Meanwhile, back in Manistan*

I generally avoid in cathartic rants and raves, preferring to preserve my own sanity and channel frustration into action, but this commercial really managed to pack a punch, combining blatant racism with unashamed misogyny. 

PepsiCo just pulled a Mountain Dew ad wherein an injured white woman was attempting to pick her abuser out of an all-black (except for the goat) line-up.

At least the comment from the Pepsi Co rep provided a good laugh:

"We understand how this video could be perceived by some as offensive, and we apologize to those who were offended."**

How interesting to employ the more neutral term of "perceived." Its not simply "perceived" by "some" as offensive, it is offensive, and apologizing just to those who made a fuss isn't sufficient. Not only does the ad highlight the widespread sexism in the US's society, it also brings to fore questions about the need for women in corporate leadership (although, it is interesting to note, the CEO of Pepsi is a woman). What role did women play in creating this ad? Would the addition of more women in creating it have changed anything? Additionally, the ad perpetuates widespread prejudice, inequalities, stereotypes, and harmful norms. Like Maria so eloquently pointed out in the post two before mine, violence (and the slew of negatives aforementioned) have been institutionalized and normalized.

*euphemism courtesy of Ann Jones

** Heine, Christopher. "Mountain Dew Pulls 'Most Racist Commercial in History' | Adweek." Adweek – Breaking News in Advertising, Media and Technology. Adweek, n.d. Web. 2 May 2013. <http://www.adweek.com/news/television/mountain-dew-pulls-most-racist-commercial-history-149061>.