Why would the guy on a camel care? He already has a Coke the others don't.
larry priddy - 11 years ago
Some people never grow up>>always looking for something to "CRY" about! I'm a white guy and ride a motorcycle>>should I get offended by the Bikers they show as being all grubby & dirty looking?? "NO" I should't & I wont.. Some group of people get up in the morning just looking for anything & everything to "CRY" about.. GROW UP PEOPLE>>
Tony Schmidt - 11 years ago
The ad is racist. Why is it happening in a desert in the middle east? Why is the local so indifferent to what is happening in his home? Who is the target audience? If you want to have an ad in a desert setting for super bowl, how about setting it in the Arizona desert? Hey to make it even more appealing, let's add a group of American Indians in the race, and have the cowboys shoot them. We could even make it funnier by having a few mexicans trying to enter the land of the enlightened through the Arizona border, and get in the race for the prize, and have the patriots shoot 'em down to keep them from winning. Come guys it is just an ad, relax, have a little fun, boys will be boys.
Mark - 11 years ago
To all who say the ad is racist I point out that the Arab guy is the smartest of them all - he has a stash of water and doesn't need to compete for a miserable bottle of Coke. He's also the most handsome of all men in the ad.
rozy - 11 years ago
I agree that we should not laugh at anyone who does not finish the race. Welcome to the world of inequality,racism and stereotypes ...of course, it's clear-he was last and off the voting list
rozy - 11 years ago
Shirley- in reply to your comment. Take the ad little further, you want to have a laugh, then make the audience laugh by finishing off in a subtle way. You have to be creative and know how to create the ads. Coke Cola needs a new person to be in charge of ads-
be creative ...
rozy - 11 years ago
Jack you posted your views not too long ago- I agree with you 101%
I am from Canada, just appalled at Cokes ad-whoever created the ad-has no idea what its like to be on the other side and being excluded.
rozy - 11 years ago
It may or may not seem racial to many but why leave the Arab out-lets be really humorous and laugh it off but why did Coke Cola not look at that aspect.....imagine voting for the Arab as well in the end. Why was the Arab not included at the end of the race- its called inclusion. He would be last because his camel would not move or he would get the least votes. Erin, see the big picture-lets all have a laugh. Why have the race in desert then? It is depicting an ethnicity when you show the Arab-then he is excluded. Why not enjoy the ad from the beginning to the end. Coke Cola should really consider hiring people that can create and show ads without being racist.
shirley - 11 years ago
the guy walking with camel was not in the race,the others were on THE FAST MOVE toward the COKE.......you got to love
Jack - 11 years ago
Roland is such an idiot. I don't think he would be snickering if the camel jockey was dragging a bunch of black slaves in chains.
Now that the black people are somewhat integrated into society he feels it is his turn to now beat up on the newly marginalized ethnic groups in order for him to gain further acceptance with the white population.
Just like Juan Williams who now works for Fox news.
Sheila - 11 years ago
SamF got it right. Why is it so difficult for the recently marginalized to empathize with the NEWLY arrived.
Ann - 11 years ago
I think people are missing the point. Since the Arab with the camel is not in the vote at the end I don't think he was meant to be part of the race. I agree he was an observer and in the desert what type of an observer might you find but a man with a camel. If the race had been staged on a beach in Malibu an observer would be a surfer with a board or a bikini clad female. Why must we always look for the negative when no harm intended.
Shadi - 11 years ago
Come on people. Seriously? Why must we find things to get hung up on? I am an Arab-American and proud of my ethnicity. The commerical takes place in the desert and to set the mood, Coca Cola decides to throw a camel in the mix. Who better to lead the camel than a person of Middle Eastern descent? The camel gets stubborn and lazy and the "camel jockey" falls behind. End of story. Let it go. We're really reaching here folks.
TomE - 11 years ago
This is a little ludicrous. As an American man, should I be offended at the cowboys riding horses? Isn't that a stereotype as well? And yet, oddly, I'm not offended by it at all. In fact, I never gave it a second thought. Coke was obviously going for iconic images, and, like it or not, the image of a turbaned Arab with a camel is iconic.
I know that there are certain groups who find it advantageous to make political hay out of racial issues, but when it gets to ridiculous levels like this it just ends up discrediting their efforts.
