Stuff you hate (aka: the new f. you thread)

[cutout]

I bet someone in the ad department's first impulse was to make him say "Play some Snoop Dogg" or something and then someone else chimed in that that was offensive and tried to class it up with a Coltrane reference. If you've worked in advertising, you've heard these conversations.

[Smelodies]

I bet someone in the ad department's first impulse was to make him say "Play some Snoop Dogg" or something and then someone else chimed in that that was offensive and tried to class it up with a Coltrane reference. If you've worked in advertising, you've heard these conversations.

Perhaps, but if he said, "The Eagles," many people watching would have said "The Eagles?!" and some would have even posted on message boards about it.  I'm genuinely curious as to what kind of music an African American actor should ask for in a commercial.

[buffcoat]

... Heuristics (as opposed to algorithms) are the predominant decision-making tool of humans...

NERD!  Logic Nerd!  Drop and give me 20.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

I bet someone in the ad department's first impulse was to make him say "Play some Snoop Dogg" or something and then someone else chimed in that that was offensive and tried to class it up with a Coltrane reference. If you've worked in advertising, you've heard these conversations.

Perhaps, but if he said, "The Eagles," many people watching would have said "The Eagles?!" and some would have even posted on message boards about it.  I'm genuinely curious as to what kind of music an African American actor should ask for in a commercial.

Lady Gaga. Something "everyone" likes.

[KickTheBobo]

Again, a similarly positioned white actor could have said Coltrane, Madonna, The Beatles, or Beethoven, and none of those choices would have been deemed stereotypical or inappropriate. 

Which artist would have been more acceptable for the African American actor to say?

It's hard to say, I don't know any black people.

Maybe Assück?

[KickTheBobo]

I bet someone in the ad department's first impulse was to make him say "Play some Snoop Dogg" or something and then someone else chimed in that that was offensive and tried to class it up with a Coltrane reference. If you've worked in advertising, you've heard these conversations.

Perhaps, but if he said, "The Eagles," many people watching would have said "The Eagles?!" and some would have even posted on message boards about it.  I'm genuinely curious as to what kind of music an African American actor should ask for in a commercial.

I always associate Apple products with bands like The Arcade Fire or LCD Soundsystem, but since it's a mass-market commercial maybe something like REM, U2 or the Stones.

[buffcoat]

I don't know much about them, but I hear tell of a band called the "Texas N's."  Would they be good for this?

[JonFromMaplewood]

I bet someone in the ad department's first impulse was to make him say "Play some Snoop Dogg" or something and then someone else chimed in that that was offensive and tried to class it up with a Coltrane reference. If you've worked in advertising, you've heard these conversations.

Perhaps, but if he said, "The Eagles," many people watching would have said "The Eagles?!" and some would have even posted on message boards about it.  I'm genuinely curious as to what kind of music an African American actor should ask for in a commercial.

Lady Gaga. Something "everyone" likes.

EXACTLY. Or Carcass.

[Stan]

I'm genuinely curious as to what kind of music an African American actor should ask for in a commercial.

Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand (Live Knebworth 1979)

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Again, a similarly positioned white actor could have said Coltrane, Madonna, The Beatles, or Beethoven, and none of those choices would have been deemed stereotypical or inappropriate. 

Which artist would have been more acceptable for the African American actor to say?

Big Head Todd & The Monsters

[B_Buster]

I'm enjoying this conversation.

Is John Coltrane such an obscurity in our culture now that even the mention of his name in a commercial annoys people? That's sad.

[Steve of Bloomington]

Women be shoppin!

[yesno]

I specifically remember seeing another commercial where a young professional black man sat down in his house "to listen to some Coltrane."  It aired all the time maybe 10 or 12 years ago.  If anyone can point me to this commercial I'd be grateful.

[Andy]

I really do think that it's sometimes easy to assign negative motives when they just don't exist (i'm terrible about this). With the snoop dog-> Coltrane scenario, it's just as likely that they said "we need this guy to throw a name out that is obscure enough to the mainstream that it sounds cool but it's recognizable". Similar scenario, way less hateful, still just as annoying.

[Andy]

Also, I hate that Patrice O'Neal had a stroke and that it's so hard to find out how severe it was (it sounds bad.)