On first thought, a laundry detergent commercial may not seem like a place for any message about race whatsoever. But as the blog Shanghaiist reports, a company in China apparently decided blatant racism was the right way to sell laundry detergent.
The ad, for Qiaobi laundry detergent, starts with a woman doing her laundry, when a paint-splattered black man appears. The woman signals him to her washing machine, then stuffs detergent in his mouth and pushes him into the machine. After the wash is done, a young, clean Chinese man rises out of the machine.
There’s not much to explain here. This ad is blatantly racist.
That prize banjo scene from the film Deliverance gets a CG-infused makeover in Kia’s latest ad, featuring its trademark hamsters, who have basically become the Barbie doll of brand mascots—they do everything, and probably have a better life than you.
In agency David&Goliath’s latest pop culture-infused campaign, a lone guitar player (Nathaniel Rateliff of Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats) kicks off the melody to “Dueling Banjos.” A cherry red Kia Soul pulls up alongside him, and his tune is joined by a banjo, played by a country-clad hamster with an easy grin.
Coca-Cola China has launched an ad campaign in the run-up to the Olympics in Rio that celebrates the human element behind sporting success.
In the first of films executive creative directed by the APAC chairman of McCann, Prasoon Joshi, the agency’s lead creative on Coke, the soft drinks brand shows how it is friends and family who contribute to a “gold Moment”.
Coke is the latest brand dressing itself in Old Glory. The soda brand has begun selling limited edition red, white and blue cans that will be available in select convenience and grocery stores through July 4.
The cans also feature the patriotic song lyric “I’m proud to be an American.” It is part of the ongoing “Share a Coke and a Song” program that launched in April and involves putting more than 70 popular songs on cans and bottles.
The Guardian has removed 13 items from its website after an investigation into accusations of fabrication committed by a freelance journalist.
In an editor’s note, Guardian US editor Lee Glendinning said the posts were written byJoseph Mayton, a freelance contributor who’s written or contributed to more than 60 items for The Guardian. Mayton began contributing in May 2015; The Guardian’s website shows his most recent byline from January.
The Guardian’s response was first reported Thursday by Sydney Smith, the managing editor of iMediaEthics.
In the note, Glendinning says The Guardian became suspicious after sources claimed they never spoke to Mayton for an article he wrote about them. They then hired fact-checkers to comb through his contributions and found further evidence of fabrication: stories about events the organizers said Mayton didn’t attend, missing sources and individuals who denied speaking with the reporter.
Big news on the homefront today. POLITICO Media, which until now has been mostly behind a paywall and on a separate website, will be coming in under the POLITICO fold.
This means all of the New York-based media team’s work will be available for all. And, a new landing page will be collecting any and all stories on POLITICO and its related properties — from the states to Europe — related to media: politico.com/media.