Check out this commercial for Glaceau Vitamin Water, featuring David Ortiz and Brian Urlacher playing badminton against two Asian players named Yang and Lau: vitaminwater badminton commercial. And guess what? The commercial makes the Asian guys—supposedly the best in the sport—look weak, inept, timid, cowering and "psychologically broken" by their two hulking non-Asian opponents. Ortiz hits the shuttlecock so hard it literally penetrates Lau's leg. Yeah, subtle. It's ridiculous and offensive, and it's no coincidence. The Asian male takes another hit, ridiculed on television for the sake of selling a few more bottles of crappy ass vitamin water.
Remember Glaceau's racist company phone greeting from a few months back? Follow the link and listen to it here. Again, jokes at the expense of Asians. What's with the mockery? That's strike two, Glaceau. That's racist!
UPDATE: Here's a story on Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong, two real U.S. badminton stars: Bach and Malaythong up against the odds. The two are training for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
UPDATE 2: Whoa. Donald informs me that Howard Bach and Bob Malaythong are the two Asians guys in the commercial! The #1 U.S. pairs team. So why the hell did they have to call them "Yang" and "Lau"? Is it because those names sound more traditionally "Asian" to the average American TV watcher?
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