Is The New Gatorade A.M. Ad Racist?

I never thought I'd be asking this. All I did was post the Gatorade A.M. advertisement and said I liked it. Then I received the comment from a woman who writes a blog called "I Need More Cowbell." Let me summarize what she wrote in her blog entry:

• She's surprised Gatorade had a black athlete (Kevin Garnett) play the black milkman "a la 1930."
• All Garnett's customers are white: Soccer players Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm and Peyton Manning.
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the other black athlete in the ad, is doing yardwork. All the other athletes in the ad are white and are playing athletes.

I didn't even think this deserved the time of day and then a co-worker of mine at CNBC said he couldn't help but think when he was watching it how racist it was. I don't know, maybe I'm just cynical. But I think they just happened to cast Garnett as the milkman because he's long and lanky and looks funny in the role. As for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he's not portrayed as an athlete because he's no longer active. For the record, neither is Mia Hamm who is driving the car to pick up her fellow soccer players because she's retired as well. And on Kareem's "yardwork" role. Puhleeze. It's not like he's watering Peyton Manning's yard. I think he's watering his own yard. Well, I have a feeling this is going to be a flashpoint as much as the "Does Gatorade Have Phallic Bottles?" controversy was -- so feel free to weigh in. And so you don't have to scroll down a couple entries, here's that ad for you to watch again.

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Comments

[Stephen]

What a ridiculous argument being posed by this woman. If you'll excuse me I'm going to go look for racism in my couch cusions.

[Sigmarick]

Tall....lanky ....shufflin ...grinning ..an archtype Coon?

[Jordi Scrubbings]

You're kidding, right? Maybe I am just too white, but I don't see the racism. Should KG have played the role of the soccer mom? He would have looked funny in drag.
Furthermore, by saying Kareem doing yardwork is racist, wouldn't one be assumming then that African Americans don't do yard work unless employed to do so? This assumption would then lead to the assumption African Americans either don't live in the 'burbs or if they do, are rich enough to pay for someone to do their yardwork. Which is, of course, an ignorant assumption in and of itself.

[TommoTornado]

Racist? Are you serious? The fact that someone could look at this commercial and think 'racism' the first time they saw just boggles the mind. Why don't you try and take it for what it is, a commercial. I have a feeling that the marketing guru's working for Gatorade didn't have racism in mind when they made this commercial. I guess we can't make anymore commercials that depict Garnett being a 'milkman' because, God forbid, it's degrading. Gasp! How is Kareem, who is watering his own lawn, viewed as racist? To point the racist finger at this commercial is just ridiculous.

[Sigmarick]

I didnt have a problem with the spot and nor am I saying this was racist BUT Darren "broached" so in retrospect Garnett does give off a Willie Best, Stepin Fetchit ....yessa boss kinda vibe

[Chris Harris]

Anyone who thinks this ad is racist is an idiot. I'm black and this never even crossed my mind. And then after reading this argument, I think it's even more ridiculous. If people say it's racist it's because they want it to be, not because it is. This even relates to the Imus thing that's been going on. There's nothing wrong with him calling black women "nappy headed hos." It's the same thing as calling a white girl a "straight haired ho." He's just stating a simple fact. Black girls have thick hair. It's true. You should see my sister's. If anything, he should be getting grilled about the "ho" comment. But as far as his statement being racist because he thinks black girls have thick hair? Please. These people should all be put on an island somewhere and left to kill each other off.

[sigmarick]

"There's nothing wrong with him calling black women "nappy headed hos." It's the same thing as calling a white girl a "straight haired ho." He's just stating a simple fact. Black girls have thick hair. It's true" Ahh...Nelly and the rest of the Bojangles must be proud

[Jay]

Come on. I looked at Kareem (I remember Lew) as the old, retired guy putttering in the yard. And I don't think (I'm only 55) that there were a lot of black milkmen in white neighborhoods in the 30's. Unless there is another side to all of the milkman-housewife jokes I didn't realize. Hmmmm..

[ll]

Imagery is a great purveyor of racist ideology/psychology. In a world where media images of Blacks in a broad spectrum of roles are still severely lacking, the "black milk man" role is quite reminiscent of the social era when Blacks were stereotyped and pigeonholed into roles of "serving the white master". When I first saw the commercial, I couldn't help but reflect on the ideas espoused in a great exploratory work "Ethnic Notions" which chronicles the media's portrayal of Black people during the 19th and 20th centuries and its usage as propaganda to support a racist, oppressive regime. Looking at the issue from an historical and culturally relevant standpoint, there is definitely imagery present in the Gatorade commercial which radiates with psychological reminiscences of the anti-Black and oppressive enculturation propagated throughout the American social, economic and political fabric. If you'd like to investigate more on the psychological affects and motives of media imagery, please refer to the works of Donald Bogle and many others. Google the topic, even. May you be open to truths beyond what you may immediately see.

[sigmarick]

ll you hit it right on the head ..again I am not calling gatoraide, stokley, or this commercial racist but Garnett might want to re-think this

[Darren]

Great debate here. Pretty sure most people don't think it's racist.

