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Rachael Ray
May 30, 2008
Fashion illiteracy, moral outrage and Dunkin' Donuts make
for a bad combination, especially for celebri-chef Rachael
Ray. Last weekend, Dunkin' Donuts pulled an online ad that
featured the food-icon sporting a black and white silk
scarf. In the eyes of ultra-conservative blogger Michelle
Malkin and others, however, the scarf was no innocent
paisley-patterned kerchief (which it clearly was), but a
keffiyeh - national symbol of the Palestinian people cum
trendy fashion accessory.
That's right, America's favourite donut chain was subverting
the war on terror! And seditious advertising was only the
tip of the terror-berg! Could it be that the money Dunkin'
Donuts usurped from hard-working Americans was funnelled to
terrorists who seek to destroy everything we hold sacred and
deep-fried?
Thankfully, Dunkin' Donuts was not about to let the
terrorists win. They removed the secretly political ad
almost immediately. In a statement, Margie Myers, senior
VP-communications for the donut firm said that "the
possibility of misperception detracted from its original
intention to promote our iced coffee." Yet another victory
for the squinty-eyed anti-terror militia.
That Ms. Malkin and other conservative bloggers flipped out
is not surprising - it's pretty much the only thing some of
these commentators do. But Malkin et al. pulled the fashion
equivalent of confusing the American flag with the Cuban
one. True, they both have red and white stripes with at
least one blue-ensconced white star, but no one is accusing
hyper-patriotic Americans of supporting the Castro regime.
It is continually amazing to watch these pundits foam at the
mouth at the mention of anything vaguely Palestinian. The
notion that mere association with a national group is cause
for condemnation at the very least borders on racism. I
shudder to think what will happen when commentators find out
that Bethlehem - the birthplace of Jesus himself - is
actually in Palestine.
The "Keffiyeh kerfuffle" is yet another example of the
jingoism pervading certain sectors of today's America.
Confronted with paisley, some see Palestinians; faced with
Obama, some see Osama. That Dunkin' Donuts pulled the ad is
indicative of the power of such members of society. The
donut chain isn't in the business of making political
statements, but the reality that imagined political
implications would affect their business is a sad measure of
the world's most powerful democracy.
On a side note, why is Rachael Ray even in Dunkin' Donuts
ads in the first place? The fact that someone known as a
chef would agree to promote Dunkin' Donuts is the real crime
here. Then again, if Ms. Ray were promoting Tim Hortons, I'd
probably be all for it. |
