Internet users are worked up over Ashton Kutcher's racial depiction in a Pop Chips campaign launched Wednesday.
The actor, who is also the brand's "president of pop culture," portrays four caricatures on a dating show, including an Indian man named Raj, in which Kutcher appears with darkened skin.
The rap group Das Racist called Kutcher out on Twitter over the videos. "Hey @aplusk, what's with the racist brownface video," the account tweeted.
So far the only tweet from Kutcher today is a promo asking "Looking for love?" with a link to the video (below).
Other folks have turned to Twitter to express how little love they have for the campaign:
Newsflash to @popchips – never heard of you before. Now I'll see your name and think "racists" not "yummy snack" Fail! #BoycottPopChips
— Amadi (@amaditalks) May 2, 2012
.@popchips proudly displaying @aplusk's offensive characters on their Facebook page on.fb.me/ahYtKE #brownface
— laura(@lolaelizabeth) May 2, 2012
Which PopChips Ashton Kutcher character is your fave? It's so hard to pick! (how I'm gonna drown myself fastest) bit.ly/bT31PQ
— Max Silvestri (@maxsilvestri) May 2, 2012
In a beautifully articulated blog post, entrepreneur and writer Anil Dash recommends you don't watch the video.
"Don't watch it; It's a hackneyed, unfunny advertisement featuring Kutcher in brownface talking about his romantic options, with the entire punchline being that he's doing it in a fake-Indian outfit and voice. That's it, there's seriously no other gag…
"I think we can attack the process by which these broken, racist, exploitative parts of our culture are created. I think the people behind this Popchips ad are not racist. I think they just made a racist ad, because they're so steeped in our culture's racism that they didn't even realize they were doing it."
Dash outlines a number of next steps for the campaign, including not pulling the ads. Instead, the ads should link to an explanation for how the campaign failed. Kutcher should apologize and the team members from the PR firm promoting the campaign and the firm that made the ads should all be named. Check out the rest of Dash's recommendations here.
For now at least, expect to see more of "Raj" and Kutcher's other characters, including a half-baked "Nigel," a diva named "Darl" who is very obviously inspired by Karl Lagerfeld, and "Swordfish," a bumpkin-type biker dude. The New York Times reports that the $1.5 million campaign will include outdoor ads in Denver, LA, New York, Phoenix, Seattle and San Francisco, as well as social media appearances on Facebook and YouTube.
UPDATE: Late Wednesday, Pop Chips CEO Keith Belling issued an apology.
"Our team worked hard to create a light-hearted parody featuring a variety of characters that was meant to provide a few laughs. We did not intend to offend anyone. I take full responsibility and apologize to anyone we offended," he wrote in a blog post.
Is any press good press for Pop Chips and Kutcher? Or is this a PR fail, and if so, how do you think it should be rectified?
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