17276: Mafioso Santa Is No No No.

This Patreon campaign featuring Wiseguy Santa delivers clichéd and contrived cultural cluelessness.

 

Oddly enough, Patreon Community Guidelines allegedly frown on using stereotypes—as well as engaging with crime and criminal activity.

17071: Freshpet Is Not Good, Fellas.

This Freshpet commercial serves up Italian-Americans as Mob stereotypes—and the result is culturally clueless dog shit.

16030: Tony The Tiger Presents A Breakfast Offer You Can’t Refuse…?

 

Here’s some background information about Tony the Tiger:

 

Tony began to be humanized in the 1970s; he was given an Italian-American nationality and consumers were briefly introduced to more of Tony’s family including Mama Tony, Mrs. Tony, and a daughter, Antoinette. Tony was a popular figure among the young Italian-American population and it showed in 1974, where he was deemed “Tiger of the Year” in an advertising theme taken from the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The advertising theme declared, “This is the Year of the Tiger and Tony is the Tiger of the Year.” Later that year, Tony graced the covers of Italian GQ and Panorama. In addition to Tony’s success, during this decade, son Tony Jr. was even given his own short-lived cereal in 1975, Frosted Rice. He would make a comeback in the 2000s by replacing his father as the official mascot.

 

Amazing that Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes advertising over the years has never exploited Tony’s heritage, integrating Mafia stereotypes or Fat Tony references. The brand has introduced Tony’s wife, son, daughter and mother—but no Godfather…?

15838: Mamma Mia, RAGÚ.

 

Remember the good old days when RAGÚ advertising only relied on Italian stereotypes?

15766: Insuring Certain Viewers Will Take Offense…

 

This OHRA insurance commercial from the Netherlands shows cultural cluelessness and Mafioso stereotypes are global—it’s amazing that the responsible White advertising agency didn’t show the characters in concrete-wooden shoes.

 

15615: Family Food Business Is No Chef Boyardee.

 

Advertising Age spotlighted Corleone Fine Italian Foods, a company that taps The Godfather films franchise to sell its products—all of which inspired a few Mafia-related lines in the trade publication’s story. Has anyone asked the Italian American One Voice Coalition and the Order of Sons of Italy to weigh in?

14647: From DDB Russia With Love—And Stereotypes.

In the U.S., using Mob and Mafioso stereotypes usually draws the ire of Italian-American groups. Yet DDB in Russia went ahead and depicted Russian gangsters shopping for a new Volkswagen—with the salesman presenting all the features for hauling dead bodies. Somebody shoulda whacked the responsible creative team.

13708: W+K London, B.S. Italian.

Wieden + Kennedy in London created a Babbel commercial that might inspire criticism from Sons of Italy or The National Italian American Foundation. How do you say, “Now that’s fucked up!” in Italian?

13016: Concrete Cultural Cluelessness.

Harvard Business Review published the cartoon above in the monthly “Strategic Humor” section, which challenges readers to “test your management wit in the HBR Caption Contest. If we choose your caption as the winner, you will be featured in an upcoming magazine issue and win a free Harvard Business Review Press book.” Maybe the HBR editorial board needs a free book covering cultural cluelessness and insensitivity. Fuggedaboudit. Somebody call the Sons of Italy pronto.

12665: Johnsonville The Wurst.

MultiCultClassics previously posted about the Johnsonville account review, noting that the incumbent White advertising agency deserved to lose the business. When the bratwurst maker chose to go with Droga5, MultiCultClassics pointed out the cultural cluelessness of the new White agency. Sure enough, a fresh commercial presents stereotypical depictions of Italian-Americans that are sure to offend the Sons of Italy and others.

11480: Ally Banking On Stereotypes.

This Ally Bank commercial will not find allies at Sons of Italy in America or The National Italian American Foundation.

11147: Chrysler CEO Slurs, Wins Award.

News sources reported Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne apologized for using an Italian-American slur during the North American International Auto Show last January. Gee, this guy should be working for General Motors.

Chrysler CEO apologizes for Italian-American slur

By Brent Snavely, Detroit Free Press

UPDATE: 6:30 ET with comments from head of Italian-American organization and excerpts from Marchionne letter of apology.

Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has apologized to the Italian-American One Voice Coalition for using a term offensive to Italian-Americans during an interview during the North American International Auto Show last January in Detroit.

During a roundtable discussion with reporters, Marchionne was discussing a new Alfa Romeo car to be sold in the U.S. when he said, “with all due respect to my American friends, it needs to be a wop engine.”

Marchionne’s use of the term was intended to convey that a Fiat-designed engine would be better than an American engine for this particular model. The term, however, is offensive to Italian Americans and others, and Marchionne apologized in a letter dated May 15.

The Italian-American One Voice Coalition, which exists to fight bias and ethnic slurs against Americans of Italian descent, sought an apology from Marchionne for several months.

