Jackson threatened a boycott of the auto maker in May after accusing Toyota of using a racist ad for its RAV4 sport utility vehicle. The ad, printed on free postcards and distributed in nightclubs, shows a close-up of a dark-skinned man's mouth with an image of a gold RAV4 on one tooth. Toyota has since discontinued the ad.
Why is this ad considered racist? I just don't see it. IMO, it looks like Jackson just wanted to get in the limelight again...
posted on August 8, 2001 10:34:18 PM new
Gee I dunno, do ya think Jesse needs a financial shot in the arm and Toyota's Ad was the answer to his prayers?
Come to think of it does he have a gold Toyota on his tooth???
posted on August 8, 2001 10:39:44 PM new
Haha, yes I remember this. This happened in May. At the time, Al Sharpton (don't get me started on him, but...) was heading into a war zone in southern Sudan to document slavery and purchase the freedom of some slaves and the very Reverend Jesse was protesting a gold tooth.
posted on August 8, 2001 11:35:27 PM new
Well the pulled ad could have further perpetuated a steroetype that all black men have, or have a desire, to have gold teeth in the front of their mouths, which isn't true.
Hip-hop/rap artists (and boxer Mike Tyson) brought a resurgence to the gold tooth/teeth phenomena in recent years. A visible gold tooth was considered by some African-Americans, urban and rural, to be a mark of prosperity or "coolness." To others, that type of flossing is gauche or crude - it symbolizes an unrefined flamboyance.
**typos**
**edited to add this**
If Toyota thought they were appealing to the average African-American car buyer with an ad that depicted a black man with a gold tooth that gleamed brightly with the emblem of their new product, well, I pity the fool or fools responsible for dreaming up that piece of marketing.
[ edited by Baduizm on Aug 8, 2001 11:36 PM ]
[ edited by Baduizm on Aug 8, 2001 11:59 PM ]
[ edited by Baduizm on Aug 9, 2001 12:00 AM ]
posted on August 8, 2001 11:45:48 PM new
Jesse is in the Racism Business. You have to find it somewhere so I guess things have been slow if that is the best he can do. There are probably a lot of little racism problems he could help with but they don't have the money Toyota has. If Joe's Barber Shop treats the brothers bad that is a pretty dry turnip to squeeze after all.
Speaking of which those Denny's ads have not convinced me they have their act together even if "Whezzy" seems so happy there.
We have a Denny's here but it shut down this year. You had the same old guys parked all morning around the cash register smoking and drinking coffee and could not get out of the place without stinking like them as it was always a wait to pay. It was always a wait to be seated a wait to order and a wait to get it cooked also. See why they closed?
