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Concerning the branding, he says: "Initially, we had planned a totally different name than 'Mister Wong', but one morning 'Mister Wong' popped into my mind. The team immediately was very fond of it and when our designer illustrated him, we said "Yes!" and were happy about it :-)"
Shame, really.
The UK probably has a higher percentage of Asians (as in Chinese etc.) than anywhere else in Europe, and what was the issue that got them marching in the streets? The suggestion that the outbreak of foot'n'mouth disease in the UK was due to illegal imported Chinese meat.
Enlighten me. What on earth is offensive about the Mr. Wong website?
You've got to be kidding me.
The "Mister Wong" cartoon is reasonably fair representation of what an average Chinese person looks like, just as the Boston Celtics or Minnesota Vikings logo is a reasonable cartoonization of what a white person looks like.
Pathetic that an incredibly proud and honorable race of people should be reduced to slumming for victim status over a non-event like this. The irony is, the website probably though they were complimenting Chinese people by perpetuating the "stereotype" that Chinese people are pretty smart...even though Chinese people *are* pretty smart, as every reader of this blog knows!
A little Asian pride, please. This is sad and pathetic.
Matt Clark
"A little Asian pride, please. This is sad and pathetic."
WTF?
What do you know about Asian Pride Mr. CLARK
Because of this pride, it's essential for us to defend and speak upon any incident that has the potential to chip it away. Also, it's because of pride that we must not let anything go by, not even something "small" like the cartoon. Oh of course, we are an "honorable race." If you truly have honor and respect, then you would abstain from comments like "this is sad and pathetic" in response to this racial-sensitive issue.
I can understand your confusion. I'd like to offer another viewpoint here, if I may.
In certain contexts, cartoons such as this (which are basically identity parodies) can be used as easy tools for denigrating particular individuals. You'll see this most commonly among children - some will latch on to parodies like this, then use it to taunt other children.
In Asia, children taunt Caucasian children using parodies of Caucasians. The US has had parodies of African and Middle Eastern Americans too. You can argue these parodies are all lighthearted and meant for humor. Or you can argue that they're hurtful and offensive.
A person typically generates one of those opposing views based on their own experiences. For many minorities who have felt discrimination and have had such parodies used as offensive tools to denigrate them, they're very likely to see any other such parodies as offensive.
In other words, if you're been discriminated against racially, then anything that makes fun of your racial background is going to look offensive to you. This is a pretty universal sociological construct around the world.
The general counter-argument is that our society has become too politically-correct and afraid to make light of itself. That's a valid viewpoint too.
Or that a particular group should embrace a denigrating element and remove its derogatory power. That's a valid viewpoint too.
There are lots of ways to look at this issue. You don't have to agree that the Mister Wong cartoon is offensive. But I at least hope that this article and its subsequent comments help you understand that there are people out there that do find such cartoons offensive. It's not sad and pathetic, it's just being human.
http://mashable.com/2007/07/02/mister-wong-us-l...
No one here would ever connect the image of mister wong to a real chinese/ asian person. I mean, we laugh about the stereotypes of germans in leather pants and no one would ever feel defended. Why? It's just funny and has nothing to do with the reality. And ping pong, king kong, mister wong ... surely has nothing to do with chingchong or whatever. I don't know what the guys at mister wong had in mind, but maybe they just thought about a funny stupid rhyme / word play. Chingchong is what you're thinking and interpreting. Please don't try to take your personal experience or stereotypes about stereotypes into account when thinking about this concept. Most people here are open minded and I think it's a bit more entertaining than del.ici.ous to have some cartoons on a website. And bear in mind: All smart people laugh about too proud people who easily feel offended (problems with self-esteem?), civil rights groups which feel offended by stereotypes, and discussions like this one here. Don't you have real problems or problems with real racists? You wanna show how narrow minded you are? Go on with saying I feel offendend. For me, all people are absolutely equal, but each one has a unique body, soul & mind. A Chinese is no different from an American or a German. So what the heck, ... I really don't understand you! If Chinese believe they are different than others they are racists, because they are focussing too much on the concept of different races. In fact we all are sort of racists and thinking in boxes seems to be part of the way our brain works. Besides, do Americans feel offended by the TV Character Al Bundy? I suppose not.
Try to see humanity more from a holistic and united point of view. People who think differently should be no problem for you if you have enough self-esteem. And mister wong seems to be a social bookmarking service and no fun-about-asians-online-show. The cartoon stereotype seems to fit perfectly to the "master of all bookmarks" text ...
Being from Germany myself, I fail to understand this (though I don't even like the "Mister Wong" name and the image, which I consider unprofessional rather than offensive). My thinking goes that this might be just another facet of unresolved racial tensions. If race really didn't matter, you wouldn't have to care.
