blog 4

I watched a commercial for something called Kia-Ora.  It was incredibly racist towards black people.  All of the characters in it were demeaning to black people.  It uses racial stereotypes like minstrel show characters, basketball players, a knuckle dragging gorilla, Aunt Jemima.  The animal character, the crow, was once a stereotype used for black people as well. 
The gait the characters are using in and of itself is racist because they're slouchy and their shoulders are hunched over.  That is another one of the stereotypical images used for black people a long time ago.  Also the dialogue, some of it is gibberish, which was once equated with the conversations between blacks and whites, blacks being depicted as not very intelligent. 
Both Omni and Devor describe certain attitudes depicted in this commercial as being not only racist but patently offensive.  Some of the characters also are racist and offensive towards women.  The way the characters are dressed, Aunt Jemima, for example. 
In the past thirty years, attitudes have changed dramatically.  Obviously at the time that this commercial was produced there was a lot more overt racism in our society.  Thankfully we would never see a commercial of this type in today's day and age.