Excited
Alex, I’ll take “European Web 2.0 companies that make you say WTF” for $200: In Germany, a country where there is the most broadband users in Europe, the biggest social bookmarking website isn’t Yahoo! owned del.icio.us, but a site called… Mister Wong. Why yes, that WOULD be the logo of Mister Wong to the right, thank you for noticing.
Yeeeeeah. Wow.
I mean, being an engineer in the web industry, I’m sure it has some of the standard features that make a social bookmarking portal interesting and relevant, but seriously, who were the branding and advertising geniuses that came up with this one? I mean sure, it’s based in Germany, which is practically a whole world away. Maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North America. But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan “ping pong, king kong, Mister Wong.” Which I, of course, interpret as “ching chong, Mister Wong” and get INCREDIBLY FUCKING ANGRY. It’s like Jeeves, the ask.com butler and Uncle Ben had a stereotypical illegitimate Asian son.
I mean, Christ, his face is on soccer jerseys. SOCCER JERSEYS.
And just when you think I couldn’t get anymore WTF’ed – Mister Wong has a Chinese version of their site. Seriously. Now, I’ll fully admit to being the naive American here – maybe my cultural American bias is slanted and that people from mainland Chinese won’t be completely horrified to see a caricature of someone their ethnicity touting the virtues of the social web. Hell, you have Wang Lan of the Chinese support team on the front page. “It’s okay to use this page,” she seems to beckon. “I’m Chinese too, you see?”
Since I don’t speak German and there is just an intro English page, maybe there’s a story on how the site came up with its name and branding and someone can help out. Mister Wong had better been based on a real person and saved twenty burning German orphanages, because otherwise, I’m calling foul.
(Thanks for the heads-up, MJ)
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stop crying and be serious.
stop crying and be serious.
Hello boys and girls,
I came back to say: "Iu00c2u00b4m sorry!". Iu00c2u00b4m new to the internet-business and I am working a lot with social bookmark-sites... Sometimes I comment articles before thinking about it. Well, this happened yesterday. Fact is, I am not interested in politics but I was always (and will always be) against racism and I never get tired of fighting against racial prejudices. If you guys feel like you were treaded wrong and Mr. Wong reacted in the way to change itu00c2u00b4s logo, this is a very respectable reaction. I hope, more companies would take this example as a good advice. Peace - atothek
Ha Ha, isnu00c2u00b4t it true that chinese people concentrate in one part of town? Didnu00c2u00b4t the americans hunt down the indians? and whatu00c2u00b4s about the african-slaves? Green-cards? Building walls against Mecixo and whatu00c2u00b4s about the war in afganistan? You guys should take care of your own. - stupid america -rofl-
Ha Ha, isnu00c2u00b4t it true that chinese people concentrate in one part of town? Didnu00c2u00b4t the americans hunt down the indians? and whatu00c2u00b4s about the african-slaves? Green-cards? Building walls against Mecixo and whatu00c2u00b4s about the war in afganistan? You guys should take care of your own. - stupid america -rofl-
Saressays
@aknet I think your questions are relevant because in the modern world of globalization, Mexico has positioned itself as a confident nation.
I'm surprised after all the misplaced outrage, that nobody has referenced the old Icebox.com Mr. Wong cartoon (came out in the late 90's early 2K's). Or the full length movie of that character put out by National Lampoon in 2004. (You can find that at Amazon)
You can still watch the original flash episodes on icebox.com, and I'm sure they will be FAR more offensive to your gentle sensibilities.
Also, I'm surprised that this bookmark portal hasn't been sued by the owners of "Mr. Wong"
@Thuan Phan:
>> "...They condemn america in every way that they can but they had forgotten that it was america who held on to west berlin..."
America did not "hold on to" West Berlin. West Berlin was u00e2u0080u0093 and still is u00e2u0080u0093 part of the Federal Republic of Germany. That status was not being challenged by anyone so I don't know what you're sucking out of your thumb there.
>> "... and later defeated the communists"
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but America did not "defeat the communists". There are millions of communists alive and well today, as we speak! But you're were probably trying to refer to the disintegration of the Soviet bloc. Well, *that* was the result of a long process in which internal changes had played a much more important role than America flexing its muscles.
>> "...and eventually saved east Berlin."
Yeah. After which they ventured to save Moscow. And then Mars.
@Zanzibar:
>> "Europe has never been known for being politically correct."
Thank (insert name of your supreme divine being/concept here) for that. In Europe we u00e2u0080u0093 at least those of us who aren't idiots u00e2u0080u0093 have intercultural competence. We use reason, common sense and plain old human respect. We don't make a big deal about it. Personally, I'm happy that here I'm not surrounded by your type of PC, which stinks of paranoia, lack of self-confidence and an utter disregard of diversity. If that last part seems confusing, meditate on it.
