Thursday, May 29, 2008

"More Flags, More Fun!" ...More Ignorance




This new Six Flags commercial that has been recently circulating has really started to bother me more and more each time I see it. When I first saw it, I cringed, because it was obviously poking fun at the Asian community. First and foremost, I see the message and point of view the ignorant Six Flags corporation and advertisement people are trying to portray with this "humor", but the path they chose to do so is unacceptable. There are many other routes they could have gone to get people to go to their amusement park, but they decided to make fun of the Asian community. Sad thing is that this ignorant commercial scheme is going to work and thousands of people will flock to Six Flags. Something even more sad is the fact that the majority of people who watch this commercial will laugh and not even realize the harm and discrimination it helps to perpetuate. The Asian guy, of course, has an accent and does not properly pronounce the words correctly. He doesn't even speak in complete sentences! He just barks out short phrases. I don't know about you, but that's pretty damn racist. What message does this portray to society? That Asian people don't know how to speak proper English, they can't formulate sentences, they have accents, they make fools of themselves...etc. We want more Asian representation in the media, but damn if this is all we're going to get, then forget it. The saying goes something like "Bad publicity is still publicity"...fuck that. This only furthers the stereotypes of Asian people and we really don't need this. This damn commercial puts us back a few years. It tries to play off of the Japanese commercials where the guy pops up (just as this guy does) and sells a product. How often have we seen this type of satire? LOTS. Now Six Flags is taking this ignorance nationwide, helping to deliver this stereotypical portrayal of Asians into households everywhere! Please go to the nearest television set to get the complete experience! ...I'm not gonna lie, I've been to Six Flags, fun amusement park...but Fuck You Six Flags and your damn Commercial.

36 Comments:

At June 18, 2008 at 3:18 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

You sir are by far the biggest idiot I've ever known. They're doing nothing wrong, it's a commercial! If you are really taking it as "racist" you obviously have problems. Stop saying dumb things before you make yourself look more like an idiot.

 
At June 20, 2008 at 2:34 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The comment above is an idiot. It's obviously racist.

 
At June 20, 2008 at 2:35 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The commenter* above is an idiot. It's obviously racist.

 
At June 21, 2008 at 12:23 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

saying that commercial is 'racist' reflects your own personal stereotypes more than anything else; Your words: "He just barks out short phrases. I don't know about you, but that's pretty damn racist." Countless commercials bark short phrases - it's advertising 101 - by that rationale all car dealership commercials are racist; maybe you think most Asians talk that way and feel compelled to start a post about it, but most of us realize it's just a freaking Six Flags commercial

 
At June 21, 2008 at 1:07 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

He's crazy cute, and he's smiling and talking about fun. What's racist about it?

 
At June 21, 2008 at 9:56 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pathetic. Get over yourself

 
At June 21, 2008 at 9:29 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

if it's so racist, why did the guy agree to be in the commercial? this is another case of people looking for a problem where one doesn't exist. people who complain about racism in every little aspect simply crave attention. after all, there would be nothing for them to talk about if there is no racism!! grow up.

 
At June 22, 2008 at 5:11 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those adds make me uncomfortable. I honestly can not believe they are still on, I thought it must've been a hideous oversight and would be immediately shut down after public reaction. I predict their next ad campaign going to have a full-lipped black man shouting , "mo flags, mo fun!" No thanks.

 
At June 22, 2008 at 5:37 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with anonymous (not the one above me, the one above that one). There's nothing racist about it. Did it occur to you that maybe that actor actually has an accent?

 
At June 22, 2008 at 6:23 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, anyone that speaks in a heavy accent must be a racist...?

 
At June 29, 2008 at 3:09 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

If it was so racist, it would show him driving the roller coaster.

 
At June 29, 2008 at 3:18 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's pretty common on the Mas tpke.

 
At July 5, 2008 at 4:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

These commercials are racist. They also annoy the crap out of me because of how racist they are. It's crazy that a big corporation could have such a racist ad campaign.

 
At July 8, 2008 at 10:52 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

racist or not - noone noticed this comercial IS SO OBNOXIOUS ? "more flags" ad sucks big time...

 
At July 9, 2008 at 10:56 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The racism comes from playing on the stereotype that asians can't speak English well. If he had perfect English pronunciation, the whole effect of the commercial would be lost. Since his pronunciation takes "more flags... more fun" and exaggerates the mispronounced "L" and the abbreviated speech pattern, it's pretty clear the effect they were shooting for.

If a native English speaker were to go to the Far East and see a commercial that played upon "white" mangling of asian pronunciations, they would be jumping up and down complaining about the negative stereotypes.

Angy Chinese Guy has it right, and all of the Six Flags parks should get a clue. - Tim

 
At July 11, 2008 at 1:11 AM , Blogger reverendflash said...

We need the world to be filled with more of the righteous people complaining about this ad campaign. 'Cause if they were in charge, we could all enjoy a completely unamusing commercial where an Asian gentleman says in perfect Oxford English, "Six Flags Amusement Park has more flags and, hence, more fun."
Yeah, that'd be real entertaining. Besides, everyone knows that in real life, NOBODY ever speaks with an accent, right?
Say, don't you people have a war to stop? What are you doing watching so much TV when you could be using your super-powers to benefit the planet beyond acceptable television advertising?