[Greg DeSantis]

One thing I'll agree with is that they nailed football players. Payton Manning forgot his playbook in the house again. Stupid, stupid forgetful football players. That's why most of them don't graduate.

Also, they nailed former female athletes. When a female stops playing sports either at the college or pro level, all she's good for is popping out a few babies and chauffeuring them around. So Gatorade got that one right too.

Also when they called the kids "Christine" and "Abby", wow great job, Gatorade! All white people DO call their kids names like Christine or Abby. White people are so uncreative.

[Byron]

Surprisingly, there is racism in your couch cushions.... http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/208377/family_outraged_by_racial_slur_found.html

[R. Morgan]

If anything, Peyton Manning is made out to be the bumbling, forgetful person and Kevin Garnett is the smart one telling him not to forget something! This is a GREAT entertaining commercial and we need more like it!

[N. Brizzi]

I read nothing more into the Gatoraide commercial except it is and advertising scheme to sell product, and a good one. The man delivering happens to be black and the homes he is delivering to happen to have white (celebrity) occupants, end of story.
As for the comments made by Imas. I blame the FCC for allowing the likes of him and anyone else on the air that takes advantage of everyday situations for their own exploitation and personal gain. The media has been in a constant state of degradation for over 15 years. We deserve what we allowed them to do.

[Caitrin]

I think that when they made the commercial they had no intentions of it being a racial issue. The commercial was based on generalizations and stereotypes (soccer mom, etc.) which may have racist origins. The party at fault is not Gatorade, but our society as a whole. Once these stereotypes are weaned out of our culture in its most offensive and blatant forms, then we can begin to question satires such as this commercial. Basically, it may not be completely politically correct, but it is relatively harmless compared with other issues faced today. That's how I see it, but I like the discussion, keeps us on our toes!

[Matt]

this is stupid some of the kids practing are black and even the coach

[C. Aleshire]

The phrase 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' comes to mind reading this debate. If one wants to find racism in the commercial, one will.

While someone might receive Kevin's portrayal of the milkman as "yessir, masser" stereotyping, I think he perfectly embodies the spirit of the 1950s, happy-go-lucky, public servant that the milkman was.

If you want to find an underlying meaning, perhaps the age-old joke that milkmen charmed the pants off housewives, quite literally, would be a better insinuation to analyze.

In Uganda, the king is called Olmukama, roughly translated to superior milkman/ milk bringer. Where is the racism in that?

I think that there are too many people, with too much time on their hands. If Gatorade had made the milkman white, and all of the atheletes black, that would have been much more of a stereotype, and again, would have prompted someone to cry racism.

Isn't anyone happy for Kevin Garnett, and the fact that he lives in a time where he can be the face of a corporate giant like Gatorade and get paid darned well for it? When will it ever be good enough for the black community? There was a time when the sponsors would not have let a black man represent their product for fear of backlash from the white supremacists. And now that these sponsors have seen the light, you would reprimand them for a far-fetched misinterpretation?

[A.B.S.]

How good of those sponsors to see the light, Matt. Right after I finish this, I'm going to go bow before down before them in gratitude, because they really didn't have to do that. How thoughtful of them.

Don't feel bad if you don't understand why this Gatorade commercial is racist. (Somehow, though, I don't think many of you are losing any sleep.) Understanding the racism in this commercial would first require an understanding of institutionalized racism, which unfortunately is not taught in our schools.

If you knew about institutionalized racism,though, you would be able to see the racism in your "couch cusions" [sic].
What cracks me up here is that the random white people who accuse me of "looking for racism" seem to think that I LOVE analyzing racism as a hobby or something. You think it's fun for me to see all that stuff? You think I sit there and go, "hurray, racism! Now I can prove that white people are evil?" Do you think I gain something by pointing this out? Just so you know, I don't blame racism for "why my life sucks". MY life is flippin' awesome.
But I do blame racism for the reason our country is screwed up, and the reason I am boycotting Gatorade for life. (The nasty flavors and chemicals have a little to do with it, but it's mostly the racist commercial.)

[A.B.S.]

My bad, Matt. That first comment is actually directed at C.Aleshire there. Misread the names. Oops.

[Danny Deckchair]

To those few overeducated, super-analysts who were able to connect the unintentional undertones in this ad with the many academic stereotypes so joyfully lamented about since the civil-rights movement - Please make some room in your brains for rational thought by getting rid of some of your conspiracy theories. Your posturing is so last millennium.

[AnferTuto]

Hola faretaste
mekodinosad

[chicago tim]

Black men didn't deliver milk... it was, well, unseemly. If you're gonna call racism at least have some historical perspective.

[Omar]

Sigmarick it wouldn't surprise me to see a commercial with KG in drag, maybe they can do another Grand Ma Ma thing lol Yeah i can see where pretentious people can get off seeing this as racist but really kinda it reminded me of was "The Niggar family" spot on Chappelle's Show and that is some funny s**t.