Hot Pockets Commercials

[Knife-Fingered Sue Sanderson]

Ok, so maybe I'm overreacting, but have any of you seen the hot pockets "dojo" commercials? There's an old Chinese guy in them, looking and acting like every single stereotype you could think of. I think they've been around for awhile, but I just saw it for the first time last night. Here's a link to the website where you can see all the commercials: http://www.hotpocketsdojo.com/

It just seems like in the U.S., making fun of Asian stereotypes is ok for entertainment.

[Black fist]

Like the Govenator said, "stop whining"

[Roxie]

You think that's bad (I know I do)?

Have you seen the new Vagisil commercial?
Heeellp! There's a lobster in my panties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOxgBggmG9k

I'M SO GLAD TO NOT SMELL LIKE A LOBSTER, ANYMORE. THANKS VAGISIL FOR CURING MY STINKY VAGINA . . . oops, I mean my stinky down there.

[akitaka]

I happen to find both commercials rather amusing, but enjoyed all of the hot pocket ones. A friend in Germany caught wind of it, and didn't understand the humor; so perhaps it is an American thing to point out these details and make amusing use of it in pop culture.

Sure, it's a stereotype, but the commercial already makes itself apparent as a big joke; I mean, it's not like us (Asian folk) pop out from under your bed to sell you microwavable products in a totally FOB accent ;-)

And yeah, I think that beauty products tend to have worse messages...like them nasal strips by ponds? "IT LOOKS LIKE A PORCUPINE LOL".

[Shishio]

Who in their right mind watches commercials?

[akitaka]

If you've seen one before, you've already answered your question.

Besides, some of them are really good; as in, film-maker good. My top is still the yellow pages, with the wushu-clown getting ambushed in the bay-area. Total ownage.

[4letterwords]

You think that's bad (I know I do)?

Have you seen the new Vagisil commercial?
Heeellp! There's a lobster in my panties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOxgBggmG9k

I'M SO GLAD TO NOT SMELL LIKE A LOBSTER, ANYMORE. THANKS VAGISIL FOR CURING MY STINKY VAGINA . . . oops, I mean my stinky down there.

I don't think this one is bad at all.

[Digital Masta]

What I always find funny about these "women's hygiene" commericals is the comments the women say with the combination of knowing where that product is supposed to go.


So basically she's like "I feel flirty again." but really it's "By applying this stuff to my burning, smelly, itchy or just plain ol' yeast infected vagina...I feel flirty again"


I'm still waiting for them to start selling Grundle Deordorant...it would sell like mad...but how the hell do you advertise that?

[Roxie]

No, no, they needn't dare say "vagina"! It's down there...cause we might harm someone's delicate sensabilities by saying that!! So we'll just equate it to acquatic life!

[MeneerDijk]

What's so bad about the term vagina? If it's good enough for doctors it should be good enough for tv.

[Shishio]

What's so bad about the term vagina? If it's good enough for doctors it should be good enough for tv.

Life in the Netherlands must be wonderful.

[MeneerDijk]

well, not all swearing is allowed before 8:30 pm. but vagina... no problem

[RandomPasserby]

Here in Finland we can have fullfrontal nudity in tv any time of the day and swearing isn't bleeped or edited out. But that is changing as more and more female politicians try to ride on being all politically correct etc.

[xtine]

The Hot Pockets Dojo ones are pretty funny even though I'm Asian and I see the stereotyping, I don't think it's done very negatively. It's more of a pop culture spoof, and in most of them, the main white guy suffers and the old Asian guy is on top, that's why he's telling him eat "Hot Pockets"!

However, what commercial I do find offensive, I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about, is some shampoo commercial. It shows like these two chinese kids in this supposedly communist chinese environment classroom environment, everyone is wearing like a red armband or something, and supposedly by using this hair product, you escape from the "prison" of communist china and break free from the classroom. wtf is that.