Unfortunately, and this will thrill you, no doubt, there *is* a slow trend here in Germany that some people are adopting American PC paranoia. They are usually a) timid business folks who think they have to conform to such nonsense in order to be regarded as "modern" or b) loser type personalities who, after having abandoned various other bogus fads, need something new.
@ Ms. Wong:
>> 'Eric - open a competing site: u00e2u0080u009cHerr Schulz - Master of the Bookmark Concentration Campu00e2u0080u009d '
Wow, you're a marketing wiz: 'Concentrating', i.e. 'collecting into one space' bookmarks / 'camp' as a term for the users of this service. Not bad!
Okay, but seriously... anyone who actually thinks "German" --> "Concentration Camp" is a logical and appropriate analogy: Please do us all a favour and go fuck yourself.
Finally, I'd like to join others in asking Ernie to remove the word "Christ". You are using the name of Christ in vain. Millions of Christians are offended. How can you do this? North Americans obviously have no idea about the long hard way Christianity has come and has had to stand up against its opressors throughout the centuries. Do you know how many people were killed by the Romans just because of their religion?
Probably not as many as those people killed by the Mao regime (current estimates ca. 40.000.000), but hey. Speaking of which: As others have pointed out, now that the evil offending oh-so-stereotypical cartoon man has been removed, Mr. Wong currently sports a red pentagonal star (which, for those in North America who may not know, is a symbol of communism/socialism) next to its logotype. Anybody remember Tiananmen Aquare '89? The government of the People's Republic of China did certain things to its citizens that I won't spell out here, for the benefit of North American sensitive souls. But anyway, nobody seems to care about that star and to quote you, Ernie: This makes me INCREDIBLY FUCKING ANGRY.
This is just ridiculous.
The main reason a cartonn is a cartonn its cause its stereotyping...Your attitude reminds me to the story we had last year here against the danish cartoons about Allah..meanwhile these has been drawing with the idea to link allah with islamic terrorsim, what for sure can offend islamic ppl, I cant see any offense in a friendly somewhat stereotypike looking asian guy...less as he isnt used in any racist context against/about the "asian race"....
Have you ever seen a frenchman fooling around cause he did not like the way the french were drwan in the Asterix & Obelix comics or even better an italian fooling about how the romans were drawn ??
Someone beeing offended by a cartoon like that need some professionell help rather than asking to take a logo down...
The way you argue could work for everything..that way you could aks to take off nearly everything on earth...and I cant see how this logo might fit in any "political correctness" debate as this is about anything but politics and at any point this cartoon is used to claim : THIS is what the average asian dude is looking like....and just in north america it can be understand this way..this is just ill man !
If you wanna write some lines about "political correctness" youu00c2u00b4d better spend some time on "your" iraq war.
Are you envy that in Europe an American Website isnu00e2u0080u0099t the biggest social bookmarking website? So you try attack the website with a killer phrases: racism or you called political correctness. People like you make me sick. How dare you that you can speak for a billion Asian people? This typical American Chauvinism. If it will in USA wrong it has to be in the whole world wrong.
I had to laugh after I read that mainland Chinese doesnu00e2u0080u0099t see any offence. For mainland Chinese and me is Mister Wong a friendly business man. There is nothing wrong. You can find thousand of pictures of this type of Salarymen (u00e3u0082u00b5u00e3u0083u00a9u00e3u0083u00aau00e3u0083u00bcu00e3u0083u009eu00e3u0083u00b3) in Mangas.
Itu00e2u0080u0099s like Helen Lovejoy from the Simpsons:u00e2u0080u009d Will someone please think of the children?u00e2u0080u009d
Actually, Don Dreizehn, I want to commend you for your very well written comment. I'm glad I had the opportunity to hear your perspective on this issue, even though it is more or less an issue that is (thank goodness!) out of our minds now. Your English is fantastic! It's much, MUCH better than my German.
Sorry for this not very up-to-date comment. I'm from Germany and just want to give a statement:
Nobody cares about this logo in Germany! Why? Because we are racists? Hell no! I think our history made our nation to a very non-racist one. I mean, to let never happen things like the WWs again, our kids get teached about history, cultural differences and to respect other nationalities their whole school life. And most of them understand it.
Which makes us a culture, in which often isnt thought about "differences" anymore. Meaning: If I see a black, asian, whatever guy, I dont think: "Hey, a black/ asian/ whatevver guy!". I just think: "Hey, a guy!"
Americans are more "racist" in that case. Not in the meaning of hating the other race, but in recognising that there is a difference.
