Dear Star Savior,
Hi. It's Spain's Olympic basketball team. We've been catching a lot of heat for a photo of our players pulling back the skin at their eyes to mimic the eyes of Chinese people. We didn't think it would offend anyone, and our players have apologized, but people are still bothered. Also, the photo was for an ad for a courier company, and the eye thing was the company's idea. What do you think?
Dear Spanish Basketball Team,
As it turns out, your photo actually was a misstep. But the problem isn't your racist gesture. The problem is that the team overlooked one key fact: Racism is totally fine if it promotes the right product.
How do you think Pringles got started? Pringles used to be called "Darkies" back when it was cheaper to use only potato skins.
Nobody talks about it, but segregation was created to help launch Ho Hos. That's right: The Jim Crow laws were made to promote snack cakes. The nation wasn't ready for chocolate-and-creme-swirled cakes -- "separate but equal" at its finest. So Hostess made a few calls to get some racist policy going. And it worked.
We've all seen images of black people suffering all sorts of indignities back then. It's upsetting. But if you take that same footage and add a close-up on a box of Ho Hos, it all makes sense.
The next time you're offered money to make a racist gesture, take some time to think about it. Don't waste racism on the wrong product. Think big. You could be the next Ronald McDonald. (I'll tell you the Big Mac story later.)
The Star Savior
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