Mary J. Blige says Burger King ad was a 'mistake'

[jobeterob]

What was this all about? Did anyone see the ad?


Mary J. Blige says Burger King ad was a 'mistake'


The Associated Press
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Singer Mary J. Blige says the Burger King commercial that caused major backlash for her was a "mistake."


The clip was released in April and featured Blige singing about the fast-food chain's new chicken snack wraps. It immediately went viral, and some in the black community said it was stereotypical. Burger King pulled it after one day and said it was unfinished.

In an interview with radio station Hot 97 this week, Blige said Burger King "made me look ridiculous." She said she thought she "would be shot in an iconic way."

Says Blige: "I wanted to crawl under the bed."

She said she initially did the commercial because she thought it would be a "great branding opportunity."

Burger King didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.

[reese]

As the article says, the commercial only aired briefly before it was pulled after the protests started. I think I caught a brief glimpse of it on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT. Initially, Mary said something like the ad was leaked before it was finished. But I think that was just her responding to the wave of protests.

[soulster]

This is silly! It's all ado about nothing. I saw absolutely NOTHING wrong with the ad. It was done tastefully, and there was no hint of anything racial. I think this is just another case of people overreacting over perceived racism. And I am Black! If there was something racist, I would be the first to call it out.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XukHU8y5GRQ

[Jerry Oz]

Stoopid controversy. It was a cheesy commercial, but nothing racist about it.

[Ngroove]

Mary J Blige endorsing chicken, is no different than Steven Tyler endorsing chicken.

[juicefree20]

The response to Mary J's commercial was one of the sillier things that I've seen in awhile & was beneath everyone involved.

To listen to the complaints, one would've thought that Mary went out there in blackface, tap dancing, singing "Mammy", while burying her face in a watermelon while picking cotton out of a bottle of Bayer aspirin.

And it's reactions such as that which tend to lead people into not taking many of our much more valid complaints very seriously.

The fact of the matter is that people of ALL races enjoy KFC, Popeyes, or even mommas good old chicken. So because of a scarred psyche, we now have to fear admitting that we actually do like chicken? We have to renounce our love of chicken so that someone who has entirely too damn much time on their hands won't become offended?

A few years ago, someone would've been ready to boycott KFC for NOT using a Black to endorse KFC. The rap back then would've been that we were being kept away from endorsements & how unfair it would've been.

I'm all for pointing out the B.S. where it lies. 50 shots at an unarmed person...I can get with protesting that. Glass ceilings being used to keep people from gaining a fair opportunity to get a job or promotion...I'm all for protesting that. Sports leagues comprised of roughly 75% minorities with little-to-no representation in the coaching or managerial seats or in the front office...I can get with protesting that. Areas being red-lined, small business & homeowners being refused loans despite having the EXACT SAME CREDIT as others...I can get with that protest. People being stopped while walking or driving while black just because...I can get with that protest.

But THIS was & still is a bunch of bull & when we as a people can no longer discern the difference between B.S. & legitimate offenses, then we've truly regressed.

Crap like this simply gives the appearance of people complaining for the sake of complaining, without even stopping to consider whether the complaint is legitimate, much less the intent behind the advertising. And just like the boy who cried "wolf", people will eventually begin turning a deaf ear to even the most legitimate of complaints. By that I mean turning a deaf ear even more than they do at present.

Finger-licking notwithstanding, sorry, but this isn't exactly the civil rights sword that I'd want to fall on in order to "save" my people.

[juicefree20]

As regards the ad being "stereotypical" or "offensive", how much more stereotypic or offensive is it than 99% of these dumb-assed "Housewives"/"reality' shows which depict Black women AND men in the most negative of lights? How could that commercial be remotely as offensive as watching ANY music awards show, as recently as last night where words had to be bleeped out damn near every other line of a song?

How much more offensive could that commercial have been when an entire world watches all too many of my folks stand before a world-wide audience & perform misntrel shows that would've done Billy Van & Al Jolson proud?

It's scary to consider this but it's beginning to appear to me that we're fast lossing track of that which should truly be offensive. The primary difference & ultimate shame is that these 100 years later, it's not guys whom are putting burnt cork on their faces whom are playing us for the fool.

One guess as to all too often these days whom the culprits doing the offending are? And if we're NOT offended, then we damn well ought to be.

Maybe that's the true shame of it all.