But, please: Could your country just stop spreading that PC BS all over the world? Thank you.
Not everyone in Germany at that time was a racist, but look what happened.
And, actually, I can't remember ever having heard anyone here speaking of Chinese people as dumb, primitive or whatever. Usually they're regarded as pretty smart. Maybe I just don't know the "right" people.
But if a web site chooses a Chinese name, how could that possibly have a negative connotation? And the image is, although a caricature, obviously that of a businessman.
Really, this is ridiculous. How about concentrating on all the real hate in the world and real conflicts first?
My name is Fabian, one of the managers at Mister-Wong.com. First of all, I´d like to apologize to anybody that may have been offended by the use of the original illustration in the logo. It was never our intention to hurt anybody´s feelings with the character. Now, I would like to point out that we have reacted to these comments by removing the illustration in question. Please read our CEO´s statement on our blog for further information. http://blog.mister-wong.com/a-message-from-the-...
It's a picture portraying ONE man, and that's it. It's not trying to be racist. No matter how much you want it to, it's not saying, "Hahaha all asians look exactly like this guy! Let's make fun of them!" Sorry.
I'm a black guy living in America. I spent the first 18 years of my life in Georgia. I know what's it's like to be discriminated against, and sorry, this isn't it. Like it or not, most Asian people DO have yellow-tinted skin and relatively slanted eyes. Those are physical characteristics associated with being Asian. The image of Mr.Wong is a perfectly acceptable caricutare. I mean, I'll tell you straight up that most black people have brown skin, big lips, and curly hair. And it's true. Whoop de do.
Instead of complaining that some German website using a drawing of an Asian guy as its logo dared to give him Asian features, why not focus on REAL racism? Stop diverting attention to trivial and obviously untintentional issues like this.
** To be fair, I can somewhat understand being upset with the phrase "ping pong, king kong, Mister Wong." Behavioral stereotypes (saying people of a certain race all talk one way or behave one way) can be justifiably attacked as racist. The rest of the complaints... weak.
clearly what people are missing here is that there is no reason why a networked bookmarking site should have a racial stereotype at its fore -- especially considering the site's intent is to archive and trade bookmarks, a purpose which has absolutely nothing to do with identitarian issues. spearheading an ad campaign with a race caricature is just poor judgment. Mr. Wong.com's logo and slogan trades in embarassing stereotypes with little practical justification. if it were temporary that'd be one thing. but even the site's name hinges on this logo, so it can't be changed. that's the dumbest part about this -- now they're *always* going to be that chink bookmark site, and why would anyone want a chink bookmark site over, say, a spic bookmark site or a honkey bookmark site? why call attention to racial difference if you don't need to?
also, the guy above who mentioned the Celtics is clearly not making a distinction between 1. the fact that a sports team can win-or-lose, and thus potentially earn representational clout, shift the way people identify with the symbol 2. the fact that a company of this sort does not take on an active role in refiguring itself in the public eye
i also like how people chastize us for not focusing on REAL racism, as if that requires lynching or other acts of violence -- as if representations don't also shape social life. to that comment i'd say take a look at this:
http://homepage.mac.com/jholbo/homepage/pages/b...
(that's a popular toothpaste we used to use in Bangkok whose logo and name were FINALLY changed from "Darkie" to "Darlie" in the last 10 years. people who don't have a problem with the mass circulation of these sorts of images should really question their politics and their understanding of culture production)
And I sincerly hope we'll never be! For my taste there's already way to much PC in the world. To fear that everything you say could piss someone off and then don't say it at all -> I would hate such a world. It's a cartoon picture for crying out loud. Cartoon pictures are always clichés and overdrawn.
i did not get it. why is this a problem for you?
Emma
"never think" is what you ment?
Ok, the image is stereotype....tell me one image of any asian in any US produced media, that isnt!!!
Seen Family Guys Asian Reporter? Wake up!
it is not about political correctness, it is hating instead of appreciating.
instead of giving a good example of the superb american skill "to communicate" you give a very good example of "US: we define political correctness".
Did the chinese citizens complain about mr.wongs chineese page?
I dont think so. The problem seems americans consider themselves still as the
makes of right&wrong in the world. and that is simply not the case; maybe never has been.
Just pointing fingers at others and yelling "Auschwitz" whenever something Germany-related crops up is not enough.
Being a German I am constantly and everywhere exposed to stereotypes.
Going to Disneyworld or any "Hofbräuhaus" in America I should be furious about how me and my fellow countrymen are pictured as fat-stupid-beerdrinking-bratwurst-eating idiots.
But you know what? I am not furious at all. What a boring world this would be if we didn't have these funny pictures. I am glad to be a part of this colorful and diverse world and for my part, I am able to laugh about myself.
Here in Germany we are very openminded and relaxing. Nobody thinks about " racism" just because we use e.g. a friendly and positive chinese face.
