Car manufacturer General Motors has pulled a global television commercial because it happens to use the most racist vintage song ever for its soundtrack: GM pulls 'racist' Chevrolet 'ching-ching, chop suey' ad.
Oops. The retro-styled commercial the Chevrolet Trax prominently features a swingin' song, "Booty Swing," by Austrian electroswing musician Parov Stelar. The song samples "Oriental Swing," recorded in 1938, which includes lyrics that make reference to "the land of Fu Manchu" and "ching-ching, chop suey." Whaaaaa?
I'm sure that was cute in 1938. To be fair, you probably wouldn't catch the words if you weren't listening carefully. Here's video of the commercial:
If you didn't catch that, here are the lyrics to the full song:
Now, Arab sheiks on the burning sands,
Come into their harems and clap their hands,
Said, "Come on, girls, are you ready to play?
Let's have a little more of that swingin' today."
Now, geisha girls in old Japan,
Wink behind their peacock fans,
Since they learned to say, "Yeah!
Let's swing it like Amelican's swing swing dance!"
Now, in the land of Fu Manchu,
The girls all now do the Suzie-Q,
Clap their hands in the center of the floor,
Saying, "Ching, ching, chop-suey, swing some more!"
Now, Gypsy caravans have changed their mode,
They truck down the Romany road,
With their hi-de-hos, and their hey-hey-diddle,
Doin' the swing on the Gypsy fiddle.
Them eastern wisemen know the story,
Of the swing with Oriental glory,
They stroke their beards and grin,
Sayin', "Swing, little children, till the dawn comes in!"
Excuse me? The commercial, which had been running in Canada since early last month, has been pulled and replaced with a new version of the ad without the lyrics. Next time, you want to think about the music you're putting in your commercial before it starts airing on TVs around the world. More here: Chevy pulls ad offensive to Chinese.