“We jumped on it immediately,” said Manny Alfano, founder and president of the coalition.

Marchionne’s letter acknowledges that his remark was unacceptable and apologized to “anyone who may have been offended.”

“Having had to live through a period of integration into another country a number of years ago, I am keenly aware of the negative implications of stereotyping and the significant efforts required to undo its effects,” Marchionne wrote about his move as teenager from Italk to Toronto with his family. “I am proud of my Italian heritage, and nothing I have said should be interpreted as an attempt at minimizing its value. I extend my apologies to anyone who may have been offended by my remark.”

The term is said to be short for “without papers,” according to the Urban Dictionary, and was used as a derogatory reference to Italian immigrants who came to the U.S. in droves largely from Southern Italy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

“I am very happy that we got the apology. I think that is the best we could do at this point in time,” Alfano said.

In 2011, Marchionne apologized for using the term “shyster” to describe the high-interest rates on the loans from the U.S. and Canadian governments that funded Chrysler’s turnaround.

Marchionne is to be honored Friday by the Sons of Italy Foundation, a separate organization from the Italian-American One Voice Coalition. A Chrysler spokeswoman said the timing of Marchionne’s apology is unrelated to the Sons of Italy event.

9450: Herman Cain’s Mob Ties…?

From The New York Post…

Italian-Americans rip Cain-firm ads

By Carl Campanile

Italian-American leaders have blasted the Godfather’s Pizza chain — once famously headed by Herman Cain — for making dough off negative stereotypes of Italian-Americans as mobsters.

Godfather’s has a “Godfather’’ mascot who looks like a mobbed up, glorified gangster right out of Mafia movies.

The firm’s motto talks about satisfying “wiseguys” and “the mob” with “pizza you can’t refuse.’’

“It’s a negative portrayal of Italian-Americans,” said Anthony Tamburri, head of City University’s John Calandra Italian-American Institute.

“I’m old enough to remember ‘Amos & Andy’ episodes,” he said of the radio and TV show that stereotyped blacks. “We wouldn’t have an Amos and Andy restaurant chain today.”

Frank Fusaro, president of the Columbus Foundation, said Italians were the victims of double standards. “It’s offensive. No other ethnic group would stand for it,” he said.

For his part, GOP presidential candidate Cain brushed off the criticism.

“Mr. Cain often says that America needs a sense of humor. I’ll second it,” said Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon.

Godfather’s Pizza declined requests for comment.

9252: Forgettable Digital Advertising.

Chevy plays off of fuggedaboutit. Wonder if groups like the Order Sons of Italy in America and the Italian American One Voice Coalition will huddle over this one.

9118: Bada Bing In Brazil.

Even the advertising hacks in Brazil stereotype people of Italian heritage. As if the South American country is devoid of crime and murder. TheGetz can expect to hear from UNICO National and
Order Sons of Italy in America.


Via Ads of the World

8305: Bada Bing Banner.

Saw the banner above at AdPulp, and clicked on it to discover The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm. The company’s hype includes:

“Our advertising is so lethal the mafia uses it to make hits.”

“I advise you to do business with these fine people so my associates and I don’t have to pay you a little visit if you know what I mean.”

Can’t wait until UNICO National hears about this place.

7895: Boatloads Of Bias.

From The Los Angeles Times…

State apologizes for mistreatment of Italian residents during WWII
Legislature passes resolution expressing ‘deepest regret’ for the wartime internment, curfews, confiscations and other indignities that thousands of Italian and Italian American families faced.

By Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Monterey — When Mike Maiorana was a boy during World War II, his family was like a lot of others in his Monterey neighborhood.

In 1942, his mother was declared an “enemy alien,” along with 600,000 other Italians and half a million Germans and Japanese who weren’t U.S. citizens. More than once, men in suits searched the Maiorana house for guns, flashlights, cameras, shortwave radios — anything that could be used to signal the enemy.

Like 10,000 others up and down the California coast, the family was suddenly forced to uproot. At their new place in Salinas, they had to be home by 8 p.m. or face arrest. And when the government seized fishing boats for the war effort, Maiorana’s dad, a naturalized U.S. citizen, saw his livelihood go down the drain.

“He was on the skids for the rest of his life,” said Maiorana, 75, who owns a boatyard and marina on the harbor where his father’s boat — as well as those of his uncles and several dozen other Italian fishermen — were confiscated.

Families like the Maioranas last week received a formal acknowledgement from California. A measure that swiftly made its way through the Legislature expresses the state’s “deepest regrets” over the mistreatment of Italians and Italian Americans during World War II. Not nearly as severe or long-lasting as the internment of Japanese Americans, the wartime restrictions are still little-known throughout California, where they were the most heavily enforced.

The resolution was the brainchild of a 79-year-old San Jose man who entered a legislator’s annual “There Oughta Be a Law” contest.