[Knife-Fingered Sue Sanderson]

Ok, but if you think about other racial stereotypes used in advertising that would be equivalent to the "Fu Manchu" thing in the Hot Pockets commercials, they seem pretty bad. Anyone ever seen the Frito Bandito commercials from the 60's?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSVkOl-5dZw

What if it was a black man in a straw hat dancing around in overalls saying "I sho' would like sum fried chicken!"? The fact that so many people don't see a problem with these commercials, whether or not you're Asian, shows how complacent Americans are with Asian stereotypes.

[Digital Masta]

Ok, but if you think about other racial stereotypes used in advertising that would be equivalent to the "Fu Manchu" thing in the Hot Pockets commercials, they seem pretty bad. Anyone ever seen the Frito Bandito commercials from the 60's?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSVkOl-5dZw


key point being the 60s

Everyone's favorite Mexican Mouse was pretty incorrect.

[SlickWilly440]

However, what commercial I do find offensive, I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about, is some shampoo commercial. It shows like these two chinese kids in this supposedly communist chinese environment classroom environment, everyone is wearing like a red armband or something, and supposedly by using this hair product, you escape from the "prison" of communist china and break free from the classroom. wtf is that.

Dude I remember that commercial and though the same thing...gave the emphasis that Chinese Schools are all run down and controlled my an all out communist staff.

It was actually some hair gel commerical.

[jindojim]

No, for this guy to encompass every single Asian stereotype I could think of, he'd have to:

Wear a conical hat :hat:
Excel at math
Be bad at driving
Drive a rigshaw
Have buckteeth
Dye his skin yellow
Say "Me so horny" or "Me love you long time" or "Sucky sucky $5"
Actually do some martial arts
etc.

Pretty far from "looking and acting like every single stereotype you could think of". In other words, you can see it as offensive if you really really scrutinize it for stereotypes. Or you can just accept them simply as wacky and silly commercials.

[Knife-Fingered Sue Sanderson]

key point being the 60s

Everyone's favorite Mexican Mouse was pretty incorrect.


Yes, key point being that it's not the 60's anymore, so if they played that commercial now it would offend Mexicans. But they have a similar commercial that plays up Asian stereotypes and it's ok.

[Decade]

What's so bad about the term vagina? If it's good enough for doctors it should be good enough for tv.

I like Vagina. I'm sure you do too. I cant see anyone not liking vagina except for gay guys.

But hey, thats THEIR problem.

[Duke Luke of Juke]

This thread really makes me hungry for hot pockets. :x

[h2orowe]

These commercials (didn't watch the woman one >_>; just the hotpocket and frito bandito ones) don't seem offensive to me. To me the frito bandito just reminds me of an old west stereotype of Mexican bandits, not really that bad. I mean it's not like he's going "I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep. You can have my fritos, ese." then the Asian one doesn't seem very offensive to me either. It's just as offensive as the dude from Kill Bill volume 2, just as offensive as Mr. Miyagi, etc. He's like an old martial arts master :P it's not offensive, it's just a cultural stereotype. Like an old black guy playing the blues, or a big burly white lumberjack or something.

[Roxie]

since when has "burly white lumberjack" been a stereotype?

[Lea]

I think those commercials are fine.

What I find the most amusing is the website. They pasted those animations over a photo of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I'm such a nerd that I actually caught that. There is some Chinese dojo master lost in Cambodia! Ha!

[Dresh]

since when has "burly white lumberjack" been a stereotype?

Are you serious? What comes to mind for you when someone says "lumberjack"?

I agree with Joey, these adds are just playing off of the ideas associated martial arts grand masters, not really offensive at all.

[Roxie]

Are you serious? What comes to mind for you when someone says "lumberjack"?

Pancakes, duh.

But since when has lumberjack been a stereotype for white people? Even when I've seen a white guy where red flannel I didn't think "Oh, he must be a lumberjack, I bet he likes pancakes!"

[japanat]

Pancakes, duh.

