Well, that was quick. I just heard directly from Mark Kern, Senior Vice President of Communications at The Hub, who extended an apology and explanation for the inappropriate "ching chong a-ling long" fortune cookie message that was distributed from their booth over the weekend at San Diego Comic-Con. It was apparently never supposed to make it to production:
In planning the custom fortune cookies for Comic-Con, a variety of messages were created for distribution at the restaurant. This specific message was viewed from the beginning as inappropriate and unacceptable and was supposed to have been deleted from the messages used.So they understand that it was inappropriate, and get why people are mad. According to this explanation, at some point in the process, someone even allegedly realized that this was a bad idea. And they're sorry. So why does this feel so unsatisfactory?
Very accidentally that deletion didn't happen and the cookies were produced and shipped. When we learned on-site of the error we immediately stopped distributing all of thecookies. We understand the negative reaction to it and sincerely apologize for any insensitivity.
The Hub is a TV network for kids and their families and does not condone negativity or intolerance toward any individual or group. This was an inadvertent oversight which we deeply regret.
For me, it has to do with the fact that the idea was all it took. The possibility that something like this could transpire was simply born out of bad brainstorming and rooted in the same old racist refrains. Its distribution may have been accidental, but "ching chong a-ling long" is not an honest mistake. It should never have been on the drawing board in the first place.