Intel Apologizes For Racist Sprinter Ad

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Intel Apologizes For Racist Sprinter Ad

Posted by josephjs Promoted 955 days 2 hours ago 3448 views

Business / Biz Technology | 25 comments |

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Intel's sprinter advertisement was intended to "convey the performance capabilities of our processors through the visual metaphor of a sprinter." However, numerous individuals saw not six sprinters ready to take off out of the gates, but six black men bowing to a smug, smiling white man.

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GodsSon, on 8/3/2007 6:22:28 PM
Total Posts: 231, Joined: 3/2/2006

is there not going to be any end to PC outcry?

The 6 black men were probably chosen as everyone knows the best olympic sprinters in the world are black guys, they are much more athletically equipped for sprinting. It should be seen as more of a homage to black sprinters, that they are chosen as the creme of athletes.
What is next? Honestly, what is going to be next, I have already seen reports of Welsh Dragon sausages being made to stop manufacturing, on the account that they don't contain any dragon meat, this is the true mentality of the PC brigade.

I wonder what will be the next victim?

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einherjar, on 8/3/2007 6:26:51 PM
Total Posts: 99, Joined: 8/11/2006

Ya that's bullshit.

If the white guy had a whip, and the black guys were in chains (not professional looking sprinting gear) and were let's say.. In cotton fields. Ya, then I could see it as racist.

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Califa, on 8/3/2007 7:50:26 PM
Total Posts: 31, Joined: 7/21/2007

Whoever saw this ad as racist is just out looking to give people shit. Intel shouldn't have to apologize for something that both wasn't really racist at all, and wasn't meant to be racist in any way. Its a pretty stupid ad anyways, I wouldn't have gotten the metaphor right away, nor do I relate sprinters to CPUs. Why doesn't Intel just tout whatever fancy new tech advances they have made in their ads, instead of weak visual metaphors.

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LeonHart, on 8/6/2007 2:01:01 PM
Total Posts: 79, Joined: 2/5/2006

You guys don't understand the concepts of semiotics or understanding the underlying messages.

Subliminal messages are not meant to be obvious at first glance they are meant to be something that triggers in your subconscious.

It is good to see no one has resorted to stupid measures to get them taken down and rather used proper channels to handle this issue.

| Comment Score: Lame | Edit Comment

PanzyPanz, on 8/6/2007 3:28:51 PM
Total Posts: 87, Joined: 12/18/2006

Fuck that. Intel, take back your apology now!

Intel didn't condone racism in any way or fashion. If that's the way someone saw it, then too bad.

Yea, I wander who's next.

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meh., on 8/6/2007 4:33:19 PM
Total Posts: 3939, Joined: 9/5/2006

@LeonHart

Yep, got it in one. A lot of the time I'll see an advert I have no idea as to what it means, then a period of time later I'll actually understand. I'm suspicious of most ads now, for that reason.

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Zy, on 8/6/2007 8:45:55 PM
Total Posts: 329, Joined: 12/15/2006

Agreed, take back the apology! Damn it, if you give in to this bs you just encourage it, like terrorism.

I call racism because there should be white sprinters in there as well ... and if they're going to say that black sprinters are the fastest ... well, white corporate junkies are usually in charge of big businesses like intel, so fair's fair.

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Krieger, on 8/6/2007 9:54:01 PM
Total Posts: 6, Joined: 6/16/2007

It should all end with that comment taken from the web site itself:

SodaBob said...

What's really silly is that it's not 6 black men, but one black man photoshopped into the picture 6 times.

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Krieger, on 8/6/2007 9:56:53 PM
Total Posts: 7, Joined: 6/16/2007

It's not even like they took 7 guys, 6 black and 1 white... They took 1 black and 1 white guy and they had a publicity. There's nothing racist there.

If you want to push it to the limit, I could tell you that they even show the black guys working together to archieve something bigger, and that they are very efficient in what they're doing (see the intel core 2 duo description).

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grid, on 8/6/2007 10:00:52 PM
Total Posts: 1, Joined: 8/6/2007

It's a sad world when a company is scared so stiff by a harmless ad that they have to opt to immediately apologize for racism that wasn't there and wasn't intended in order to stop the flak from firing.

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