The Latest Mystery Web Trend: Go Ahead and Google 2204355

By on July 9, 2010 in News 23

Culture-jamming or internet prank? Decide for yourself: call it “bullshit” or “it’s really f-d up” in the comments below.

WTFMany news outlets are confused exactly what is the point of this video (deal with the ’80s Nintendo video game sounds at your own risk).

I have tried to figure what the hell this is about, the site Know Your Meme did an exemplar job of why the internet media is even talking about this now, and Matt Zoller Setiz on Salon made a good connection where some of the video was sourced from:

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  • Caca

    and, how is this racist? I don´t get it.

    • Adaugeo

      Seriously. It's not like it was white people in black face paint. BET is racist by the title (“Black” Entertainment Television)!

  • Doctordrewl

    This is racist to some because it shows prototypical blacks celebrating their stereotypical love for chicken… hell, homeboy's doubling up on the dark meat, while soul sister dances around just thinking about the Colonel and his 11 secret herbs and spices… baaaakooook

  • Fjasdl

    man…once people get over the fact that we are not the same but still equal, they will understand why marketing chicken to black people makes sense.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Spencer-Weedman/1092656515 Spencer Weedman

      Because fried chicken is damn good?

      • Karzaix

        exactly.

  • O. Spengler

    Just because it's 4chan doesn't mean that it's good.

  • justagirl

    people pleeze! day got some mad cash fo dat shit. and day gots to be on tv, too. fuck ya'll.

  • GoodDoktorBad

    Alot of people like chicken. Some of them are black people. So what…..
    Get over it!

  • Art Mom

    I don't think this is racist. I'm a white Jewish NY gurl and I do the same chicken dance when I get KFC! Grow up!

  • Saturn-9

    And if I did the commercial, it would be fatist… But, I also love dat chicken from Popeye's.

  • HCIC

    Maybe if there were white people in the video trying to dance like that instead of niggers, it might be racist.

  • oman28

    What a load of shit. Complete waste of time

  • Blacky Blackerson

    I'm just going to go ahead and assume that the “what's so racist about this?” comments were all left by white people. The argument that white stereotyping is ok, but black stereotyping is not, doesn't really fly, people. White people LITERALLY ENSLAVED people of color for many hundreds of years dating back to even pre-western exploration. If you think that the playing field has somehow been leveled in our modern world, you are sadly ignorant of the world around you. Black people have only been allowed to participate in American civics for 50 years. So obviously the power-base in this country is going to be white-centric. Blacks were not allowed to accumulate wealth, or to grow large communities for a substantial duration of this country's existence. I encourage any of you who think that this video isn't racist, to take a class on critical race theory, or at least read a book on it. And for the record, I am the kind of guy who can take a fucking joke.

    • D351

      blah, blah, blah… By the way, I'm Irish, and I don't get all whiny whenever someone uses a slur against the Irish. By the way, the Irish were enslaved for a VERY long time (http://www.africaresource.com/rasta/sesostris-t…). You know what though; it was a long time ago, and I'm too grown up to whine every time someone uses a slur against the Irish, especially if they're joking. This goes double for stereotyping. Most stereotypes are unfortunately embraced by the cultures they supposedly degrade. The Irish drink. This is a fairly accurate generalization. Black people supposedly eat chicken, and unfortunately for people who disagree, the entirety of the “black” media seems to openly embrace this stereotype. Stand-up comedy is the worst about this. The hateful stereotypes of the past about stupid slaves and “massa” this and “massa” that are largely dead. Most of the ones left have found themselves engrained in culture, not as hateful but as comical. I come from a southern white family and have heard more than a few race jokes that I didn't care for from otherwise entirely non-racist family members, but still, at least 90% of the black-stereotype jokes I've heard in my life, I heard while my brother was watching BET. As a culture, I think that the minority groups in the US have come to terms with the idea that mild stereotypes (particularly those that are embraced by the groups they're about) are fair game for humor as long as it's friendly humor, especially when used by members of the same group. I find jokes about the Irish comical (assuming they're funny) so long as they're not followed up by actual racist statements. And as for the hateful form of racist humor that tends to be used by 4chan in it's internet pranks, I think the humor isn't in the racism. The humor is in the fact that you're getting all upset. Most of anonymous isn't actually racist. They just say that stuff because they enjoy any opportunity to offend. That's how offensive humor works. Have you ever had the misfortune of being to lemonparty or /b/ itself? It's a cesspool of bad taste, all just to piss off/offend/disgust anyone they can. But even beyond offensiveness, I think another layer of humor lies in the fact that it's being taking seriously in the first place. In the western world in which the majority now recognizes the fact that racism is inherently absurd, the things that large groups of racists say in earnest hate can easily be considered ironically laughable. And in this particular usage of a mainstream commercial, any racism in the material is second-hand. In the best of terms, whoever posted this isn't necessarily making a racist statement so much as they're pointing out something that could be taken as racist that was created by a well-known international corporation. The question is; was KFC trying to racist, or just trying to market their product to the percentage of black people who actually do like fried chicken? Then, do we as a culture really need to condemn KFC for marketing a product to a legitimate demographic? I've seen people of all races do goofy dances in celebration of getting a food they're craving. How much time has to pass before we can stop actively avoiding stereotypes that are actually true of some demographic? What's more, this is one of those stereotypes that isn't really all that intrinsically degrading. Saying that black people are stupid or inferior would be degrading and hateful. However, saying that black people like chicken? I don't really think so. And if you step back, there's nothing but cultural assumption (due to the stereotype) to say that the maker of this video is saying that black people like chicken. Without that context, it's easy to say that the original video was only to say that the people in it like chicken (implying that you might like some too). Then, the remake would simply be saying that the guy in the video likes chicken (and is doing a funny dance). American culture (and especially government) has committed horrible atrocities against ALL minorities (blacks getting some of the worst of it) and continues to do so to this day. However, I don't think this video is part of the big conspiracy to keep the black man down. For that, go get offended watching BET. Also, if you happen to be a troll (an unfortunately common result of articles about anonymous), I hope some of the people who would have seriously agreed with you read my post… or maybe just part of it. This is a really long response…

      • http://www.ContraControl.com/ Zenc

        A well-considered and well-reasoned response.

        That was what? Two maybe three pints of worth of prose?

  • http://www.thecarnivalnoir.com Haystack

    Whatever else I can say about it, it did get me to start craving KFC.

  • Namelesswon

    i dont see this as racist, but i guess if you people want to spread that meme between fried chicken and black people and connect it to racism then well done for enforcing/creating another stereotype attribute. you dumb fucks. now amount of pseudo social political “science” is gonna point out anything but. how about pointing it out as dumb stupid meaningless waste of fuckin time instead? all this race card playing is counter active, save it for some thing important and truely dispicable rather than a crap video of people dancing with food. but i guess the bullied become the bullies.

  • http://twitter.com/TylerBass Tyler Bass

    I'm guessing it's just counterspin by KFC to imply their “chickens” have beaks.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Spencer-Weedman/1092656515 Spencer Weedman

    Because fried chicken is damn good?

  • Karzaix

    exactly.

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