Red Bull Gives You Stereotypes

Red Bull, the energy drink of the masses, presents us with a winner of an appropriation. This commercial reads like a check list of Native stereotypes. Apparently this ad aired heavily overseas (it can be found in many different languages on youtube), and first aired in the US back in 2009. However, it seems that Red Bull decided stereotypical imagery works, because I've gotten multiple tips in the last few weeks noting that they've started airing it again.

Here's the transcript of the commercial:

(war whoops and drumming)

Brown Bear: Greetings White Dove, my heart is heavy

White Dove: Mine too, Brown Bear

BB: The end of the year is near, and we still can't get together. Brown bear can't jump that far!

WD: And White Dove can't fly! We are only united in mind.

BB: Yes, but my body longs for you too.

WD: Oooh. *sigh*

Narrator: No Red Bull, no happy ending.

Watch the commercial here (sorry the embedding isn't working):  

http://www.bestads.tv/view/2521/red-bull-brown-bear/

 So let's see:

• Tipis?
• Smoke Signals?
• War Whoops?
• "Tom-Tom" Drumming?
• "Indian" Names? (Brown Bear and White Dove? Really?)
• Speaking in third person/broken English?
• Sexualization of the Natives?

Check, check, check, check...

I also found this other Red Bull commercial that uses Indigenous people as "cannibals" (who the smart white man can escape by drinking red bull and getting wings!). Especially note the "daughter" with her exposed breasts and buck teeth. (Oh, and it's in Italian, but I think it's pretty easy to understand what's going on):



So there you have it, Red Bull Gives You Wings Stereotypes!(TM)

(Thanks Virtue and Harsh!)

"Legend has it...": More Natives in Advertising

Last Friday I headed over to the Harvard Med School (HMS) to listen to the final presentations of the students involved in HMS's Native American High School Summer Program. I was so blown away and impressed by the students and what they managed to accomplish in three weeks, their presentations were incredible, powerful, and moving.

But back to the issue at hand, the image above. I was waiting for my flatbread pizza in the schmancy new HMS cafeteria and noticed this sign next to the ordering station. Text reads:

Did You Know?

There are only three fruits native to North America: blueberries, cranberries, and Concord grapes. Legend has it that Native Americans gave blueberries to the new settlers, helping them make it through their first winter.

Not completely outright offensive, but I still find it troublesome. The main issues I find with the ad:

• The use of the phrase "legend has it...", which implies a mystical or mythical connection, not a historical fact. It could have easily said "historical accounts tell us" or omitted the phrase all together. To me, "legend has it..." draws up imagery of campfire story time, furthering the stereotypes of Natives as connected to myth or the mystical. 

• The use of generic "Native American" instead of an actual tribe. I've said it once, I'll say it again and again until it gets into everyone's head--there are over 500 distinct tribes and communities. Not every tribe saved the settlers' butts that first winter. Not every tribe used/uses blueberries traditionally. 

• The fact that they chose a "fact" that relates Natives to the white settlers, rather than the numerous other connections New England area tribes have with blueberries. How about mentioning that local tribes (like Wampanoag) have used and been aware of the medicinal properties of blueberries long before America caught onto the "antioxidant" trend? Why does it have to be viewed through a colonial lens?

The best part of all of this, guess who was in the cafeteria with me while I discovered the ad? about ten Wampanoag tribal members (from both Aquinnah and Mashpee), as well as all the other Native participants in the summer program. I pointed out the ad to one of the Wampanoag mentors, who was holding her beautiful baby boy (who's name means "brave" in their language), and she just shook her head and walked away.

It was her people who "helped" the settlers through that first winter, only to be memorialized in a generic, random ad in a university cafeteria. Imagine how that must feel.

So, I realize the ad isn't as outright offensive as the Potowatomi Chicago ad we looked at before, but I still think it is important to interrogate and re-examine images we take at face value, and problematize how seemingly simple and benign words can carry much deeper meaning.

Earlier: The Potawatomi didn't have a word for global business center?

(Thanks Rachel for being my lookout as I stole the sign to take pictures of it!)

"The Potawatomis didn't have a word for global business center"?

I was waiting for my connecting flight at Chicago O'Hare, and spotted this advertisement on the opposite side of our gate. Close up on the text:

It reads:

"Chicago is the Potawatomi word for onion field. Apparently, the Potawatomis didn't have a word for global business center."

This is an example of the use of Indigenous language and imagery that many people wouldn't think twice about, or find any inherent issues with. But let's look at this a little deeper:

•  The use of past tense. It's not "The Potawatomis don't have a word for..." it's "The Potawatomis didn't..." Implying that the Potawatomi no longer exist or are using their language. 

• The implication that "Indians" and "Global Business Center" aren't in congruence. Which is assuming that Natives are static, unchanging, and unable to be modern and contemporary. "Potawatomi" and "Onion Field" are fine together, because American society associates Indians with the natural world, plants, animals, etc. But there is definitely not an association between "Potawatomi" and "Global Business". 

But, in reality, of course Potawotomis still exist today, are still speaking their language, and do have a word for Global Business Center (or multiple words...).

Language is constantly evolving, adapting to new technology (remember when google wasn't a verb?) and community changes.  I remember reading a long time ago in one of my Native studies classes about the Navajo Nation convening a committee to discuss how one would say things like "computer" or "ipod" in Navajo language, in an effort to preserve language and culture and promote the use of Navajo language among the younger generation.