Mr. Wong looks friendly, and ping pong is table tennis. Its a text for little children that you remember better.
You should have more self-confidence with this.
Because of your reaction it seems to me that it is not easy to be chinese in your country....here in Germany nobody cares where you come from originally.
And...maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North America you say. But because of Mr. Bush you are not even having something like (correct) "politics".... and America is hated all over the world for good reason..so what. You should work on your own BIG problems.
I am sorry if you feel not good with that...but you search for mistakes in wrong corners.
Relax, please let me explain this from the point of view of a german liberal.
The Logo of "Mister Wong" surely is very stereotypical, but not in a offensive, negative way, if you view it from a german point of view. Germans who are not racist (maybe u won't believe it, but thats the great majority) consider chinese people as hard-working and very good business people. So the company "Mister Wong" just tried to implement this positive, yet stereotypical image of East Asians and especially Chinesee people into their corporate apperance. I have to admit this is not working very well, if you want to make business globally where some things, based on different cultural perceptions, are understood in a diferent way.
And by the way, most comments who were complaining about racism/lacking political correctness were far away from being political correct. (As a German u get used to that: Hahaha, arm steched out, marching like a soldier with stomping feet. The minority of Germans were active Nazis in the 3rd Reich)
And what would the world be without stereotypes? – Very boring I guess... (If you know a good joke that is 100% politically correct, I would like to hear it...)
It is a business site that chose a chinese name and put a logo on it. It didn't say or do anything to offend. So please explain to me why it is so racist and offensive?
I think the concept of rasicim is not given here. In the future nobody is allowed to do anything because somewhere somebody finds it offensive. Can you imagine in what kind of world we would live in? This is just too much guys. Really.
This is a good way to kill all rational debate before it can start at all. A discussion must take place on racial, religious, sexual topics but I do not think this is the way how to do it. It is to aggressive.
For me Mr. Wong is a tool; nothing more, nothing less. Do I think it funny to give something a name without an apparent history/reason? Yes I do, but does it make the name defacto racist/insulting? No I do not think so.
As I'm a German citizen, I have to comment this.
In Germany we are very sensible concerning racism.
With the disgrace of the WW II we are enlightened to never let something like that happen again.
So it's pretty hard to accept the accusation of racism. Yes, there are still some dumb people who didn't get it at all. But whose landsmen aren't?
Of course it's a stereotype. And it seems to be political incorrect.
I got a picture of stereotypes of Germans: beer belly, leather trousers, huge glass of beer. So do you hear me yelling? No, and the reason is: with so much problems in the world it would be ridiculous to mark this.
It was meant funny, and as you can see, even Chinese people can laugh about it.
I don't want to attack you guys, your initiative is great!
But try looking for the real and serious problems.
Afganistan/Irak and you are angry about a f****** picture.
Found a funny thing on the top of your site. Guess what Google-Ad i am just looking on?
"Asian Girl in Germany. Cute attractive asian woman looking for love and marriage".
So your are financing your site with clichés about asians. This is funny in the context of this discussion.
First as a chinese people abroad, I can understand your feelings. But I and my collegue (we all come from China) are working for Mister Wong for a long time, and we also test the chinese version in China. Until now I didn't get such a feedback. Most of our chinese users only feel this icon intersting, but no one mentions it is offended to chinese people.
employees. After the world War the German people is very sentsitive to the "Racist" topics.
When we promote the chinese Mister Wong portal, most chinese websites said we are the friendly social bookmark in China, and all the developers are very enthusiastic.
If you can understand chinese, I can show you some articles.
Some hints for you:
- look at your country
- look at your politics ( hey Mr. Bush... yes I know - your big brothers are watching me)
- look for serious problems ... and don't waste our time with shit like that
... the only thing I do is laughing about your country and people like you :-/
A german "viele Grüße",
spooky0815
nice...
http://www.lyricsdepot.com/monty-python/i-like-...
Lol, wake up!
Its true, you have always stupid ignorant people and always prejudices, but rassicm is something which is handled very very sensible here in Germany. I never experienced something negative, bc of my origin, though german idiots are idiots like everywhere else.
And also the Asian stereotype is quiet positive here. Maybe black people for example have it much more harder.
So in this peticular point, I think its too overreacted.
But the claim was really stupid...
I think its quite funny you know, like considering homer of the simpsons a offence to fat people or Apu.
It is close minded and narrow. I dont feel offended when you show germans as pretzel eating beer drinking fat guys in short leather trouser, why should i i know the reality is diffrent and its just a joke.
You blimey mad.
Sincerly Bob.
What I DO consider as offensive, is the sick american trend to be overly "politically correct". What a repressed culture the "land of the free" has become.
And I'm talking about the "anti-german" comments as well as about the "anti-american" comments.
