At The Big Tent, Bill Imada commended Aflac for firing comedian Gilbert Gottfried over his tweet jokes about the tragedy in Japan. Of course, Gottfried continues to find defenders in Joan Rivers, Howard Stern and other assorted idiots. The supporters’ asinine arguments include, “That’s what comedians do!!! We react to tragedy by making jokes to help people in tough times feel better through laughter.” Um, not really. Professional comics realize there are “comedy killers”—topics that must be avoided as sources of humor—like the Holocaust, JFK assassination and more. Hence, Gottfried should have known better. One can’t help but wonder if latent racism led Gottfried and his backers to think everything was hunky-dory.
One also can’t help but wonder why advertisers are quick to hit the termination button in these scenarios, yet reluctant to execute the same maneuver with partners on Madison Avenue. For example, when Groupon took heat for its Super Bowl commercial that made light of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, why wasn’t CP+B axed? When MetroPCS offended citizens with commercials starring the stereotypical Chad and Ranjit, why didn’t The Richards Group receive a pink slip? When Verizon insulted Italian-Americans with an ignorant spot, why didn’t McCann get canned? Draftfcb and Omnicom routinely piss off the public via client-sponsored obscenities. The list goes on. And so does the consequence-free cultural cluelessness.
Somebody ask Donald Trump to holler his trademark line: “You’re fired!”
'assorted idiots' is that like assorted flavors?!
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