DirecTV’s Giant Panda
– – DirecTV has a new commercial featuring Vietnamese comedian Dat Phan, who plays a character called “Whale,” so named because he’s a “big boy in the casino.” Everything that Whale does is “crazy big,” so he hangs out with tall caucasian models and a huge panda called Coco, who eats a bamboo stick while Whale watches Rango on television!
…the commercial, however, has been found offensive by some in the Asian American community due to its playing off Asian stereotypes such as Dat Phan’s forced accent and short stature, a giant Koi fish, and the enormous panda who eats bamboo. DirecTV had earlier reaped ire for a commercial which played off black stereotypes…
…as for me, I’d love to sit with a gigantic panda and watch animation!
Tags: DirecTV's giant panda
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FOXSYLVANIA 
August 22, 2011 at 1:49 am
And, yet no one complained about stereotyping post-Cold War Russian accents? Wery hypocritical!
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August 22, 2011 at 2:22 am
And who can forget Pavel Chekov’s difficulties with the letter “V” in the “Star Trek” series, e.g., “nuclear wessels?”
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