A result of our thinking is, that we dont care about funny pictures of germans with bierbauch and lederhosen or fat, smiling chinese guys. Its just a funny picture. Nothing bad. Thats what we think.
Now I realized, that other countries are not thinking like this. I really think its because the racial differences in them, so they cannot relax and dont care about jokes from an other race about their own. It is not an attack! Really not. We just make fun of every race, because we dont the differences. Why only make jokes about our own? We are all the same!
So please dont be too angry with us. Of course its right to tell us what you think, we dont want to hurt anybodys feelings. But Im just afraid, that our image may get even worse than it already is. I mean: We have a few racist here. There are attacks on foreigners just because of their skin color. But really not many. And we fight those as hard as we can. Its not even a half percent of us, thinking bad like these guys. But they are always the ones, who are shown in foreign media.
Confused text? Sorry. Just got up a few minutes ago, and english is, of course, not my mother tongue... :D
As a german guy who has lived in Asia for a long time let me just tell you what I think - there's no point in convincing anyone here: This is absolutely riddiculous.
I came to China to visit my girlfriend who was in Beijing for an internship. At first I didn't want to. I wasn't interested in Asia. I fell in love with China.
I came back three years later to study the Chinese language. Another year later, last year, I went back to work in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
There hasn't been a single stay in Asia where I was not sitting together with people in the streets. We went to the cheap food places, dirty, shabby, but delicious. We called the owners Mom and Dad and they loved it. I smoked my first - and my last - cigarette because a chinese restaurant owner offered it to me to show respect for his gift. We have been sitting together for the first time, trying to make conversation, barely able to understand each other because I just started learning Chinese - he brought us delicious food.
God damn, there hasn't been a single visit where we haven't sit down, laughing about each other's stereotypes and having fun together. At the end of the day, no one really cares. No one needs to care. The comparison with concentration camps is lame, it's not valid. The world has changed. People have changed. I like looking at this Mr. Wong cartoon guy, he reminds me of real people I have met and of people I really like. There is no offense. You know what? Each and every time some chinese guy called me long nose or lao wai, my chinese reply was "Bu shi lao wai. Wo shi beijing ren" They laughed and in case we've seen each other again because we were hanging around in the same places, it was good for a laugh. They called me chinese long nose in the end. I loved it.
Seriously, there's no point this fuzz get's any kind of understanding from my side. What makes me sad is that the mr. wong guys don't have the balls to bring this discussion to an end. Hiding your head in the sand and removing the cartoon is simply not the right decision how to handle this.
Pfff this pc bs is even more laughable and boring than Karate Kid IV..
Let me say that I, as a German living in Germany, do have as many stereotypes in my head as you have - that is because itu00c2u00b4s simply how the human brain works. And I find the "mr. wong"-illustration and the claim you quoted dumb and lame. That far I would agree with you.
But:
I entertain the suspect of you being a bit overaxious in terms of your cultural roots. In my opinion the so called "political correctness" practiced in the U.S. is based on fear, lack of self-esteem and misunderstood sensitivity of other peoples feelings.
I really hope your view of the world is not that narrowminded as it appears to be. Youu00c2u00b4re obviously of younger age (as I am too), so perhaps your sense of proportion will develop into a good direction.
P.S.: Do you know the episode "The Chinese Woman" of the series "Seinfeld"? Look at it and let me know if you find that funny. I think it is hilarious.
As someone of chinese decent who grew up in an all austrian environment i can tell you why the cartoon and the slogan bother me. It reminds me of kindergarden when the other kids used to sing "ching chang chung chinesen sind nicht dumm, chinesen in die ecke scheissen...." the song was most of the time finished with a knock on my head, it also reminds me of middle school and high school where people who disliked (had a grunt against me temporarilly) greeted me with "schlitzi" (slantyeyed). It reminds me of the time when i served in the military (mandatory civil service time) when unteroffiziere and offiziere and fellow recruits greeted me with ching chang chung instead of hallo or servus which by the way i understand. It reminds me of people i dont know in the streets, at university, at bars, in "public libraries!" calling me schlitzi.
Maybe it isnt a slur maybe i just dont have any balls and am too oversensitive with this whole issue.
Maybe one day the world will have changed so drastically that germany is poor and famillies will emigrate to china to open brauhaeuser offering german beer. their kids grow up in an all chinese environment and the other kids taunt them because of his nose calling him long nose and pushing him around while saying that. I think the kid is ddoomed to dislike "long nose"
I have pride and thats why i wont look the other way when people insult me! Yes there are other racial issues, but this one shows how inattentive people in germany and austria are concerning the feelings of austrian born chinese.