[Jerry Oz]

Great points, juicefree20. Now, when you look at the landscape of network television and see no shows at all with black stars [[lucky to have black friends on network TV), imagine what the executives will say. "We wanted to produce a black sitcom but we were afraid that we'd be boycotted for making a black man look silly." Don't get me wrong, I loved "Frank's Place", "The Cosby Show", and even [[gasp!) "Julia", shows that were positive and affirming in their depictions of African-Americans. But I still loved "Sanford & Son", "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", and "Martin" as well, each of which some might have thought had clownish characters on them. Why can't we laugh with each other while white people are looking? They are probably laughing with us as well, not at us. If they're laughing at us, then f*** them, those people don't matter. So, why can't we endorse ANYTHING without getting criticized for it? Burger King makes a mint off of us but we would rather have Steven Tyler and Salma Hayek sell us their food? That's insane. Public Enemy wrote the song "Shut 'Em Down" because companies take us for granted and now we're going to shut 'em down because they're not.

[juicefree20]

Jerry,

I believe that the clinical term is called not knowing ones @$# from ones elbow. And the sad thing is that it seems to be contagious!

Which doesn't exactly put us in a very good place.

[soulster]

The response to Mary J's commercial was one of the sillier things that I've seen in awhile & was beneath everyone involved.

To listen to the complaints, one would've thought that Mary went out there in blackface, tap dancing, singing "Mammy", while burying her face in a watermelon while picking cotton out of a bottle of Bayer aspirin.

And it's reactions such as that which tend to lead people into not taking many of our much more valid complaints very seriously.

The fact of the matter is that people of ALL races enjoy KFC, Popeyes, or even mommas good old chicken. So because of a scarred psyche, we now have to fear admitting that we actually do like chicken? We have to renounce our love of chicken so that someone who has entirely too damn much time on their hands won't become offended?

A few years ago, someone would've been ready to boycott KFC for NOT using a Black to endorse KFC. The rap back then would've been that we were being kept away from endorsements & how unfair it would've been.

I'm all for pointing out the B.S. where it lies. 50 shots at an unarmed person...I can get with protesting that. Glass ceilings being used to keep people from gaining a fair opportunity to get a job or promotion...I'm all for protesting that. Sports leagues comprised of roughly 75% minorities with little-to-no representation in the coaching or managerial seats or in the front office...I can get with protesting that. Areas being red-lined, small business & homeowners being refused loans despite having the EXACT SAME CREDIT as others...I can get with that protest. People being stopped while walking or driving while black just because...I can get with that protest.

But THIS was & still is a bunch of bull & when we as a people can no longer discern the difference between B.S. & legitimate offenses, then we've truly regressed.

Crap like this simply gives the appearance of people complaining for the sake of complaining, without even stopping to consider whether the complaint is legitimate, much less the intent behind the advertising. And just like the boy who cried "wolf", people will eventually begin turning a deaf ear to even the most legitimate of complaints. By that I mean turning a deaf ear even more than they do at present.

Finger-licking notwithstanding, sorry, but this isn't exactly the civil rights sword that I'd want to fall on in order to "save" my people.

Perfect post, and really sums it all up.

Someone needs to send this thread to Mary J. Blige.

[skooldem1]

Thanks to the liberal media, almost everything now days is "racial".

[soulster]

Thanks to the liberal media, almost everything now days is "racial".

Liberal media? Who? Tell us! I'm interested in your answers! This should be good!

[skooldem1]

Off the top of my head.....MSNBC.

[smark21]

The more legit reason to criticize Mary J. Blige or any celebrity who endorses fast food is that the food is not healthy and has played a role in so many people becoming morbidly obese.

[soulster]

Off the top of my head.....MSNBC.

Oh! Just one news channel out of how many??? Most media companies are owned and run by very conservative types. Your buddy Rupert Murddoch owns many newspapers, TV stations, networks, and radio stations. He's one of the most conservative guys out there! The biggest newspapers and news network is extremely very conservative: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Faux news, to name a few. Look how many companies own, or carry conservative talk radio shows and stations. And, for all of the stereotypes about "liberal" entertainment industry, the studios are some of the most conservative companies you'll find. And, for all the talk about how liberal actors and singers are supposed to be, look how many of them are actually conservative?

Liberal media bias. Yeah. Right.

[soulster]

The more legit reason to criticize Mary J. Blige or any celebrity who endorses fast food is that the food is not healthy and has played a role in so many people becoming morbidly obese.

The food itself doesn't make people obese, the people who ate too much of the bad stuff and didn't exercise made themselves obese. I'm no fan of most fast food either, but I know when to quit eating it. If you eat the stuff once in a great while, and exercise, it shouldn't be much of a problem. And, if the food makes you feel run-down or a bit ill afterward, don't eat it again. But, I imagine these people don't pay much attention to what their bodies are trying to tell them. And, the switch in their brains that tell them they are full and should stop eating doesn't work.

