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Putting a cute baby and a cuddly monkey together can sometimes seem like a good marketing idea, but in today’s PC world, that pairing will get you fired.
Wholesale giant Costco had to pull thousands of its “Cuddle with Me” baby dolls because some parents thought the African-American plastic doll and the plush monkey she had as a pet was a bit racist, according to media reports. Probably more offensive was the cap on the baby’s head that read “lil’ monkey.”
According to the Costco website you can buy a black, Hispanic or Caucasian "Cuddle with Me" doll with a Panda bear. (We're not touching that one.)
Brass Key, the company that makes the toy, has apologized for the misunderstanding, saying the offensive meaning was not within their company's "realm of thinking."
Riiiight. Who would be offended by a black doll with a cap that reads “lil’ monkey” on it?
The whole "blacks descended from apes" racist theory has long been the foundation of ignorant jokes that some thought might have been phased out of common thinking. But even President Obama has been the target of someone not thinking using a monkey to symbolize a black person was potentially offensive.
alive and well
vs.
Putting a cute baby and a cuddly monkey together can sometimes seem like a good marketing idea, but in today’s PC world, that pairing will get you fired.
Wholesale giant Costco had to pull thousands of its “Cuddle with Me” baby dolls because some parents thought the African-American plastic doll and the plush monkey she had as a pet was a bit racist, according to media reports. Probably more offensive was the cap on the baby’s head that read “lil’ monkey.”
According to the Costco website you can buy a black, Hispanic or Caucasian "Cuddle with Me" doll with a Panda bear. (We're not touching that one.)
Brass Key, the company that makes the toy, has apologized for the misunderstanding, saying the offensive meaning was not within their company's "realm of thinking."
Riiiight. Who would be offended by a black doll with a cap that reads “lil’ monkey” on it?
The whole "blacks descended from apes" racist theory has long been the foundation of ignorant jokes that some thought might have been phased out of common thinking. But even President Obama has been the target of someone not thinking using a monkey to symbolize a black person was potentially offensive.
alive and well
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