Political correctness gone too far (shocking, right?)

[departuresong]

Found this on another forum. Thought I'd share.

Motherfuckers.
I was curious why that hovercraft guy on the Orbitz commercial doesn't say "the Hernad-ezz-es" anymore.
I thought maybe I imagined the whole thing.
So I googled it.
It's the fucking PC police at work again.

http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2009/12/orbitz-done-joking-about-the-hernandezes.html

I mean is this guy even serious?

Being Hispanic I was offended by the commercial and it's my right to.

It would not have been offensive if the last name was James or Jones because those are American traditional names that don't end with "z". I wouldn't expect a bunch of non-Hispanics to grasp the idea of how this commercial is offensive but to see how moronic the reaction of cleaning up the commercial drawing such negative ire indicates the level of ignorance of those who find ridiculing others and their heritage truly are. Making jokes on others expense, especially in terms of the person's heritage, is not a right and it's ridiculous for people to think they are somehow victims because they cannot make jokes such as these without offending anyone.

He must be trolling.

I say "breasts-ess-ses" all the time, as the plural for breasts, but I don't think that is insulting to woman's titties.
It's just a word that is hard to pluralize.

I'm pissed off.
Again.
As usual.

Who are these Hernandezz-ezz-es?
And how can we take the stick out of their ass-ess-es?

 

[#1 bro]

i've seen a few ads accused of being racist that actually are shockingly insensitive (e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70pyE505nsk ), but this is just silly.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

But I loved that part of the commercial....

 

[octobr]

I prefer the so-called PC version. It still sounds really awkward and stumbly and he sounds so proud of himself for getting it right. :B

 

[Aisling]

What if the people with the last name "James" and "Jones" were typically a minority, instead of the people whose last name is "Hernandez"? Would their mispronunciation in a commercial suddenly become offensive? Or what if Hernandez ended in "s", since the guy placed the emphasis on "that don't end in z"? :v


This kind of reminds me of another commercial I haven't seen in a long time...

Anybody remember that Starburst commercial where the dude eats a starburst and says, "It's like a fiesta in my mouth", and then you see a tiny mariachi band inside the guy's mouth, and then suddenly the scene becomes all intense and dramatic as the mariachis are crushed between the dude's teeth and washed down his throat by saliva?

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

Getting offended at the ad is silly, however I lost empathy for the author of the article at the part where they reveal their frequent use of the word 'breasts-ess-ses'.

 

[Dannichu]

What if the people with the last name "James" and "Jones" were typically a minority, instead of the people whose last name is "Hernandez"? Would their mispronunciation in a commercial suddenly become offensive?

Yes. Picking on minorities is offensive. There isn't a long history of social stigma against the name "Jones", but if there were, it would become offensive.

Also, just because you don't find it offensive doesn't mean it isn't. I'm not out to curtail anyone's freedom of speech; go ahead and make all the comments-that-could-be-offensive you want, but expect to be called out on it.

 

[Murkrow]

Is it true that there was a Halifax ad here in the UK where Howard mentions that his surname is 'Brown' and that part got cut out because people complained that it was racist even though it's his real name?

 

[Tarvos]

your heritage is someone put penis into vagina now shut up

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

Yes. Picking on minorities is offensive. There isn't a long history of social stigma against the name "Jones", but if there were, it would become offensive.

Also, just because you don't find it offensive doesn't mean it isn't. I'm not out to curtail anyone's freedom of speech; go ahead and make all the comments-that-could-be-offensive you want, but expect to be called out on it.

I don't think they're picking on minorities though, are they? Hernandez is just... a hard to pluralize name :v it also happens to be Hispanic but if minorities were never included in commercials it wouldn't be nice either.
They could have chosen Jones or whatever but Hernandez is just a pretty common surname in the US these days I guess.

 

[goldenquagsire]

your heritage is someone put penis into vagina now shut up

meh your "heritage" is what you make of it. i don't feel particularly northern despite half my family living there since before living memory.

Wasn't there a Halifax ad here in the UK where Howard mentions that his surname is 'Brown' and that part got cut out because people complained that it was racist even though it's his real name?

yeah I'm gonna be sceptical here. I'm very distrusting of 'PC gone mad' stories since half the time they're utter bullshit or taken out of context.

 

[Wargle]

I have trouble pluralizing Hernandez and I say Hernandanzes..es..ses and no one ever calls me out.