I don't comment here because I'm german, fuck that, where I was born was pure chance. A couple of kilometers to the south, east or west and I could have been swiss, french or polish.
Once you start being SO offended, it's just giving you stomach problems and high blood pressure. I'm a science fiction fan, I listen to heavy metal, I work in the advertising industry, I can tailor my own clothes, I'm german, oh and I am male. If I would be offended every time I see a stereotyped sf fan, metalhead, ad-nerd, guy who can tailor (gay alert here, thank you very much), german or stereotyped male, I would be too busy to do anything nice. And lets be honest: No stereotype is completely devoid of grains of truth.
Yes: One has to spot the details and be real picky when it comes to discrimination. But don't be too serious about it, please. I mean, Jacky Chan movies? Kung Fu? Bruce Lee? "the evil german/russian/alien"? "Klaus - the Übermensch"? Being offended can shift to real, temporary hate. And we don't want that, do we?
Sure, bloggers tend to become agitated. (Is that being un-pc already?) Or easily agitated people become bloggers (even more un-pc?). Well, I'm one of those (suddenly pc now?).
I still think that one can voice being offended in a different manner. Again, concerning all parties. (What does Bush have to do with this discussion, or Ausschwitz? I don't see that connection).
Oh and regarding the fat germans gargling down huge quantities of beer, yelling unintelligible gibberish: Yep, my neighbours. Everywhere in germany where I lived. Fat, drunk dudes, at least one of them. And 100ds of other stereotypes. Fortunately I lost some weight. So count me in on the "not so fat beer drinking sf metalhead ad-nerd community".
:)
No, let's do something productive for a change.
Ridiculous, just ridiculous.
Acutally i dont get the point of this article and most of the answers from the "GREAT EIGHT"
What is the problem with a comic fiqure of an asian?
its not that all seaman tried to stop popeye
its not that all french hate asterix
...
think this list could be open end
Try to laugh about yourself sometimes, and your life will be much easier!
Dont see racism where its NOT
By the way, you should check what the most hated nation is these days.
Germany isn't on the top anymore ;)
As to Mr. Wong: This is also the name of the biggest Chinese Fast-Food company here in Switzerland: http://www.mister-wong.ch/. They also feature a smiling Chinese in their logo. Could this be the next victim of "political correctness"?
The power of Web 2.0: Eight *American* Asians decide what billions of Chinese (Asian Asians) think of being offensive... doh!
Could you stop to speak about Jesus like this please ? Maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in West Europe. But seriously, Jesus is not relevant here and i think you should apology.
About Mr Wong... i'm not sure he's an asian. Of course his name hears like asian names but i think some africans have the same name too. Am i wrong ? But that's not the point, he could have an asian name and not to be one: i think he's german. So i'm not sure if you're right. Why do you think he's an asian ?
"Ping Pong, King Kong, Mister Wong"... there are many advertises that use phonetics basis, just to remember it. And humour, you should know that, is one of the less international thing around the world. A french joke won't never be funny in Germany for example.
You're may be right if in US the caucasian people just can't respect asian people when ther is a small joke on them. But it's a little bit disappointing for us, europeans.
"on a lighter, less substantive note, i think one white equivalent of “Mr. Wong: Master of All Bookmarks” could be “Mr. Honkey: Master of The Globe.” the logo could be a cartoon hitler getting blown by eva braun as he orders his troops to search and deconstroy a screenshot of google-earth. =P"
If you call that a "lighter" note, you should seriously have someone check your moral ledgers. But yeah, murdering millions of people is so much fun!
Fact is that you can't even name the stereotypes. What you seem to be upset with is a cartoonish representation in general, and here I say: As long as you don't apply the same standards to EVERYONE, the racism is on your side. Strangely enough, you didn't site the lederhosen-bearing stereotypical Bavarian which is abused to represent Germany all over the US. No, you had to violate Godwin's law and suggest that a cartoonish depiction of an allegedly "stereotypical" asian person is somehow equivalent to mass slaughter and warmongering.
"(that’s a popular toothpaste we used to use in Bangkok whose logo and name were FINALLY changed from “Darkie” to “Darlie” in the last 10 years. people who don’t have a problem with the mass circulation of these sorts of images should really question their politics and their understanding of culture production)"
Frankly, I don't think that someone who thinks putting people into one pot with the organizer of mass murder by the millions is something "on a lighter note" is in any position to lecture on "politics" or "understanding of culture production".
As noted elsewhere: "Context matters". Here the context is one of a toothpaste using the icon to promote a specific message which is stereotypical: "Use our toothpaste and you have white teeth like..." Now please find me this DELIBERATE message in Mr. Wong. Quite the contrary to your claims, the only one "calling attention to racial difference" is the crowd here who is all up in arms. "Embarassing stereotypes"? If being helpful and friendly is embarassing, that says more about you than about the crew of Mr. Wong.