As someone of chinese decent who grew up in an all austrian environment i can tell you why the cartoon and the slogan bother me. It reminds me of kindergarden when the other kids used to sing "ching chang chung chinesen sind nicht dumm, chinesen in die ecke scheissen...." the song was most of the time finished with a knock on my head, it also reminds me of middle school and high school where people who disliked (had a grunt against me temporarilly) greeted me with "schlitzi" (slantyeyed). It reminds me of the time when i served in the military (mandatory civil service time) when unteroffiziere and offiziere and fellow recruits greeted me with ching chang chung instead of hallo or servus which by the way i understand. It reminds me of people i dont know in the streets, at university, at bars, in "public libraries!" calling me schlitzi.
Maybe it isnt a slur maybe i just dont have any balls and am too oversensitive with this whole issue.
Maybe one day the world will have changed so drastically that germany is poor and famillies will emigrate to china to open brauhaeuser offering german beer. their kids grow up in an all chinese environment and the other kids taunt them because of his nose calling him long nose and pushing him around while saying that. I think the kid is ddoomed to dislike "long nose"
I have pride and thats why i wont look the other way when people insult me! Yes there are other racial issues, but this one shows how inattentive people in germany and austria are concerning the feelings of austrian born chinese.
bullshit.
I agree that it's pretty uncalled for, that image of Mister Wong. Europe has never been known for being politically correct. It'll take time for them to come up to speed, but with the influx of immigrants, I'm sure that lesson will soon be learned.
As for the ask jeeves, I really don't see why that's offensive. When English writer P G Wodehouse wrote his novels and the valet's name was Jeeves, I don't think anyone in England was offended. The name became synonymous with being a knowledgeable figure (and the character was a classic English butler).
At least my English friends aren't offended.
Anyway, they're going to change the logo.
Well, first of all, congratulations, you made Mister Wong even more popular in the whole world, no one I know did hear about that site before the "8angryasians" scandal.
If you have a problem with the old and now not used logo, ok, it is your right to be offended by anything you want, or at least I think your constitiution gives you the right.
If you ask why a german company would ever consider to assosiate with a chinese man as their only logo, well it IS because of the chinese stereotype, which is most common in Germany, chinese people are considerd extremly DILIGENT in Germany. Yes, it is a stereotype, stone the Germans to death for it.
Considering the U.S.A. vs. Germany discussion here, it is always the same, you guys do not have any thing to say about the aspect of the discussion, so you fall back to racism, every time the same thing. Both countries have their problems, but what does that have anything to do with a cartoon of a chinese man?
What gives the people who are responsible for this depiction (who are caucasians by the way) the rights to represent a typical Mr. Wong of the world. I too, wont mind a little ethnical parody from time to time, but the rule of thumb is: the author of such parody has to be of the same race of the content of the joke. As for the hypothetical "Mr. Honkey and fat, beer drinking bavarian" logos, they're reasonably acceptable because they're derived from those who had personally gone through these sterotypical experiences on first hand, and it's not up to the people from outside of the ethnicity to decide how to create stereotypes they've never experienced. In other words, how would you feel if the creators behind the boston celtic and minnisota viking logos is in fact Asian? Im an Asian American and here in America, we respect each others boundaries, which is how this melting pot of cultural diveristy of a country is brought together with the understand for our needs to respect one another. You speak of racial equality in your country, but tolerate such racial degradation, which explains how divided you are. You would judge a person based on preconceived notions, and are willing assassinate your own ethnical image in exchange. Why can't people be just people instead of these "mythical geneouses, kung fu masters, skillful fry cooks, and addictive gamblers" like you portrayed them to be. Because the truth is: They dont give a shit how much you like to drink or what kind of pants you like to wear. And what does Mr. Bush and his foreign policy has to do with this? Germany is known to be an advanced society in technology, but it's obivious that they are falling behind in history. They condemn america in every way that they can but they had forgotten that it was america who held on to west berlin and later defeated the communists and eventually saved east Berlin. America is home of the brave where men have the balls to stand against all that is evil and tyranical in this world. The next time you want to scrutinize American policy, I want you to remember this: In a soccer game, there are two teams involved. The winners will go home with victory, the opposition will go down in history as losers, and spectators on the sidelines will never be heard of, know of, or seen from.
Eric - open a competing site: "Herr Schulz - Master of the Bookmark Concentration Camp"
First, I'd like to note that it's entirely possible to write about "trivial" racism like the Mr. Wong logo and still care about "real problems" like Iraq and Afghanistan, to those of you who think that people can't multitask. And whoever talked about stereotypes of Germans in the U.S. might be interested to know that most white U.S. citizens and plenty of POC are of German descent or have German ancestry. Those Oktoberfests are people celebrating their heritage, not some mockery of Germany.
