If you grew up watching New Zealand television as a child, then I'm sure you'll remember this ad that used to play on TV constantly.
The 30 Second spray and walk away ad.
Just thinking about it now and how it played on national television and no one questioned it! Not even my 8-year-old self, my friends or my family members, no one.
For those of you who haven't seen the ad before, it features an Asian man, wearing a lab coat and speaking with a very broken English accent demonstrating an outdoor spray that destroys lichen, moss, and algae in allegedly 30 seconds. (I'll link it at the bottom of this post for anyone interested).
The ad is so overtly racist towards Asian people.
The ad makes light of Asian immigrants who move to countries that don't speak their mother tongue. It demeans them and the efforts they make to learn and speak a new language and immerse themselves in that country. The ad's main selling point is that you remember it as the Asian man and his strong broken accent who appears ridiculous demonstrating a weed-killing product. It sounds so blatantly stupid that it is so memorable.
The ad was so successful that it played on TV for several years and 30 Second Spray continued making ads with the same man and the same concept.
What annoys me most about this ad, however, is how I used narrate alongside the ad in my own fake, broken, Asian accent. Whenever it appeared on the telly, I was like "Oh, it's the hilarious Asian guy again", or "Oh, it's the ad for 30 Second Spray, it's so silly". Not one ounce of me questioned how racist it was; all I remembered was how funny it was because of the racist stereotyping of this Asian man.
It's ads like these that teach younger generations that making fun of people who aren't white is fine, and better yet, it's funny to do so. And now that I am 19, it makes me so mad that I used to be a racist kid. Did I think being racist was wrong? No. Did I ever question the mocking words I said, or my friends and family members said? No. And it amazes me how I was never taught right from wrong when it came to being racist and how much of an impact something as little as an advertisement on TV impacted this.
The ad made its impact on kiwi kids, my friends still remember the ad to this date, even though it's not broadcasted anymore. And the awful reason why it made its impact, is because of how overtly racist it was and this was the reason for its success.
Link to the ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4ibFq1aup8
I've never seen this ad, but the ad clearly conveys racist towards Asian people using broken English accent. I can't believe that this racist ad played on TV for several years and even continued making ads with the same concept. But I'm glad that now someone can reconsider and critique how this racist ad affects kids.
ReplyDeleteWhoa! I remember this ad clear as day. It's actually crazy how once this was appropriate(?) and broadcast across the country! I remember how everyone laughed and mocked it. How was it ever okay to act like this? Great post.
ReplyDeletecrazy how this is still so vivid in my brain. Its interesting to think that when this first came out television was a lot more monitored in what was broadcasted across NZ.. I find it very interesting to think how this was approved and aired for a very long time.
ReplyDeleteomg I had totally forgotten about this ad but seeing this post brought back so many memories from when I was in primary school and looking back on it I actually can’t believe how awful it really is! The fact that I can remember kids quoting it all the time is so so concerning.
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