Oh and please go and take a look where you left your moral ledger. Your comparisons are not only revolting, they are all the proof needed that you lack any and all sense of proportion.
There is a web-site like similar to that. It is a site called "The nutty Bavarian", www.nuttyb.com, and the only difference to the Bavarian sterotype is that the fat guy with a funny hat and lederhosen doesn't have a huge glass of beer in his hand, but a little bag with nuts.
I study at a Bavarian university, am not Bavarian myself, but have shown this logo to natives, guess what? Most of them thought it was a bit lame, some are a bit tired of the repeating clichés, but none wanted to spend energy on anything like this... I guess it is a matter of self-esteem. And inflating something into a problem that really isn't.
Learn to live with it. Makes life a lot more enjoyable - and I know what I am talking about.
Beeing a tall, blond blue eyed German, I have to face racism WHEREVER I go. In addition to that, white people are the only race that is going extinct on this earth. Now THAT would be a reason to complain! But hey, whites are racist scum after all, are we not? ;-) So who gives a s...?
By the way: the top of your page is sporting like 5 stereotypically grinning Asians. Shame on you :-)
Please get a live!
Your suggestion that Hitler is a "cultural stereotype" or in any way "racially marked" merely illustrates my point. You completely fail to grasp that your "stereotype" is nothing short of a trivialization of the holocaust. The fact that you consider it necessary to take such steps demonstrates well how unfounded your complaints are. If they were justified you could cite specific points instead of once more repeating allegations about "cultural stereotype". All we have seen from you so far is a mudslining campaign that didn't hesitate to abuse millions of dead for its end. Talk about poor advertising. Who do you think you're doing a favor? I made specific points in my post. You not only ignored those, you insisted on your "hyperbole" of describing the holocaust as something that's quite lighthearted and funny. I suggest you talk with some 80+ year old Jews if Bergen-Belsen or Auschwitz was such a lighthearted place to be and whether they agree this was a good argument to use.
If anything, you demonstrate one point: Sensitivities differ. And as long as you assume that the entire rest of the world has to share yours, your claims of "racism" ring hollow, since you demonstrate the same attitude.
Greetings from Germany to the untolerant U.S.A.
Oh, and of course, like in every heated internet discussion, Godwin's Law has been invoked, this time far earlier than i expected.
the stereotype of hitler trivializes umpteen personal and public struggles that ring true for germans+jews just as the stereotype of the submissive, helpful asian trivializes the asian struggle to emerge from a history of marginalization by the West as figures of deference, subservience, exoticism (women), emasculation (men). these are of course very different struggles, and it is not a matter of weighing importance based on body count. i am saying that advertisers should be respectful of these struggles ON ALL FRONTS.
of course sensitivities differ. i assumed that also went without saying. this is why i said in my post that there is absolutely no reason why any socially responsible businessman should use a cultural or racial stereotype to spearhead an advertising campaign. that is what people seem to have lost sight of here. forget the specific content for a minute and think about the sensibilities of the people trying to construct a public face for their product. what does an asian man named Wong have to do with bookmarking?
since you asked, i'll address your points individually here. i just didn't have much to say about them.
"Strangely enough, you didn’t site the lederhosen-bearing stereotypical Bavarian which is abused to represent Germany all over the US."
right. and if you have a complaint about that stereotype you are free to post in YOUR "8Germans" blog and hope that advertisers respect your concerns.
"Now please find me this DELIBERATE message in Mr. Wong."
i'm sorry, but i really don't know what to say to someone who limits their reading of this marketing scheme to advertiser intentionality. as if words and images don't accrete meaning over time, meaning that escapes the intent of the author? to the question of DELIBERATE, i would urge you to ask why the advertiser DELIBERATELY CHOSE an Asian man over say, a caucasian, a latino, an african, etc.
the task isn't to find a DELIBERATE message, a single crystal-clear message everyone will pick up on. the task for us is to think about what meanings are mobilized by this sort of advertising strategy. in choosing a racial icon, we have to question what advantages one race has over another in getting the product to sell.
am i clear?