A couple of nights ago, on the NatGeo channel, I think, there was a show on about obese people. A couple of obese women from England [[one very pretty, BTW ) flew to Mississippi to spend a couple of weeks with another very obese woman who had diabetes 2, and she was very unrepentant about her horrendous eating habits. Despite her bad health, she would not stop eating bad food. And, she would put lots of salt on everything! My point is that no one made her fat and gave her diabetes. She did it to herself. Turns out her whole family was the same way. I have family like that on my mother's side. They all live in the same area and eat the same bad food, and all of them are always sick. I'm glad my parents moved away from all of that. I may be a bit overweight myself, but I get exercise, and don't eat much fat or cholesterol, though I have a bad sweet tooth. I'm never sick, and I can outrun people less than half my age and not get winded.

[juicefree20]

Smark,

I've heard you mention N.Y. a few times & wondered whether you lived here or not.

Your statement brought to mind this current kick that our mayor is on these days, trying to ban sodas more than 16 ounces being sold in fast-food restaurants & while obesity is a problem, there's something far more responsible than fast food & sodas.

The one thing that none of his health kick fanatics ever seem to consider is that the last few generations of kids are different than those of us who grew up in the 60s & 70s.

Back when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get outside. Hell, when I moved from my old neighborhood, I walked more than a mile to go back & play Softball, punchball, stickball or Ring-o-leevio every day. We weren't stuck behind any games other than a Hot Wheels set, Motorific, Gi-Joe or Captain Action. There weren't any cable stations so after school, we'd do our homework, run outside & play for awhile before we ran back inside to get our Batman or Lost In Space on.

So if we did eat too much, we were so busy playing that we burned off whatever we ate. And I don't remember seeing a bunch of overweight kids who couldn't run a block or two. Hell, most of the young folks whom I see today probably couldn't run 3 blocks if their lives depended on it. Not because they're fat but because they're simply not used to doing so.

These kids simply aren;t as active as we were, they're too busy trying to play on Facebook, video games or watching 106 & park.

The last few generation of kids are the most sedentary kids I've ever seen in my life & I believe that THAT more than anything is why we have so many obese kids today. That & the fact that folks these days seem to be more relient on McDonalds & the chinese restaurant, than they are a good home-cooked meal.

A lot of kids have grown up more on the chinese restaurant & those chicken wings & fried rice, than on mama's home cooking.

Not exactly the best development to say the least.

[P-Shark: The Revenge]

She said she thought she "would be shot in an iconic way."

Ms Thang should see a doctor for that swollen head of hers

[jillfoster]

Smark,

I've heard you mention N.Y. a few times & wondered whether you lived here or not.

Your statement brought to mind this current kick that our mayor is on these days, trying to ban sodas more than 16 ounces being sold in fast-food restaurants & while obesity is a problem, there's something far more responsible than fast food & sodas.

The one thing that none of his health kick fanatics ever seem to consider is that the last few generations of kids are different than those of us who grew up in the 60s & 70s.

Back when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get outside. Hell, when I moved from my old neighborhood, I walked more than a mile to go back & play Softball, punchball, stickball or Ring-o-leevio every day. We weren't stuck behind any games other than a Hot Wheels set, Motorific, Gi-Joe or Captain Action. There weren't any cable stations so after school, we'd do our homework, run outside & play for awhile before we ran back inside to get our Batman or Lost In Space on.

So if we did eat too much, we were so busy playing that we burned off whatever we ate. And I don't remember seeing a bunch of overweight kids who couldn't run a block or two. Hell, most of the young folks whom I see today probably couldn't run 3 blocks if their lives depended on it. Not because they're fat but because they're simply not used to doing so.

These kids simply aren;t as active as we were, they're too busy trying to play on Facebook, video games or watching 106 & park.

The last few generation of kids are the most sedentary kids I've ever seen in my life & I believe that THAT more than anything is why we have so many obese kids today. That & the fact that folks these days seem to be more relient on McDonalds & the chinese restaurant, than they are a good home-cooked meal.

A lot of kids have grown up more on the chinese restaurant & those chicken wings & fried rice, than on mama's home cooking.

Not exactly the best development to say the least.

