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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Feb 12, 2012 19:33:08 GMT -8
Likely because it's an American based stereotype associated with slavery. I'm pretty sure it is a reference toward it being a cheap food that feeds many and it is a fruit that can be grown in substandard gardening conditions.
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Post by Lump on Feb 12, 2012 19:33:53 GMT -8
The real crime is the fact that they exploded a perfectly good watermelon. I'm hungry.
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Post by romanticizer on Feb 12, 2012 19:35:09 GMT -8
Like I said, Peatrick. NO ONE SAID THE INTENTION WAS RACIST. I DON'T THINK that KY specifically put a watermelon in the ad to upset people. But like FD said, if you're in marketing and trying to sell the product to a group of people, in this case, it seems the target demographic is black adults, it is probably a WISE IDEA to not included a potentially racist and/or offensive image.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2012 19:36:08 GMT -8
One day I ate a whole watermelon. It was amazing
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Post by Lump on Feb 12, 2012 19:36:13 GMT -8
Yeah, the marketing department kinda dropped the ball.
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Post by Pea on Feb 12, 2012 19:39:18 GMT -8
Black adults? Are you implying that every time a non-white person is used in an advertisement they are only trying to appeal to that particular race?
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Rusty
North American Scumfoot
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Post by Rusty on Feb 12, 2012 19:41:10 GMT -8
I think I'm going to get a watermelon now. It's been seriously too long since I consumed some watermelon .
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2012 19:41:40 GMT -8
Pick up some lube while you are out.
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Feb 12, 2012 19:42:30 GMT -8
Black adults? Are you implying that every time a non-white person is used in an advertisement they are only trying to appeal to that particular race? Yeah I was going to say the same thing. I really don't think this add was intended to appeal to one race or the other which is why I don't see any racial undertones to the watermelon. If there was anything that suggested it was meant for black people then I would totally see the watermelon differently.
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Rusty
North American Scumfoot
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Post by Rusty on Feb 12, 2012 19:42:52 GMT -8
Pick up some lube while you are out. Naw, I get my lube at Costco. Stocked up last month.
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Post by romanticizer on Feb 12, 2012 19:42:54 GMT -8
Black adults? Are you implying that every time a non-white person is used in an advertisement they are only trying to appeal to that particular race? Are you kidding, Peatrick? Obviously, they are trying to appeal to everyone but considering that they have over 10 adds, only 2 of which include people of color, it is PRETTY OBVIOUS that they are trying to target a specific group with these ads. The easiest way to tap a demographic that doesn't buy many of your products: make an ad with people that look like and/or are relatable to that group.
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Post by J-Dawg on Feb 12, 2012 19:43:13 GMT -8
Black adults? Are you implying that every time a non-white person is used in an advertisement they are only trying to appeal to that particular race? It's hard to imagine this for me, since I work with more minorities than white people in my profession. I don't even notice skin color a lot of the time. Everyone looks white to me. At the same time, I can only imagine how people perceive this ad in parts of the southern US.
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Post by Shaxspear III Esq. on Feb 12, 2012 19:43:32 GMT -8
One day I ate a whole watermelon. It was amazing Racist..
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Feb 12, 2012 19:45:19 GMT -8
Black adults? Are you implying that every time a non-white person is used in an advertisement they are only trying to appeal to that particular race? Are you kidding, Peatrick? Obviously, they are trying to appeal to everyone but considering that they have over 10 adds, only 2 of which include people of color, it is PRETTY OBVIOUS that they are trying to target a specific group with these ads. The easiest way to tap a demographic that doesn't buy many of your products: make an ad with people that look like and/or are relatable to that group. Fair enough. This is the only commercial I've seen, I didn't know it was part of a campaign. Lube Campaign.
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Post by Lump on Feb 12, 2012 19:45:58 GMT -8
At the same time, I can only imagine how people perceive this ad in parts of the southern US. If you only knew.
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Post by J-Dawg on Feb 12, 2012 19:47:25 GMT -8
I've been to the south for work a few times, and been mildly surprised at the attitudes I ran into. Between blatant racism and a lot of bizarre heteronormative stereotypes, I felt supremely out of place.
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Post by Lump on Feb 12, 2012 19:50:30 GMT -8
It also depends on what part of the south too. What parts were you in? Though Charleston doesn't completely escape all this. It's pretty damn accepting and cultured. (Which is why many of us Charleston residents call it "South Carolina's oasis"), but you get into the upstate where I'm originally from, and homophobia and racism are about as plentiful as it gets.
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Feb 12, 2012 19:52:31 GMT -8
PS - Not on a million trillion years did I ever think I would type "I saw it pretty much as a climax metaphor..." on this board.
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Post by kymess_jr on Feb 12, 2012 19:52:35 GMT -8
Considering that the shots of the explosions and the filming of the actors were probably filmed by completely different people in completely different locations, I just see absolutely no way that this one object (of many) in the montage was intentionally placed in the ad because of the color of their skin. Do you really think the director contacted the studio putting the explosion montage together and asked them to include a watermelon because black people are in the commercial? I'm sorry, RoRo, but this seems to be some kind of a reverse witch hunt in a way. While the shots/filming could have been done by different crews that had no clue about the placement or even concept of the montage, the ad creators most definitely picked a watermelon intentionally. During concept and storyboarding, and even test-marketing of the ad, they would have very carefully thought about the fruit (or object) they were going to use to explode and if it would give the impact they were going for with their ad - and it's at that same time they should have been thinking about the implications behind pairing a watermelon with a black couple. They might not have been going for something intentionally rascist but, trust me, the director, the storyboardist, the marketing company etc, all knew full well what fruit was going to be used.
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Post by Friendly Destroyer on Feb 12, 2012 19:54:04 GMT -8
Considering that the shots of the explosions and the filming of the actors were probably filmed by completely different people in completely different locations, I just see absolutely no way that this one object (of many) in the montage was intentionally placed in the ad because of the color of their skin. Do you really think the director contacted the studio putting the explosion montage together and asked them to include a watermelon because black people are in the commercial? I'm sorry, RoRo, but this seems to be some kind of a reverse witch hunt in a way. While the shots/filming could have been done by different crews that had no clue about the placement or even concept of the montage, the ad creators most definitely picked a watermelon intentionally. During concept and storyboarding, and even test-marketing of the ad, they would have very carefully thought about the fruit (or object) they were going to use to explode and if it would give the impact they were going for with their ad - and it's at that same time they should have been thinking about the implications behind pairing a watermelon with a black couple. They might not have been going for something intentionally rascist but, trust me, the director, the storyboardist, the marketing company etc, all knew full well what fruit was going to be used. Finally, our resident KY expert weighs in on this ;D EDIT: Also I agree with all of that.
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