It’s not too often that you see Asians or Asian Americans in national television brand advertising campaigns, so when I do, I blog about it: take the CareerBuilder.com, Wells Fargo and General Electric commercials, for example.
I knew that when I saw this commercial the other day for Tostitos, with an Asian American woman, it would eventually be on YouTube. Well, an admirer just uploaded it and the wisdom of crowds have identified the actress as Korean American Patricia Ja Lee, best known for her role as Cassie Chan, the Pink Ranger on the television series Power Rangers: Turbo and Power Rangers: In Space. (I have never ever seen an episode of Power Rangers in my life.)
That said, this commercial makes no sense to me; I guess the commercial is trying to convey that these jalapeno flavored tostitos are not too spicey or hot? And similar to the commercial, that the jalapeno flavoring is quiet and subtle? And what does she mean when she says, “Not very subtle, Mom?” [Editor's Note: John, it means Momma Tostito wants Tostito's chick to get married and have little baby Tostitos. Like all good Tostitos, er, Asian mothers.]
What next?
Other posts you may be interested in:
Recent Comments
- Daul Kim: One Sassy ‘n Smart Bitch
- Najib: I wonder what is going on with this girl. She has been fooled into this simulacrum, and what she thought was real is not real at all.
- Proof that Russell of Disney/Pixar’s Up is Asian: The Color Scripts
- Mending Broken Glass: Khmer Rouge History Now to be Taught in Cambodia
- kbok: it may seem shocking to other people that kids don’t believe their elders when hearing about khmer rouge atrocities, but if your mother told you that soldiers shot at her, pushing her off a mountain and into landmine paths...
- Chinese Adoptees: Stolen or Abandoned?
- Dan: CSLI, I think my previous comment stated that I “hope” not “should”. It was not meant to belittle anyone and yes I can imagine just like most people, adopted or not. Though the effect will not be the same as...
- csli: Yes, Dan. A lot of things do “go on in China”, not all of them bad”. But try to imagine what “China” means to an eleven-year old girl, surrounded by doting white Americans, who knows that she is only...
- Obama Bows to Emperor Akihito
- JC: @ Eric: Not only that, he’s half brother lives in China and is married to a Chinese woman. There’s a lot of Asian in his family
- Yahoo! Games Writer Freaks Out Over Nintendo DS Dating Simulations
- JC: This guy knows next to nothing about Otaku culture and dare to write about Japanese games. It’s just another ignorant white person making self-righteous judgment calls against another part of Asian culture. He’s just...
Recent Events
- [Nov 3] NORTHERN CA: Intro to Movietelling (Neo-Benshi) with Dennis Somera
- [Nov 14] SOUTHERN CA: Grace Kim & the Spiders From Mars
- [Nov 20] NORTHERN CA: CATS 9th Annual Asian Comedy Night starring 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors
- [Nov 21] SOUTHERN CA: BANANA: Where Infamous Asian-American Bloggers Unite to Chop It Up
- [Nov 22] TORONTO: S.M. Global Audition
6 Comments to “Ex-Power Ranger Patricia Ja Lee in Tostitos Commercial”
John wrote:
After turning up the volume on my PC and re-listening to the commercial carefully, I did hear and understand Patricia Ja Lee say, “Caroline, if you don’t use your baby factory it may shutdown. Not very subtle, Mom…” Now I at least what Lee is trying to say (and according to the YouTube posted comments, that is NOT Lee’s voice…)
Posted on 06-May-09 at 8:24 pm | Permalink
Matt wrote:
I’m still shocked and appalled that you haven’t seen a single episode of Power Rangers.
Though if there’s anywhere that I’ve seen a rise in Asian Americans it has to be in commercials. Some examples include the violently funny jawbone commerical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5R2ZCKB0RY to the careerbuilder commericals and finally to Roger Fan in a Verizon add. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shr1e-YCcpg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.ningin.com%2F2009%2F04%2F04%2Factor-roger-fanface-of-verizon-wireless%2F&feature=player_embedded
You can’t get more mainstream then TV commericals so whoever is casting these AA/PI’s; good for them.
Posted on 06-May-09 at 11:23 pm | Permalink
daniel wrote:
“baby factory”. nice.
Posted on 07-May-09 at 6:43 am | Permalink
John wrote:
@Matt – I was wondering if that was Roger Fan in that Verizon commercial!
As for the Jawbone commercial, I have seen it online, but not on TV… (I think it is strictly a viral web ad because of the length and all the swearing) and plus, I don’t think a lot of people have heard of Jawbone…
Posted on 07-May-09 at 11:54 pm | Permalink
Ally wrote:
This commercial cracks me up. I’m making sure my mom sees this – her “baby factory” hints to me are sooooo not subtle. She’ll get a kick out of this, I hope.
Posted on 08-May-09 at 6:57 pm | Permalink
Sue wrote:
I think the commercial is just encouraging emotional eating–mom hurt my feelings, let’s eat some junk food. It’s not until she remembers that baby factory remark and seems hurt by it that she grabs the bag. Sad.
Posted on 23-May-09 at 7:32 am | Permalink
Post a Comment