But since when has lumberjack been a stereotype for white people? Even when I've seen a white guy where red flannel I didn't think "Oh, he must be a lumberjack, I bet he likes pancakes!"You don't watch much Monty Python, do you?

BARBER:
I wanted to be... a lumberjack!

Leaping from tree to tree, as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. The Giant Redwood. The Larch. The Fir! The mighty Scots Pine! The lofty flowering Cherry! The plucky little Apsen! The limping Roo tree of Nigeria. The towering Wattle of Aldershot! The Maidenhead Weeping Water Plant! The naughty Leicestershire Flashing Oak! The flatulent Elm of West Ruislip! The Quercus Maximus Bamber Gascoigni! The Epigillus! The Barter Hughius Greenus!

With my best buddy by my side, we'd sing! Sing! Sing!

[singing]
I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night and I work all day.

MOUNTIES:
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I eat my lunch.
I go to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays I go shoppin'
And have buttered scones for tea.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He eats his lunch.
He goes to the lavatory.
On Wednesdays he goes shopping
And has buttered scones for tea.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
He likes to press wild flowers.
He puts on women's clothing
And hangs around in bars?!

He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

BARBER:
I cut down trees. I wear high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra.
I wish I'd been a girlie,
Just like my dear Papa.

MOUNTIES:
He cuts down trees. He wears high heels,
Suspendies, and a bra?!

[talking]
What's this? Wants to be a girlie?! Oh, My!
And I thought you were so rugged! Poofter!...

[singing]
He's a lumberjack, and he's okay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

He's a lumberjack, and he's okaaaaay.
He sleeps all night and he works all day.

[Roxie]

I haven't seen most of the Flying Circus, no.

[h2orowe]

There are plenty of other stereotypes for white people besides the lumberjack. What about the cowboy? :watson: The token Frenchman? The stuck up rich girl?

There are just as many stereotypical characters that are used for white people in the media as there are for minorities. Some negative (>=[ I want to learn how to dance just to prove that white people CAN dance. LULLZ.), some positive (I wouldn't mind being a lumberjack.)

The funny thing about stereotypes is there are some truth behind certain ones. Like I like watching King of the Hill because I know I have family that's kinda like that. Then I have an aunt who's just like one of those stupid, stuck up white chicks with plastic breasts, and botox (Iunno how to spell it.). I, also, have a tough-as-nails, farmboy grandfather (who's a democrat XD which is funny because at one time, before I was born and more along the lines of when my mom was a child, they were rich. He owned his own airline and everything. He was the first person to hire a black guy in his line of business, and the first to give a woman a decent job in his kind of business.) Then my mom's boyfriend is your stereotypical holier-than-thou, right-winged, Christian republican, although besides politics, religion, and such, the guy is pretty nice/cool for the most part.

And then Asian stereotypes? :O How about those super strict parents? My friend Stanly is proof of that. He hung out with friends twice in a month (This kid would NEVER do drugs, never disobey his parents, etc, he's a really good kid) and his parents called him and his brother bad children because they were "hanging out with friends too much" and not studying. Then he got yelled at for getting an A-. I'm not even kidding. An A- is considered a bad grade in his home.

There's other stereotypes and such that you see happen in real life. If you say that stereotypes aren't true, then you're bullshitting yourself. Stereotypes have at least SOME truth in them, otherwise they wouldn't exist (although some stereotypes were probably propagated for racial inequality and are not true :P ). If you say stereotypes aren't true for everyone, then, however, you are right.

My friend's Chinese, so his parents are Chinese and from China. That's a pretty damned Confucian country. Hence the focus on studystudystudy. It's just part of their culture, like certain stereotypes have explanations through parts of culture and such, ya dig?

[Roxie]

There are plenty of other stereotypes for white people besides the lumberjack. What about the cowboy? :watson: The token Frenchman? The stuck up rich girl?

