Pete Hoekstra’s Offensive Anti-Asian Super Bowl Ad

By jozjozjoz | Monday, February 6, 2012 | 24 Comments

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It seems like the new Super Bowl tradition of late is airing commercials which are racist, offensive, or at least racially insensitive toward Asians. In 2008, it was a set of offensive SalesGenie.com ads (written by an Asian, no less). 2010 gave us the Doritos Samurai Guy (who didn’t know the ways of the Samurai). Last year, Timothy Hutton using the plight of Tibet as a punchline for Groupon’s deals on fish curry, not even a dish that Tibetans are known for.

So what fun anti-Asian ads aired during the 2012 Super Bowl? Seeing as it’s an election year, a political ad is making waves: Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra aired an ad accusing the policies of incumbent Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow (or Debbie “SpendItNow” as seen in the ad) as being helpful to China, to the detriment of the United States.

From 8Asians reader Peter L:

If you haven’t seen it already, this advertisement went up during the super bowl in place of a local ad spot. It accuses a political opponent of giving political power to Asian countries in a way that marginalizes Asians as a whole… I’m sort of wondering what that chick was thinking when she signed-up to be in this ad. Her way of speaking sounds like she’s a fluent American English speaker, but mid-way through her schtick it looks like she remembers she’s supposed to sound like a stereotypical fob with missing prepositions. Maybe she liked the size of the cheque.

Luckily, this spot did not air nationwide. But thanks to the power of social media, it is being widely shared and condemned– including by a coalition of black ministers, civil rights folks, and even GOP advisers.

Hoekstra’s campaign says that the ad is “satirical,” but I’d argue that there needs to be a bit of wit behind it if you call it satire.

Categories:

DiscriminationPoliticsSportsTV

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http://www.8Asians.com/ jozjozjoz

According to the Detroit Free Press:

Hoekstra said the ad, which was filmed in California and featured an actress whose parents are 100% Chinese, was only insensitive to Debbie Stabenow, whom he called “Debbie Spend-it-now.”

“The Chinese benefit from the recklessness of U.S. spending. It doesn’t criticize the Chinese at all,” he said.

Full story: http://www.freep.com/article/20120206/NEWS15/120206008/With-videos-Pete-Hoekstra-Super-Bowl-ad-slammed
http://hubpages.com/profile/Pamela+N+Red PamelaNRed

It will ruin his chances of getting the Asian American vote as well as other people who won’t be happy about such a racially motivated advertisement.
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

Stupid people love using the “but it was satire!1″ defense when called out on their stupid bullshit. They apparently have no idea what satire is.
http://thylacine.livejournal.com/ ErikaHarada

@jozjozjoz …Is he serious? Wow.
cweezy

I mean the message of the ad isn’t “anti-Asian” but it does weirdly reinforce stereotypes/ignorance/xenophobia to make a point about the national debt. I got very uncomfortable watching it.
Pingback: Hoekstra’s racist Super Bowl ad was not the first or the only « The Plaid Bag Connection
Kimiye

Yeah, the broken English make me mad.
http://www.8Asians.com/ jozjozjoz

I think the most interesting thing is how African Americans are weighing in against how racist this ad is and drawing comparisons of the woman’s broken English to a “black person speaking in a slave dialect.”

(See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/pete-hoekstra-ad-china-michigan_n_1256912.htmlThe Rev. Charles Williams II of Detroit’s King Solomon Baptist church, where Malcolm X spoke in the 1960s, joined with several other Detroit pastors calling for Hoekstra to pull the ad.

“The Asian woman speaking in this video would be no different than him having a black person speaking in slave dialect,” Williams said in a statement Monday. “If Pete Hoekstra does not see any wrong in this commercial, he doesn’t deserve to be in the race.”)

Hoekstra’s response is expected but baffling. I’m not sure why he thinks it helps his case (to say this isn’t racist) because the actress’s parents are “100 percent Chinese.”

“It’s not a stereotype at all. Through the creative, this is a young woman in China who’s speaking English,” Hoekstra added on Fox News Monday afternoon, referring to the fictional environment of the ad. “That’s quite an achievement.” // Quoted from:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/pete-hoekstras-china-ad-provokes-accusations-of-racism/2012/02/06/gIQAPD6buQ_blog.html

It’s an achievement to show a “woman in China” (with no accent, mind you) speaking broken English?! What???
Feedbucket

I was most bothered by the way the commercial doesn’t even directly address China — the actress says “we” and “us”, meaning… Asian American girls with bad fob accents are stealing American jobs?

It’s like they took notes from that Chinese Professor commercial and missed the most salient points. If they’re going to veil racism behind political punditry, they could at least do it right.
Keith Oh

Of course lost in all the discourse is the fact that China only owns approximately 1/16 of the current national debt. The majority of the debt is owned by the Fed and other individuals and institutions in the good old USA. But leave it to conservatives to distill it all down to “foreigners”.
Danny_Ahmed

@Keith Oh Yeah, foreign-owned national debt has as much bs as the foreign-dependent energy bs. Ex. Half of the oil in this country is from home-grown sources, only the other half is from foreign sources, most of it from Canada and Mexico.
mwei

@jozjozjoz if a girl from the rice paddies can learn to speak English fluently like that, then it is an amazing achievement.

there’s a projected 500 MILLION “English speakers” in China in 2020, or something like that. ( I made up those numbers)
mwei

am I the only Asian viewer who’s kind of turned on by the ad?

am I a bad Asian?
raymonst

@jozjozjoz why am i not shocked that he’s an old white man?
PeterLo

His website, http://www.debbiespenditnow.com/, isn’t racist, is it?
Kimiye

@PeterLo Wow. Impressed by the web design, stunned by the message.
violettavane2011

This is equal parts enraging and chilling.

I did a long reaction here.
Laciemn

@mwei Haha I know, why choose such a pretty and charming girl for what is obviously anti-Chinese propaganda?
Laciemn

I really, really wish republicans would stop doing this sort of thing. I mean, please. What year are we in again? Ugh please stop trying to appeal to racist tendencies and fear mongering to win an election. It’s RUINING our country and political system with ads like this and the defamation of candidates. Why not focus on important relevant issues instead of acting like America is the big, stupid, secretly racist country. If republicans didn’t spew racism, sexism, and every kind of bigotry, maybe it would be easier to come into political union. Republicans keep trying to separate people. “White church goers” vs “Anyone different.”
Laciemn

I want to add I don’t identify as republican, democrat. I have always disapproved of both parties for various things.
mwei

@Laciemn vote out all the incumbents!
JH86

And the Asian chick was paid how much to do such a discriminatory ad? Pathetic!
Danny_Ahmed

I think due to the political sensitivities and how prominent many Chinese have become involved in American institutions (and in several ways, vice versa), Pete Hoekstra is receiving a lot of criticism and condemnation from a lot of people across the ethnic/racial spectrum, not just Chinese or Asian Americans.
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