by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Props to HighJive for unearthing this one. What do you think of this old Calgon commercial, in which the wife debunks her husband’s claims that it’s an “ancient Chinese secret” that gets his whites so white?
Hehe, this series of Calgon commercials (I vaguely recall at least one other spot with the same tag line) kinda haunted me throughout my childhood, with white kids in the schoolyard adding “ancient Chinese secret” and various laundry taunts to their racist arsenal, alongside pulling up the corners of the eyes and “ching chong” and for some reason “aso”.
It’s funny how Mr. Lee apparently can’t speak in complete sentences and is a liar. And the woman is in the back of the shop behind a curtain doing the actual work (they should have flashed a shot of her bound feet). And what the hell is she wearing? The yellow ribbons and blouse appear to be meant to accentuate the yellowface that’s being pitched, the otherness of Asian folk. I remember that my mother, as a very fashionable modern Chinese American woman, found the image pretty insulting.
It’s rather bizarre and sickly amusing to me now. It’s yet another minor example of racist stereotyping; and when you put all the minor examples together, you get something pretty major.
Peace.
Wow, I must admit I’ve had to say “Ancient Chinese secret, huh?” a couple hundred times in the schoolyard. In fact, I had trouble recalling where that reference was from. The juxtaposition of Mr. Lee’s speech and his wife is also interesting.
Wow, Kai.
I never saw what you mentioned in the video. I had to take a second look.
Unlike the Jell-o commercial Carmen posted a few months back, I thought this commercial was kind of cute.
1. To me, it seemed like the Asian guy was on his hustle. “Ancient Chinese secret” sounded to me like “don’t worry about it, pay me my money!” Akin to the sarcastic remarks I am prone to making when someone at my job decides to play “rent-a-negro.”
2. The wife’s fashion choice was questionable, but I loved the fact that (1) she was not a white actress in yellowface and (2) she spoke with no accent. I was waiting for some really jacked up “confucious say” moment…that never came. *whew*
3. It seemed like husband-wife teasing to me, more like a cute moment than a statement of their life.
But, as I said before, rewatching the video after reading your comments, I started to see what you meant. It’s kind of like that post about Tom & Jerry a while back – it is interesting to see how frames of reference change.
I used to cringe watching this commerical in the 70’s. racially insenstive was not the word for it.
A side note – I was not alive in the 70s, so I am seeing this commercial for the first time.
Interesting what a difference 10 odd years makes…
I thought the husband was definitely working his hustle, and didn’t care to engage with this woman too damned lazy to wash her own laundry.
As to lending the air of ‘yellowface otherness’…wow, I would not have seen that as the result of a wicked and intentional ploy to keep everpresent the undercurrent of a wink to the ‘otherness’ , to the non-whiteness of the players.
But, were I particularly sensitive to these specific aesthetic represenations, particularly lifelong, then I am sure it may have spoken to me as more than just a fashion choice, paying ‘homage’ to old world sensibilities, in itself a part of the problem of the way we portray people.
What I found interesting is the lovely, almost honey coated voice, with its incredible lilt and diction, as belonging to the wife of someone who clearly does not possess the poise or radiate the confidence she does (check out his near bow at the counter). I found the contrasts unbelievable, and too great, considering my penchant for people watching and creating backstories just for the hell of it.
It’s funny, I remember seeing this ad as a kid and liking it for being one of the view examples of Asian-Americans on TV.
There’s a part of me that still likes it, as much as I see that I should be offended because I get that turnabout feeling from the ad, that “ancient Chinese secret” is a con to take advantage of his customers’ racist orientalism.
Yeah I like the woman’s rich voice and diction too (I wonder what ever happened to the actress; maybe radio commercials?) . Thankfully, no “Confucius say…” moment. 
What’s interesting is that I probably wouldn’t have noticed the stereotypes being put out in this commercial either, if it hadn’t been for the experience of being repeatedly mocked in childhood by white kids making reference to it. Which suggests that many white folks — even very young schoolchildren — most definitely read the racial cues in such images, probably even more so than most people of color, despite frequent claims to the contrary. After all, these images emerge from the minds of white folks, so it makes sense that it contains intra-cultural code, so to speak.