Lumberjack is not a stereotype, it's a job descritption. Perhaps a stereotype ABOUT Lumberjacks is that they wear flannel and enjoy pancakes.

Cowboy, again is a job descritption, not a stereotype about white ppl. There are stereotypes about Cowboys, however.

The "token" Frenchman? What "token" Frenchman? Being a token in itself means to be stereotypical...I've just never heard it in conjuction with the French..

The stuck up rich girl is a stereotype about rich girls.

I mean, come on. You can stereotype better than that!

[Dresh]

Lumberjack is not a stereotype, it's a job descritption. Perhaps a stereotype ABOUT Lumberjacks is that they wear flannel and enjoy pancakes.

Cowboy, again is a job descritption, not a stereotype about white ppl. There are stereotypes about Cowboys, however.

The "token" Frenchman? What "token" Frenchman? Being a token in itself means to be stereotypical...I've just never heard it in conjuction with the French..

The stuck up rich girl is a stereotype about rich girls.

I mean, come on. You can stereotype better than that!

The point is the stereotype associated with the job, not the stereotype associated with the race. Part of the lumberjack stereotype states that he is a large white man with a beard who wears flannel and loves pancakes. White people are not stereotyped as lumberjacks, but lumberjacks are stereotyped as white people. The grand master is the same way, being of Asian heritage is just part of the stereotype of the grand master along with wearing traditional clothes, being wise, and often times acting rather silly.

[h2orowe]

The point is the stereotype associated with the job, not the stereotype associated with the race. Part of the lumberjack stereotype states that he is a large white man with a beard who wears flannel and loves pancakes. White people are not stereotyped as lumberjacks, but lumberjacks are stereotyped as white people. The grand master is the same way, being of Asian heritage is just part of the stereotype of the grand master along with wearing traditional clothes, being wise, and often times acting rather silly.
Exactly.

You cannot tell me that the stuck up rich girl is not a white stereotype. Did you ever see that horrifically unfunny movie White Girls? I wasn't offended or anything by it, but it seriously did not make me laugh once. However, that movie is just making fun of.. well.. white girls.

[Roxie]

White people are not stereotyped as lumberjacks, but lumberjacks are stereotyped as white people. Ah, ok. I get it now.

[Jetsetlemming]

Exactly.

You cannot tell me that the stuck up rich girl is not a white stereotype. Did you ever see that horrifically unfunny movie White Girls? I wasn't offended or anything by it, but it seriously did not make me laugh once. However, that movie is just making fun of.. well.. white girls.
I was offended by it, though. The white girl masks they wore were in my nightmares for months afterwards. :knockout: Fucking horrifying.
I think those commercials are fine.

What I find the most amusing is the website. They pasted those animations over a photo of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I'm such a nerd that I actually caught that. There is some Chinese dojo master lost in Cambodia! Ha!
Well, it did say "somewhere in the middle of nowhere", though it looked like the globe was zooming in on northeast south america. :P

The commercials aren't offensive. It's not an Asian stereotype it's using, it's an "ancient chinese master" stereotype. :3
Ok, but if you think about other racial stereotypes used in advertising that would be equivalent to the "Fu Manchu" thing in the Hot Pockets commercials, they seem pretty bad. Anyone ever seen the Frito Bandito commercials from the 60's?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSVkOl-5dZw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_gokTG46oQ
How about the "Crying Indian" pollution ad? Gah, it's so retarded.

[japanat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_gokTG46oQ
How about the "Crying Indian" pollution ad? Gah, it's so retarded.It may seem hokey to you now, but it was very effective at the time. A lot of the environmental law on the books today come from that time, and while I'm not a raving environmentalist, this commercial series was one of the best at getting average people to take a look around them and think.