By the way, I just saw a Ford commercial that featured a guy in a turban saying "open sesame." I'm sure we'll be hearing about that soon as well.
Earnest - 11 years ago
I agree with Alex that the Arab man was not part of the race, but shocked to see the race through the desert
ed - 11 years ago
it looks like the arib guy is walking his camel for a daily walk ..lol and saying to himself ..i wish i was on the bus with those girls instead of this smelly old camel.besides who gives a sh...t if there offended or not ..lol im hispanic and i get profiled all the time..deal with it camel walker lol
Mohamad - 11 years ago
I am an Arab-American with a degree in marketing, and I do not think this is racist. However I do think Coca-Cola is playing into the GROWING stereotype of "all Arabs still ride camels, live in tents." Stereotypes should die out and be laughed at. Unfortunately the media still seems to play off it and most Americans are still unaware of the progressiveness, modern achievements, and real lives Arabs have.
Allison - 11 years ago
Sad that advertising has to be taken so seriously, i agree with Erin, the "camel" is an icon with no intention of racism. I am from Canada and the moose and the igloo are constantly used in association with Canada yet I live in one of the biggest multicultural and economic centres, in the city of Toronto.
Do we care? no.
Alex - 11 years ago
i don't think the Arabic man was going to Coke. It looked like he was just surprised by the odd group of people racing throught the desert. He wasn't apart of the race.
IDontEvenLikeCoke - 11 years ago
Back to affirm that I'm not saying that any potential racism was intentional on Coke's part.
Uncle Tom - 11 years ago
Those who have not suffered the effects of racism and other hurtful stereotypes, before dismissing this as some people not having a sense of humor consider the typical double standards of communications and reporting.
Would you as easily dismiss as "people should relax" if a group of Jews were portrayed being led to an oven, longing for an ice cold coke, or a group of Americans falling out of the windows of the collapsing world trade center towers looking at a bunch of other characters flying by on parachutes for a "scene appropriate" commercial.
Lovie Stephenson - 11 years ago
No, it was not racist. Not including the Arab man in the voting doesn't mean Coke was being racist. It means they were possibly negligent in not including him as an option. I took this as we have a cowboy, some showgirls and badlands guys all trying to get the coke. They just happen to be in the desert and there just happened to be an Arab walking his camel in the desert. The racers came upon the Arab man and his camel and frightened the camel. (Possibly why the camel was not moving and why the Arab man was not included in the vote...he was not racing to the coke). He was there as a reference as to where this race was being held, basically putting the cinematics into perspective. I think the hurt here is not the portraying of the Arab with a camel, but the fact that the Arab should have been included as an option in the selection of who might win. It would have been racist to me if....the Arab man was portrayed as a terrorist, the black man was portrayed as a slave, the showgirls were portrayed as strippers and the white man was portrayed as a slave owner or trader....an Arab man walking his camel is not racist and is a significant part of many lives in most Middle Eastern countries. What are you saying to many of your own people who need, own and use camels for work, trade, travel, dowerys and as cattle. Coke racist? No. Insensitive to inclusion? Probably. But, I do not think it was intentional in this context.
kika - 11 years ago
I'm disappointed with Coca Cola right now they are so imprudent, I am so livid they just lost one costumer and probably many more and I'm not even Arabic.
kika - 11 years ago
It is absolutley racist, Roland if you saw a black person dressed as a slave, picking cotton and not included in the race just watching, in the commercial, you are going to tell me you are not going to get offended? Talk about sterio type.
Nasser - 11 years ago
The Camel is known to be the ship of the desert, in the add, the Camel was left behind, the maker of the add intend to make fun of the Arab, if that was not there intention, then the CAMEL should win the race, the Camel did not win, because he was laughing his ass at the idiots who made this add.
Tony Schmidt - 11 years ago
Imagine a bunch of African Americans chained together being whipped as one of the "groups" in this ad. Chasing the coca colas , or considering your location appropriateness argument of the camel, in a KFC ad. Would you dismiss that group being offended as not having a sense of humor?! All things being equal, no one should care, but in the world we live in all things are not equal and stereotypes hurt real people mentally, financially and generationally.