 
At July 11, 2008 at 1:39 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whether its racist or not, is of no consequence to me...it is just a friggin' annoying commercial. I could care less if the guy was a screaming German, a Jew, a Hispanic, a White guy or Black guy...whatever.

I just hate this spot.

 
At July 11, 2008 at 1:42 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here's racist...if guy was portayed as a bad driver...now that's racist...get over it and get back to work.

 
At July 15, 2008 at 10:51 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

reverendflash brought up an interesting thought: What if it were actually a British guy speaking in perfect Oxford English. Wouldn't that have the effect of stereotyping all Brits as prim? Would you imagine a Brit being offended at it? ("Hey, I'm not a stuffy prim and proper bore! Stop portraying my countrymen that way!") Nobody would give it a second thought, yet such a commercial would be playing on a stereotype of Brits just as some people complain this one does against Asians. Or what if it were a Brazilian with an accent in the commercial? Just because a person is portrayed with an accent, does it mean it's racist?

I'm white and I have a few very good friends who are Asian. A couple of them were not born in an English-speaking country, and they do have accents. It has no negative impact on my feeling about them as a person; if anything, it's even sort of an endearing trait in my opinion.

Portraying someone with an accent doesn't seem to me to be racist. There are a number of well-known stereotypes that WOULD have been racist were they portrayed there (to wit: the bad driver example. THAT would have without question been racist.) I don't imagine the ad agency pitching ideas saying, "Hey what can we do to portray a stereotype of an Asian guy without being too obviously offensive." I picture it more like, "Hey wouldn't this be a little bit edgy and cute?"

I happen to think the guy is fun and way sexy-cute. But maybe that's me just stereotyping and being racist.

 
At July 18, 2008 at 11:25 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're quite an idiot. There is nothing racist about this commercial. Don't know where this is shown overall, but in the tri-state metro area people from all Asian cultures live side by side with others and don't think about it one bit. To us he's just a friendly fun face with a goofy fun message. Why would the place P.O. one of its major constituencies? Why do I bother? You're hopeless!

 
At July 25, 2008 at 12:21 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Now some people would say that this
is not racist, but rather a fun commercial to attract people to Six Flags. I myself am Asian, but grew up in the U.S. and do not have any accent. The man portrayed in the commercial had an accent, did not formulate sentences, and yelled phrases. And to top it off, he is Asian. Seeing someone of a different ethnicity being made fun of because of his accent and ethnicity was far from funny. Remember the old Six Flags commercials, with the old man who did that dance? That was something you could justly laugh at. Six Flags has crossed the line with this one, not only making a crummy commercial, but being racist as well.

 
At July 28, 2008 at 3:44 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Angry Chinese Guy,

I totally agree with you that the Six Flags commercials is presenting racism!! I am never going to the those parks again.

 
At July 30, 2008 at 12:30 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The commercial is not racist, but simply annoying. The problem is people love to cry 'racism' when the world is not laid at their feet on a silver plate.

Learn to be proud of your race/creed instead of using it as a crutch or excuse for a freebie or handout.

Or would that be racist?

 
At August 13, 2008 at 10:39 PM , Blogger AngryChineseGuy said...

I'm so glad that this post created so much dialogue among people. However, it is obvious that some people need to open their eyes and stop being so ignorant to the fact that racism is still prevalent in society and that it reflects in the media. For one thing, the fact that you can that "most" realize that it is just a commercial, your wrong, because that negative stereotypical image of an Asian man will be seen in household across the country. This will be the perception of Asian men to children and people who do not know any better. Why couldn't they chose an Asian male who did not have an accent and was not making a mockery of himself? And for the person who said if the commercial was racist, why did the actor choose to be in it, well, if you notice that most roles that Asian actors/actresses have either perpetuate Asian stereotypes or do not exist at all. So yeah, the actor may or may have not known that the commercial was going to mock Asian people, but that is besides the point. Six Flags knew the direction of where they wanted this commercial to go. Trust me, there are many people out there who think the same way as I do on this commercial. Open your eyes will you?

 
At March 5, 2009 at 10:33 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

There are many many people in the world, all with differing accents. To utilize a spokesperson with an accent is not racist. To do so for the purpose of degrading that person and their culture is. This is obviously not the case.
You are so amazingly ignorant. YOU are perpetuating racism by disseminating like this. This is knee-jerk ultra liberalism at it's best, makes me sick. You are a self righteous pseudo intellectual, imposing your regurgitated ideas all over us. Grow up and think for yourself, look beyond the rhetoric of your peers. Because if you don't you will continue to do exactly what you are accusing others of doing.

 
At April 22, 2009 at 8:56 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

how funny is it that now there's a white guy doing the exact same shctick?

As a white man, I'm outraged that they would show blatant racism towards white people.

