From The New York Daily News…
Racist cupcakes? Duncan Hines ‘hip-hop’ video ad under fire
By Nina Mandell, Daily News Staff Writer
Talk about bad taste.
Cupcakes aren’t tasting so sweet for some Duncan Hines marketing execs who were forced to pull a video for their “Amazing Glazes” frosting line after viewers and bloggers complained the dancing cupcakes were racist.
The commercial, which features chocolate-frosted cupcakes singing a harmony, was released on YouTube with the title “Hip Hop”. Along with that title, the cupcakes featured exaggerated lips and eyes and more hummed a melody – that was decidedly un-hip hop.
“If you’re going to call them hip-hop cupcakes, then shouldn’t at least one of them at least do a verse?” a blogger wrote on the Racialicious blog wrote.
In a press release, the company said it wanted to inspire creativity in its new commercial.
”I wanted to create an entertaining and engaging way to show bakers that this glaze makes everything you top taste better and more exciting,” the commercial’s director Josh Binder said in a statement released by the company when the controversial ads were launched.
The commercials were removed by the company but not before generating more than 19,000 views on YouTube, the Toronto Sun reported.
Bloggers were outraged that it took until after the commercial was launched for Duncan Hines staffers to realize there might be an issue with it.
“Clearly there are no minorities in the board room where they work on advertising at Duncan Hines,” a commenter wrote on Racialicious.
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