Think about it as an advertiser: if the Chinese woman spoke with an accent, it would make the product she’s pitching undesirable. So they made her the Other visually and narratively, but the words being spoken and the voice we hear pitching the product bear the unmistakable cultural cues of middle-class America, something clean and desirable. The split between that voice and the images we see on the screen (especially the bowing bad-English husband) is quite a sleight of hand.
I’m also not too sure how I feel the Chinese guy working his hustle, because the stereotype of the sneaky slavishly-bowing dishonest Oriental merchant is centuries old, and though it could be construed as a positive stereotype, I still consider it pretty offensive. As an entrepreneur myself, I’ve had to deal with a lot of suspicion because it’s assumed that there’s something dishonest about the way in which I conduct business.
Anyway, that’s more than I ever expected to glean from this dumb ad! Thanks, Carmen, for posting it and triggering this trip back in time!
Cheers.
The fellow was using Chinese a stereotype to explain why his work was so good. He wasn’t on the hustle, whatever that is. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have anything with doing a good job.
If some of you think working hard and, doing a good job is a hustle, your lost.
If you also thought that every Chinese laundry man was like that, your also lost.
The fact that his wife was so non-stereotypical sort of kills any thoughts that the audience may have about Chinese people.
So someones mother was insulted by the womens dress. My Mom has pictures of her in similiar 1970’s get up. What does that mean?
Bringing racism into the mix is in the minds of most of you who’ve tossed it about, but it isn’t in this ad. Basically, if you are insulted, and the ad was made by someone of another race, then it has to be racist. Bunk!
couldn’t find a video reference, but jackie chan and maya rudolph did a hilarious spoof of the spot on snl.
“…the stereotype of the sneaky slavishly-bowing dishonest Oriental merchant is centuries old….”
Okay, now I will just stop talking.
Thanks Kai for the view, the vantage point, and the reverberations.
I see where different people are coming from with their opinion. At worst, this commercial was overtly racist, and at best “just” racially insensitive, and I guess playing on racial stereotypes would fall somewhere in the middle.
Basically, if you are insulted, and the ad was made by someone of another race, then it has to be racist. Bunk!
Mike—many of us here have lived and breathed racism since childhood. We know it when we see it. Give us some credit, okay?
Wow I must be naive about such matters. I remember the commecials growing up and I always thought that it was because chinese laundries were known for getting clothes very white, and the product was supposed to be able to give you the same results. I guess being on the end of taunts would color my view of it, but to me, people using the catch phrase in a racist manner, doesnt equal the commerical being racist.
“Mike—many of us here have lived and breathed racism since childhood. We know it when we see it. Give us some credit, okay?”
Much of what you think is racism likely isn’t and, the commercial wasn’t either.
I think you’re responding more to racial, or ethnic stereotypes than anything racist. Racists use racial stereotypes to promote their views, but the use of racial stereotypes isn’t racist.
However, one is certainly right to oppose racial stereotypes because their use can contribute to racist beliefs. Especially if your not like the stereotypes. If I were CHinese, I would role my eyes and, groan at the video, but was it racist? I don’t think so.
Mike, your arrogance speaks for itself. I will say no more.
Arrogance? Hardly. A difference of opinion on what was going on. Likely, something that you refuse to accept. Perhaps your viewpoints border on religious faith?
What’s so racist about crassly hawking your cheezy product with age-old racial stereotypes? (/end sarcasm)
The scary thing about this commercial is that I can so see it STILL being aired on TV today in one form or another, and mainstream white America wouldn’t bat an eye.
I remember this commercial.
I also now remember, growing up in Portland, Oregon, that a local Asian chef would use that tag line as well, when doing cooking spots on the news, because it made the camera guys laugh.
So sad.
Not to mention the perpetrtion of the “Chinese run laundry steriotype
Well said, KAI!
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of New Demographic, a diversity education firm. Her perspectives on race and diversity have been featured on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, USA Today, and The New York Times.
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