Media Offenses Against Asian American Consumers | Mediawatch

MEDIA OFFENSES
AGAINST ASIAN AMERICANS

hat's the best way to deal with media offenses against Asian Americans? Share them in all their gory, blood-boiling detail with the biggest available audience of concerned Asian American opinion leaders. At the top of that list are Goldsea readers! We will take heed, then do everything in our power to reward the culprits by boycotting their products or facilities. We will also spread the word to every Asian American and concerned non-Asian we know.
And it's easy. Just use the form below to submit a detailed, factually accurate description of the offensive show, article, advertisement or product. How long will it will take for the offender to start feeling the wrath of millions of affluent consumers? We don't know, but it will be interesting to find out!

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However, you can read archived discussions here.

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WHAT YOU SAY

EDITOR'S NOTE: You can read our archived discussions here, but to participate in ongoing discussions, please visit our New Interactive Area.

Hi, my name is Arthur Wu. I am an Asian student at Stanford University. I wanted to alert your website to the controversy that is spreading like wildfire among Asian American groups across the country. It concerns Abercrombie&Fitch's racist portrayal of Asians on numerous of their shirts. I was hoping that your website could spread this information to your online community. Here are the links to the t-shirt descriptions. Also, other corporations like Urban Outfitters are also culprits of these racist depictions of Asian peoples. Thanks!

>>>shirt #1 - wong brothers laundry
>>>http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&p
rrfnbr=13500479
>>>shirt #2 - budda bash
>>>http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&p
rrfnbr=13500451
>>>shirt #3 - pizza dojo
>>>http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&p
rrfnbr=13500266
>>>shirt #4 - wok-n-bowl
>>>http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&p
rrfnbr=13500478

Arthur Wu artwu@stanford.edu Thursday, April 18, 2002 at 11:24:56 (PDT)

please issue an alert to all asians that abercrombie designed t-shirts depicting asians as laundry, restaurant owning citizens. here is the link where you can check out the t's for yourself----->http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&prrfnbr=13500479
andy song andyss@directvinternet.com Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 18:29:05 (PDT)

Please forward and take action.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kelvin Yip
Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 12:19 PM
Subject: FW: Fwd: Dear Abercrombie, an UPDATE (re: "asian" shirts)
I'm boycotting Abercrombie and have sent a letter in to them asking them to stop sales of these racist shirts. I implore you all to do the same.
I've attached the links to the offensive shirts so you can see the absurdity yourself and a sample letter from my friend....which is written much more professionally than mine.
-Kelvin
==============================================
Dear Abercrombie:
I am writing to tell you that your graphic tees bearing Asian-related
images are offensive and blatantly racist. Please remove these
t-shirts from production and distribution and apologize sincerely to
the community immediately. I can promise you that a groundswell of
outrage is already brewing in Asian and Asian-American communities
nationwide (such as calling for a complete boycott of your company),
but this problem may be corrected by a sincere apology to the
community and the taking of affirmative steps to correct the image
that A&F already had prior to this incident, as a company
out-of-touch with potential customers and a company that projects a
monolithic, ignorant and short-sighted marketing image.
In marketing parlance, the "aspirational group" that A&F projects
doesn't reflect most of America, but that was your business, although
a huge marketing blunder. However, the misappropriation of Asian
images in the search of profits by A&F is MY business and the
business of Asians and Asian-Americans in this country. We will not
put this incident to rest until steps are taken to correct this
outrage.
Furthermore, what makes this worse is that your Senior Vice President
(Diane Chang) is Asian. If she was involved in the decisions that
led to this racist incident, she should step down and get her head
examined. If not, she should lead efforts within your company to
make sure that this doesn't happen again. I hope this was just a
misunderstanding, but from what I have seen of your company, it
probably isn't. I hope this will turn out to be a happy story for
A&F, but I am sure if there are profits to be made from these
t-shirts, they won't be coming from me or any Asian or Asian-American
in this world.
Regards-
Minshu Liu

shirt #1 - wong brothers laundry
http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&prrfnbr=13500479
shirt #2 - buddha bash
http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&prrfnbr=13500451
shirt #3 - pizza dojo
http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&prrfnbr=13500266
shirt #4 - wok-n-bowl
http://www.abercrombie.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=52&prrfnbr=13500478

JiminyC nymphgrrrl@iwon.com Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 14:56:04 (PDT)

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