Exactly and amen. you got to remember, much of the old fashioned country cooking was born from farm families, where you worked out in the fields all damn day, so that's where your chicken fried steak, fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, peach cobbler, and all that comes from. And of course, you burned it off. People that sit on their butts in an office all day can't eat like that. My metabolism sucks, so although I work outside all day, I need to lose 25 pounds. However, if I had a sedentary job, it would be all over.. I'd look exactly like my sister [[Mama Cass type)

[Roberta75]

The food itself doesn't make people obese, the people who ate too much of the bad stuff and didn't exercise made themselves obese. I'm no fan of most fast food either, but I know when to quit eating it. If you eat the stuff once in a great while, and exercise, it shouldn't be much of a problem. And, if the food makes you feel run-down or a bit ill afterward, don't eat it again. But, I imagine these people don't pay much attention to what their bodies are trying to tell them. And, the switch in their brains that tell them they are full and should stop eating doesn't work.

A couple of nights ago, on the NatGeo channel, I think, there was a show on about obese people. A couple of obese women from England [[one very pretty, BTW ) flew to Mississippi to spend a couple of weeks with another very obese woman who had diabetes 2, and she was very unrepentant about her horrendous eating habits. Despite her bad health, she would not stop eating bad food. And, she would put lots of salt on everything! My point is that no one made her fat and gave her diabetes. She did it to herself. Turns out her whole family was the same way. I have family like that on my mother's side. They all live in the same area and eat the same bad food, and all of them are always sick. I'm glad my parents moved away from all of that. I may be a bit overweight myself, but I get exercise, and don't eat much fat or cholesterol, though I have a bad sweet tooth. I'm never sick, and I can outrun people less than half my age and not get winded.

You'll never be accused of not loving yourself enough will you hon?

LOL

Roberta

[splanky]

There are a lot worse conditions than being overweight and not every obese person will get
diabities. Of course we wish the best for those in our lives but people are going to be who
they are. I for one am sick of government officials like Bloomberg trying to legislate behavoir
with things like his stupid soda ban. Don't get me started...Anyway, though I respect her progress as a singer, even if it took 14 years, I've never been able to take Mary J. Blige seriously when she opens her mouth to talk about anything...sorry...

[smark21]

Yes, I live in NYC and have since 1999 [[except for a short stint in LA 4 years ago). I think the obesity problem is manifold and multi-faceted. I certainly don’t put the sole blame on fast food companies. I think one thing more people need to learn and put into practice is portion control and learn there is a difference between eating until you are full and eating until you have enough. I’m glad to say I’ve never been overweight and I’m blessed with excellent metabolism on both sides of my family tree. And though I work an office job, given that I live in NYC, I either take public transportation or walk everywhere as I don’t own or need a car.

[juicefree20]

The thing about it is that I don't believe that any of us have ever eaten, much less have ever prepared a meal based upon what the suggested portion size has come to mean.

For as long as I remember, you ate what your stomach could hold & if you wanted seconds, you ate them. And forget about tablespoons, I'm talking about heaping LADLES, those giant metal sppons that grandma stirred the spaghetti sauce or stew with. And for all of that, I knew relatively few obese people, especially kids because we were simply too active.

When I hear anything about a suggested portion size, I'm reminded of when my mother wanted to drop a few pounds & began measuring her meals ala Weight Watchers. When I saw what they called a "normal" portion of anything, I thought that they had to be kidding. Seriously, a 4 ounce piece of steak just didn't look as though it could satisfy a pigeon, much less a kid.

I have to be honest & say that in my 50+ years of living, seldom have I sen anyone not on a diet serve up anything remotely close to being what today is known as the "suggested serving size".

More than sodas & the like, I firmly believe that another of the biggest culprets here are the sheer amounts of processed foods that have been consumed over the past 3 decades. When most of us were kids, White Castle, the pizza parlor & chinese food were an OCCASIONAL treat that we looked forward to & not a regular staple of our diet.

I believe that once it became necessary for more women to enter the workplace, there was more of a reliance placed on fast food as a quicker alternative to cooking & things seem to have snowballed from there.

And don't get me started on the folks who hop into their cars in order to drive a very distant 5 blocks to the store!

[nysister]

Smark,

I've heard you mention N.Y. a few times & wondered whether you lived here or not.

Your statement brought to mind this current kick that our mayor is on these days, trying to ban sodas more than 16 ounces being sold in fast-food restaurants & while obesity is a problem, there's something far more responsible than fast food & sodas.

The one thing that none of his health kick fanatics ever seem to consider is that the last few generations of kids are different than those of us who grew up in the 60s & 70s.