“on a lighter, less substantive note, i think one white equivalent of “Mr. Wong: Master of All Bookmarks” could be “Mr. Honkey: Master of The Globe.” the logo could be a cartoon hitler getting blown by eva braun as he orders his troops to search and deconstroy a screenshot of google-earth. =P”
the stereotype of course would be the "Honkey Master", the conqueror and destroyer, of which Hitler's iconicity would attach to Germans. the stereotype would not be Hitler himself. you seemed to conflate the two.
but had I chosen the name "mr. wong - master of bookmarks" I would have used an image, that conveyed something like an old, wise chinese master, with white hair, a long beard and so on. ya know? master, wisdom, zen-and-the-art-of-bookmarks...
instead the image makes me think of a cunning businessman that chuckles inside because he just sold me a lemon. and he also looks a bit like mr. magoo.
but appearently the image can also be interpreted as a depiction of a subservient chinese with a "how-may-I-serve-you?"-expression on his face. that's the major point of criticism is it?
so it's not exactly original. bad idea? maybe. but is it racist?
regarding the image: cartoon-images are probably alway stereotypical in some way.
if you aim to express something with a few pen-strokes you simplify: a scotsmen will wear a checkered kilt, an italian will look like mario, an irishmen will wear green, an arab has a white robe and a turban on his head, a turk has a fez, an american a cowboy-hat and a german might be holding a mug of beer and a sausage (or wear a piked helmet if you like).
I'm just surprised by the _level_ of outrage.
60 years after ww2 or nearly 3 generations after holocaust you are unfairly blaming people. Today in germany everyone is aware and anxious of being a racist. The fast reaction of the Mr-Wong Team shows that they bear the consequences.
For a European the Logo and Name of the site have a positive image and are not offending. Keep your own house clean.
Are you paid for this ?
Nobody in germany would even spend one minute for WTF`s in a blog, because of this.
And Political correctness , ha ha ha.
Wir haben uns nichts vorzuwerfen
Gruß Wonder
C.H.
We should really consider to start a "war on computer icon racists" when the "war on terror" is finally won...
Maybe you should have thought one second before getting angry? "Ping-Pong" is a very popular game in Germany, while "ching chong" is something nobody there knows at all.
also, i think it's highly hypocritical to praise the political correctness in a country that ignores the geneva convention, wages offensive wars, , abandons civil rights in the name of the war on terror (did you know all your private communications are monitored by the NSA or are you to busy tracking political incorrect website logos to know about what is really going on ?) wake up ! :-)
There is nothing racist about this picture whatsoever. Only oversensible americans can find something like this offensive...
And while i do concur that the slogan "ping, pong ..." is not very bright, your association with "ching, chong" is just wrong. the term "ching" has no meaning in europe whatsoever, thats a purely american slangword, and NO european would make that association, not even europeans with asian heritage, and i happen to know a few...
so please, stop freaking out and try to develop some sense of humour.
thanks.
(a european wondering if its fundamentally impossible for americans to ever lighten up or if thats just a side effect of constant fear of anything foreign - and no, you dont have to take this literally, that was just another joke :) )
But thanks for this: "Maybe people aren’t as sensitive to political correctness as they are here in North America." ...you made my day.
(http://schpiegel.de/cms/index.php?option=com_co...)
@Wang, you have to understand the history of Chinese migration and marginalization in the US to understand the nature of the offense. Do you remember in the early 90s how the popularty of Japanese autos were putting American auto workers out of work? Chinese and other Asians bore the brunt of the resentment, hostility and even physical violence because of this. One Chinese man--Vincent Chin, was beaten to death w/a bat by 2 unemployed autoworkers just because they thought he was Japanese.
Other commenters, Germans and Europeans alike, making frivolous comparisons to Football mascots, Germans in lederhosen, etc--these are very poor comparisons. Caucasians are not sterotyped in a negative fashion within the US and European media as Asians and other people of darker color often are.
In the end, the fact that the the founders, regardless of good intent, found it appropriate to use a common surname found in China as a moniker/brand for their site simply demonstrates the lack of good judgement for a company with global aspirations.
i would never notice such a funny character as racistic or not political correct. you are the racists by thinking so...
biggest joke of the year!!
oh ernie, so little sense of humor, unbelievable.....but we see, some stubborn, inflexible people who cannot be relaxed are still present, too much
Proposal: Put Wong in a bavarian leather trouser + Beer + Sauerkraut = political correctness
If you use FireFox do the following:
1. Install this extension https://addons.mozilla.org/de/firefox/addon/748
2. Install the Bing Bong Mister Wong Script http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/11082
3. Mister Wong is back again!
In diesem Fall hättest du dich lieber nochmal von Bert, Samson oder Tiffy beraten lassen sollen.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/franzlife/16425733...
Jeez, who are the real Nazis here? It sure aint the Germans.
That aside, I think that the dissenters here ought to take a look at How to Suppress Discussions of Racism.
Media images can be powerful. A media image that portrays Chinese people as slant-eyed mystical "masters" instead of actual people (especially when it seems like so many images of Asians in non-Asian media are of mystical martial arts masters, supersmart nerds with no social skills or FOB stereotypes with broken English) can be really damaging when there aren't any positive depictions as well.
If you have a problem with the old and now not used logo, ok, it is your right to be offended by anything you want, or at least I think your constitiution gives you the right.