That aside, I think that the dissenters here ought to take a look at How to Suppress Discussions of Racism.
Media images can be powerful. A media image that portrays Chinese people as slant-eyed mystical "masters" instead of actual people (especially when it seems like so many images of Asians in non-Asian media are of mystical martial arts masters, supersmart nerds with no social skills or FOB stereotypes with broken English) can be really damaging when there aren't any positive depictions as well.
I am American Born Chinese, and though I wonder what inspired the Germans to name their site after Chinese I'm not very offended like the Politically Correct Police. If the users of Mister Wong dot com are okay with it, what's the harm?
Jeez, who are the real Nazis here? It sure aint the Germans.
One more thing: Here is a photo of the opening ceremony of the Soccer Worldcup 2006 in Germany, one the biggest sports events worldwide. The organizers were playing with what you call stereotypes. Dancers in traditional clothing - not German but Bavarian. It was wonderful and that's maybee the better way to do it.
Ernie, Du machst Deinem Namen alle Ehre...
In diesem Fall hu00c3u00a4ttest du dich lieber nochmal von Bert, Samson oder Tiffy beraten lassen sollen.
Get a life, Earnie, rip the grim mask from your face and smile for a change ... just like Mister Wong!
What's wrong with this friendly looking chinese man?
What's wrong with this friendly looking chinese man?
chrale
As a Chinese guy who has studied in Germany, I would have to agree that the Germans are far more friendly towards Asians than in America.
In Germany, the white Germans tend to have a very positive view of Chinese people. The Germans tend to have very positive stereotypes about Chinese people being very intelligent and hardworking.
It is a lot easier for Chinese men to be accepted as an equal in Germany than in America.
In Germany, Chinese people used to be highly respected and most of the Chinese men used to marry white German girls.
As a Chinese man, I take it as a positive compliment from the Germans that some German internet company has thought positively about Chinese people being smart, friendly and appealing to the German internet consumer market by choosing a Mr Wong logo.
I am very flattered. Thank you sincerely, Germany from the bottom of my heart.
Just like I took it as a positive compliment that many nice German girls thought positively of me and wanted to go out with me just because many German girls had positive stereotypes about Chinese guys being mysterious, exotic and highly attractive for white German girls.
Want Mister Wong back alive? It's possible! Mister Chong bring back Mister Wong!
If you use FireFox do the following:
1. Install this extension https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/748
2. Install the Bing Bong Mister Wong Script http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/11082
3. Mister Wong is back again!
Want Mister Wong back alive? It's possible! Mister Chong bring back Mister Wong!
If you use FireFox do the following:
1. Install this extension https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/748
2. Install the Bing Bong Mister Wong Script http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/11082
3. Mister Wong is back again!
I know the Wong-Team personally. They are so far away from being racist as the sun from the earth. In these days of americanism and blood4oil policy your "north american political correctness..." seems to be displaced. It's only an Bookmark-Site not an iranian nuclear bomb attack. So come down! As a SEO i only can congratulate you: GREAT Linkbait, Ernie!!!
Proposal: Put Wong in a bavarian leather trouser + Beer + Sauerkraut = political correctness
I know the Wong-Team personally. They are so far away from being racist as the sun from the earth. In these days of americanism and blood4oil policy your "north american political correctness..." seems to be displaced. It's only an Bookmark-Site not an iranian nuclear bomb attack. So come down! As a SEO i only can congratulate you: GREAT Linkbait, Ernie!!!
Proposal: Put Wong in a bavarian leather trouser + Beer + Sauerkraut = political correctness
I love how these dissenters against 8A have really elevated this to a compelling, articulate and purely intellectual dialogue. My current favorite so far would have to be Herman the German, hands down, no contest. Herman, even though you're tall, blond, blue-eyed and white, and experience profound racism and oppression simply because you're tall, blond, blue-eyed and white, we here at 8Asians love and welcome you with open arms anyway. We're glad you're a fan of our site, because we. are. a. fan. of. YOU. *winks*
I love how these dissenters against 8A have really elevated this to a compelling, articulate and purely intellectual dialogue. My current favorite so far would have to be Herman the German, hands down, no contest. Herman, even though you're tall, blond, blue-eyed and white, and experience profound racism and oppression simply because you're tall, blond, blue-eyed and white, we here at 8Asians love and welcome you with open arms anyway. We're glad you're a fan of our site, because we. are. a. fan. of. YOU. *winks*
mister wong logo = racist,
biggest joke of the year!!
oh ernie, so little sense of humor, unbelievable.....but we see, some stubborn, inflexible people who cannot be relaxed are still present, too much
mister wong logo = racist,
biggest joke of the year!!
oh ernie, so little sense of humor, unbelievable.....but we see, some stubborn, inflexible people who cannot be relaxed are still present, too much
omfg, what a bunch of idiots you are...
i would never notice such a funny character as racistic or not political correct. you are the racists by thinking so...
omfg, what a bunch of idiots you are...
i would never notice such a funny character as racistic or not political correct. you are the racists by thinking so...