Back when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get outside. Hell, when I moved from my old neighborhood, I walked more than a mile to go back & play Softball, punchball, stickball or Ring-o-leevio every day. We weren't stuck behind any games other than a Hot Wheels set, Motorific, Gi-Joe or Captain Action. There weren't any cable stations so after school, we'd do our homework, run outside & play for awhile before we ran back inside to get our Batman or Lost In Space on.

So if we did eat too much, we were so busy playing that we burned off whatever we ate. And I don't remember seeing a bunch of overweight kids who couldn't run a block or two. Hell, most of the young folks whom I see today probably couldn't run 3 blocks if their lives depended on it. Not because they're fat but because they're simply not used to doing so.

These kids simply aren;t as active as we were, they're too busy trying to play on Facebook, video games or watching 106 & park.

The last few generation of kids are the most sedentary kids I've ever seen in my life & I believe that THAT more than anything is why we have so many obese kids today. That & the fact that folks these days seem to be more relient on McDonalds & the chinese restaurant, than they are a good home-cooked meal.

A lot of kids have grown up more on the chinese restaurant & those chicken wings & fried rice, than on mama's home cooking.

Not exactly the best development to say the least.

Juice,you are soooooooo right!!! Talk about being active, we jumped double-dutch, straight rope, ring-o-levia, touch football, handball, slug, hopscotch, and we loved potato chips, penny candy, etc. and drunk kool-aid with a whole lot of sugar in it, because sodas were expensive, and there were no fat children among us.

[nysister]

Smark,

I've heard you mention N.Y. a few times & wondered whether you lived here or not.

Your statement brought to mind this current kick that our mayor is on these days, trying to ban sodas more than 16 ounces being sold in fast-food restaurants & while obesity is a problem, there's something far more responsible than fast food & sodas.

The one thing that none of his health kick fanatics ever seem to consider is that the last few generations of kids are different than those of us who grew up in the 60s & 70s.

Back when I was a kid, I couldn't wait to get outside. Hell, when I moved from my old neighborhood, I walked more than a mile to go back & play Softball, punchball, stickball or Ring-o-leevio every day. We weren't stuck behind any games other than a Hot Wheels set, Motorific, Gi-Joe or Captain Action. There weren't any cable stations so after school, we'd do our homework, run outside & play for awhile before we ran back inside to get our Batman or Lost In Space on.

So if we did eat too much, we were so busy playing that we burned off whatever we ate. And I don't remember seeing a bunch of overweight kids who couldn't run a block or two. Hell, most of the young folks whom I see today probably couldn't run 3 blocks if their lives depended on it. Not because they're fat but because they're simply not used to doing so.

These kids simply aren;t as active as we were, they're too busy trying to play on Facebook, video games or watching 106 & park.

The last few generation of kids are the most sedentary kids I've ever seen in my life & I believe that THAT more than anything is why we have so many obese kids today. That & the fact that folks these days seem to be more relient on McDonalds & the chinese restaurant, than they are a good home-cooked meal.

A lot of kids have grown up more on the chinese restaurant & those chicken wings & fried rice, than on mama's home cooking.

Not exactly the best development to say the least.

Juice,you are soooooooo right!!! Talk about being active, we jump double-dutch, straight rope, played touch football, handball, slug, hopscotch, and we loved potato chips, penny candy, etc. and drunk kool-aid with a whole lot of sugar in it, because sodas were expensive, and there were no fat children among us.

[nysister]

As regards the ad being "stereotypical" or "offensive", how much more stereotypic or offensive is it than 99% of these dumb-assed "Housewives"/"reality' shows which depict Black women AND men in the most negative of lights? How could that commercial be remotely as offensive as watching ANY music awards show, as recently as last night where words had to be bleeped out damn near every other line of a song?

How much more offensive could that commercial have been when an entire world watches all too many of my folks stand before a world-wide audience & perform misntrel shows that would've done Billy Van & Al Jolson proud?

It's scary to consider this but it's beginning to appear to me that we're fast lossing track of that which should truly be offensive. The primary difference & ultimate shame is that these 100 years later, it's not guys whom are putting burnt cork on their faces whom are playing us for the fool.

One guess as to all too often these days whom the culprits doing the offending are? And if we're NOT offended, then we damn well ought to be.

Maybe that's the true shame of it all.

And Amen Again!!!

[soulster]

Juice,

when I first discovered, or started paying attention to the nutritional information on food products in the 80s, I would look at what the suggested serving sized were and smirk, thinking that, for example, no one eats a tablespoon of ketchup, eats five potato chips, or drinks 8 ounces of soda!