http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/27/ben-jerrys-apologizes-linsanity_n_1303691.html
Yes, indeed. Ben and Jerry's attempted to capitalize on the sensation that is Linsanity by introducing a flavor called "Taste the Linsanity" in the Boston area (since Lin is a Harvard grad), featuring vanilla frozen yogurt, lychee honey swirls, and fortune cookie pieces. After some pretty quick uproar, Ben and Jerry's pulled the ice cream flavor, ending with a overly wordy apology on Twitter. Maybe it's just me, but this whole situation screams "What the heck, man?".
Let me make this clear: I think Ben and Jerry's made a brilliant move in introducing this ice cream. Fortune cookies have been replaced with pieces of waffle cone, which is really a godsend for ice cream fans anyway, as fortune cookies taste pretty awful to begin with. However, I wish fortune cookies could've stayed in the mix. Maybe this is insensitive of me, but I don't understand why some people (and really, it was probably like two or three outspoken people) are offended by this. Jeremy Lin is a Taiwanese-American. Fact. Fortune cookies (and Lychee, which is getting ignored here simply because people don't know what it is) are associated with Southeastern Asia. Fact. Why should the inclusion of these items, to vaguely represent the heritage of Jeremy Lin (while still attempting to make a good dessert), be considered offensive?
This obviously isn't the first issue of race that has come up since Linsanity hit. It's well documented now that sportswriters have been reprimanded and fired for racially-charged comments about Jeremy Lin. I see these instances as acceptable: I did not see or hear these comments, but I assume that they implied that Lin's popularity is solely based on race, which is false. But to ignore that Lin's meteoric rise to fame is partially based on his background is foolish.
This is why I don't find fault in what Ben and Jerry's did. What, would these bickering folk have been more happy if the Linsanity ice cream included little pieces of leather basketball and sweat? Jeremy Lin is famous because he's an Asian-American who has played excellent basketball for one of the largest markets in basketball, New York. There's no reason to get offended that an ice cream created to honor him would include foods of Asian heritage that would go well with vanilla frozen yogurt. In fact, getting offended almost sends a signal of insecurity, to where these people are worried that Lin's popularity is only about his race. Sorry, folks, but you're wrong. We love Lin because he's a good guy who got a chance and made the most of it.
Incidentally, Ben and Jerry's has come out and said that the reason that they changed to waffle cones was that the fortune cookies would get soggy while sitting in the ice cream. But to those who got offended about the original mix of toppings, I can only shake my head and ask... what the heck, man?
The ESPN racial comment was based on a title of an article after Jeremy Lin lost a 7-game winning streak titled, "Chink in the Armor." You can understand why that was upsetting, even if the writer claimed to have had no malicious/racist intent.
ReplyDeleteThe whole Ben and Jerry incident is kind of understandable, especially in a media where things are scrutinized, hyper-sensitive, and over-compensate tolerance. Yeah, people may have overreacted (but I don't think it is because they are insecure), although it is important to think of the implications beyond the flavor being innovative and profitable. The flavor does seem to have...a subtle undertone of stereotyping Asians with fortune cookies and lychee, which perpetuates making association and value-added judgement okay? I am not against the flavor, but it is necessary to be more aware of how branding and marketing "racial/ethnically" associated things can affect cultural understandings.
Bottom line though: Jeremy Lin is a baller.