 

[Shiny Grimer]

I don't think they're picking on minorities though, are they? Hernandez is just... a hard to pluralize name :v it also happens to be Hispanic but if minorities were never included in commercials it wouldn't be nice either.

It'd be nice if minorities could be included in a way that doesn't mean mocking them. Americans make a huge fucking deal out of pronouncing any name that's not "John Smith" and there are cases where employers have asked employees to change their names because they are apparently "too difficult". Let's not even get into the fact that Hispanic applicants are more likely to be rejected on the basis of name alone despite qualifications. This ad plays on the idea that "lol hispanic names are weird and hard to pronounce" and I can see why somebody would take issue with that.

 

[Dannichu]

^ Exactly this. Like GQ said, nearly all "PC gone mad" examples are completely taken out of context.
A commercial or television show or political statement doesn't exist in a vacuum, and things that people get het up about might well sound ridiculous by themselves, but when the only Asian characters on TV are background IT workers, or every fictional lesbian ends up dead, or every time a Hispanic name is mentioned, it's in the context of "haha, isn't this name hilarious?", it has massive sociological ramifications that cannot be seen if you only look at (and dismiss) isolated examples.

 

[Karkat Vantas]

Hernandez is the 29th most common surname in the US, so yeah.

Who the hell could be offended by that?

 

[#1 bro]

i'm guessing that the only reason they went with "hernandez" over "jones" is because hernandez is just a funnier word. i don't think the intent was racist (the couple didn't even look latino!)

 

[Shiny Grimer]

i don't think the intent was racist (the couple didn't even look latino!)

Something doesn't have to have racist intentions for it to be racist.

Also, what does "looking latino" mean? That couple could easily be latino. There are some pretty white latino/hispanic people out there. I am Hispanic and I have been mistaken for an American, an Englishwoman, an Irish person, and a Russian person. Nobody ever thinks that I am Hispanic (to the point that they think I'm joking with them when I tell them where I'm from).

Hernandez is the 29th most common surname in the US, so yeah.

Who the hell could be offended by that?

Guess who it's common for? Hint: Hispanic people! While there are non-Hispanic Americans out there that have last names like Hernandez and Rodriguez, they're not the majority.

Also, I'm pretty sure all the "foreigners with funny names" who have suddenly had their names changed because they're "too hard" would take issue with their names being poked at.

 

[Tarvos]

if your name takes more than a minute to pronounce it is a pain in the ass for an employer

my last name is a pain too i am probably changing it upon marriage

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

It'd be nice if minorities could be included in a way that doesn't mean mocking them. Americans make a huge fucking deal out of pronouncing any name that's not "John Smith" and there are cases where employers have asked employees to change their names because they are apparently "too difficult". Let's not even get into the fact that Hispanic applicants are more likely to be rejected on the basis of name alone despite qualifications. This ad plays on the idea that "lol hispanic names are weird and hard to pronounce" and I can see why somebody would take issue with that.

^ Exactly this. Like GQ said, nearly all "PC gone mad" examples are completely taken out of context.
A commercial or television show or political statement doesn't exist in a vacuum, and things that people get het up about might well sound ridiculous by themselves, but when the only Asian characters on TV are background IT workers, or every fictional lesbian ends up dead, or every time a Hispanic name is mentioned, it's in the context of "haha, isn't this name hilarious?", it has massive sociological ramifications that cannot be seen if you only look at (and dismiss) isolated examples.

Guess who it's common for? Hint: Hispanic people! While there are non-Hispanic Americans out there that have last names like Hernandez and Rodriguez, they're not the majority.

Also, I'm pretty sure all the "foreigners with funny names" who have suddenly had their names changed because they're "too hard" would take issue with their names being poked at.

The ad isn't even saying "haha, this name is funny", its saying "this name is hard to pluralise, the guy's inability to do so is funny". It's not making fun of the name at all, it's making fun of the guy's inability to pronounce it. Names like Hernandez are difficult to pluralise.

No one here is saying that it's okay to insult or marginalise minorities. What we're saying is that this ad isn't insulting or marginalising minorities. The ad isn't saying "haha, the Hernandezes are funny Hispanics because their name is hard to pronounce", it's saying "haha, the guy can't pluralise Hernandez". Ye're blowing things way out of proportion. You've gone from "having trouble pluralising a name" to "all minorites get treated shit in TV" and "people get treated racistly because of their names".

