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Is Rachel Ray a Terrorist Sympathizer?
Interesting controversy has erupted for TV talker Rachel Ray and Dunkin' Donuts -
Dunkin' Donuts said today it stopped running an online advertisement featuring Rachael
Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.
The coffee and baked goods chain said the ad that began appearing online May 7 was pulled over the past weekend because "the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee."
In the spot, Ray wears the scarf around her neck and holds an iced coffee while standing in front of trees with pink blossoms.
Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf looked similar to the black-and-white checkered kaffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf. Critics who fueled online complaints about the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism.
Two schools of thought here:
One - Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss and perhaps we're reading too much into this scarf.
Two - Perhaps I don't know enough about terrorist culture to be offended by this image.
Either way, while the image may (or may not) be troubling, does anyone really believe that Dunkin' Donuts and/or Rachel Ray set out to demonstrate their sympathy or support for Islamic terrorists?
What others are saying
- The message matters...If she were wearing a Planned Parenthood T-shirt, would it just be a nifty fashion symbol? How about a Che T-shirt? Or a burka? Ricky Martin had to apologize for wearing a keffiyeh in a video because his scarf had "Jerusalem is ours" written all over it in Arabic. Cameron Diaz apologized to audiences during a vacation in Lima when she wore a purse with Communist slogans used by a bloody revolutionary movement that had killed tens of thousands of Peruvians.
Of course Rachel Ray's not a terrorist or a sympathizer. She's probably ignorant of what the scarf is. I also wouldn't be upset enough about it to quit going to Dunkin' Donuts.
But the keffiyeh is a symbol of anti-Semitism and terrorist solidarity to the Palestinians who wear them for real. I think that mainstreaming of terrorist paraphernalia (Urban Outfitters, I'm looking at you!) is inline with Stalin's useful idiots in the media and pop culture in the 1930s. I'm not as mad as Michelle Malkin, but this is, as the least, a faux pas. - Rachel RayI don't think Rachel Ray is a terrorist:however, to quote Anthony Bourdain "Rachel Ray sucks!"
- RachelSomeone is way too sensitive - There can't be a bad bone in this delightful lady's body. She says "Yummo" & helps people.
- Rachel RaySomeone is way too sensitive - There couldn't be a bad bone in this delightful lady's body. She says "Yummo" & likes helping people!
- RidiculousThis is just ridiculous. A piece of clothing does not make you a terrorist sympathizer. I respect them being sensitive to the situation, but the initial complaint is over-sensitive and utterly ridiculous.
- pulllleeeeassseeeeI must be the dumbest man on the planet for thinking that there is nothing wrong with this picture.
- Terroristfor pete's sake ... only an extreme right wing wacko like michelle malkin could see terrorism symbolism in a donut commercial.
- RaySHe looks like a terrorist to me...
- give me a break....My god... you've got to be kidding me.... How can anyone really think that this commercial is about terrorism or Islam?
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