This is now old news but I was shocked to hear that the Cadbury advert (with the Zingolo song I can't seem to get out of my head) received complaints for being racist! Cadbury were cleared of any wrong-doing and rightly so in my opinion. When I first saw the advert, I couldn't stop smiling because Ghana is my home country and it was great to see a positive depiction of Africa for once aside from those "For £2 A Month" adverts.
So when I heard that people were actually offended due to the use of "racial stereotypes", I had serious 'rolling of the eyes' action going on. "Racial sterotypes"?!?!? Was the nose on the mask too big? Were the people in the village dancing too wildly? Were the people in the village too black? That was a traditional African street party if I ever saw one so it leads me to think that these cries of racism are in fact outcries of embarrassment. This is OUR culture. Deal with it! Are you embarrassed because now Paul from the office is finally going to realise you are an African and that posh, restrained, "I was born in England" cover you had for the last 5 years is blown? To be accepted in this country, people adapt, different faces and demeanors for different situations, I fully understand that. But when faced with our history, culture, tradition, ethnicity - it's no longer time to hide behind that British passport. I think we should accept it, embrace it and thank Cadbury's for showing the colourful, vibrant side of Africa that I know and love.
OMG Shanti!!!!! I am sooooo with you on this one!!! I thought I was the only one! Ok I'm not African, hey I'm not even black but I really didn't get what everyone found so racist about the advert.. (and obviously not being black it's not like I could've said this out loud in case I offended). Someone said it's because the advert says "shake your cocoa beans" and then goes to a clip of the African men and women dancing!! I mean come on!! I really enjoyed the music, the dancing, the vibes, i thought it was a very positive and happy advert which didn't show any sort of derogatory images of Africa/Africans in any way whatsoever (well in my opinion anyway)... X
ReplyDeleteOMG I read this and couldnt believe that Ghanaians thought it was racist! Even the High Commissioner said the advert made us look like simple minded buffons. Talk for yourself!
ReplyDeleteThe only reason Ghanaians dont like it, is because it didnt make them look like the high class society they all appear to be in. I bet if it was a video of of a chief and everybody serving and dancing around him it would have been praised!
There is a serious side to Ghana and a fun side and this my friends is the fun side, so applaud it dont discredit it!
Acutally it was the non blacks that where upset about it lol, the same people who are upset by ba ba black sheep.
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