By the way I love you and your show!
ding - 11 years ago
Yes it's racist. This reminds me of those stupid so called movies whereas Borat makes all sorts of stupid jokes about other cultures. Are we losing other sorts of ideas? rather than making inflammatory moves and adds about other cultures?.
Uncle Sam - 11 years ago
The portrayal of the camel jockey is still as stated a pedaling of the constant image of Arab and arab-americans in a stereotpyical way. Racist or not this still falls into the category of stereotypes and the images/symbolism that Erin Burnett clearly did not want to believe when trying to explain herself. It doesn't matter if it was any race with their typically seen transportation the fact remains its in perspective of any minority kept in inferiority in terms of media portrayal.
IDontEvenLikeCoke - 11 years ago
At first I was going to make the argument that the Arab man with the camel was just a prop used to set the scene. In which case, this ad wouldn't be racist. The guest they had on CNN earlier was saying that it would have been equally racist if it was a mexican with a sombrero and a donkey. Well, not if it was a scene in Mexico. It would have merely been setting the scene.
But, I've taken a second look at the ad. The problem is that the Arab man is depicted gazing at the Coke bottle, with a craving in his eyes. Then they show him trying to get his camel to move so that he can participate in the race to get to the coke. At this point he is not just a prop, he is meant to be a participant. Yet, he is the only one to be 'killed out' early. Portrayed as a failure that is given and expected.
Justin - 11 years ago
No it is not racist. I see it as Coca Cola setting the scene in the Sahara Desert where a man and a number of camels are traveling somewhere, and all of a sudden he see's these 3 groups desperate for a drink flying through the desert. I believe that camels are native to this area (they are). I also understand that they are used for travel through many desert regions due to how hearty they are in heat (they are). There is nothing racist about it. The three groups are racing each other and the man with the camel witnesses this happen. Oversensitivity!
Denise - 11 years ago
So not racist in anyway at all. Come on folks. Lighten up a little & concentrate on what really matters. Arabs in the dessert with a camel are pretty common are they not?? He was not supposed to be in the race at all. Just happened to be there & watch the commotion go by!
Christine Y - 11 years ago
I strongly believe that the stereotypical images of the Arab characters in the commercial contribute negatively to a narrow and negative view of Arabs and Muslims. With all the possible characters that may have been included in the ad, it is disappointing that COKE did not explore more non-stereotypical options. It was especially disheartening that Erin Burnett did not make more of an effort to understand how these images could be racist. For many people, they are funny and caricatures that contribute to the camel jockey image. Much of the research on microaggressions demonstrate that these smaller slights and jokes are even more damaging in the long run than blatantly racist acts (that people do not ignore) because people fail to acknowledge them.
John Stark - 11 years ago
Yes, it certainly is! Very offensive and Coke should have thought this out better.
Sheila - 11 years ago
What Coke intended is beside the point. If a member of a minority is offended by a presentation, I believe the wiser approach is to use the "native's wisdom"....especially in a culture that HAS marginalized Muslims, Arabs, Middle Eastern "looking" people. This is, after all an advertisement...not public policy! We preach respect but do we practice it?
What is the problem? Let Coke pay for a second look consultant before the ad goes public. They certainly won't suffer. Of course, Coke has also made additional money on the reaction to treaading this fine line. An accident? I doubt it!!
ambre - 11 years ago
Why all the hyperventilation? Whenthe Priscilla queen of the desert crew blew through ,the Bedouin was WALKING his camel through the dunes...not involved in the race, merely observing. He was the only smart one on the screen. SHEESH!
Conne - 11 years ago
Everyone just needs to laugh at themselves and enjoy it for what it is - a commercial for Coke-a-Cola
Elaine Meier - 11 years ago
Erin,
This is not a racist ad. It is a parody of many movies. The show girls are representative of the trans men in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. If you watch it closely you can see they are not ladies. And the reference to to Mad Max was right on.
Just saying lighten up folks and pay attention.
Adrien - 11 years ago
This ad is no where near racist. What's racist is searching for something that could be exaggerated to seem racist. I don't hear any western world people complaining about how the ad construes us as cowboys and showgirls. Also, nomadic people who live in deserts do use camels to move their belongings. The middle eastern people in the add are probably the most acurately depicted.
