VAGUELY racist!? Once that crow started playing basketball with the sun, it went beyond 'vaguely' to me.

And yet at the same time I laughed. Does that make me vaguely racist? Oh God.

"kia ora" is a Kiwi greeting, it's Māori for "be well".

Used in context:

Kia ora, bro.. me 'n the whānau are headed up to Pokekohe to pick some feijoas. They fuckin' primo up there, aye. You in?

.. This was super weird for me, being a Kiwi and never having heard of this soft drink ..

mmmmmm kia ora is the dogs danglies, so yummy!

I actually regularly saw this ad when i was younger, it was quite a good one and quite popular. I used to sing the song to myself a lot like you do when you're younger, and i even hum it to myself from time to time now.. so seeing this on here is key-raaaaazy. I never even registered that the kid was black back then, and even now i don't see any undertones at all.. In fact, while i was at primary school - between 4-10 - we had a black girl in our class, and even she sang it or hummed it, and no one ever gave any kia-ora based abuse, ever.

Anyway.. explain the racism to me.. so he's a little black kid who likes this drink, a crow wants some of his drink, he doesn't let him cos it's too orangey for anything but him and his dog.. then a crow starts bouncing the sun as though it's a ball. Even if it's meant to look like basketball, why is that racist either?

Honestly, i'm not playing dumb or devil's advocate, i don't see why it's racist.

- The unnaturally deep voice belongs to the crow.
- The bag may indicate he's a hobo, but not necessarily and why is that so terrible anyway?
- It's clearly set in some baking hot country such as ones where you're likely to find darker skin.
- The crow is playing basketball, not the black kid, even if basketball is racist.
- Oranges = made by black people omgracisthax? That's about as racist as associating holland with windmills - ie. not very.
(just pre-empting some answers and hunting for any kind of racism i can)

I'm really flummoxed on this one! Put me out of my misery, or perhaps it really isn't racist at all.

Each of those on its own would be innocent, but the parade of stereotypes should pretty much cement it for you. Either you are unbelievably naive and innocent, or just blissfully dumb

I don't think the creators intended racism - I actually think it's a cute commercial - but it is a parade of stereotypes and the animation style evokes Amos & Andy and Sambo's restaurant. It is a very specific brand of American racism, so non-Americans may miss some of the cultural significance.

KP, everyone's a little bit vaguely racist.

In reply to this comment by asynchronice:
Each of those on its own would be innocent, but the parade of stereotypes should pretty much cement it for you. Either you are unbelievably naive and innocent, or just blissfully dumb

Specifically what parade of stereotypes am i looking at exactly? I don't know anything about any sambo, or any other similar cartoonage to draw similarities from

As you say "each of those on its own would be innocent but.......", but each of what? The bag, the fact that basketball is being played, and the fact that oranges are involved? Those are the only three things i listed, the other members of that list were denials/corrections of things.

If i'm being blissfully dumb, then you equally so. You haven't given a clear answer. If it is so obvious, it should be explainable in a few lines.

Crows have been used a few times as "black characters." The one that most immediately comes to mind is the jungle book. If we're talking abuot black sterotypes, tehre's also the crow dressed as the sterotypical "mammy" (think aunt jemima) and the saxophone/piano playing jazzy crows.

Ya, I think the mammy should really drive it all home.