Racist Beer Ads

[WanderingNative]

Sorry for crossposting this from Indianz.com but thought some people might like to see this:

http://indianz.com/board/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23176

Originally posted by Oicahi Waste
Zagar and Steve.
The new Anheuser-Busch ads featuring a LUDICROUS stereotypic of an ignorant savage who can only seem civilized over which beer to drink.

This is FUNNY?!?

I just saw one the ads on the computer when one of my classmates here showed it to me since he knows I am skin. Thought I would think it is funny.

This carp makes OutKast look appropriate by comparison.

http://www.zagarandsteve.com/view_videos/

Here's Anheuser-Busche's weblink;

http://www.anheuser-busch.com/

in case letter writing appeals to you.

But I think a petition on the level of the OutKast petition would be appropriate. I think we need to get REALLY NOISY.

This isn't EVEN an attempt to "honor" us like the mascot people claim.
This is turning us into the Ignorant Clown, exploitation in order to SELL BEER.
This is straight on degradation.

Anybody else have any feeling about associating us with alcohol as the only positive and intelligent thought the "savage" is capable of?

[frederica]

People started writing letters or calling them last week. Rob Schmidt (BlueCornComics) had a article in ICT.  Anheuser-Busch go here.....1-800-Dial-Bud...and..go...here....contactus.anheuser-busch.com.....1-314-577-2000...businessethics@.......   I haven't seen these but from what I hear they are very stereotypical racist, aside from just being plain stupid. frederica

[WanderingNative]

http://www.petitiononline.com/nozagar/petition.html

Petition

We, the undersigned do designate by these signatures our protestation of the "Life with Zagar" series of beer ads, (currently being run by Anheuser-Busch on national television and the internet,) on the grounds that the ads are racist and exploitational towards Indigenous Peoples everywhere.

These ads present a stereotypic and denigrating view of native peoples, promulgating the perception of natives as clowns and "savages", with no sense of socially appropriate behavior and as little more than caricatures to be laughed at and used as "entertaining" marketing tools.
Examples of, (but not limited to,) insulting and racist stereotypic imagery,(as performed by the native character "Zagar")
-Eating a household pet
-Depiction of behavior that implies cannibalism-native stews white man in bathtub
-Bashing at a bowling ball with a bowling pin as though too stupid to realize it is not a coconut
-Chimpanzee-like crouching in almost all situations
-Shooting people with bows and arrows, blowgun use in a public situation
-War paint and "clothing" that mocks the cultural accoutrements and attires of many Indigenous Peoples, especially those of North American and South American Indians.
-Overwhelmingly visible physical resemblance to several aboriginal populations still inhabiting this planet
-Made up Gibberish presented as "language"
-Malignant representations of Indigenous Peoples as backward and ignorant of any, and all, modern day technology and socially appropriate behavior.

It is the position of these undersigned that such representations are objectifying and are offensive to ALL peoples; either as a direct assault on the Human Status of the Peoples implied by such ads, or as a remark against the social integrity and conscience of the audience targeted by the aforementioned ads. Animalistic portrayals of ANY culture, no matter how grossly portrayed as "fiction" or "humor", is socially reprehensible and is beyond any thoughtful tolerance.

We insist that there are certain ethnic populations for whom such caricaturization would NOT be deemed tolerable, we insist that the same standards of "acceptable" be applied to ALL ethnicities, and that there are NOT ethnic groups that can be perceived any longer as "fair game" or "safe targets" for practices and representations that serve to diminish their dignity as Humans.

The goals of this petition are to;
1) Promote Thoughtfulness and Respect by marketing promoters in the future and in the population at large as to how ALL Peoples are perceived.
And
2) Insist that the ad campaign "Life with Zagar" desist immediately and that Anheuser-Busch offer a public acknowledgement that the stereotypes perpetuated in the ads are not acceptable.....


Sincerely,