Freaking love this target commercial
by Guest Contributor Angry Asian Man, originally published at Angry Asian Man
Spotted this awesome Target commercial on the tube last week and absolutely fell in love with it. I just watched the 30-second spot like five times in a row. It features Shannon, a Cool Asian Mom doing all sorts of Cool Asian Mom stuff for her family (with the help of products she purchased at Target, of course). She does it all…
Playing tetherball, working at the travel agency, beatboxing for her groovin’ kid, taking fabulous all-American family portraits. Sure — nobody’s mom is this cool, but it’s so friggin’ cute, you cannot resist. It’s just refreshing to see a nationally-televised commercial where Asians are not the butt of the joke.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
jmn wrote:
I wish my mom could beatbox. Nonetheless, my mom totally rocks! =)
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 10:23 am ¶
Mr. Noface wrote:
A normal woman with a normal family doing normal things using the items she buys from Target. Commercials with people of color (Asians, Latinos, and Black folk) should not be so rare, but alas they are.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 10:58 am ¶
Cindy wrote:
The best part of this commercial is that it is shot as a the typical American family they are. Okay maybe not so “typical” because we are all longing for the that ultra cool mom, but you understand what I mean. Score one for Target.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 12:15 pm ¶
shermari wrote:
I saw this commercial on TV recently and LOVED it. I’m not Asian, but I was thrilled to see a non-stereotyped version of POC.
I wish more commercials would feature POC’s in the same light. Those offensive stereotypes would die a quick death if they did.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 12:16 pm ¶
JBH wrote:
As a mixed asian, LOVE this commercial! Yes, Asians can lead “normal” lives – haha.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 1:12 pm ¶
Irene M. wrote:
I love how her name is Shannon and she’s a typical American mom, instead of the weird/atypical foreigner that Asians are so often cast as.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 1:36 pm ¶
Jamerican Muslimah wrote:
Co-signing what everyone said! Love it.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 1:37 pm ¶
Roxie wrote:
I loved this commercial! Also, I wondered Angry Asian Man would think/say
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 3:00 pm ¶
asada wrote:
I saw parts of this commercial. They mixed it in with afew other snippets.
capri sun to keep his friends friendly!? Some friends…..
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 3:35 pm ¶
Phrone wrote:
That was refreshing
Loved it! Glad to see a commercial where there’s POC living normals lives and it not being seen as “appealing to a niche genre” or anything.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 4:41 pm ¶
Katie wrote:
i know!!! i loved this commercial.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 4:44 pm ¶
Lola wrote:
I’m also a fan of this commercial, go Target.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 5:10 pm ¶
lynn wrote:
super cute! and @ asada — i’m a elementary school teacher, you’de be surprised at what kids bring to school to keep their “friends” interested – juice, snacks, little toys, coins, string, bugs….the list goes on. the little buggers are too cute.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 5:24 pm ¶
RainaWeather wrote:
Hey. My mom IS that cool. But I saw it too and loved it for the same reasons.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 5:25 pm ¶
BSK wrote:
I believe Oreo or ChipsAhoy has a commercial out, with a young black child and older black gentleman (presumably grandfather and grandson, but it’s not explicit). They are just sitting, eating cookies, and being really cute together. Chalk that one up as another representing a family of color as a family, and not a stereotype, the butt of a joke, or a “token”. Bravo on this commercial and the few out there that are HOPEFULLY signaling sea change.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 5:42 pm ¶
Nappy Mind wrote:
In this commercial and in the cookie commercial BSK mentioned POCs are normal folks. I love it!!!
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 7:01 pm ¶
Andrea wrote:
I too loves its. It’s so exciting when to see POC doing “normal” things.
@ BSK: I think the commercial you’re talking about is Cheerios. The little boy is in his high chair and his grandpa (I believe) is sitting next to him. Some thing about little things can do big things. It’s the cutest commercial. I love it!