If you ask why a german company would ever consider to assosiate with a chinese man as their only logo, well it IS because of the chinese stereotype, which is most common in Germany, chinese people are considerd extremly DILIGENT in Germany. Yes, it is a stereotype, stone the Germans to death for it.
Considering the U.S.A. vs. Germany discussion here, it is always the same, you guys do not have any thing to say about the aspect of the discussion, so you fall back to racism, every time the same thing. Both countries have their problems, but what does that have anything to do with a cartoon of a chinese man?
As for the ask jeeves, I really don't see why that's offensive. When English writer P G Wodehouse wrote his novels and the valet's name was Jeeves, I don't think anyone in England was offended. The name became synonymous with being a knowledgeable figure (and the character was a classic English butler).
At least my English friends aren't offended.
Anyway, they're going to change the logo.
Maybe it isnt a slur maybe i just dont have any balls and am too oversensitive with this whole issue.
Maybe one day the world will have changed so drastically that germany is poor and famillies will emigrate to china to open brauhaeuser offering german beer. their kids grow up in an all chinese environment and the other kids taunt them because of his nose calling him long nose and pushing him around while saying that. I think the kid is ddoomed to dislike "long nose"
I have pride and thats why i wont look the other way when people insult me! Yes there are other racial issues, but this one shows how inattentive people in germany and austria are concerning the feelings of austrian born chinese.
But:
I entertain the suspect of you being a bit overaxious in terms of your cultural roots. In my opinion the so called "political correctness" practiced in the U.S. is based on fear, lack of self-esteem and misunderstood sensitivity of other peoples feelings.
I really hope your view of the world is not that narrowminded as it appears to be. You´re obviously of younger age (as I am too), so perhaps your sense of proportion will develop into a good direction.
P.S.: Do you know the episode "The Chinese Woman" of the series "Seinfeld"? Look at it and let me know if you find that funny. I think it is hilarious.
I came to China to visit my girlfriend who was in Beijing for an internship. At first I didn't want to. I wasn't interested in Asia. I fell in love with China.
I came back three years later to study the Chinese language. Another year later, last year, I went back to work in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
There hasn't been a single stay in Asia where I was not sitting together with people in the streets. We went to the cheap food places, dirty, shabby, but delicious. We called the owners Mom and Dad and they loved it. I smoked my first - and my last - cigarette because a chinese restaurant owner offered it to me to show respect for his gift. We have been sitting together for the first time, trying to make conversation, barely able to understand each other because I just started learning Chinese - he brought us delicious food.
God damn, there hasn't been a single visit where we haven't sit down, laughing about each other's stereotypes and having fun together. At the end of the day, no one really cares. No one needs to care. The comparison with concentration camps is lame, it's not valid. The world has changed. People have changed. I like looking at this Mr. Wong cartoon guy, he reminds me of real people I have met and of people I really like. There is no offense. You know what? Each and every time some chinese guy called me long nose or lao wai, my chinese reply was "Bu shi lao wai. Wo shi beijing ren" They laughed and in case we've seen each other again because we were hanging around in the same places, it was good for a laugh. They called me chinese long nose in the end. I loved it.
Seriously, there's no point this fuzz get's any kind of understanding from my side. What makes me sad is that the mr. wong guys don't have the balls to bring this discussion to an end. Hiding your head in the sand and removing the cartoon is simply not the right decision how to handle this.
Nobody cares about this logo in Germany! Why? Because we are racists? Hell no! I think our history made our nation to a very non-racist one. I mean, to let never happen things like the WWs again, our kids get teached about history, cultural differences and to respect other nationalities their whole school life. And most of them understand it.
Which makes us a culture, in which often isnt thought about "differences" anymore. Meaning: If I see a black, asian, whatever guy, I dont think: "Hey, a black/ asian/ whatevver guy!". I just think: "Hey, a guy!"
Americans are more "racist" in that case. Not in the meaning of hating the other race, but in recognising that there is a difference.
A result of our thinking is, that we dont care about funny pictures of germans with bierbauch and lederhosen or fat, smiling chinese guys. Its just a funny picture. Nothing bad. Thats what we think.
Now I realized, that other countries are not thinking like this. I really think its because the racial differences in them, so they cannot relax and dont care about jokes from an other race about their own. It is not an attack! Really not. We just make fun of every race, because we dont the differences. Why only make jokes about our own? We are all the same!
So please dont be too angry with us. Of course its right to tell us what you think, we dont want to hurt anybodys feelings. But Im just afraid, that our image may get even worse than it already is. I mean: We have a few racist here. There are attacks on foreigners just because of their skin color. But really not many. And we fight those as hard as we can. Its not even a half percent of us, thinking bad like these guys. But they are always the ones, who are shown in foreign media.