We still have a long way to go (SUV limo, anyone?), but there is a lot less trash on the streets, and no Love Canal repeats (no, no, little boys, don't get your hopes up!). http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/lovecanal/01.htm

[cama]

And then Asian stereotypes? :O How about those super strict parents? My friend Stanly is proof of that. He hung out with friends twice in a month (This kid would NEVER do drugs, never disobey his parents, etc, he's a really good kid) and his parents called him and his brother bad children because they were "hanging out with friends too much" and not studying.




Oof, that one really strikes close to home.

Me: Mom! I'm going out with my friends now!
Mom: Aiyaa! Again?! You go out too much!
Me: Um...the last time I went out was over a week ago. :bang:

Anyway, the HotPockets commercials aren't soooo bad; they're actually rather funny. The problem I have with stereotypes is that these are the only jobs Asian actors can get in America.

[ParryDat]

You think that's bad (I know I do)?

Have you seen the new Vagisil commercial?
Heeellp! There's a lobster in my panties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOxgBggmG9k

I'M SO GLAD TO NOT SMELL LIKE A LOBSTER, ANYMORE. THANKS VAGISIL FOR CURING MY STINKY VAGINA . . . oops, I mean my stinky down there.

That shit's hillarious

ggpo

[erbiumfiber]

I had a Frito Bandito eraser. No, he's not a mouse, he's a guy. It came in the package of lunch-box bags of Fritos.

I guess I'm a racist...:gloomy:

[cama]

You think that's bad (I know I do)?

Have you seen the new Vagisil commercial?
Heeellp! There's a lobster in my panties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOxgBggmG9k

I'M SO GLAD TO NOT SMELL LIKE A LOBSTER, ANYMORE. THANKS VAGISIL FOR CURING MY STINKY VAGINA . . . oops, I mean my stinky down there.

When they showed the woman riding past on her bicycle, I couldn't help but think of that Simpsons episode when Krusty the Clown wanted to be on a hemorrhoid commercial: "Ohh, that's better! I can ride a bike again!"

[Jetsetlemming]

It may seem hokey to you now, but it was very effective at the time. A lot of the environmental law on the books today come from that time, and while I'm not a raving environmentalist, this commercial series was one of the best at getting average people to take a look around them and think.

It's not the message of someone who cares about pollution looking at the piles of trash along the river side and highways and feeling bad, it's that for this role they used a stereotypical indian that was apparently rowing down river from 1700, wearing deerskin clothing, covered in beads, with a feather sticking from his hair, in a canoe. :knockout: This would be like portraying a modern American black as an African slave who can't read or write.

[Roxie]

Apparently, that guy was puerto rican.

[japanat]

It's not the message of someone who cares about pollution looking at the piles of trash along the river side and highways and feeling bad, it's that for this role they used a stereotypical indian that was apparently rowing down river from 1700, wearing deerskin clothing, covered in beads, with a feather sticking from his hair, in a canoe.Exactly. How would someone who lived here before the US and the Industrial Revolution (hence Native American) react to today's American trash heap? I was raised deep in the mountains, some of my friends were of Native ancestry, and we all felt that way every time we went down to Denver.

and erbium, dah-h-ling, the mouse he's talking about was Speedy Gonzalez
...

[Knife-Fingered Sue Sanderson]

Well, it looks like no one else sees these commercials as offensive. I figured more would, given the way my friends and I reacted when we first one a few days ago. Maybe we were being too sensitive, but I still find them in poor taste.

[cama]

The way I see the commercials, the focus is not necessarily on the Chinese kung fu master stereotype, but on how randomly he pops up. The humour lies on the "WTF-ness" of the situation, rather than FOB-ness of the character.

Anyway, if you think that's offensive, you should really see the logo for a restaurant down here. It's called the Noodle Nook and it serves different Asian style noodles (from what I've heard, the food really sucks AND it's stupidly expensive). The logo basically looks like this :hat: except it even has the slant eyes!

[Dresh]

Anyway, if you think that's offensive, you should really see the logo for a restaurant down here. It's called the Noodle Nook and it serves different Asian style noodles (from what I've heard, the food really sucks AND it's stupidly expensive). The logo basically looks like this :hat: except it even has the slant eyes!

