Thailand – Dunkin’ Donuts under fire for ‘racist’ ad campaign

Via: L.A. Times

A human rights group on Friday criticized a Dunkin’ Donuts advertising campaign running in Thailand that features a model whose face is painted black to sell a chocolate doughnut.

Dunkin’ Donuts Thailand recently started running ads for its “Charcoal Donut,” which features a model wearing blackface makeup and bright pink lipstick and holding up a bitten doughnut. The translated Thai slogan reads: “Break every rule of deliciousness.”

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A message left with a Dunkin’ Donuts spokesman was not immediately returned Friday, but the chief executive of Dunkin’ Donuts in Thailand told the AP that the criticism is just “paranoid American thinking.”

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said CEO Nadim Salhani. “We’re not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don’t get it. What’s the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?”

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-dunkin-donuts-thailand-racist-ad-criticism-20130830,0,1353917.story

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personal thought:

It seems to me, Thais, and for that matter, Asians in general, look down on people with dark skin; including their own.

I think the ad will be very successful; but not with me though because well, I’m a “paranoid American”.
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