03 August 2008

Stereotypical Rewrite

I just saw a commercial for the US Army that kind of bugged me. To say that it implied a target audience (an odd pun) is an understatement. Army recruitment has been down a lot over the last few years, so they are pulling all of their dirty little tricks out to get more people to sign up. The first thing you would notice about this commercial is that it features only black people. That's it. No whiteys in this commercial! Just blacks. It's a little more forward than I would have thought necessary. Anyway there is hardly any dialogue in the advert except for the last scene. So it struck me that I could rewrite the last scene's dialogue:

[cut to family: mother, father, and son sitting around a table]
Son: I've done all my research and I can get money for college!
Father: Son, that's great! But what makes you think that you need that money for college? We have plenty of money to send you to school. Yes, we're black but despite what society would lead you to believe not all black families live in poverty. Isn't that crazy? A black family that has money? You never see that on TV, do ya? I am completely behind you wanting to join the army but the fact that you think you have to join up just to pay for a college education leads me to believe that somewhere you got the impression that black people can't afford college educations. I wonder why someone would think that. It's like there's a nationwide ad campaign paid for by the government that perpetuates that diluted, antiquated, bigoted idea. No. Never! Not in this day and age!

[fade to black]
Chorus: Join the Army, Nigger!

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