Friday, December 07, 2007

Advertising That Will Live in Infamy

It's perfectly appropriate to reflect on the trying times our nation has been through, but let's not forget what a bunch of xenophobic bastards we were - and have the capacity to be again. The first image is a "US Army official poster" according to the fine print at the bottom. The second is just the National Cash Register Company reminding citizens to keep on hating. And these are nothing compared to the ones that depict the Japanese as buck-toothed monkeys.

I left a crappy part-time radio job not long after 9/11. It was about two weeks after the tragedy and I was being asked to record :10 spots for sponsors who were buying pre-scripted inanities like "Jack's Pizza condemns terrorism and stands with the victims of 9/11 and their families."


Actual Conversation:
Me: Aren't we capitalizing on the tragedy?
Sales Manager: That's what the terrorists WANT you to think!

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7 Comments:

  • did Jack's have a special 2-for-1 promotion on 9/11-inch pizzas?

    you know somebody was at least considering it.

    By Blogger HighJive, at December 7, 2007 at 2:59 PM  

  • It was probably only take-out too. Because we’re picking it up there so they won't deliver it here.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at December 7, 2007 at 4:08 PM  

  • Wow, I've collected a few of the buck tooth monkey Japanese and German WWII propaganda posters, a little nervous about putting them out there. You've given me the courage....maybe.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at December 7, 2007 at 5:01 PM  

  • JP, were you still in the Ozarks in 2001?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at December 7, 2007 at 6:16 PM  

  • JP, you touched a big nerve here, allow me to reply politely. Several things come to mind: The Japanese were just as racist as the Americans ( ask families of the 250,000 chinese peasants they murdered ) and the first poster is not showing all the hatred the Japanese truly had for the Americans. ( note: not saying Japs here ) This poster is a birthday party next to the Bataan death march. The second poster, honestly is dead on correct, honest, and reasonable. I own a copy of something similar. As of the PH attack, the USA was the 18th largest military in the world, and had a lot of growing to do. The sacrifices of things like panty hose, butter, sugar, car tires, fuel, would be more than today's text-pod twenty-somethings could even BEGIN to handle or accept in their self-absorbed 'I'm the center of the universe and the target of all major marketing' world.
    Hey Dirtsister- Dr. Seuss did quite a bit of editorializing cartoon-wise on the Japanese, as well as the Nazi persecution of the Jewish nation, and along the way pointed out our hypocrisy of saving the Jewish people from oppression while holding the black american under our thumbs. ( Guess the Red-tails showed 'em a thing or two )
    I'm sitting here, typing while wearing a 60+ year old lapel pin that says REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR. Went to a breakfast this morning with a Pearl Harbor Survivor, and listened to stories. I don't appreciate the racism of the first poster, but the honesty in it is/was a simple reflection on how we all wanted revenge. Remember how we felt 9-12-2001? Let's also remember that the Japanese ambassadors were meeting with Sec. of State Hull to work out a diplomatic way to keep peace with the USA while the first wave of planes was in the air. The USS Arizona is a tomb for a few hundred bodies of men that didn't know we were at war, seems the Japanese ( real urge to use the word JAPS ) forgot to declare war, that old Shogun honor swept under a rug somewhere. Freedom is inherited from the previous generations that were willing to pay for it, or sometimes pay someone back
    Warbird

    By Blogger warbird2010, at December 7, 2007 at 10:45 PM  

  • Dirtsister: Left there on April 1, 2002.

    Warbird: War is not a gentleman's game, and a formal declaration of war would have given away the surprise element of Pearl Harbor. And many historians will argue that we forced Japan into a corner in order to give Roosevelt a reason to go to the American people and get involved to help the Brits against Germany. Other historians (and high ranking military officers of the day) will argue further that we not only forced Japan's hand, but knew in advance what was to come.

    By Blogger RFB, at December 8, 2007 at 9:34 AM  

  • For real, and let's not forget that over 200,000 people died in Japan when the US dropped Atomic Bombs (which could be considered "payback" by what 100 fold?). Death in war is a sad thing and even sadder when justified through nationalism. It takes a lot more strength to get over the need for revenge to seek another solution.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at December 10, 2007 at 7:08 PM  

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