@Alex, does that apply to the Turkish living in Germany also? As i understand from those i've spoken with, racism in Germany is hardly a small problem.
@Wang, you have to understand the history of Chinese migration and marginalization in the US to understand the nature of the offense. Do you remember in the early 90s how the popularty of Japanese autos were putting American auto workers out of work? Chinese and other Asians bore the brunt of the resentment, hostility and even physical violence because of this. One Chinese man--Vincent Chin, was beaten to death w/a bat by 2 unemployed autoworkers just because they thought he was Japanese.
Other commenters, Germans and Europeans alike, making frivolous comparisons to Football mascots, Germans in lederhosen, etc--these are very poor comparisons. Caucasians are not sterotyped in a negative fashion within the US and European media as Asians and other people of darker color often are.
In the end, the fact that the the founders, regardless of good intent, found it appropriate to use a common surname found in China as a moniker/brand for their site simply demonstrates the lack of good judgement for a company with global aspirations.
@Alex, does that apply to the Turkish living in Germany also? As i understand from those i've spoken with, racism in Germany is hardly a small problem.
@Wang, you have to understand the history of Chinese migration and marginalization in the US to understand the nature of the offense. Do you remember in the early 90s how the popularty of Japanese autos were putting American auto workers out of work? Chinese and other Asians bore the brunt of the resentment, hostility and even physical violence because of this. One Chinese man--Vincent Chin, was beaten to death w/a bat by 2 unemployed autoworkers just because they thought he was Japanese.
Other commenters, Germans and Europeans alike, making frivolous comparisons to Football mascots, Germans in lederhosen, etc--these are very poor comparisons. Caucasians are not sterotyped in a negative fashion within the US and European media as Asians and other people of darker color often are.
In the end, the fact that the the founders, regardless of good intent, found it appropriate to use a common surname found in China as a moniker/brand for their site simply demonstrates the lack of good judgement for a company with global aspirations.
What kind of blog is this, if critical postings are censored? You guys build your own truth, that's how Americans try to dominate the world.
What kind of blog is this, if critical postings are censored? You guys build your own truth, that's how Americans try to dominate the world.
Noch vor kurzem warb der deutsche Bookmark-Dienst "Mister Wong" genau mit diesem Slogan. Inzwischen wurde der Spruch samt dem sehr bekannten Markenzeichen des Portals, dem grinsenden Chinesen, von der Seite entfernt. Wie Wong-Gru00c3u00bcnder Kai Tietjen in seinen Blog schreibt, reagierte er damit auf Rassismus-Vorwu00c3u00bcrfe einiger amerikanischer und kanadischer Blogger asiatischer Abstammung.
(http://schpiegel.de/cms/index.php?option=com_conte...)
Noch vor kurzem warb der deutsche Bookmark-Dienst "Mister Wong" genau mit diesem Slogan. Inzwischen wurde der Spruch samt dem sehr bekannten Markenzeichen des Portals, dem grinsenden Chinesen, von der Seite entfernt. Wie Wong-Gru00c3u00bcnder Kai Tietjen in seinen Blog schreibt, reagierte er damit auf Rassismus-Vorwu00c3u00bcrfe einiger amerikanischer und kanadischer Blogger asiatischer Abstammung.
(http://schpiegel.de/cms/index.php?option=com_conte...)
it seems to me that some people have too much time and too little problems.
But thanks for this: "Maybe people arenu00e2u0080u0099t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North America." ...you made my day.
it seems to me that some people have too much time and too little problems.
But thanks for this: "Maybe people arenu00e2u0080u0099t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North America." ...you made my day.
C'mon, this sort of "hyper"-political correctness is plain silly. You really must be bored if you worry about this sort of stuff which. A cartoon that illustrates a chinese guy has nothing to do with racism.
C'mon, this sort of "hyper"-political correctness is plain silly. You really must be bored if you worry about this sort of stuff which. A cartoon that illustrates a chinese guy has nothing to do with racism.
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[...] in the Mashable comments a few weeks back, and again this week, for offending Asian Americans. The 8Asians blog was outraged by the site, saying: “But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan [...]
[...] in the Mashable comments a few weeks back, and again this week, for offending Asian Americans. The 8Asians blog was outraged by the site, saying: “But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan [...]
