Chinese Ask Restaurant to Cut Racist Ad
The Chinese community of Tucson, Arizona is up in arms over the ad fliers used by Eggrolls Etc., a Chinese takeout restaurant in the U.S. city. The flier, which contains the restaurant’s menu, reads as follows: “Every order is delivered via rickshaw by first generation Chinese immigrants… We really should charge more for delivery, old Chinamen are getting expensive these days.” God, that’s bad. Mike Reynolds, the restaurant’s owner/awesome comedian who printed the flier refused to speak with the media over the weekend, as did his employees. The menu that was packaged with the advertisement contained even more racist language. In the fried rice section of the menu, the blurb on top of the items says, “Don’t say Flied Lice, it’s not funny; there’s no ‘R’ sound in Chinese, that’s just cruel really; I know your (sic) saying it; Stop it Stop it Stop it! That’s it. NO RICE FOR YOU!!!” I think Mr. Reynolds should be forced to remove the “it’s not funny” line as it is clear he has no concept of what is funny. His flier certainly isn’t. And Jason Wong, president of the Tucson Chinese Association agrees with me. “When you employ humor,” said Wong, “you start to desensitize and legitimize racist language.” Four Asian-American groups in the area (including Wong’s) plus the YWCA and Chicanos Por La Causa have written and hand-delivered letters to the restaurants demanding a removal of the flier. I guess the Chicanos Por La Causa really are for any old cause. There are currently 19,000 Chinese-Americans living in the Tucson area, and while a small population, the Chinese have a long history in Arizona reaching back to the early 1800s. While Eggrolls Etc. is guilty of using racist language in its menu, it’s this unfunny brand of racist humor that really gets my rice steamed. And what’s more and particularly offensive, Eggrolls Etc. is in violation of a little something regulated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission called “false advertising.” I had a Tucson-based Flumesday investigative reporter order an eggroll and some “etc.” from the restaurant in question. If you’re wondering what the “etc.” was, it was moo shu pork with extra pancakes and a hot and sour soup. And not only was the food not delivered in a rickshaw, like the flier claimed it would be, the delivery boy wasn’t even an “old Chinaman.” He was a young Taiwanese guy in a Honda Civic. Turns out Mr. Reynolds doesn’t even own a rickshaw.
•Arizona Daily Star: Eggrolls Etc. Asked to Drop Ads