Catherine - 11 years ago
We have an Arab gentleman out in the desert with his camel when he happens upon a race between three groups. He has the look of surprise on his face. He is not part of the race. He is the audience as we are. End of story.
SamF - 11 years ago
Aside from the eloquent example that was given about a hispanic riding on a donkey, I would bet that Roland would take offense to a black pimp in a velvet blue suit racing in a souped up cadillac...white people will never have to worry about racism so as long as minorities never stand for the other
Alan Bounville - 11 years ago
Of course it's racist. Especially since they remove the Arab man from the voting.
Why would the guy on a camel care? He already has a Coke the others don't.
Some people never grow up>>always looking for something to "CRY" about! I'm a white guy and ride a motorcycle>>should I get offended by the Bikers they show as being all grubby & dirty looking?? "NO" I should't & I wont.. Some group of people get up in the morning just looking for anything & everything to "CRY" about.. GROW UP PEOPLE>>
The ad is racist. Why is it happening in a desert in the middle east? Why is the local so indifferent to what is happening in his home? Who is the target audience? If you want to have an ad in a desert setting for super bowl, how about setting it in the Arizona desert? Hey to make it even more appealing, let's add a group of American Indians in the race, and have the cowboys shoot them. We could even make it funnier by having a few mexicans trying to enter the land of the enlightened through the Arizona border, and get in the race for the prize, and have the patriots shoot 'em down to keep them from winning. Come guys it is just an ad, relax, have a little fun, boys will be boys.
To all who say the ad is racist I point out that the Arab guy is the smartest of them all - he has a stash of water and doesn't need to compete for a miserable bottle of Coke. He's also the most handsome of all men in the ad.
I agree that we should not laugh at anyone who does not finish the race. Welcome to the world of inequality,racism and stereotypes ...of course, it's clear-he was last and off the voting list
Shirley- in reply to your comment. Take the ad little further, you want to have a laugh, then make the audience laugh by finishing off in a subtle way. You have to be creative and know how to create the ads. Coke Cola needs a new person to be in charge of ads-
be creative ...
Jack you posted your views not too long ago- I agree with you 101%
I am from Canada, just appalled at Cokes ad-whoever created the ad-has no idea what its like to be on the other side and being excluded.
It may or may not seem racial to many but why leave the Arab out-lets be really humorous and laugh it off but why did Coke Cola not look at that aspect.....imagine voting for the Arab as well in the end. Why was the Arab not included at the end of the race- its called inclusion. He would be last because his camel would not move or he would get the least votes. Erin, see the big picture-lets all have a laugh. Why have the race in desert then? It is depicting an ethnicity when you show the Arab-then he is excluded. Why not enjoy the ad from the beginning to the end. Coke Cola should really consider hiring people that can create and show ads without being racist.
the guy walking with camel was not in the race,the others were on THE FAST MOVE toward the COKE.......you got to love
Roland is such an idiot. I don't think he would be snickering if the camel jockey was dragging a bunch of black slaves in chains.
Now that the black people are somewhat integrated into society he feels it is his turn to now beat up on the newly marginalized ethnic groups in order for him to gain further acceptance with the white population.
Just like Juan Williams who now works for Fox news.
SamF got it right. Why is it so difficult for the recently marginalized to empathize with the NEWLY arrived.
I think people are missing the point. Since the Arab with the camel is not in the vote at the end I don't think he was meant to be part of the race. I agree he was an observer and in the desert what type of an observer might you find but a man with a camel. If the race had been staged on a beach in Malibu an observer would be a surfer with a board or a bikini clad female. Why must we always look for the negative when no harm intended.
Come on people. Seriously? Why must we find things to get hung up on? I am an Arab-American and proud of my ethnicity. The commerical takes place in the desert and to set the mood, Coca Cola decides to throw a camel in the mix. Who better to lead the camel than a person of Middle Eastern descent? The camel gets stubborn and lazy and the "camel jockey" falls behind. End of story. Let it go. We're really reaching here folks.
