16573: Thjnk Different…? Neín.

 

White advertising agency Thjnk in Germany commemorated Black history by attempting to be provocative—yet ultimately landed with a global variation of the “Black history is American history” cliché.

 

The firm stressed that Black Americans comprise only 4% of the world’s Black population. Okay, but that’s still waaaaay more than the statistics for Afro-Germans.

 

Sorry, this concept stjnks.

Here’s the Black and White—emphasis on White—explanation for the concept:

 

Black history. Celebrated every February. Originally in America. And now, by the whole world.

 

But most people don’t realise that this is a problem.

 

Black Americans make up only 4% of the world’s Black population (1.2 billion), and yet America is seen as the benchmark for Blackness by most people in the Western world.

 

Why should we only celebrate our universal Blackness in one month of the year when we are who we are every day?

 

Just as we believe there is no “I” in “thjnk”, we have a campaign for the true representation of ALL Black people to change this cultural perspective.

Introducing #blackthinkers, a film that challenges the current narrative around the celebration of Black history with an encouraging new message: Black history is every single day.

 

16371: The Best Or Nothing New.

Mercedes-Benz in Germany celebrates 50 years of Hip Hop—with a video that looks decades old.

15662: Mercedes-Benz Beauty Standards Car Wreck.

 

The New York Post reported on a video advertisement for Mercedes-Benz that was pulled off the road when Chinese social media took offense, complaining that the campaign pushed “Western beauty ideals for Asian women” and portrayed stereotypical “slanted eyes.” Cultural cluelessness from Germany…? Shocking.

 

Mercedes-Benz removes ad with Chinese model over ‘slanted eye’ backlash

 

By Hannah Sparks

 

Chinese social media has been engrossed in an eye-popping debate over ads depicting alleged Western beauty ideals for Asian women, including the usage of makeup to create stereotypical “slanted eyes.”

 

Mercedes-Benz has reportedly removed a recent video advertisement published on Chinese social network Weibo on Dec. 25, after the brand was criticized for doing up a model’s face to give her exaggerated sloping eyes.

 

“Is there any beauty in this makeup?” one critic wrote. “It is not [open for] interpretation. No Chinese will think this kind of ‘beauty’ is attractive,” another added.

 

The Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times said on Tuesday that the hashtag that translates to “Mercedes-Benz model’s makeup is controversial” had gained over 170 million views on Weibo.

 

“The premise is that Chinese cannot let the West shape our aesthetics,” wrote one critic, per Global Times. “For those malicious slanderers, we should maintain sufficient vigilance and counter-attack.”

 

The Post has reached out to Mercedes-Benz to confirm reports.

 

The luxury carmaker is one of the latest in a spate of controversies to take over Chinese social media, as critics lash out against Western brands for promoting Chinese beauty stereotypes in their ads. Earlier this week, Gucci was similarly called out for a new handbag ad that uses “discriminatory” Chinese features.

 

Communication-law professor Zhu Wei, of the state’s China University of Political Science and Law, said in a statement to the Global Times regarding Gucci’s ad, “This is extremely disrespectful to our culture. The disgust and revulsion expressed by the whole society toward this kind of insult should be heard.”

 

Fellow couturier Dior apologized in November following uproar over a handbag advertisement. Beijing-based photographer Chen Man admitted his “immaturity and ignorance” by “perpetuating racial stereotypes” for the shoot, while the fashion house responded by saying that it “respects the feelings of the Chinese people.”

 

It’s not just the upmarket brands who are said to be out of touch. Last week, a model for Chinese snack brand Three Squirrels stood up against the brand’s detractors, asking, “Am I not Chinese?” Consumers had bristled over an unearthed ad campaign from 2019 featuring model Cai Niang Niang, who some said was played up in the ad for her “overly slanted eyes” and posed with her hair in braids, all of which plays into 19th-century Western stereotypes of Chinese people.

 

She wrote on Weibo on Sunday, according to the South China Morning Post, “With small eyes, am I not Chinese? I totally agree with patriotism. However, creating big problems out of normal matters has become a morbid obsession. I hope everybody can have a healthy mindset.”

15580: Talk To The Groping Hand.

 

This campaign from Germany seeks to expose the prevalence of sexual abuse experienced by athletes. Hey, Germans have hands-on experience with the topic…

 

15503: Monumental Hooters.

 

Is this Germany’s idea of multicultural marketing…?

15441: Groom, Gloom & Doom.

Innocean in Germany is responsible for this campaign warning against the dangers posed by groomers. Maybe a certain former U.S. Chief Creative Officer landed abroad…?

 

14892: Campaign Combining Cars & Clichés Creates Cultural Crash.

This Nissan campaign from Germany presents the Japanese automaker via fans. Sorry, not a fan of cultural clichés.

14857: Peculiar Plastic Pollution Propaganda Prompts Puzzling Perplexity.

This Greenpeace campaign from Germany seeks to emphasize that plastic pollutes the environment for over 400 years. Okay, but the net impression is only that plastic outlives humans. And highlighting the woman’s breast implants is really ridiculous—is Greenpeace calling for sustainable hooters? Perhaps the execution should have died in the early concept stage.

14803: Any Blacks Behind The Black Forest McFlurry?