In fact, here's an awesome video of a guy describing his ipod in Navajo, complete with concepts like "downloading" (there are subtitles/translations):




To imply that Native peoples wouldn't have the ability to describe a "Global Business Center" reeks of a colonialist perspective (we must "civilize" the savage! show him the ways of capitalism and personal property, for they know not of society!). Native peoples have been trading and communicating "globally" for centuries, long before the arrival of Europeans.

Thanks, Chicago, for giving me one more reason to strongly dislike your airport, because all the canceled flights, lost luggage, overnights in airport hotels, and 10 hour delays (all true stories) weren't enough.


(Thanks to Hillary for taking the picture, since my sidekick pales in comparison to the iphone)

Have you ever seen a real Indian?: AICF's ad campaign

(image via http://www.americanindiancollegefund.org)

For some reason, this week has offered me a host of examples of insensitivity and ignorance surrounding Indian identity and identity politics. I've gotten in intense arguments and conversations in classes, I've confronted a colleague who told me, to my face, that the reason the US and Canada were different in terms of policies towards their Indigenous peoples was because "Well, I mean, in the US our policy was just to kill all the Indians. That's why there aren't any left, and we don't have to deal with them." I also overheard a student with whom I was discussing my research tell his friend: "I was like, Okaaay Native American, just talk about how we OPPRESSED you and your PEOPLE!"

So when I was deciding what to post today, I remembered these ads from the American Indian College Fund, an organization that provides scholarships and assistance to tribal college students. They're a little old, and their new campaigns--entitled "If I stay on the rez" and "Think Indian" are equally awesome and can be found here, but I think that these offer a powerful perspective that is rarely seen in print media.

After the jump, more of the ads and more discussion.

Judge Bill Thorne, Pomo. Judge for the Utah court of appeals, President of the National Indian Justice Center, skier, soccer coach for 25 years.

Hattie Kaufmann, Nez Perce, National network news correspondent, emmy award-winning reporter, traditional beadwork artist, marathoner.

Jarrett Medicine Elk, Northern Cheyenne/Assiniboine, business major, student  counselor, peer tutor, illustrator, public and motivational speaker

Rick West, Cheyenne, Attorney, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, traditional powwow dancer (and I would add--Stanford Alum!)

There are also a few more on the AICF website. The whole campaign can be found here.

I love these. Every aspect, from the attention-grabbing headline that makes the viewer question their preconcieved notions about what a "Real Indian" looks like, to the captions that demonstrate the subjects academic and career success; but also highlight their community/cultural involvement, as well as hobbies and other identities. It directly confronts what most of mainstream America would expect of an "Indian"--these are strong Native men and women, and they don't need tipis or feathers to show it. It's amazing how something as simple as putting "soccer coach for 25 years" can completely turn a stereotype on its head.

In addition, if you look along the right edge of each photo, there is a fact about reservation life, tribal colleges, or Indian education, and a link for more information about the American Indian College Fund. 

The best part is, the ads aren't confined to Native outlets. These ads were (and the new ads are) featured in Sports Illustrated, Time, InStyle, the Delta Airlines magazine, Oprah magazine, NY Times magazines, and more. All major mainstream media outlets. That's awesome. 

So, in light of my identity challenges this week, I thought I would offer a counter-narrative (I love that term) to the stereotypes clearly held in the heads of many Americans. I only wish the images of Natives that most Americans see everyday were more like these, instead of the other images that dominate this blog.

Keep up the good work, American Indian College Fund! I am such a supporter.

American Indian College Fund website: http://www.collegefund.org/

Indian River Light Beer: "At Last, a Beer Native to Manhattan"

 (image via heartlandbrewery.com)

My friend Kayla pointed me (via her friend Tia's Facebook) to Heartland Brewery, straight out of hipster-haven Brooklyn, NY, and their beer called "Indian River". Here is the picture that Tia snapped of their advertisement at a bus stop in Manhattan:

If you can't read it, it says "accents of orange, no pulp" and "At last, a beer native to manhattan".

So lets break this down a little: sexualized woman, most likely not Native, wearing very little clothing, and what she is wearing is sterotypical fringed buckskin, sporting "war paint", a feather, a beer, and a shotgun. Also the bonus of using "native" in the tagline, in case we were unsure of what asthetic they were going for. This takes the cake for rolling about every stereotype ever into one advertisement. In my indignant googling, I found the Heartland Brewery website here.

After the jump, more upsetting labels and some analysis.




It appears they are equal opportunity stereotypers, because they also have labels that are disparaging to women:

and

 

Then they have multiple labels that are stereotypes of farmers/rural white Americans:

 

and 

 and

 

note the distinct lack of teeth, presence of overalls, and cross-eyed/crazy expressions. 

While I am completely aware that the farmer imagery is not 'the same' as the Native imagery, I put them up to offer a more complete picture of the company, and to demonstrate how they're clearly trying to be "edgy" or "subversive" to get customers. but why does being edgy have to come at the expense of others?

They appear to be a fairly established presence in NYC, with multiple brewpub locations and about 10-15 beers, but it seems they are trying to maintain the local, quirky, hipster-y image. Which apparently hinges on otherizing, stereotyping, and disparaging images.

Overall, it's incredibly upsetting that something like "Indian River" is deemed acceptable, and that New Yorkers walking around the city now have another false image implanted in their brains. It's a vicious cycle.

If anyone wants to send the brewery a letter or email, they can be reached here:

Address:
1430 Broadway (at 40th St.) 7th Floor
New York NY 10018
Phone:
212.400.2300
Email:
veronica@heartlandbrewery.com


(Thanks Kayla and Tia!)

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