Top 10 Most Racist Commercials

Top 10 Most Racist Commercials

10. Harold Ford's Just Not Right

In this ad, Harold Ford, the U.S. Senate candidate from Tennessee, is made to look like a womanizing, terrorist-loving, porn addict. The ad, the content of which was made possible by the Republican National Committee, shows a whole bunch of white people convincing voters that Ford, a black Congressman, is too childish for the job. The only black person in the ad notes how handsome Ford is. And he is pretty handsome. While this ad is not expressly racist in the way that Mel Gibson's racist, as the NAACP said, "it panders to the most racist sensibilities." And I would agree.

9. Coloured is Better

This Italian commercial shows a woman shoving her scrawny white husband into a washing machine, adding some Coloreria Italiana (some sort of detergent), and opening the machine to find a hulk of a black man has replaced her husband. The message of the commercial is clear. First, once you go black, you never go back. And second, this Coloreria Italiana is some strong-ass detergent that brings the color out of clothes. The slogan for the detergent is "Coloured is better." It couldn't get more racist.

8. Lucky Charms

This classic kids cereal commercial for Lucky Charms employs the most traditional Irish stereotypes. Pesky, neurotic little Irish leprechaun running from some kids all worried about rainbows, half-moons and clovers yelling, "they're after me Lucky Charms." The 80s were all about masking horrid racial stereotypes with wholesome fun.

7. Snake Drug Dealer

This is the only item to be included on two Flumesday Top 10 lists. While it served as one of the ways I remained drug-free, it's also wholly racist. And yet, I kind of love watching it. This commercial is one of the worst kinds of racist as it influences small children to be afraid of black people. And snakes.

6. Willie Horton

This political ad which ran during the 1988 Bush-Dukakis presidential race is the most famous commercial on the countdown. Not only did it spark some serious racial controversy, but the subject of the commercial, Willie Horton, is now synonymous with dirty political ads. In 1974, Horton stabbed and killed a man in Massachusetts, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, and was released on some absurd weekend program that allowed inmates to leave. Not surprisingly, never returned to prison. Horton, while on the loose in Maryland in 1987, raped a woman and was thrown back in jail. The event was used by Bush to portray Dukakis as weak on crime. Black rights leaders felt the ad, which prominently featured Horton's scary face, linked crime, murder, and rape to being black. I think Republicans just wanted to link all of that to being a Democrat.

5. National Vanguard

The #5 Most Racist Commercial is an ad by the National Vanguard, a Virginia-based group dedicated to making America "a proud white nation again". And if you're interested, it's really quite simple to join. You have to be white. You have to hate Jews. You have to hate homosexuals. You have to hate biracial couples. And you have to vehemently hate blacks and Hispanics. And if you fit all of these criteria and have an advertising background, then the National Vanguard could really use you.

4. Chinese Baby Jell-O

This ad for Jell-O, from the 1960s, illustrates how far America has come in terms of racial sensitivity. The commercial shows a Chinese baby attempting to eat Jell-O with chopsticks. The announcer is a white guy affecting the most offensive Chinese accent and says every 'l' sound as an 'r'. I suppose this stuff was funny back in the day.

3. Kenya Doll

I've always been somewhat fascinated with the black Barbie phenomenon. How bad must it have been for young black girls to have no dolls that looked like them. I mean that is the whole point of Barbie-- to teach young girls how they are supposed to look as women. When I saw my first African-American Barbie doll, I wondered whether white girls would ever play with them. And I don't think white girls ever did. A pretty sad statement. Anyhow, this doll is named Kenya. The white doll gets a spunky Cali name and the black doll gets the name of an African nation? That's bullshit. Why not Botswana Barbie? Or Sudan Skipper?

2. Black Toothpaste

Let this serve as an example of how East Asians view black people. First, the little girl loses her balloon. The black guy climbs up this huge pole and gets the balloon for the girl. Then the Asian mother screams in terror when she finds her sweet Asian daughter with the black man. The black guy then goes to sleep on the bristles of a humongous toothbrush, morphs into the black toothpaste on normal sized toothbrush and then the tagline. And what a racist tagline it is-- "Appearance can be deceiving."

1. Terrorist Volkswagen

The #1 Most Racist Commercial is this ad for the Volkswagen Polo. And I must admit, while this ad reinforces all sorts of hateful stereotypes toward the world's Arab population, it is kind of a clever ad. The terrorist, who is strapped with explosives, drives his new cute little Polo to a restaurant. While inside the car, the terrorist detonates the bomb. However, the "small but tough" VW Polo remains totally in-tact. Horribly racist, somewhat amusing. This commercial was either banned before it aired or is a fake. Either way it's funny.

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