This is a little ludicrous. As an American man, should I be offended at the cowboys riding horses? Isn't that a stereotype as well? And yet, oddly, I'm not offended by it at all. In fact, I never gave it a second thought. Coke was obviously going for iconic images, and, like it or not, the image of a turbaned Arab with a camel is iconic.
I know that there are certain groups who find it advantageous to make political hay out of racial issues, but when it gets to ridiculous levels like this it just ends up discrediting their efforts.
By the way, I just saw a Ford commercial that featured a guy in a turban saying "open sesame." I'm sure we'll be hearing about that soon as well.
I agree with Alex that the Arab man was not part of the race, but shocked to see the race through the desert
it looks like the arib guy is walking his camel for a daily walk ..lol and saying to himself ..i wish i was on the bus with those girls instead of this smelly old camel.besides who gives a sh...t if there offended or not ..lol im hispanic and i get profiled all the time..deal with it camel walker lol
I am an Arab-American with a degree in marketing, and I do not think this is racist. However I do think Coca-Cola is playing into the GROWING stereotype of "all Arabs still ride camels, live in tents." Stereotypes should die out and be laughed at. Unfortunately the media still seems to play off it and most Americans are still unaware of the progressiveness, modern achievements, and real lives Arabs have.
Sad that advertising has to be taken so seriously, i agree with Erin, the "camel" is an icon with no intention of racism. I am from Canada and the moose and the igloo are constantly used in association with Canada yet I live in one of the biggest multicultural and economic centres, in the city of Toronto.
Do we care? no.
i don't think the Arabic man was going to Coke. It looked like he was just surprised by the odd group of people racing throught the desert. He wasn't apart of the race.
Back to affirm that I'm not saying that any potential racism was intentional on Coke's part.
Those who have not suffered the effects of racism and other hurtful stereotypes, before dismissing this as some people not having a sense of humor consider the typical double standards of communications and reporting.
Would you as easily dismiss as "people should relax" if a group of Jews were portrayed being led to an oven, longing for an ice cold coke, or a group of Americans falling out of the windows of the collapsing world trade center towers looking at a bunch of other characters flying by on parachutes for a "scene appropriate" commercial.
No, it was not racist. Not including the Arab man in the voting doesn't mean Coke was being racist. It means they were possibly negligent in not including him as an option. I took this as we have a cowboy, some showgirls and badlands guys all trying to get the coke. They just happen to be in the desert and there just happened to be an Arab walking his camel in the desert. The racers came upon the Arab man and his camel and frightened the camel. (Possibly why the camel was not moving and why the Arab man was not included in the vote...he was not racing to the coke). He was there as a reference as to where this race was being held, basically putting the cinematics into perspective. I think the hurt here is not the portraying of the Arab with a camel, but the fact that the Arab should have been included as an option in the selection of who might win. It would have been racist to me if....the Arab man was portrayed as a terrorist, the black man was portrayed as a slave, the showgirls were portrayed as strippers and the white man was portrayed as a slave owner or trader....an Arab man walking his camel is not racist and is a significant part of many lives in most Middle Eastern countries. What are you saying to many of your own people who need, own and use camels for work, trade, travel, dowerys and as cattle. Coke racist? No. Insensitive to inclusion? Probably. But, I do not think it was intentional in this context.
I'm disappointed with Coca Cola right now they are so imprudent, I am so livid they just lost one costumer and probably many more and I'm not even Arabic.
It is absolutley racist, Roland if you saw a black person dressed as a slave, picking cotton and not included in the race just watching, in the commercial, you are going to tell me you are not going to get offended? Talk about sterio type.
The Camel is known to be the ship of the desert, in the add, the Camel was left behind, the maker of the add intend to make fun of the Arab, if that was not there intention, then the CAMEL should win the race, the Camel did not win, because he was laughing his ass at the idiots who made this add.
Imagine a bunch of African Americans chained together being whipped as one of the "groups" in this ad. Chasing the coca colas , or considering your location appropriateness argument of the camel, in a KFC ad. Would you dismiss that group being offended as not having a sense of humor?! All things being equal, no one should care, but in the world we live in all things are not equal and stereotypes hurt real people mentally, financially and generationally.
By the way I love you and your show!
Yes it's racist. This reminds me of those stupid so called movies whereas Borat makes all sorts of stupid jokes about other cultures. Are we losing other sorts of ideas? rather than making inflammatory moves and adds about other cultures?.
