Japan: Firm drops ads with chimp in dreadlocks

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http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200506150138.html

Firm drops ads with chimp in dreadlocks

06/15/2005

 

The Asahi Shimbun

 

In response to cries of racism, cosmetics maker Mandom Corp. has pulled TV

and magazine advertisements featuring a chimpanzee in dreadlocks and

Rastafarian clothing imitating movements of black actors.

 

In the commercial, several black actors use a cleaning product to wipe sweat

from their faces.

 

The chimpanzee, dressed in a costume of gold, red and green, imitates their

movements.

 

" We thought it would create a good atmosphere to have a chimpanzee among

friends having fun in a party, " said a company spokesman. " We never intended

it to be prejudiced, but we concluded that the ad would be taboo based on an

international point of view. "

 

The Community, an Osaka-based human rights group, informed Mandom in a

letter that the commercial was " an extremely insensitive and tasteless

attempt at humor. "

 

" Visually equating black men as `apes' or `monkeys' is a particularly

egregious racial slur, " the letter said.

 

As for the chimpanzee's costume, the group said: " Dreadlocks in the colors

of red, gold, and green are Rastafarian religious symbols. The dressing up

of a chimpanzee in such garb would be akin to dressing it up as a Buddhist

monk or a Shinto priest. "

 

The commercial had been broadcast since March.