Ok, I found it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aARf-XwDGFg
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 7:17 pm ¶
Joy wrote:
Great commercial. Actually I think Target’s been pretty good in it’s television and print advertisements.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 7:35 pm ¶
BSK wrote:
Andrea-
You are right. I was probably so focused on the family I didn’t even notice the brand. To be fair, I am seeing more and more of these commercials, especially involving inter-racial families or simply inter-race interactions. They don’t pop out, which is a good thing, but are still drowned out by all the crap. Generally, if I find myself saying, “Hey, that POC wasn’t a POC in that commercial”, I generally take it as a good thing.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 8:15 pm ¶
BSK wrote:
To clarify, when I say, “That POC wasn’t a POC”, I mean that they weren’t be exploited as one, or laughed at as one, or otherwise specifically designated as one and, therefore, something “different” than who would normally be in the commercial.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 8:16 pm ¶
Kendra wrote:
There was also a Kaiser Permanente commercial featuring a concerned Asian mom. But they kept playing the version with the red headed white mom, so I don’t see the version with the Asian mom as often.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 9:50 pm ¶
ashlynn wrote:
Not to take away from this great commercial at all, but is it just me, or does “normal” not seem to be the best word choice here? Because if you want to break it down, that implies that anything outside of that- i.e, traditions within each culture of Asia- would not be normal. I’m thinking that what’s meant here is that the mom can do things with her family that don’t have to be stereotypical and overtly “ethnic.” That aside, I absolutely love that this family can just be an American family, and other families can see this and feel as a part of American culture as anyone else.
Also, my mom is just as cool as that- i’ll do you one better than beatboxing- she’s a DJ! turntables, vinyl, and all. aww.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 10:03 pm ¶
Reiter wrote:
You mean there’s a commercial out there showcasing Asian people who AREN’T doing kung fu flips, prancing about in stereotypically “appropriate” clothing, speaking in broken Engrish while giving out fortune cookie words of wisdom, and accompanied by gongs and wind chimes with every move they make? I’m shocked, truly.
We’ve come a long way in this post racial world! Ok, maybe I’m a little bitter, but some progress is better than no progress.
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 11:49 pm ¶
Kristen wrote:
I haven’t seen that one, but I have been thrilled to see two of their other commercials prominently featuring African-American moms in typical suburban scenarios. There is one with little vignettes of three hipster moms, one of them being AA. And then another that is similiar to the one just posted, only the mom is AA, and she’s lifting weights, feeding the kids, etc. All the typical stuff moms of all ethnicities engage in but are rarely featured on tv. (Well, mostly typical. These moms are WAY more cute and put-together than most housewives I know. Ha). Yay Target!
Posted 05 Oct 2009 at 11:53 pm ¶
Emmeaki wrote:
I love it!!!! Americans aren’t just white people!!!
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 2:16 am ¶
Thom wrote:
As someone who works in a Target store…I have really appreciaetd that our display ads in the store feature a real variety of people. Okay, they are pretty much all pretty, but they aren’t all white. I recall in my training that the idea of diversity being a real push for the company-both in advertising and hiring.
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 1:12 pm ¶
Candice wrote:
This is why I freaking love Angry Asian Man!
On a side note: my mom is this cool. Just saying.
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 1:13 pm ¶
Monica wrote:
I was actually going to find this commercial on Youtube and send it to Racialicious! I saw it last night and absolutely loved it!
Baby steps, y’all. Baby steps…
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 2:05 pm ¶
BayanIzumi wrote:
What about that half second where she karate kicked the tether ball?
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 2:26 pm ¶
AJ wrote:
Target’s print and TV ads are great. Lots of POCs, lots of multiethnic folks, people of all ages (including the elderly).
#29 I thought about that kick in a bad way for a sec, but in the first part of the ad she’s so deadly serious about hitting the ball with her fist too that I think the kick just shows how agressively she’s playing. It’s not necessarily a “karate” kick.
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 4:38 pm ¶
Jay wrote:
Makes me actually happy I bought stuff from Target yesterday.
Also, I like the Home Depot commercial with Tim Kang in it (where his daughter gets a kickback from her mom by suggesting they need new cabinets). That was funny.
Posted 06 Oct 2009 at 9:44 pm ¶
B wrote:
i love this commercial! and i thought pretty much the same thing when i first saw it.
Posted 08 Oct 2009 at 10:32 pm ¶
kendra wrote:
And don’t forget the cute girl promoting Windows. Her powerpoint was adorable.
Posted 09 Oct 2009 at 12:23 am ¶