“The treatment Italians received in California was horrible,” said Chet Campanella, who recalled his father hiding a radio in a backyard chicken coop. “There wasn’t one tiny bit of evidence that any Italian was responsible for spying, sabotage, or doing anything else to hinder the war effort.”

Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) sponsored a bill based on Campanella’s idea.

“I was wholly unaware of the circumstances he described,” Simitian said. “Somehow this story had passed me by.”

Simitian, an attorney and former Palo Alto mayor, said he saw “contemporary importance” in the effort: “We’re at war on the other side of the world, and I think it’s important to remember that there are millions of Americans who are ethnic Arabs or Muslim by faith, and that they’re good Americans.”

Read the full story here.

7278: Pre-Holiday Cheers And Jeers.

Offensive maneuvers in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• Italian-American group UNICO National has called for MTV to dump a promo for the upcoming Jersey Shore, arguing the show perpetuates stereotypes by referring to cast members as “Guidos.” An MTV official countered the characters are merely taking “pride in their ethnicity.” In other words, UNICO National should fugeddaboutit.

• A deal to buy the Saab brand from General Motors has fallen through at the last minute, prompting the automaker to say it will likely shut down the division. Or maybe GM can pull together an awesome Black Friday deal.

• Google apologized for displaying a racially offensive photo of Michelle Obama in search results for the First Lady, but refused to remove the image. However, an image of the Google logo will likely appear in future search results for “racist corporations.”

7238: A Carl’s Jr. Offer You Can’t Refuse.

Carl’s Jr. set aside its typically sexist advertising for stereotypical depictions offensive to Italian Americans. Note the response from the corporate director of public relations—it’s pretty clear that Carl’s Jr. does not see a problem with perpetuating ethnic stereotypes in an effort to amuse “young, hungry guys.” The campaign was touting the chain’s Chicken Parmesan Sandwich; hence, the need to push mafia imagery. Good thing they weren’t promoting fried chicken or Asian chicken flavors.

Fuggedaboudit: Carl’s Jr. Stops Mob Ad Campaign

by Jennifer Lawinski

Fast-food chain Carl’s Jr. has stopped the ad campaign for its Chicken Parmesan Sandwich after Italian-American groups complained about the mafia-themed commercials.

The California Italian-American Task Force and the National Italian-American Federation praised Carl’s Jr.’s parent company CKE for its decision not to buy more TV slots for the ads, which feature mobster and garbage man characters that critics said showed negative Italian-American stereotypes, Nation’s Restaurant News reports.

In the ad, a man sits in his car eating the Carl’s Jr. Chicken Parmesan Sandwich as marinara sauce drips out of his mouth and down his shirt. When two mafia goons approach the car, the man plays dead. Fooled by the sauce dotting his shirt like blood, they leave him alive assuming someone else killed him before they arrived.

“NIAF was pleased to see the positive steps taken by Carl’s Jr. Restaurant to remove negative, inaccurate and unfair characterizations in their recent commercial advertisements,” Jeff Capaccio, the group’s regional vice president for the Far West, told the paper. “These advertisements only fuel further incorrect assumptions about an entire ethnic group.”

Controversy is nothing new for Carl’s Jr. Earlier this year, the company launched a racy ad featuring Padma Lakshmi inhaling a Western Bacon Thickburger.

Beth Mansfield, director of public relations for CKE told Slashfood that the company, which is also the parent company of Hardee’s, “adopts a creative approach” to its advertising. “It is intended to communicate the core message of our premium-quality food to our target audience of ‘young, hungry guys.’ We do not aim to exclude or offend any other groups with our efforts, but merely to appeal to and amuse a very specific audience. We understand that not everyone may view our advertising the same way, so we respect all views and welcome comments and feedback.”

The company decided not to extend the media run for the Parmesan Chicken Sandwich, but the campaign formally ended on Nov. 8, although the commercials may still make appearances “infrequently in limited markets,” Mansfield said.

But it’s still offering $1 off coupons on its Web site.

After the Chicken Parmesan campaign, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s will be taking another stab at McDonalds, Mansfield told Slashfood.

Its next ad campaign for Carl’s Jr.’s Big Carl burger and Hardee’s Big Hardee burger will target the McDonald’s Big Mac in “round three of the Premium Burger Wars,” which Mansfield said the company calls “McSmack.”

“The direct comparison worked so well and we got such a great response from them, that’s what we’re looking at doing again,” she told Slashfood. “We just keep kicking the shins of that 800 pound gorilla.”

6904: Bad Role-Playing & Bad Role Models.

Antisocial media and behavior in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• CNET News reported that social media entities like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are raking in serious loot with Mafia-inspired games. Seems folks just can’t get enough mobster role-playing, carrying out crimes including stealing and killing rivals. It’s amazing that Draftfcb has not emerged as a major player in the action.

• Former Washington Mayor Marion Barry was arrested and charged with stalking a woman. If only this guy would confine his criminal activities to online role-playing.