[...] in the Mashable comments a few weeks back, and again this week, for offending Asian Americans. The 8Asians blog was outraged by the site, saying: “But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan [...]
[...] in the Mashable comments a few weeks back, and again this week, for offending Asian Americans. The 8Asians blog was outraged by the site, saying: “But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan [...]
[...] in the Mashable comments a few weeks back, and again this week, for offending Asian Americans. The 8Asians blog was outraged by the site, saying: “But seriously, one of their web badges has the slogan [...]
[...] is the entry on 8asians, here on mashable, the excuse of Mr. Wongs CEO and here the opinion of Nicole [...]
[...] Mister Wong hin, wenn man die Kommentare in der Blog-Bekanntgabe von der Vorwoche liest. Wegen den Vorwürfen des Rassismus durch Sprüche wie “ping pong, king kong, Mister Wong” ist eine [...]
[...] 8 Asians, der von Amerikanern und Kanadiern mit asiatischem Hintergrund geschrieben wird. In einem Beitrag beschwerte sich Ernie Hsiung, dass das “”Stereotypen” seien [das], der [...]
[...] Umbau war notwendig geworden, da nach dem internationalen Start von Mister Wong vermehrt empörte Kommentare von div. amerikanische Nutzer aufkamen, die den deutschen Betreibern Rassismus [...]
[...] Wong und schnellstmöglich umgezogen. Ich werde Mr. Wong wohl auch weiter treu bleiben, trotz Rassismus-Vorwürfen von Bloggern und der Ankündigung von [...]
[...] amerikanischen Blogger namens Ernie mit offensichtlich asiatischen Abstammung, regte sich in seinem Blog 8Asiens.com so sehr über Mr.Wong auf, dass einige weitere Diskussionen später nun kein Mr.Wong mehr im Logo von Mr.Wong mehr zu sehen [...]
[...] Das beanstandete Logo ist verschwunden … [...]
Mister Wong – Der rassistische Social Bookmarkservice?…
Die Darstellung “Mister Wongs” ist rassistisch?! Die Verbildlichung unseres asiatischen Bookmarkverwalters Mister Wong finden einige Amerikaner rassistisch. Daher wurde nun das Abbild Mister Wongs im Logo der Social Bookmarkplattform entfer…
[...] von 8asians.com sagt: “Maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North [...]
[...] getrennt. Der verschmitzt lchelnde Asiate kam im Land der unbegrenzten Mglichkeiten nicht gut an. Kurz vor dem Start des Bookmark-Dienstes in den USA kann Kai Tietjen, Geschftsfhrer beim [...]
[...] Korrektheit wegen rausgeflogen. Geschossen wurde gegen den sympathischen Schlipsträger aus dem 8Asians Blog. Daraufhin Schützenhilfe vom Mashable und Klarstellung im Mister Wong Blog. Jetzt sucht man [...]
[...] Seite zugeordnet werden kann. So beklagt sich Ernie Hsiung, einer der Gründer des Blogs 8 Asians, in seinem Blog lautstark über das [...]
[...] ich die Aufregung nicht. Laut Telagon Sichelputzer ist Mr. Wong wegen der von den 8asians gemachten Rassismus Vorwürfen eingeknickt und hat den Kopf im Logo abgekratzt. Ich habe nichts gegen Minderheiten oder [...]
[...] Namen Mister Wong und dessen Darstellung im Logo der Seite diskriminiert. Der Blog 8 Asians berichtete schon Mitte Mai, als die US-Version noch nicht im Netz war, über das deutsche [...]
[...] Mister Wong von nordamerikanischen Kommunisten verhaftet? Denn nun prangt nur noch deren Roter Stern dort, wo vorher Mr. Wong lächelte. [...]
[...] waren der “Kastration” einige Rassismus-Vorwürfe aus den USA, wo man sich offenbar von Logo und Slogan nicht unbedingt geschmeichelt [...]
[...] American & Canadian American bloggers (of which I am a member) was the first that I know of to publicly decry Mister Wong. As written by Ernie, one of the founders: Maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political [...]
[...] , den Mister Wong entfernt. Hintergrund war eine negativer Bericht in den USA auf Mashable und dem 8asian Blog. Nun gab der CEO von Mister Wong nach und entfernte den Slogan und Mister Wong. Also ich konnte [...]
[...] sehr schnell, aber ein klares Statement seitens Mister Wong hätte genügt um der Argumentation von 8asians, die ja scheinbar zu der Yahoo-Clique gehören und damit auch im amerikanischen Platzhirsch [...]
[...] anstehenden Expansion nach China und in die USA und einem ersten, für große Aufregung sorgenden Rassismusvorwurf von 8asians.com wurde das Männchen aus dem Logo gebannt. Einem Interview mit Kai Tietjen, Geschäftsführer des [...]
