Ashton Kutcher advert pulled following accusations of racism
Published May 3 2012, 10:45 BST | By Greg Laing
Ashton Kutcher has had an advert starring him taken down following accusations that it is racist.The Two and a Half Men actor played various "bachelors" in mock online dating videos as part of a promotion for Popchips.
© Nikki Nelson / WENN.com
© Pop Chips/YouTube
One of the personas was a Bollywood producer named Raj who is "looking for love". Kutcher wore brown make-up and attempted an Indian accent for the role.
The solo video featuring 'Raj' has now been removed from YouTube and Facebook after being criticised online, The AP reports.
However, a video featuring some footage of 'Raj' along with Kutcher as a stoner, a tattooed Southerner and a fashionista, remains online.
A spokeswoman for Popchips said the video was "created to provoke a few laughs and was never intended to stereotype or offend anyone".
She added that the company hopes "people can enjoy this in the spirit it was intended".
Watch the video featuring all four characters below:
What would you all say had he played a black?
May 4th 2012 at 4:06pm
Natascha van Zanen Ok that's fair enough. To me I don't really see the difference between race, nationality, sexuality, gender. Everyone is different and to me a stereotype of one person shouldn't be considered worse than a stereotype of another just because of the colour of their skin. All of those characters should be deemed offensive or none of them should.
May 3rd 2012 at 6:16pm
David Portman I think race has more to do with color, what you're referring to, I would call nationality. Jokes about that can be just as offensive, but it is not about race.
May 3rd 2012 at 4:28pm
Tanisha B Gordan Nah, that's just the tan ;P
What I meant was that if it was a multitude of characters that were (in this case, because of Ashtons own race) were anything other than white, it could have been racist. But there were more white stereotypes portrayed than anything else, all in an unflattering manner. It might be seen as offensive, and maybe it is, to some people, but it isn't racist.
People should be able to joke about certain things, to a certain extent.Unfortuanetly racism (as well as homophobia, sexism and other things that shouldn't be) are still alive and kicking. We should save our energy and anger for when these things really are busy causing harm. If it is talked about to much, society will have dozed off when something important is being said, like pupils falling asleep when the teacher is talking to much and too monotone, causing them to miss what was the point of the class.
May 3rd 2012 at 4:22pm
Tanisha B Gordan Define a race then. I see myself as White English, not White American. If a White American were to play a White English person I would consider that as playing a different race.
May 3rd 2012 at 2:19pm