'Six Flags' TV ads get thumbs down from some Asian Americans

By Megan Stride | Special to amNewYork

August 5, 2008

"More Flags, More Fun" may mean "More Outrage" for Six Flags over the amusement park chain's summer ad campaign featuring a screaming, thickly-accented young Asian man.

The commercials, which have been airing nationally for months, are being called offensive, or worse, racist.

"It's a pretty offensive ad, not only because of the thick accent, but also because someone is screaming at you," said Margaret Fung, executive director of New York's Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

"I can't believe that the company thinks this is effective."

The organization will be contacting other activist groups as it considers taking action against Six Flags, Fung said. The organization has received several e-mail complaints about the ads, she added.

"There are groups in the past who have joined together in coalitions," Fung said. "We need to speak to our other groups in the Asian American communities to see if there's an interest in starting a campaign against it."

Six Flags did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The campaign seems to be a riff on Japanese game shows or commercials featuring pop-up, hyper salesmen.

"How often have we seen this type of satire? LOTS. Now Six Flags is taking this ignorance nationwide," writes blogger Angry Chinese Guy.

The commercials are certainly obnoxious, but not racist, said Democratic City Councilman John Liu, who represents Flushing, a neighborhood with a large Asian population.

"I'm frankly annoyed by it," Liu said. "It's more than a bit annoying. But I'm not sure if I see a racist component in it. I haven't received any complaints about it."

But Aimee Baldillo, the director of programs at the Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C., said that the thick accent makes the caricature unmistakable.

"It's always that fallback of the stereotype of the perpetual foreigner," Baldillo said. "There's still very much that image of them [Asian Americans] as foreign and still not belonging to this country."

The center often deals with poor media portrayals of Asian Americans by sitting down with producers to explain what's offensive and how to be more sensitive.

"This is a highlight of why it's important to have diverse people in decision-making in companies and advertising," Baldillo said. "I think it speaks to the need for diversity in advertising and for some sort of interest in cultural sensitivity."

Both Baldillo and Fung said that while portrayals of Asian Americans such as this are unacceptable, they are certainly not uncommon.

"Unfortunately, there are very many examples of these kinds of racist portrayals," Fung said.

Bob Garfield, ad critic for Advertising Age and co-host of NPR's "On the Media," said that while the ads carried no blatant racism, they lack sensitivity.

"I don't see this as stereotyping because it really doesn't conform to common stereotypes of Asians. A common stereotype would be 'inscrutable' or 'good in math,'" Garfield said.

"That said, nobody wants to see his racial or ethnic characteristics turned into a cartoon. Nobody wants to be Amos 'n' Andy."

Scroll to the bottom of the page to see one of the commericals, via YouTube