Mountain Dew is a drink made by a powerful corporation. So of course that corporation advertises in the media by way of commercials.
A recent commercial demonstrates clearly many of the issues in the book relating to race and crime. In it, the soft drink company conflates "black" with "crime."
Here is a summary from Dr. Boyce Watkins:
If you’ve never heard of Felicia the Goat, you’ll know about her soon. Felicia the Goat is the main character in a recent Mountain Dew commercial, created in part by Tyler the Creator. The video shows Felicia in a line up of criminal suspects, all of whom may be charged with a crime.
Of course, in the world of Mountain Dew, every single suspect is black. Not just regular black people, but the kinds of ratchety negroes you might find in the middle of any hip-hop minstrel show: Gold teeth, “mean mugging,” sun glasses wearing, white-t sportin, hard core n*ggaz ready to “get into some ol gangsta sh*t.” Apparently, this is the kind of ad you put out if you want to appeal to the black male demographic.
On the other side of the one-way glass is an innocent, feeble, traumatized white woman, standing next to a detective telling her to “nail this little sucker.” The woman is shaking, wounded and crying in fear over whatever these scary black men have done and might do to her in the future. Black men are frightening and violent, that’s well established in the first few seconds of the commercial. There is also another white officer, and a black man standing in the back corner. One side of the glass is mostly criminal, 100% black. The other side of the glass consists of the “good guys,” nearly all of whom are white.
Throughout the video, the woman is trying to decide whether to identify the suspect, and is being threatened by the goat who is telling her that you “betta not snitch on a playa.” The goat also starts out by saying, in a scruffy voice, “You shoulda gave me some more….I’m nasty.” So, I guess that means that the woman was s-xually assaulted by the goat, maybe Rick Ross style.
As the woman is shaking, crying and trying to decide what to do, the goat says, “Snitches get stitches fool.” After that, he says, “Keep ya mouth shut. When I get outta here, I’m gonna do you up (translation: Probably beat and s-xually assault you again).” Shaking in fear, the woman runs screaming out of the room, worried that testifying is going to get her killed by this demonic negro goat and his thugged-out sidekicks.
Mountain Dew has set a new low for corporate racism. Their decision to lean on well-known racial stereotypes is beyond disgusting. This doesn’t even include the fact that the company has put black men on par with animals. The holocaust of mass incarceration and the glorification of violent prison culture has taken a tremendous toll on the black community. Corporations are making it cool for black men to murder one another, while gun manufacturers ensure that the streets are flooded with the weapons necessary for us to complete our own genocide.
http://www.yourblackworld.net/2013/04/black-news/mountain-dew-releases-arguably-the-most-racist-commercial-in-history/
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Now, I don't drink this shit so I don't need to boycott it. But I hope others will.
When commercials for
addictive and
dangerous soft drinks depict an entire race of people as criminals and simultaneously makes fun of crime victims, it's just too much.
Here is the commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfuxNSu1EcQ
And if that is no low enough, the company has another one where it mocks drunk driving. In it, the goat gets pulled over and is accused of "Dew U I" (get it, DUI?). Disgusting stuff if you know someone who has been killed by a drunk driver as I do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=tZ7bOfkfnNQ&feature=endscreen
