I read with dismay this article in AdAge where Michelle Malkin publicly accused Dunkin' Donuts of having Rachel Ray pose with a supposed keffiyeh on while promoting their coffee.
The fear-mongoring and over-analyzation of what people do, say, sing, write in this country has gone far past the level of absurdity. As always, people have a right to say whatever the hell they want in this country but what is concerning is how quickly Dunkin' Donuts reacted and pulled the ad and the perceived POWER that the person who started all of this seems to wield.We've become a nation of knee-jerk reactionaries and the minute we are personally offended by something, even something PERCEIVED and even if we're the ONLY one offended, that we expect marketers to reverse course...and they DO, and that's the sad point. It costs less to just cave in, than stand up for something that clearly is a rediculous comment. The more marketers, entertainers, speakers give in to the pressure, the stronger they make the critics. They give power to those who have a bully pulpit when in fact they should be just ignored.
The behavior and reaction towards the spoken word or towards entertainment in this country harkens back to the "Red Scare" days of old. "Are you now or have you ever associated with anyone who has an individual or different opinion than what Fox News wants you to believe?"
We just need to take a giant CHILL pill and lighten up. To quote Sean Hannity "These are just words people. If you don't like what you hear, turn the dial". In this case, Michelle Malkin should have just gone to another webpage. (Yes, it was an ONLINE ad. This is probably the most print an online ad campaign has EVER received, other than the early days of the X10 Webcam)
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