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1. links for 2007-07-26 at Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture on 26 Jul 2007 at 5:19 am

   […] Bowing down to Intel’s supremacy? at Race in the Workplace “Uh… what was Intel thinking with this ad?…Six identical black men (”they all look the same”) who seem to be bowing in submission to a smiling, standing white man?” (tags: via:solmij14 advertising workplace racism race) […]

Comments

1. April wrote:

   That looks horrible. I’m sharing this on facebook to my friends.

   Posted 25 Jul 2007 at 8:20 pm ¶

2. April's Friend Elly wrote:

   Well, parallel/multi processors usually are identical. To say the least, this picture is, unfortunate at best.
   Bad intel BAD.

   Posted 25 Jul 2007 at 11:37 pm ¶

3. April's Friend Elly wrote:

   Wow, this is really just unfortunate for Intel. I mean multicore or mutliprocessor setups usually have identical cores/cpus, but seriously six black men bowing to a white guy?

   Posted 25 Jul 2007 at 11:39 pm ¶

4. Diana wrote:

   I agree with April; just goes to show that it is almost impossible to be progressive in this country.

   Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 2:27 am ¶

5. Diana wrote:

   oh and i forgot

   i guess the only people that can run are black, and male?

   Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 2:29 am ¶

6. wendi muse wrote:

   wow…me too

   the playstation ad someone posted in the comments section is also c r a z y !
   http://www.insomniacslounge.com/uploaded_images/psp_omg-726710.jpg

   Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 6:04 am ¶

7. Miss Profe wrote:

   It’s fine to express outrage re: such ads on blogs. But, if one is truly outrraged, a suggestion: Write the company. Pool the outrgage. Take it to the next level.

   Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 9:03 am ¶

8. Lin wrote:

   i shared this with some friends. they thought it was ill conceived, but may not have bad intentions.

   from my learning from advertising and marketing class, it’s unlikely
   that this ad is unintentional. they say good advertising always
   leverage primal emotions and subconsciousness. my professor
   encourages that. so the more “un-pc” an ad is, the more likely it will
   raise reaction from audience, the more likely you’ll remember the ad,
   which is what they want. classic example, sex sells, no matter how
   vulgar it is..

   the ad message may not be target towards “evil” racist message, but
   it’s definitely leveraging subconscious racial hierarchy to make the
   ad more effective. it’s using images that people already have to
   increase the power of the ad…

   from a large company like intel, and it involves professional setting,
   i find the ad quite disturbing. much more so than calling someone the
   “n”-word, precisely because that kinda of racism is too obvious. this
   is more subtle, and therefore more damaging…

   Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 9:24 am ¶

9. Anonymous wrote:

   As a brown guy who is neither white nor black, I feel this ad’s imagery excludes us completely. And I think we know there are more than a few brown guys working at Intel and using their products.

   Posted 26 Jul 2007 at 9:29 am ¶

10. HighJive wrote:

    Lin,

    Sorry, but you’re probably way off with your conclusions.

    Your second sentence is likely right: they thought it was ill conceived, but may not have bad intentions.

    Contrary to your professor’s teachings, advertisers do not push un-PC notions to gain attention, particularly in instances like this. It’s one thing for a company to be edgy, like Axe body spray or liquor brands. But no way would a corporation like Intel seek to use racist imagery to lure viewers. Racism (and even race) is highly taboo in advertising, and only the ultra-edgy clients dare to push that particular envelope. Intel isn’t even close to being semi-edgy.

    This is almost certainly simply a case of cultural cluelessness on the advertiser’s and ad agency’s part. The true goal was to visually dramatize the product’s speed and features. People behind the work failed to see the potential offensiveness—and some might argue the offended are overreacting—but it’s a classic case of passive bias. That is, the people responsible for offending others have no idea they were potentially offensive.

    At least that’s my opinion.

    All the best.

    Posted 27 Jul 2007 at 11:54 am ¶

11. La - msviswan wrote:

    It’s obvious they want to sell a product. However, I found this ad deliberate and daring. Ad marketers and their clients are not made up of stupid people. Couple days ago, a co-worker sent this pic to me. I blogged about it and I got a difference in opinion from a black male in particular. He thought it was a “compliment”, while proudly highlighting “maximize your performance” meaning black men are powerful in upcoming Olympics . Oh well, I guess I missed the memo on accepting selective stereotypes.

    Maybe it’s just me, but I happen to know white men swim track too. I guess I’m also not supposed to notice the bowing inclination with… ALL black, male models who just happen to be chosen to represent “something” to be multiplied to achieve performance for the “company”? Multiply, Performance, and Black men surrounding either way, a lone white male. What does that remind you of? hmmmm. I guess it’s just me, lol

    Posted 28 Jul 2007 at 2:55 pm ¶

12. Anonymous wrote:

    It looks to me as if they are in the starting blocks not bowing. They seem to represent speed.

    Posted 30 Jul 2007 at 3:42 pm ¶

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