DDB Colombia is responsible for this Mickey D’s advertisement. It’s a safe bet that Selva Negra involved no Negroes. Besides, isn’t the Black Forest in Germany versus a jungle region?

14749: Rave—As In Stark Raving Mad—Reviews For Mickey D’s.

In Germany, the debut of “The Signature Collection” at Mickey D’s is receiving more fanfare than it deserves. This performance warrants a critical panning.

14587: McCann Morons Mansplain With Mascara And Makeup.

This is a gender equality campaign from McCann in Germany, featuring headlines claiming, “This is an ad for men.” Of course, this is an ad campaign by men. And it’s meh.

14477: Mickey D’s And DDB Are So Ghetto.

Why is this Mickey D’s advertisement from DDB in Austria titled “Ghettofaust”—which translates to Ghetto Fist?

13809: Diversity In Aisle 1.

AdFreak reported on a grocery store in Germany that created stunt to promote diversity. Hey, why not? Germans embracing equality and inclusion is not much more peculiar than White advertising agencies doing the same damned thing.

A German Supermarket Removed All Foreign Products for a Day to Make a Point About Diversity

The bold stunt comes as immigration tensions run high

By Angela Natividad

What does a grocery store look like without Greek olives, Spanish tomatoes and frozen goods from who-knows-where?

You’re about to find out.

To emphasize the importance of global diversity in a context everyone can understand, German supermarket Edeka made a surprising decision: It emptied its Hamburg location of all foreign-made products.

For shoppers wandering around confused, signs featured messages like, “So empty is a shelf without foreigners,” “This shelf is quite boring without variety,” “Our range now knows borders,” and, “We will be poorer without diversity.”

People mostly believe what their range of experience permits. Protectionist policy thrives on such blind spots: It’s easy to be racist when the groups you’re demonizing are abstractions.

That’s what gives this work its oomph—nothing is more personal than access to and preferences for food, which guarantee a visceral emotional reaction.

Hamburg is the second most populous city in Germany, behind Berlin, with resident aliens composing nearly 15 percent of the population. But German opinion’s become pretty tense since Chancellor Angela Merkel announced an open-door immigration policy for refugees two years ago.

The decision led to the arrival of 890,000 asylum seekers in 2015 alone … and early this year, Germany announced plans to roll the policy back. (The stance did, however, boost Germany’s prominence on the global stage.)

Online, vice chair of the Christian Democratic Union Party Julia Klöckner praised the campaign, calling it “a wise action” that would give people pause. The comment generated a bevy of replies, including one from Marcus Pretzell (no longer visible), representing an immigrant-hostile party, Alternative for Germany: “Why exactly should it be wise? Is it not rather completely mad?” he was quoted as saying, per The Independent.

Edeka’s got a reputation for producing the kind of quirky, unhinged advertising creatives look forward to. (2014’s much-lauded “Supergeil” comes to mind.) If you’re wondering why it would suddenly break tone to make a political stance this dramatic, consider that its work often has a moral bent.

In a 2015 Christmas ad, an old patriarch fakes his own death to compel his family to gather for the season. 2016’s holiday ad used an anti-consumerist message to remind people that being together is more important than gifts. And the controversial “Eatkarus” ad of 2017 is, at its heart, a story about embracing a path that alienates you from others—especially when you’re doing it for your own health and happiness.

“Edeka stands for variety and diversity,” an Edeka spokesperson said of the Hamburg activation. “In our stores we sell numerous foods which are produced in the various regions of Germany. … But only together, with products from other countries, it is possible to create the unique variety that our consumers value. We are pleased that our campaign caused so many positive reactions.”

13566: By The Color Of Their Cola…

This campaign was hatched by loved in Germany, with an explanation that read:

They look different on the outside but are all the same on the inside. That’s true of people all over the world — and now of cola, too. Or at least ALI COLA, the first cola that comes in six different skin colors. In 2017, politics is lurching to the right — in Germany, Europe and the USA. So the German agency loved relaunched the pro-tolerance cola brand ALI COLA and invented their own cola. Instead of coming just in the usual black, ALI COLA is available in six different skin colors. But though they look different, all six colors taste exactly the same. They’re all the same; they just look different on the outside. Like people. ALI COLA responds to prejudice and with humor. [sic] The slogan: Cheers to tolerance. The brand also supports Kiron, an NGO that has found a way to cut red tape and help refugees earn university qualifications thanks to online courses and partner universities.

Um, German pro-tolerance is as oxymoronic as, well, Madison Avenue pro-tolerance. And it’s odd to deliver such a concept via a cola brand, especially given the history of intolerance connected to Coca-Cola.

13346: So Bad, You’ll Blush.

This blush campaign comes from glow in Berlin, who explained the concept as follows:

Germany took more than 1 Million refugees in 2015 — mostly from Muslim countries. Is it a threat to female equality and women’s liberation? blush is offering the “blush Course Integration.”

Um, need a culturally competent interpreter to decipher the thinking behind glow’s rationale. Are the Berliners seeking to help Muslim refugees assimilate to Eurocentric culture with sexist imagery? Gee, that’s mighty White of them. And speaking of mighty White, check out the glow team—they’re positively glowing with exclusivity.