Offensive Ice cream

Remove all ads!

I would agree. It isn't the best of taste, but I think most people just won't give a damn. If Asian-americans hate it so much, the sales will be poor, end of story.

Actually, I doubt all that many people care either - sure, there may be some die-hard (or rather, die-for-press-coverage) associations, but I don't think they are anywhere near big enough to matter. I think it all started with some Joe or Jane in the office of a media agency who just had to put something on the page so they can't be accused of doing nothing all day. It was probably that the ice cream company got flak because some people got annoyed with other stuff they found insensitive (not very offensive, just rude), and it was just the last straw that went over the top.

Hmm, here's what the Asian-American Journalist Association had to offer about the topic. It tends to err on the side of caution sometimes, but then again, I'm not used to thinking as an Asian-American, and do note that the list has suggestions for journalists - after all, a decent journalist should be aware of cultural issues so they can do their job right:

Spoiler

THE FACTS

1. Jeremy Lin is Asian American, not Asian (more specifically, Taiwanese American). It's an important distinction and one that should be considered before any references to former NBA players such as Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, who were Chinese. Lin's experiences were fundamentally different than people who immigrated to play in the NBA. Lin progressed through the ranks of American basketball from high school to college to the NBA, and to characterize him as a foreigner is both inaccurate and insulting.

2. Lin's path to Madison Square Garden: More than 300 division schools passed on him. Harvard University has had only three other graduates go on to the NBA, the most recent one being in the 1950s. No NBA team wanted Lin in the draft after he graduated from Harvard.

3. Journalists don't assume that African American players identify with NBA players who emigrated from Africa. The same principle applies with Asian Americans. It's fair to ask Lin whether he looked up to or took pride in the accomplishments of Asian players. He may have. It's unfair and poor journalism to assume he did.

4. Lin is not the first Asian American to play in the National Basketball Association. Raymond Townsend, who's of Filipino descent, was a first-round choice of the Golden State Warriors in the 1970s. Rex Walters, who is of Japanese descent, was a first-round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets out of the University of Kansas in 1993 and played seven seasons in the NBA; Walters is now the coach at University of San Francisco. Wat Misaka is believed to have been the first Asian American to play professional basketball in the United States. Misaka, who's of Japanese descent, appeared in three games for the New York Knicks in the 1947-48 season when the Knicks were part of the Basketball Association of America, which merged with the NBA after the 1948-49 season.

DANGER ZONES

"CHINK": Pejorative; do not use in a context involving an Asian person on someone who is Asian American. Extreme care is needed if using the well-trod phrase "chink in the armor"; be mindful that the context does not involve Asia, Asians or Asian Americans. (The appearance of this phrase with regard to Lin led AAJA MediaWatch to issue statement to ESPN, which subsequently disciplined its employees.)

DRIVING: This is part of the sport of basketball, but resist the temptation to refer to an "Asian who knows how to drive."

EYE SHAPE: This is irrelevant. Do not make such references if discussing Lin's vision.

FOOD: Is there a compelling reason to draw a connection between Lin and fortune cookies, takeout boxes or similar imagery? In the majority of news coverage, the answer will be no.

MARTIAL ARTS: You're writing about a basketball player. Don't conflate his skills with judo, karate, tae kwon do, etc. Do not refer to Lin as "Grasshopper" or similar names associated with martial-arts stereotypes.

"ME LOVE YOU LIN TIME": Avoid. This is a lazy pun on the athlete's name and alludes to the broken English of a Hollywood caricature from the 1980s.

"YELLOW MAMBA": This nickname that some have used for Lin plays off the "Black Mamba" nickname used by NBA star Kobe Bryant. It should be avoided. Asian immigrants in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries were subjected to discriminatory treatment resulting from a fear of a "Yellow Peril" that was touted in the media, which led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act.

 

I find it amusing how the people who get up on their "PC Police need to get a life" soap box often make a bigger stink about those who were offended than the actual offended ever did in the first place. The article Silvery originally linked to is itself one such rant; an excuse for the author to hyperbolically assault "the über-PC police" for getting offended over a triviality – and proving his point by himself making an even bigger stink over his own perceived slight - itself a triviality.

There is no evidence to suggest that those who were turned off by the fortune cookies thought they were deliberately insulted, or made any kind of fuss except to give their honest opinion. As I said before, in all likelyhood the Ben & Jerry's people were informed of the cultural faux pas and left it alone. The line in the article about the cookie pieces getting soggy also makes perfect sense - but in his pity-party the author dismisses this explanation outright. Fortune cookies pretty quickly disintegrate when they meet moisture - which is one of several reasons why they are usually individually wrapped.

This was not a completed product pulled from the shelves to placate the angry mob of "professional offendees," whatever the hell that means. It was an experimental flavor still in its development, and as it was a limited-run novelty item (B&J's does this a few times every year), this represents a minor setback at most for the company. They try out dozens of experimental novelty flavors every year. Some fly, most don't, and only a few make it to stores. This is a nothingburger. But clearly there are some - the author and some posters here to name a few - who feel compelled to seize on this as an opportunity to themselves become the offended party and bash the mythical PC police. How dare someone somewhere have the audacity to be offended by something I am not also offended by. They MUST be looking for something to get offended about.

The secret ingredient in THIS novelty flavor appears to be irony.

 

It's not something many people are going to take offence at, but I don't think you need to be offended by something to find it unnecessary. This is a bit stereotyping, and a bit demeaning to Asian people, so they've sacked it off. The correct decision.

 

Exactly - nicely put, Barms.

 

I think Death Rabbit is getting too worked up about people who exaggerate their objection to people who get offended over trivialities.

 

Don't really care -- I personally found it funny. Although not as funny as the old SNL 'Yule Log' advertisement ... ice cream yule logs guaranteed to make you wife or girlfriend 'happy'. They came in vanilla (6" box) and chocolate (12" box).

 

I just don't like legitimate acts being chilled because of a fear of offending minority groups who seem to make a habit of being offended over the littlest things. I don't think it's an overreaction to speak up for the right to self expression.

 

Sheesh, only in America.. *rolls eyes*

However, good point on the "but why police the PC police". Getting worked up for something this minor surely wasn't the original point of anyone, so why make it so?

Also, I gotta admit I was oblivious to the fact about fortune cookies and any, however remote, possibility of disdain amongst the asian-related population anywhere in the world. And my own wife (and thus a majority of my social circle) are asians so I find it odd that such a piece of information was never picked up by my radar.

 

I imagine the dynamics at play are rather different in Sweden than they are here.