Confused text? Sorry. Just got up a few minutes ago, and english is, of course, not my mother tongue... :D
I had to laugh after I read that mainland Chinese doesn’t see any offence. For mainland Chinese and me is Mister Wong a friendly business man. There is nothing wrong. You can find thousand of pictures of this type of Salarymen (サラリーマン) in Mangas.
It’s like Helen Lovejoy from the Simpsons:” Will someone please think of the children?”
The main reason a cartonn is a cartonn its cause its stereotyping...Your attitude reminds me to the story we had last year here against the danish cartoons about Allah..meanwhile these has been drawing with the idea to link allah with islamic terrorsim, what for sure can offend islamic ppl, I cant see any offense in a friendly somewhat stereotypike looking asian guy...less as he isnt used in any racist context against/about the "asian race"....
Have you ever seen a frenchman fooling around cause he did not like the way the french were drwan in the Asterix & Obelix comics or even better an italian fooling about how the romans were drawn ??
Someone beeing offended by a cartoon like that need some professionell help rather than asking to take a logo down...
The way you argue could work for everything..that way you could aks to take off nearly everything on earth...and I cant see how this logo might fit in any "political correctness" debate as this is about anything but politics and at any point this cartoon is used to claim : THIS is what the average asian dude is looking like....and just in north america it can be understand this way..this is just ill man !
If you wanna write some lines about "political correctness" you´d better spend some time on "your" iraq war.
>> "...They condemn america in every way that they can but they had forgotten that it was america who held on to west berlin..."
America did not "hold on to" West Berlin. West Berlin was – and still is – part of the Federal Republic of Germany. That status was not being challenged by anyone so I don't know what you're sucking out of your thumb there.
>> "... and later defeated the communists"
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but America did not "defeat the communists". There are millions of communists alive and well today, as we speak! But you're were probably trying to refer to the disintegration of the Soviet bloc. Well, *that* was the result of a long process in which internal changes had played a much more important role than America flexing its muscles.
>> "...and eventually saved east Berlin."
Yeah. After which they ventured to save Moscow. And then Mars.
@Zanzibar:
>> "Europe has never been known for being politically correct."
Thank (insert name of your supreme divine being/concept here) for that. In Europe we – at least those of us who aren't idiots – have intercultural competence. We use reason, common sense and plain old human respect. We don't make a big deal about it. Personally, I'm happy that here I'm not surrounded by your type of PC, which stinks of paranoia, lack of self-confidence and an utter disregard of diversity. If that last part seems confusing, meditate on it.
Unfortunately, and this will thrill you, no doubt, there *is* a slow trend here in Germany that some people are adopting American PC paranoia. They are usually a) timid business folks who think they have to conform to such nonsense in order to be regarded as "modern" or b) loser type personalities who, after having abandoned various other bogus fads, need something new.
@ Ms. Wong:
>> 'Eric - open a competing site: “Herr Schulz - Master of the Bookmark Concentration Camp” '
Wow, you're a marketing wiz: 'Concentrating', i.e. 'collecting into one space' bookmarks / 'camp' as a term for the users of this service. Not bad!
Okay, but seriously... anyone who actually thinks "German" --> "Concentration Camp" is a logical and appropriate analogy: Please do us all a favour and go fuck yourself.
Finally, I'd like to join others in asking Ernie to remove the word "Christ". You are using the name of Christ in vain. Millions of Christians are offended. How can you do this? North Americans obviously have no idea about the long hard way Christianity has come and has had to stand up against its opressors throughout the centuries. Do you know how many people were killed by the Romans just because of their religion?
Probably not as many as those people killed by the Mao regime (current estimates ca. 40.000.000), but hey. Speaking of which: As others have pointed out, now that the evil offending oh-so-stereotypical cartoon man has been removed, Mr. Wong currently sports a red pentagonal star (which, for those in North America who may not know, is a symbol of communism/socialism) next to its logotype. Anybody remember Tiananmen Aquare '89? The government of the People's Republic of China did certain things to its citizens that I won't spell out here, for the benefit of North American sensitive souls. But anyway, nobody seems to care about that star and to quote you, Ernie: This makes me INCREDIBLY FUCKING ANGRY.
You can still watch the original flash episodes on icebox.com, and I'm sure they will be FAR more offensive to your gentle sensibilities.
Also, I'm surprised that this bookmark portal hasn't been sued by the owners of "Mr. Wong"
I came back to say: "I´m sorry!". I´m new to the internet-business and I am working a lot with social bookmark-sites... Sometimes I comment articles before thinking about it. Well, this happened yesterday. Fact is, I am not interested in politics but I was always (and will always be) against racism and I never get tired of fighting against racial prejudices. If you guys feel like you were treaded wrong and Mr. Wong reacted in the way to change it´s logo, this is a very respectable reaction. I hope, more companies would take this example as a good advice. Peace - atothek