Comments on: The Red House Commercial: Public Discussion About Race

By: Franvers

Franvers — Fri, 06 May 2011 14:09:04 +0000

Hello,

If this publicity is racist, is it what the antiracism ?

By: Jill T

Jill T — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:46:28 +0000

Joshua, We are talking about the South here. White and Black has long been an issue here. As a “transplanted” northerner, I can tell you that racism (mostly between the black and white or african american and caucasion, depending on your level of PC-ness) is still going strong down here south of the Mason Dixon line. I was shocked in 1999 when I moved to North Georgia and saw on the news that the KKK (yes, the people with sheets on their heads) were protesting, marching, on the steps on the county courthouse just 2 exits up the highway from my home. I thought “what?, really, dude, what year is it? what?”. It was shocking.
To me it’s awesome that a small furniture business in a small rural town in the south; a store that has a multi-racial staff; a staff that obvioulsy has erased the sometimes imposed “color lines”, throws their “harmony” directly in the face the racism that has long plagued the South. I think the commericial is great. I laughed my butt off. To me the commercial relays the message of harmony in the workplace and the desire of the staff to serve all people in the community. And if you didn’t notice, they did mention Hispanics (Latin Americans, Latinos, South Americans?) AND they said “all people” after they made the hispanic comment in the end. We need a little humor man. There’s not enough about these days.
cheers.

By: Links « Stuff

Links « Stuff — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:29:57 +0000

[...] Is this racist? [...]

By: marinus

marinus — Tue, 26 May 2009 23:09:01 +0000

There are several processes and layers to this commercial and the discussion surrounding it.

As I have gathered from reading this blog as well as others such as Jessica Valenti’s blog called “Feministing”, there are no “real” races. Instead people simply have different amounts of melanin in their skin as well as perhaps a few other genetic markers. By this reasoning some people would argue that calling anyone by any racial name eg. “white” or “black” the person employing these terms are racist.

I would think that what we need to do is also differentiate between race and ethnicity. By ethnicity I mean to say discrete cultural groups. If there was a commercial saying this “chair is for zulus … xhosas” or “irish and italians” there would not be this question of racism.

My personal feelings and conclusions about this commercial are mostly positive in an ambiguous way.

By: senorglory

senorglory — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:18:28 +0000

Nnothing mean spirited to this commercial.

By: Keith

Keith — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:58:25 +0000

I for one found this commercial both heartwarming and funny. Sure, it’s over-the-top corny and just silly, but in the south, for some people there is tension between blacks and whites. It’s less pronounced, but there are places that people of other races aren’t really welcome. I grew up in Alabama, so I’ve seen it. And it’s not always as overt as “Blacks aren’t welcome here” or “White people not allowed”, but there is a sense that people of a certain race don’t belong in certain places. It’s nice to see a company address this in a humorous, nonthreatening way.

For everyone who comments that they only really mention blacks and whites, the south is OVERWHELMINGLY black and white. These days there are a fair number of Hispanics, but 12 years ago, when I used to live there, almost everyone was black or white. They did through the line in at the end about Hispanics and everyone else.

By: Hank

Hank — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:08:17 +0000

I found it interesting that there is a white man in the video extending credit to a black man. I will, however, take the advertiser’s good intentions at face value, while keeping in mind the law of unintended consequences. The problem with satire is that it can sometimes be very difficult to tease the real message out of it and even more difficult may be the creation of satire of race matters by majority members who have good intentions, but may not entirely understand what they are doing.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:30:24 +0000

i think it is certainly attention-getting.

By: lgreen

lgreen — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:30:15 +0000

Joshua – That’s why at the end they say “and hispanic people too. And all people.” Not ignorant. Sweet.

By: Fernando

Fernando — Sun, 24 May 2009 22:42:31 +0000

Joshua, you don’t honestly expect the guy to list every single ethnic group when jumping on the couch right? There’s a practical limit to things. They would lose the joke if they didn’t say “black person… or white person”. Besides, you have to take the context into account. And the end makes it pretty obvious that they are not attempting to exclude any race.

By: Joshua

Joshua — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:38:49 +0000

At the very least, it’s potentially racist because it does the “listing the minorities that you recognize” thing that has been previously pointed out on this blog. The couch is good for a white person and a black person? Does that mean Chinese are out? American Indian? Eastern Indian? Etc… The ignorance in the commercial is that it reveals the creators’ tacit belief that the only races worth recognizing are black and white.

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:48:03 +0000

When I first saw this commercial a month ago or so, I honestly thought it was a reaction to the intense racism in that part of North Carolina (not that other parts are much better). I’m from NC, and the area around High Point has had a strong increase in Hispanic immigrants and a subsequent strong increase in racist actions (I seem to recall something about the KKK resuming marching in the area, but I can’t remember…).

On the Scatterplot blog, someone wrote that their uncle called the Red House and asked them if they were “for homosexual people, too,” and they responded, “Yes, we’re for all people.”

On a totally non-racist or -racial note, this commercial is hilarious.

By: Vidya

Vidya — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:23:25 +0000

I agree with Coco on this one. In fact, few norms serve to better perpetuate racism than ‘compulsory colourblindness’.

BTW, I did notice that the bed was described as “perfect for a white person…OR a black person” rather than “AND a black person,” which I thought would have been even better/funnier/edgier — but perhaps a little too suggestive for audiences that still harbour racial prejudices.

By: Coco

Coco — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:09:49 +0000

Haha… I see it as a parody of so many ads that attempt to indicate their high level of racial tolerance to the consumer subconsciously through the use of ‘token’ people of color. The difference in this ad is that they make the implicit point explicit, thereby revealing the absurdity (and contradictions) of this particular manifestation of “colorblind” ideology. In fact, I think that the rejection of colorblind ideology in this clip may be what makes people identify it as racist.

I also can’t get over the singers; they also seem like an effort to make the implicit absurdity of local ads explicit: rather than having a voice-over of mystery singers, we actually see two men singing at the top of their lungs in honor of a local furniture store.

By: Jeannie

Jeannie — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:56:18 +0000

I only watched the first one, but it was pretty funny to watch in terms of the acting and filming! They looked like they were just having fun and “getting along,” as they put it.

To answer whether or not the commercial was racist is difficult. Yes and no? One part features a black woman with a tele next to her showing some zebras and giraffes, which I think was tacky.

Overall, I don’t think it’s a racist commercial.
“This bed is perfect for a white person…AND a black person.”
“This sofa is perfect for a black person…AND a white person.”
Haha. I honestly don’t find that racist, but indeed silly. People may be labeling it racist because not many are comfortable having an open dialogue about anything related to race. Unfortunately, many believe that being colorblind is the right approach when it really sweeps things under the carpet, or furniture! The commercial is silly for highlighting how furniture is race-appropriate, but it isn’t racist.

“Rainbow coalition”? Where are the Asians!?
Just kidding.