Wongs Kopflosigkeit: eine Ching-Chong Affäre…
Mister Wongs Logo-Asiate sieht sich Rassismus-Vorwürfen ausgesetzt. Resultat: die beliebte Social Bookmarking Seite präsentiert sich ab sofort kopflos.
……
[...] Ernie first brought our attention to the Mister Wong bookmarking site that used to employ as a logo a caricature of an Asian man with jaundiced skin and slanty eyes, reminiscent of the malicious political caricatures Americans drew once upon a time in history to support the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Mister Wong logo struck a sensitive nerve in many in our community and, in response, we voiced our concerns. Then, a tidal wave of unproductive and clearly abusive comments to Ernie’s post chastised 8A for “making a big deal out of nothing.” [...]
[...] not have wanted (unless he prescribes to the any-news-is-good-news motto). Ernie Hsiung of the 8 Asians multi-author blog in May pointed out the logo Mister Wong used [...]
[...] three months ago, I write a post called Mister Wong, Offensive Social Bookmarking Portal. It gets a healthy dosage of debate, but not too [...]
[...] ein oder andere hat bestimmt vom “Mister-Wong-Skandal” gehört. Kurz zusammengefasst: Acht Asiaten (in den USA) stellten beim Surfen durchs www fest, dass im Logo von Mr Wong die Charikatur eines Chinesen [...]
Mister Wong ist wrong…
Ist aus arbeitsbelastungstechnischen Gründen an mir vorbeigerauscht, aber aus dokumentatorischen Gründen sollte man mal dort klicken, das beachten (vor allem die Google Ads unten, hihi) und das da lesen.
Die Leute von Construktiv (Disclaimer) ha…..
[...] 8 Asians [...]
[...] Pong, Mister Wong Posted August 4, 2007 Während an vielen Stellen über die Rassismus-Vorwürfe gegen Mister Wong berichtet wird, fehlt mir bei der Berichterstattung oft das folgende, kleine [...]
[...] (…) has the slogan “ping pong, king kong, Mister Wong.” Which I, (…) interpret as “ching chong, Mister Wong” and get INCREDIBLY F***G ANGRY (Quelle: 8Asians) [...]
[...] zieht die Diskussion solch große Kreise, dass selbst die etablierten Medien darüber berichten und hier, auf dem Blog der Asia-Amerikaner eine hitzige Diskussion entbrannt ist. Von „Klaus – der [...]
[...] aller Munde, weil der lächelnde Chinese, der als Logo benutzt wurde, von den Betreibern eines Blogs als rassistisch empfunden [...]
[...] Amerikanische User hatten sich über das Mister Wong Logo (lachender Asiat) aufgeregt und nun wurde von Mister Wong der lächelnde Asiat entfernt. Auf dem Mister Wong Blog kann man sich jetzt eine öffentliche Entschuldigung der Macher durchlesen. [...]
[...] als Ernie Hsiung, einer der Gründer des Blogs “8 Asians” auf seiner Seite dazu Stellung bezog und Deutschland als ein Land bezeichnete in dem die Menschen möglicherweise “nicht so [...]
[...] Neuen Medien. Man möchte politisch korrekt sein und reagiert damit etwas überstürzt auf absurde Rassismusvorwürfe. Man geht ja auch nicht hin und unterstellt den weltweiten stereotypen Darstellungen von Lederhosen [...]
[...] den Kommentaren zu einem der Beiträge auf 8Asians, welche die Diskussion unter anderem initiiert haben, darf man jedenfalls einen Nutzer wie folgt [...]
[...] manifestations in modern society, and its application to Gen-X and Gen-Y APAs. Wrong. We cried foul to the Mister Wong controversy when a German social bookmarking website tried to export their [...]
[...] it’s too easy. Also, I’ve been banned from making remarks about Germans forever after writing about a German Internet company with a squinty-eyed mascot. Four years later and I still get hate-mail. MOODTHINGY How does this post make you feel? [...]
[...] impress upon the Pipe Dream editors how inappropriate it is to caricature Asian Americans with the Mister Wong logo. Send your comments to [email protected] /* */ (Asian Outlook editorial staff) or write [...]
[...] eyes. Asian American engineer Ernie Hsiung penned the most widely-read critique on a site called 8Asians. “One of their web badges has the slogan ‘ping pong, king kong, Mister Wong.’ [...]
[...] bookmarking service Mister Wong was, not so long ago, an ambitious, well-used, innovative project. It was also the subject of heated international controversy online. Today the service finds itself put up for sale by parent company Construktiv. In a post on the [...]
[...] Mister Wong, the Offensive Social Bookmarking Portal [...]