Would everybody just lay off of that Joe Boxer ad? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that the black activists in the political correctness movement would react in horror to the sight of a black man dancing happily in his underwear. I just want to know why these people insist on being killjoys? Why can't black people allow black people the pleasure of being black? Why can't the actor in the ad dance if he wants to dance? At issue is the opinion that the ad is a success because the actor is black. I admit that a white man in the ad probably would not have the same effect. Black people seem to be reacting to the perceived stereotype of the old "black" entertainers, often just white men in black face paint sporting foolish grins. Black people resent having been mocked for entertainment. The average white person knows nothing of this particular grievance and is probably reacting to another subtle stereotype. White people (and other ethnicities also) tend to think of black people and black men in particular as sexual superiors. In fact, I would not be surprised if white men actually feel a little threatened by a muscular black man in his boxers. The silliness of the dancing probably defuses a lot of this sentiment though. The truth is though, that my analysis and just about any analysis is going to be complete rubbish since the ad wasn't conceived with any deep motive in mind. The truth is that people like to dance in their underwear and watch other people doing it. Vaughn's (Vaughn is the actor in the ad) dance evoked an instinctual response from the ad agency and it touchd a lot of other people too. People just like goofiness.
Read the article on slate.com that alerted me to this debate.
See the ad.