 
At May 4, 2009 at 11:35 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

"We need the world to be filled with more of the righteous people complaining about this ad campaign. 'Cause if they were in charge, we could all enjoy a completely unamusing commercial where an Asian gentleman says in perfect Oxford English, "Six Flags Amusement Park has more flags and, hence, more fun." - reverendflash

I disagree, that type of British accent is extremely amusing. Like Mr. Harriman on Foster's Home for Imaginary friends..which sadly..ended yesterday. Sads am I.

 
At May 5, 2009 at 4:48 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

Whoever thinks this is racist and is offended by it is an absolute moron. You people are what's wrong with the world. Your feelings alone about this being racist shows why the world can't get past racism and why it continues on. You look at a asian guy and you see racism. You look at a black man and you see racism. You are LOOKING for it. YOU are part of the problem.

 
At May 10, 2009 at 9:21 AM , Anonymous Korean guy said...

I don't know if this commercial is truly "racist" but I definitely DO have a problem with it because it promotes the FOB stereotype. For all you non-Asians, FOB = Fresh Off the Boat. It's not flattering.

And btw, all of you people calling the author an idiot, moron, etc. are way out of line. You didn't grow up with people asking "do you know karate" and pulling their eyes back. Sure, you can disagree on this commercial's intentions all you want, but until you know what it's like to be a minority in America you have no business passing judgment on what we're allowed to get pissed off at.

And a special note to Matthew, the "YOU are part of the problem" guy: you're nowhere near as smart as you think you are. The reason you can't see racism is because you've obviously never been on the receiving end of it.

 
At May 26, 2009 at 10:28 PM , Blogger Robert S. Kissel said...

I'm surprised to discover that there are Asian Americans who found this series of television advertisements offensive! Speaking as one not of an Asian race, all I can say is that I thought the only thing being ridiculed were some of the tiresome "fun" activities which the disembodied face then declared to be rated only "one flag" or "two flags"--and I thought the actor made wonderfully subtle faces expressing his disdain for whatever dull "fun" was shown. I didn't really even think about whether he had an accent or not: I just thought he was nice-looking and attention-getting, and felt rather sad that they replaced him, in the ads, with the heavily made-up clown they are using now. I expect they made the replacement because they heard other such complaints, but I really didn't see any particular stereotype: I just assumed that since the commercial seemed to suggest there was some sort of electronic "fun-meter," and we tend to associate electronic gadgets with various games and toys and gizmos invented and manufactured in Japan, mostly, that they selected a Japanese man to blast in on the screen and shout: "two flags!" or "one flag!"

I certainly don't think the advertisements were in the least disrespectful, and I didn't really even notice the Japanese man's accent until I read this post on your blog.

Advertisements have only one purpose: to get your attention and to make you believe you will benefit from a product. I think, to get your attention, this commercial aimed to surprise you by suddenly interrupting a scene, unexpectedly, with an unfamiliar face shouting at the viewer--which probably has more to do with their selection of the actor: they probably wanted someone handsome, capable of conveying boredom and laughter quickly, and deliberately chose someone who was NOT a typical "talking head" on TV we could easily ignore.

 
At June 5, 2009 at 4:11 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have gas.

More gas more fun.

Gas flags.

 
At February 19, 2010 at 10:43 AM , Anonymous Kevin (Boston) said...

This blog sucks, I give you a 1 on the Fun-O-Meter that Asian guy with his broken English is so funny I laugh so hard at him and point at him and keep laughing then my friends and I we make fun of him and talk like him with his funny ass accent. Oh man just thinking about this made me laugh. Has anyone seen the one with the chips and the guy in the easy chair? Six flags did a terrible thing getting rid of the funny Asian guy.

 
At March 22, 2010 at 4:40 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey,

When ever I surf on web I come to this website[url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips].[/url]You have really contiributed very good info here angrychineseguy.blogspot.com. Let me tell you one thing guys, some time we really forget to pay attention towards our health. In plain english I must warn you that, you are not serious about your health. Research displays that nearly 70% of all United States grownups are either obese or weighty[url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips].[/url] So if you're one of these citizens, you're not alone. Its true that we all can't be like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox, and have sexy and perfect six pack abs. Now the question is how you are planning to have quick weight loss? [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips]Quick weight loss[/url] is not like piece of cake. If you improve some of your daily diet habbits then, its like piece of cake to quickly lose weight.

About me: I am webmaster of [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips]Quick weight loss tips[/url]. I am also mentor who can help you lose weight quickly. If you do not want to go under hard training program than you may also try [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/acai-berry-for-quick-weight-loss]Acai Berry[/url] or [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/colon-cleanse-for-weight-loss]Colon Cleansing[/url] for quick weight loss.

 
At May 23, 2010 at 9:47 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

get a life!!! you are such an idiot if you think this commercial is racist! haha

 
At August 4, 2010 at 11:35 PM , Anonymous Jen said...

Dude. I'm Asian - and I've never, ever, thought Mr. Six was Asian.

He looks like an old, white guy, with glasses, who's kinda nerdy - likes to dance, and wants you to go to six flags....

 
At October 6, 2010 at 7:52 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sweetheart Games-Tell You How to Shun Getting Pain aside Them

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home