There's also the guy saying that apparently it's okay to make fun of the name Jones but not the name Hernandez. That's what's really PC gone mad. Apparently, you can make fun of names belonging to majorities, but not minorities. Even though the name in question is the 29th most common surname in the US. Saying it's okay to make fun of the majority is just as bigoted as saying it's okay to make fun of the minority. It's the whole thing with whites not being allowed to call black people "the n word" on TV but black people being allowed to call white people "cracka" or whatever (which has happened plenty of times) all over again. If you're racist against the majority, you're still racist and a Hispanic person putting their name on a pedestal and saying it can't be involved in a joke about names that are difficult to pluralise while "white" names like Jones can is just as bigoted as the inverse.

As an atheist, I'm a minority, especially in Ireland. Now, if someone made an ad completely mocking my beliefs, I'd probably be offended. But if someone made an ad with someone who can't pronounce or pluralise the word "atheist" (I know several people who can't do either), why should I be offended? They're making fun of the guy who can't pronounce it, not atheists. The reason this is a case of PC gone mad is because people basically got offended that someone found their name hard to pronounce. There wasn't even a negative connotation attached to this. The guy just didn't pronounce the name right.

 

[Shiny Grimer]

if your name takes more than a minute to pronounce it is a pain in the ass for an employer

Because 'Martín' is such a difficult name to pronounce, right? And "Hernandez"?

The ad isn't even saying "haha, this name is funny", its saying "this name is hard to pluralise, the guy's inability to do so is funny". It's not making fun of the name at all, it's making fun of the guy's inability to pronounce it. Names like Hernandez are difficult to pluralise.

And you think that it's a coincidence they happened to pick a Hispanic name, which have been mocked by Americans for a while?

There's also the guy saying that apparently it's okay to make fun of the name Jones but not the name Hernandez. That's what's really PC gone mad. Apparently, you can make fun of names belonging to majorities, but not minorities.

Uh, not really? Majorities are the ones in power. People named 'Jones' have not been discriminated against on the basis of their names. People named 'Hernandez' have (and of course, it's considered a 'funny' and 'difficult to pronounce' name). Making fun of the name 'Hernandez' reinforces the concept that it's okay to make fun of people named 'Hernandez' (and guess what most Hernandezes are?) while making fun of the name 'Jones'... doesn't.

Even though the name in question is the 29th most common surname in the US.

This is because there are a lot of Hispanic people in the US, not because white Americans like the name and have accepted it.

Saying it's okay to make fun of the majority is just as bigoted as saying it's okay to make fun of the minority. It's the whole thing with whites not being allowed to call black people "the n word" on TV but black people being allowed to call white people "cracka" or whatever (which has happened plenty of times) all over again.

It's prejudiced, yes, but you honestly can't compare 'nigger' to 'cracker'. Nigger has a long history of oppression and pain and inhumanity. Cracker does not have the emotional baggage that nigger has. Nobody has used cracker to oppress anybody else. That doesn't make using 'cracker' okay, but it makes it a completely different case.

If you're racist against the majority, you're still racist

Racism is described in academia as prejudice with power. Being prejudiced against the majority thus cannot be called racist.

and a Hispanic person putting their name on a pedestal and saying it can't be involved in a joke about names that are difficult to pluralise while "white" names like Jones can is just as bigoted as the inverse.

Please tell me where people named Jones are being forced to change their names because they're "funny" or "unpronouncable". Please tell me when people named Jones are refused jobs.

Also, can you honestly tell me that video would have been the same if it were "Oh look, it's the Smiths...eses" or "It's the Jones...es...es"? It would have been completely forgettable and nobody would consider it funny because although Jones and Smith are hard to pluralize, they are considered "normal" names. "Hernandez" is considered funny because it's Hispanic.

As an atheist, I'm a minority, especially in Ireland. Now, if someone made an ad completely mocking my beliefs, I'd probably be offended. But if someone made an ad with someone who can't pronounce or pluralise the word "atheist" (I know several people who can't do either), why should I be offended?

Have people mispronouncing the word "atheist" been used to make fun of atheists and oppress atheists? I'm an atheist, too, and as far as I'm aware the word "atheist" hasn't been used to attack atheists. Or you know, deny them jobs.