Thailand dismissed the criticism as “paranoid American thinking.’’

 

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,’’ the CEO Nadim Salhani said in a telephone interview. “We’re not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don’t get it. What’s the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?’’

 

Salhani said that the Thai franchise of Dunkin’ Donuts operates independently of the American operation and that doughnut sales have increased about 50 percent since the campaign was launched around two weeks ago, which he attributed to curiosity about the new advertisements.

 

“Not everybody in the world is paranoid about racism,’’ said Salhani, a Lebanese expatriate in Thailand who said his teenage daughter was the model featured in the campaign. “I’m sorry, but this is a marketing campaign, and it’s working very well for us.’’

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Leave a Comment

Recent News

Week In Review

White Florida woman sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting Black neighbor in lengthy dispute

December 1, 2024

Share Tweet Email Defendant Susan Lorincz, who fatally shot a Black neighbor through her front door during...

Sports

Are you not entertained?

November 25, 2024

Share Tweet Email Paced by a historic rushing performance from running back Saquon Barkley, the Philadelphia Eagles...

Travel

Five tips to plan a family-friendly winter getaway

November 24, 2024

Share Tweet Email Break from the cold-weather blues with a trip to the beach Family Features If...

Seniors

‘I was constantly stressed out’: My fight with excess cortisol

November 10, 2024

Share Tweet Email BPT For Janice, health and fitness were always priorities. Growing up in Jamaica, she’d...

Health

Three reasons younger Americans have an easier time maintaining healthy habits

November 24, 2024

Share Tweet Email BPT Most parents agree that it’s important for children to establish healthy habits before...

SUNrise

cj speaks…Forever in need of God

December 1, 2024

Share Tweet Email By cj Life is made up of the hopes and extremes of things that...

The Philadelphia Sunday Sun Staff