‘Much Ado About Apu’
NDTV, one of India’s largest news channels, tackles the Simpsons / 7-Eleven issue. Ultrabrown shows up halfway through. Here’s the original clip.
The Burbank 7-Eleven participating in the promotion reportedly dressed non-desi actors in brownface makeup. It’s a throwback to Gunga Din and in jaw-dropping bad taste if true (thanks, PD):
I was also surprised to see that our local 7-11 employees had been replaced by actors wearing make-up to make them look of East Indian decent. What? Were the ethnic locals running the joint not authentic enough? …
In a bizarre decision, they have actors - not the actual employees - working in the store… They have makeup on to make them look East Indian. Yes - you read that right. So, they displaced the ACTUAL minority employees for FAKE minority employees. [Link]
Can anyone in the area swing by and confirm this? It’s at West Olive Ave. at the corner of Verdugo.
on Monday, July 16th, 2007, 7:23 am in Issues, Simpsons, TV, Video clips › 
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Wait a minute! is it just me or you are really sounding VERY different from the previous clips, i mean the accent?
Probably just bad sound…
Got it! checked out the original clip, way better sound quality! would be a good idea to switch to the original one :)
Racist! Racist! Racist!
Oye! not racist-suspicion being if the author was talking in a mild Indian accent (ofcourse its bad sound quality)-for an Indian born person that wouldn’t sound too good, eh?
Peace!
Oye. Vy does that voman shake so much? I was getting seasick looking at her wobble around the screen.
There are nearly 150 comments and counting on this over here in the last couple of hours, check it out.
musical, I was joking and referring to the Gupta/Moore discussion on SepiaMutiny. My tongue is almost always stuck firmly in my cheek, as you might see from all my comments here.
Manish, NDTV don’t seem to give you any more time than CNN did. The storeowner-franchisee who appears in the clip supporting the ‘promotion’ is merging the ‘Uncle Tom’ and ‘Stepin Fetchit’ roles, no irony for him. Thank goodness the rank and file, and other franichisees, know better.
If being told to act ‘just like’ an existing racist caricature is not ipso facto objectionable, I don’t know what would be. Sad and disgusting.
Just had to note that the kid in the clip standing next to the Ralph statue looks creepily like a live Ralph. ^__^
taking off on blu’s tip - there’s a beefy Kristin rumbling into the microphoen 20 seconds from the end.
you are right Manish, I liked ur NDTV message..for seven elevens and simpsons movie makers all this is fun and more money for one month..what is left behind is the Apu image all Indian kids of future generation and this generation have to deal with..is it worth causing pain to indian americans who contribute a lot to american society ,for one month of monetary gains?