Is this commercial racist?

Thanks to Brian for posting this.  There’s a commercial put out by Samsung that  shows white people using old, outdated technology with pig’s noses.  At best, it was a very stupid decision to make a commercial like this.  I cannot even fathom a commercial in America that shows Koreans in the same manner.  Is this a result of racism or am I reading too much into it?  I’ll let you decide, here’s the commercial:

  1. I think it is a stupid commercial, but I do not think it is racist. In Korea, a wall outlet is often referred to as a 돼지코, which means “pig nose” or “pig snout.”

  2. The dog has a pig nose too. Plus the pig people try to plug their laptop into their noses (the holes match Korean plugs). I think there’s more to the commercial than people are leading into, but the fact that the majority is thinking it’s racist does say something about poorly the concept was effectuated.

    Did I use “effectuated” right? lol

  3. While it is a stupid commercial, it’s not racism.
    (But, it might look like racism because only white people are wearing those pig noses. I think that’s a huge mistake that the commercial director has made)

    As it has been mentioned by others above, wall sockets in South Korea have two circular holes. Maybe, the person who posted the commercial on YouTube didn’t understand that…

  4. It is highly racist. If it were not racist it would show Koreans as pigs too. After spending two years in Korea I have found that it is quite obvious that Koreans believe that they are superior to Americans and other whites. I will no longer buy Samsung products after this.

  5. I think that it’s a racist commercial out of ignorance. I don’t think that these people that made this commercial completely understand the message. If ONE person thought it might be a racist issue, or at the very least “culturally insulting”, then it might have been a misunderstanding. However, I felt a little insulted, as did many other people. If that wasn’t true, this wouldn’t be a topic for discussion. I don’t know what is more foolish, the people who deal the idea, or the people who believe it. This commercial would never be tolerated in the U.S.A. If Koreans were ever portrayed in such a manner, the people responsible would generally issue an apology and retraction at the very least. In any case, most of Korean contemporary culture is actually influenced by the U.S.A. so I don’t doubt that Koreans should inherit the negative trait of racism and moral superiority. Shame on Samsung.

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