Dunkin Donuts Blackface Racist Ad Campaign Controversy [VIDEO]: Thai CEO Calls Criticism "Paranoid about Racism" As Main Corporate Headquarters Apologizes For Insensitivity
A Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for a charcoal donut in Thailand has caused a lot of controversy. Human Rights Watch called the Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for the Charcoal Donut "bizarre and racist". Dunkin Donuts has apologized for the "insensitive" ad.
The Dunkin Donuts blackface ad features a woman in blackface with bright pink lips advertising a charcoal donut. The slogan in Thai reads: "Break every rule of deliciousness".
Blackface has an extremely controversial and racist history. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows in which white performers created a stereotyped caricature of a black person. Outrageous stereotypes such as the "happy go-lucky darky on the plantation" or "dandified coon" proliferated. As a result, its use in the Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for a charcoal donut caused serious controversy.
According to the Associated Press, Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said about the Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for a charcoal donut : "It's both bizarre and racist that Dunkin' Donuts thinks that it must color a woman's skin black and accentuate her lips with bright pink lipstick to sell a chocolate doughnut. Dunkin' Donuts should immediately withdraw this ad, publicly apologize to those it's offended and ensure this never happens again."
Human Rights Watch said that the Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for a charcoal donut would draw "howls of outrage" in the US, but according to the Associated Press it hasn't drawn much notice in Thailand, where "inexplica[ble]. . .racial stereotypes" are often used in advertising. Skin lightening creams are common in Asia, and an herbal Thai toothpaste says its dark-colored product "is black, but it's good."
The CEO of Dunkin Donuts Thailand Nadim Salhani said about the Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for a charcoal donut controversy in a telephone interview: "It's absolutely ridiculous. We're not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don't get it. What's the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?"
"Not everybody in the world is paranoid about racism. I'm sorry, but this is a marketing campaign, and it's working very well for us." Salahi's teenage daughter is the model featured in the advertisement.
Dunkin Donuts' Thai franchise operates independently. The main corporate Dunkin Donuts has apologized for the Dunkin Donuts blackface racist ad campaign for a controversy.