Asian American Commercial Watch: Intel’s House of Flying Laptops

By John | Wednesday, May 2, 2012 | 5 Comments

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I just saw the 30-second version of this commercial by Intel, promoting the Ultrabook line of laptops “inspired” by Intel. I personally just bought a Toshiba Ultrabook back in February and love it (for its long battery life as well as how thin it is – like a MacBook Air, except has 3 USB ports, HDMI & VGA out, SD card, Ethernet jack, etc.)

As for the Intel commercial. I have some mixed feelings about it. While I loved both movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of the Flying Daggers (which both films having Zhang Ziyi, who I absolutely adore), I think this commercial also reinforces the idea of all Asians knowing some martial arts. Also, the old wise elderly man stating you’ve brought great shame to this coffee hut line doesn’t help either. I’m glad that the commercial ended with two English speakers though. (You know, just to make sure that Asian Americans can speak English and are not necessarily perpetual foreigners). Though I was wondering if the intent was also to use this commercial in Greater China and Asia with a local language appropriate ending as well.

I do love the fact that the two women warriors are carrying these extraordinarily large laptops – because once you have an Ultrabook, I don’t think you can really go back (just like how I loved how HP portrayed the usefulness of a long battery life). My old laptop does seem pretty old and bulky compared to my current Toshiba Ultrabook. Overall, I liked the commercial – I mean, who doesn’t like Wuxia-styled fight scenes?

But if all commercials staring Asian Americans were themed like this Intel commercial, I’d be more than a little annoyed. I think the last time I saw this kind of inspired commercial was back during the 2008 Beijing Olympics when McDonald’s aired a similarly inspired commercial. I’d rather see Asian Americans portrayed in day-to-day situations like in Target, Volkswagon, etc.

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http://twitter.com/DJPeterLo DJ Peter Lo

I just started working in this Industry. Maybe I’m just happy to see the product I’m working with sensationalized, but the commercial worked on me.
http://www.cksmetalart.blogspot.com/ Cindy

The ad starts more as an homage, and would be good if it stopped with the woman at the end. The old man at the end just seemed like a racist turn. So I liked it and then I didn’t.
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http://twitter.com/nanazowadi JaniceHelena

The version I saw ended with the lady saying “I’m fine”. I took it as a reference to the crouching tiger/ hidden dragon movie. The fact that two types of asians were portrayed made it not seem racist to me but fun as a fan of that movie genre. Of course I’m not asian so I may be missing the point.
As an African American I have misgivings about those fried chicken or salsa commercials with grinning negros
jsmithcsa

I guess your article proves that if you want to find racism, you can find it anywhere. I see nothing about this, unless you also want to argue that every Asian martial arts movie, and the kiosks at the mall that sell them, are racist. I’m not buying it.

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