The Good, The Bad, The Fugly . . .

by R. Elgin on July 3, 2009

Which burger ad would you choose: the classic Lotteria ad . . .

or the new tasteless BK ad from Singapore?

Tagged as: advertising

{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }

1 tmc1233 July 3, 2009 at 11:11 am: Actually the BK ad is from Singapore, and not Indonesia.
2 tmc1233 July 3, 2009 at 11:16 am: Also, is it me, or do the images not load?
3 Wedge July 3, 2009 at 11:27 am: No picture load and yes, clearly Singapore isn’t Indonesia. And if BK brings those 7″ burgers here, I’m all over it.
4 KrZ July 3, 2009 at 11:34 am: The cheap dialup ISP user’s website hosting the images appears to have buckled under the force of TMH.
5 rampowers July 3, 2009 at 11:42 am: KrZ isn’t kidding; “Hyperconnectivity offers unlimited dialup internet services…” and “Dialup service for only $10 a month!”
6 R. Elgin July 3, 2009 at 11:45 am: I think the image hosting site has indeed buckled. I must find another host for images!
Yes, the BK ad is from Singapore. You can at least see an example at the link provided.
I loved the Lotteria ad though when it came out.
7 CactusMcHarris July 3, 2009 at 12:02 pm: Or you can go to a Chicago Cubs blog and see the Sausage Factory Girl.

It’s #13 from Sweet Uncle Lou.

http://hirejimessian.com/2009/07/02/sweet-uncle-lous-thursday-roundup-the-procrastinate-like-its-friday-edition/
8 Koreansentry July 3, 2009 at 12:39 pm: “Me love long & thick” is meaning behind of ad campaign.
9 KrZ July 3, 2009 at 12:48 pm: The first google result for “Burger King ad Singapore” was a Fox news article filled with crying and butthurt about how immoral the ad is. Puritanical fuckwits.
10 Darth Babaganoosh July 3, 2009 at 1:00 pm: If we’re going to look at ad campaigns to generate discussion, these work so much better (once you get past the face palm):

http://img291.imageshack.us/i/cyonblackandwhiteadveri.jpg/
http://img291.imageshack.us/i/cyonblackandwhitephonea.jpg/
http://img186.imageshack.us/i/cyonblackandwhiteadveri.jpg/
11 KrZ July 3, 2009 at 1:16 pm: I can’t decide whether I want the cracker phone or the nigger phone ( ._.)
12 lupin_the_4th July 3, 2009 at 2:20 pm: Did they paint a white guy to appear as the “black” guy in that ad?
13 vince July 3, 2009 at 5:21 pm: Here’s a link to the dick burger you yearn for with some intelligible, critical comments.
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/06/26/singapore-infamous-burger-king-ad/
14 NetizenKim July 3, 2009 at 5:36 pm: #13

Now that’s what I call a “meat-cock sandwich” (with a nod to Harold & Kumar II).
15 Darth Babaganoosh July 3, 2009 at 5:56 pm: Lupin… Bingo.
16 Nix July 4, 2009 at 5:01 am: @12

I thought that as well

Well, at least they aren’t badly shooping black people into random images.
http://www.nationalpost.com/1681396.bin
17 SomeguyinKorea July 4, 2009 at 8:54 am: “Which burger ad would you choose?”

Hard choice. Both images stimulate my gag reflex.
18 SomeguyinKorea July 4, 2009 at 8:55 am: damned typo
19 dokdoforever July 4, 2009 at 11:35 am: Not cool to have a white guy in black face. Either get a real black person in the role, or be consistent and have a non-white person dress us as white as well.
20 NetizenKim July 4, 2009 at 12:10 pm: Not cool to have a white guy in black face.

What about Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XHsmRVYU-A
21 R. Elgin July 4, 2009 at 12:59 pm: I fixed the typo “someguy”. You’re good.

The whole idea of doing blackface has lost its cultural relevance in terms of entertainment (minstrel) “nk” though there is still the politics of being black in the states and the usual gestures of indignation over historical wrongs and notions of what is really African-American™.

