Are Orkin commercials racist?

Does anyone else find in a recent series of Orkin commercials an oddly veiled racism? For instance, this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGBtBw5Fg38 . After the Orkin man arrives, we see the ants riding away in a beat-up pickup truck with one unnecessarily in the back. When I see this one, I always add: "Orkin, keeping Mexicans out of your neighborhood."

Or this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRfrWIPm9dc . After being fended off, the cockroaches drive away in an old square-cornered sedan. "The Orkin man, keeping black kids out of your neighborhood."

The more recent one with rats playing Guitar Hero, I can only associate with grubby teenagers, not racist as such, but it has a lot of the same vibe.

Am I imagining this, or have you seen it too?

...the fuck?

I think it just refers to low-class, unsavory individuals. Y Ou're imagining the racism part (and projecting your own prejudice into these commercials.).

I think it refers to the fact that they're fucking bugs. I don't expect a cockroach to be driving a Ferrari or an ant to be chauffeured around in a Bently.

Yes, but I think the choice of vehicles reflects particular types of "low class, unsavory" individuals. I'm entirely aware that what I'm talking about are stereotypes, but they are *recognizable* stereotypes, and I think they're being used intentionally.

And to be perfectly honest, I suppose I am racist to some degree. So are most (perhaps all) of us, and we're probably better off if we admit it and confront it directly than try to outright deny it.

I think that it's more a reflection of the stereotypes predominant in your area. To me, both the beat-up pickup truck and the old beater sedan say "trailer trash" without implying any particular ethnicity. But that's because the trailer trash around here isn't limited to one ethnicity.

I think you're looking into those commercials too much.

Besides, that new Direct TV commercial with that chinese guy called "Whale" is way more racist than anything I've ever seen.

I think they were trying to evoke the 'skeevy ex boyfriend' theme.

Zaklog, I think you are looking too hard into these commercials.

Yeah, I was thinking it was more just general unsavory types, like if some guy was driving around my neighborhood and just staring at the houses, I would probabbly be suspicious.

Racist? Nope, didn't see it all. Seems entirely imagined to the OP.

Okay, I suppose no one else here sees it. A number of people I've talked to in person have agreed with me; I swear I'm not the only one. Perhaps, as Madrugada suggested, it's something about my own region.

Nothing wrong with it. Without someone pointing things out most things would go unnoticed.

I salute you paying attention.

But, someone riding in the back of a pick-up truck is not a uniquely Mexican thing, nor is driving a beat-up car a uniquely black thing.

The insects both have pretty typically white voices though anyway. And at least the second seems to invoke "WANTS TO RAPE YOU" more than it invokes any racial stereotype.

I didn't take the voices into account, gecko, and that is a very good point against my theory. Like I said, my best guess is that these stereotypes are something from around my region . . . or perhaps I'm just imagining the whole thing.

I'm not sure about it being racist (the bugs don't exactly have any notable ethnic accents or anything), but there do seem to be some classist undertones.

edited 21st Aug '11 1:50:00 PM by Syera

^ Syera - I think it's undisputable that there's a tone of "keeping those nasty poor people out of your neighborhood". I'm just wondering whether the commercials tend to present specific groups of "poor people" as the target. Apparently most people don't see this, and perhaps it's just something from my area. Like I said, several people from around here (SW Louisiana and SE Texas) have seen these and agreed with me.

I'm honestly not seeing it, because I don't know of any cases where ethnic minorities have been pervasively likened to pest insects. Of course, it could just be that I haven't encountered it yet.

I'm just going to say this- rich people are less likely to break into your home.

Yeah, rich people are a lot more likely to make greedy short-term decisions that drive major corporations into the ground and seriously derail the world economy.

^Syera - I'm not saying that these groups are commonly likened to insects, but that some of the anthropomorphizing of the insects in those commercials seems to appeal to racial stereotypes.

edited 21st Aug '11 7:30:13 PM by ZaklogtheGreat

What is it specifically that looks like a racial stereotype?

Maybe it's cause I'm still young(seventeen) but I never really saw anything rascist about those commercials.

The second seems more like a rapist thing in any event. Now if the bugs talked in slang or something then I could see it but they didn't.

I don't think it's particularly racial, but a couple of them have an unfortunate: "Orkin: Keeping those undesirable types out your pristine middle class neighborhood," vibe - not advocating it, but still playing up to that mentality.

Particularly, the Car Broke. Phone, Yes? one.

Keeping undesirables out is the vibe they were going for... and I'm starting to see how it can seem racist.

It's actually Classist though.