The portrayal of the camel jockey is still as stated a pedaling of the constant image of Arab and arab-americans in a stereotpyical way. Racist or not this still falls into the category of stereotypes and the images/symbolism that Erin Burnett clearly did not want to believe when trying to explain herself. It doesn't matter if it was any race with their typically seen transportation the fact remains its in perspective of any minority kept in inferiority in terms of media portrayal.
At first I was going to make the argument that the Arab man with the camel was just a prop used to set the scene. In which case, this ad wouldn't be racist. The guest they had on CNN earlier was saying that it would have been equally racist if it was a mexican with a sombrero and a donkey. Well, not if it was a scene in Mexico. It would have merely been setting the scene.
But, I've taken a second look at the ad. The problem is that the Arab man is depicted gazing at the Coke bottle, with a craving in his eyes. Then they show him trying to get his camel to move so that he can participate in the race to get to the coke. At this point he is not just a prop, he is meant to be a participant. Yet, he is the only one to be 'killed out' early. Portrayed as a failure that is given and expected.
No it is not racist. I see it as Coca Cola setting the scene in the Sahara Desert where a man and a number of camels are traveling somewhere, and all of a sudden he see's these 3 groups desperate for a drink flying through the desert. I believe that camels are native to this area (they are). I also understand that they are used for travel through many desert regions due to how hearty they are in heat (they are). There is nothing racist about it. The three groups are racing each other and the man with the camel witnesses this happen. Oversensitivity!
So not racist in anyway at all. Come on folks. Lighten up a little & concentrate on what really matters. Arabs in the dessert with a camel are pretty common are they not?? He was not supposed to be in the race at all. Just happened to be there & watch the commotion go by!
I strongly believe that the stereotypical images of the Arab characters in the commercial contribute negatively to a narrow and negative view of Arabs and Muslims. With all the possible characters that may have been included in the ad, it is disappointing that COKE did not explore more non-stereotypical options. It was especially disheartening that Erin Burnett did not make more of an effort to understand how these images could be racist. For many people, they are funny and caricatures that contribute to the camel jockey image. Much of the research on microaggressions demonstrate that these smaller slights and jokes are even more damaging in the long run than blatantly racist acts (that people do not ignore) because people fail to acknowledge them.
Yes, it certainly is! Very offensive and Coke should have thought this out better.
What Coke intended is beside the point. If a member of a minority is offended by a presentation, I believe the wiser approach is to use the "native's wisdom"....especially in a culture that HAS marginalized Muslims, Arabs, Middle Eastern "looking" people. This is, after all an advertisement...not public policy! We preach respect but do we practice it?
What is the problem? Let Coke pay for a second look consultant before the ad goes public. They certainly won't suffer. Of course, Coke has also made additional money on the reaction to treaading this fine line. An accident? I doubt it!!
Why all the hyperventilation? Whenthe Priscilla queen of the desert crew blew through ,the Bedouin was WALKING his camel through the dunes...not involved in the race, merely observing. He was the only smart one on the screen. SHEESH!
Everyone just needs to laugh at themselves and enjoy it for what it is - a commercial for Coke-a-Cola
Erin,
This is not a racist ad. It is a parody of many movies. The show girls are representative of the trans men in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. If you watch it closely you can see they are not ladies. And the reference to to Mad Max was right on.
Just saying lighten up folks and pay attention.
This ad is no where near racist. What's racist is searching for something that could be exaggerated to seem racist. I don't hear any western world people complaining about how the ad construes us as cowboys and showgirls. Also, nomadic people who live in deserts do use camels to move their belongings. The middle eastern people in the add are probably the most acurately depicted.
We have an Arab gentleman out in the desert with his camel when he happens upon a race between three groups. He has the look of surprise on his face. He is not part of the race. He is the audience as we are. End of story.
Aside from the eloquent example that was given about a hispanic riding on a donkey, I would bet that Roland would take offense to a black pimp in a velvet blue suit racing in a souped up cadillac...white people will never have to worry about racism so as long as minorities never stand for the other
Of course it's racist. Especially since they remove the Arab man from the voting.