It would be good if more people here, in Korea, were more aware of their actions before creating such ads because it only re-enforces the stereotype of Koreans being insensitive to other cultures.
22 Arghaeri July 4, 2009 at 1:06 pm: So thats how the fake degree guys hiding out, they said he was a model!
23 NetizenKim July 4, 2009 at 1:15 pm: Elgin,

You know, the Koreans were probably thinking they were being very progressive with that ad, if indeed that ad was the work of a Korean advertising company. It could just as well have been a Western firm. But y’all are all having nervous flashbacks to the unfortunate incident involving Leslie Benfield and the blackfaced comedian on a certain TV show. This just goes to show you how Political Correctness is such a huge minefield. But yeah this is like the most Aryan-looking black guys I’ve ever seen.
24 SomeguyinKorea July 4, 2009 at 5:04 pm: There is a very significant differences, NK.

Robert Downey Jr’s character in Tropic Thunder was supposed to be creepy.

http://www.filmazing.com/in-the-spotlight/satire-or-scandal-rdj-on-tropic-thunder
25 SomeguyinKorea July 4, 2009 at 5:08 pm: Another typo! LOL
26 NetizenKim July 4, 2009 at 6:10 pm: #24
There is a very significant differences, NK.

Robert Downey Jr’s character in Tropic Thunder was supposed to be creepy.

Creepy? It was hilarious. I wasn’t offended at all by it.

I couldnt help an eye-roll when I read that bullshit PC-saturated statement by RDJ in the article. He’s taking himself way too seriously there.

What was kinda creepy was the Wayans Brothers in White Chicks. Creepy in a Michael Jackson-ish aesthetic sense.
27 R. Elgin July 4, 2009 at 9:02 pm: . . . It could just as well have been a Western firm (doing the work)

Yes, but who signed off on the work done? A Korean company. Please don’t attempt to blame “western firms” for the poor judgment of their Korean clients. I’ve dealt with too many here already.
28 seouldout July 4, 2009 at 9:47 pm: Ain’t it the damndest thing: you guys here talking about blackface and then the BBC runs a story about a new cultural trend coming from Japan.
29 SomeguyinKorea July 5, 2009 at 1:36 am: “What was kinda creepy was the Wayans Brothers in White Chicks. Creepy in a Michael Jackson-ish aesthetic sense.”

I agree with you on that one, although I think they went overboard with the makeup not just for comedic affect, but also because they wanted their target audience (I’m guessing 13 to 18 year-old kids) to grasp the social commentary.
30 SomeguyinKorea July 5, 2009 at 1:47 am: seouldout,

The popularity of the trend mentioned in the article peeked in Japan in 2000. Yup, a decade ago.

PS. Some would say that the western media’s obsession with the strangest possible undercurrents of Japanese culture, portraying them as if they are the latest trends sweeping all over Japan, reeks of sensationalism, racism and deep-rooted insecurity.
31 baduk July 5, 2009 at 3:13 am: Darth Babaganoosh,

About the first image, the white girl could have AIDS. The black guy should stay hell away from that girl. Somehow, we got brain-washed that white girls are pure (relatively) and black men are players. The truth could be the other way.

Robert Downey Jr in Tropical Thunder: deserves the Academy Award. How can a white man be more “black” than a black? But, then I am an oriental and not qualified to judge. However, for me at least, he looked and sounded just like a black man. I wonder if I can act as a black man if I take acting lessons from Robert Downey Jr.

About BK ad: I think westerners are too sexually-charged. Thinking about it too much. Many Koreans will not get it unless told about the hidden meaning in excruciating detail. Then, they still may not get it. Then, they will ask stupid questions like “men like that?”, “Is it physically possible?”, “what kind of women will do that, it is too dirty”, “I have never heard of such thing, even regural sex is dirty”, etc…
Koreans have a long way to go about sexual stuff.
32 Darth Babaganoosh July 5, 2009 at 2:16 pm: Koreans have a long way to go about sexual stuff.

Utter hogwash. You’re either taking the piss for troll effect, or you haven’t been laid in the last decade. You are so off-base, there is no scale large enough to measure it.
33 SomeguyinKorea July 5, 2009 at 10:36 pm: “I think westerners are too sexually-charged.”

What do you make of all the young men and ladies in Korean advertisement? The ”racer girls”? The ”doumi”?
34 Koreansentry July 6, 2009 at 5:42 pm: Big deal, it’s just an ads.