Dunkin' Donuts pulls Rachael Ray "kiffiyeh" tv ad
THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED. UPDATED INFORMATION IN ITALICS
Fox News insists that a scarf worn in a new television commercial for Dunkin' Donuts featuring celeb chef Rachael Ray reflects terrorist attire known as "hate couture".
The scarf known as a kiffiyeh was chosen by a stylist for the tv shoot says Dunkin' Donuts spokesperson with no intention to link the company, Rachael Ray or the content of the ad to terrorists who favor similar scarfs. Kiffiyeh is a Middle Eastern garb that is "popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, " according to Fox News.
Is this assertion by Fox News legit? Or is it just another ploy by the network for attention?...sometimes these days their behavior reeks of McCarthy era threats seemingly looking for ways to make everyone who doesn't share their point of view anti-American.
THE FOLLOWING INTERVIEW WITH AN EXPERT IN MEDIA AFFAIRS RELATING TO THE MIDDLE EAST COMES FROM CNN.COM
Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on depending on someone's perspective.
"I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.," Bishara said in a phone interview. "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East - by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm."
While some extremists and terrorists may wear kaffiyehs, "To reduce their meaning to support for terrorism has a tacit racist tone to it," Bishara said.
Dunkin' Donuts in a quick crisis management move to avert negative attention to their company and products pulled the ad immediately.
MSNBC online has a picture from the TV ad showing Rachell Ray wearing the "offensive" scarf.
What do you think?
Smart move for Dunkin' Donuts--an American favorite that has seen nice growth in business as they successfully compete against Starbucks with their famous coffee---to get out of the mess fast whether or not the Fox News claim is fair, reasonable or just attention getting.
Watching out for you everyday.
Eli
The reaction to this is ridiculous and displays an alarming ignorance. The scarf is traditional Arab atire. Not Arab-Muslim. Not Arab-Christian.
These people( who complained about the Rachel Ray ad) remind me of the sad historical fact that when early crusaders arrived in the Holy Land they murdered many Arab-Christians because they didn't even realize that they were Christians. Not that they should have been murdering anyone. But honestly, why can't people become a little better educated about these things instead of making themselves laughing-stocks before the entire world?
I didn't believe that Communists got to "own" the color red, either. I wouldn't have banned any ads in which people were wearing red clothing!
Posted by: Kristi Ellison Jalics | May 29, 2008 at 09:12 AM
Dunkin Donuts has given in to the terror network of Fox News. The scarf looks good. Fox News looks racist in its typically fear mongering ignorance. I'd go buy a box of donuts if the add started running again complete with kiffiyeh like scarf
Posted by: Richard Fischer | May 28, 2008 at 01:21 PM