Once when my dad was in Mexico (or maybe Guatemala but I think it was Mexico) he brought home this pack of candy called Japones(sp?) the Spanish word for Japanese. They were these peanut things and the character depicted on the package was a peanut with that hat on, major slanted eyes, and huge buckteeth. I thought it was hilarious.

[Kaji]

Lumberjacks are also a stereotype for Canadians as a whole (who are also stereotyped to be white generally, as they are a Commonwealth nation...).

Amusingly, I had several students in the after school class I taught that were just like the Frito Bandito in the commercial there, except over hot Cheetos, right down to the bad English.

H2 hit it right on the head when he pointed out that stereotypes come from people who happen to live up to them being the most widely observed specimens by another group of people. I have a friend from when I went to college in West Virginia whose mother was born in a henhouse, didn't have indoor plumbing until he was 12 (they had a deluxe double-seater outhouse in the back yard, though!), talks like a hick, gets drunk, and periodically carries a shotgun through his hometown like it's nothing.

While I'm not saying everyone should embrace the stereotypes, everyone seems to know that they can see parts of themselves or someone they know in there somewhere. So in short, stop getting all uppity just because someone happens to use a generalization in a marketing campaign (where you aim for generalized appeal in the first place).

Especially in this day and age it's not like everyone expects black people to eat nothing but fried chicken and watermelon washed down with orange soda. They don't expect Asian people to eat nothing but rice and fish. Mexicans aren't expected to wear sombreros, and heck, many people don't assume anyone who speaks Spanish is automatically Mexican anymore, even. Grow up, learn to laugh at yourself once in a while.


Back to the original ad that started this, though, it seems nobody loves lampooning Asian culture more than the Asians I know. See above, people know that not all (or even many) Asians are like that.

...besides, it's still got nothing on that one shirt from a couple years back: "Wong Brothers Laundry Service: Two Wongs Make It White!"

[Overkongen]

Stereotypes suck. You guys have no idea how hard it is to have people accept that you are a ninja when you're white.

[haterllnation]

You have to be born a ninja. I'm pretty sure that's why you haven't gotten the ninja catalogue.

IRT: The way I see it, if it was truly offensive, the Asian-American Association (pulled that out of my arse) would have bound together and set up a boycott. I remember when Abercrombie and Fitch was selling some shirts that could be deemed racist (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3835/is_200207/ai_n9097686). People got offended enough to make them remove them. It was even national news. No one has stepped up to the plate, yet. I suppose there's emphasis on yet; those commercials have been running a bit and nothing so far. Hmm.

[Roxie]

So in short, stop getting all uppity just because someone happens to use a generalization in a marketing campaign (where you aim for generalized appeal in the first place).
Uppity? lol. And, no.
I mean, about the Vagisil ad...if they're going for "general appeal"..which would be hard, b/c only certain ppl use Vagisil, they should really think twice. I mean, it's a fucking ridiculous ad!

First, can't say "vagina", even though that's what it's for. Vagisil is for Vagina and nothing else! So, let's be adults and say "vagina". It's ok.

So, if we can't say "vagina", let's just compare down there to various acquatic animals...cause that's okay? It doesn't even make sense...and could be seen as a refernce to vagina smells like tuna jokes. Blah.

It's just so puzzling. I mean, why the hell would you do that? It makes no sense and is hilariously absurd.
Especially in this day and age it's not like everyone expects black people to eat nothing but fried chicken and watermelon washed down with orange soda. They don't expect Asian people to eat nothing but rice and fish. Mexicans aren't expected to wear sombreros, and heck, many people don't assume anyone who speaks Spanish is automatically Mexican anymore, even.
It's very optomistic. Optomism is great.
I just wish that were true.

[Roxie]

Stereotypes suck. You guys have no idea how hard it is to have people accept that you are a ninja when you're white.
www.askaninja.com