Another Indo-American reaction to Ashton's "brownface"

I posted earlier today about Puja Mohindra's reaction video to the tasteless Indian stereotype Ashton Kutcher portrayed in a viral ad for Pop Chips.

It turns out Ms. Mohindra wasn't the only one. American comedian Hasan Minhaj really lays into the advertiser:



And so he should.

I find Mr. Minhaj's term "clownable minority" a really useful one when discussing the "just a joke" racism of ethnic stereotypes. We really need to take a step back and think about what these jokes really mean to a billion of our friends and neighbours.

Advice for Ashton on how to make fun of Indian people

Indo-American actress Puja Mohindra has some advice for Ashton Kutcher on how to properly make fun of Indian people:



Kutcher's steretypical portrayal of "Raj" on a since-yoinked online campaign for Pop Chips has been roundly criticized on social media. But this oddball (and somewhat meandering) video is at least the most... ummm...  interesting reaction I've seen.

UPDATE: Ms. Mohindra has listened to critics of her video's pacing, and has edited a new version:

Ashton Kutcher drags out the tiresome stereotypes #FdAdFriday

Yes, Peter Sellers did it. The Simpsons still does it. But can we agree to stop accepting racist stereotypes of Indian people now?



I know it's a comedy staple. But so was blackface, until shortly before my lifetime. Enough is enough. Let's move on to something funnier and less insulting to a billion of our fellow humans, shall we?

Update: The Vulture reports

"Interestingly, as recently as 6 p.m. today [May 2], Pop Chips had separate ads up on YouTube for each of Kutcher's different characters, including an extended-play audience with Raj. But by shortly after 7 p.m., they had all been marked "Private" and are inaccessible. Perhaps different decisions are being made very quickly. UPDATE: And it looks like all of the other videos with Kutcher's other characters spotlighted individually are back up, but Raj's remains taken down."

Update 2: The video has already been pulled from all official channels.